Guide to living in taranaki

Babette Khilan fell in love first with a Kiwi, then with his 

home town, and is now fully committed to Taranaki’s 

legendary lifestyle. 

While Babette came to Taranaki to be with her partner, 

the ‘perfectly-sized’ city of New Plymouth with its balance 

between urban and rural and its friendly people made the 

decision to stay even easier.

“I still tell Andy how lucky we are to be here!” she says.

Babette’s commute is now around five-minutes, meaning 

more time to enjoy the finer things in life. 

“Winters are mild here. I sometimes miss the snow a little bit, 

for some winter fun, but the icy roads weren’t as enjoyable. 

I can even leave my potted plants outside during the 

winter time!”

Babette and Andy love New Plymouth’s events calendar, 

regularly visiting the Festival of Lights in the Pukekura Park 

over the summer months.

“New Plymouth is very attractive to both young and old and 

every taste will find things to see and do here. I just love to 

grab my camera and to go outside to explore and discover.”

“The balance between work and life here is amazing. I just 

don’t miss the hectic life, trying to rush home from work in a 

traffic jam,” says Babette.

“The possibilities are endless and the scenery unique! Where 

else you have a mountain on the one and sea and beach on 

the other side?”

“Taranaki will make you want to come back. I don’t regret my 

move from the other side of the world to live here. I would do 

it again!” says Babette. “Here is my heart and my home now. I 

feel like I have won the ultimate jackpot!”

 We’re not in Kansas 

anymore 

The Ellington Family – USA

A visit to New Zealand was always on the Ellington 

family’s ‘bucket list’ but their keen sense of adventure 

brought them to Taranaki from Kansas City, Kansas for 

much more than a holiday.

“We’d never been to New Zealand, but had always wanted to 

come. We thought why just visit, why not move?” Jenny says. 

“We arrived at the end of June 2011, with the plan of 

staying for a year, and we’re still here. The call to stay was 

unanimous!”

It was Brad, an emergency physician, which planted the seed 

for the adventure, having seen adverts in medical journals for 

positions in New Zealand. 

“There were a lot of things that sold us on Taranaki, but the 

one that we couldn’t pass up was the ability to ski and surf on 

the same day, something I managed to do this year.”

Brad’s commute is another great aspect of their new home – 

he’s now just 12 minutes from work at Taranaki Base Hospital, 

but the benefits don’t stop once Brad arrives at work. 

“Work is a lot less demanding, and the work-life balance is so 

much better here than in the States,” says Brad. 

“We love that it takes a bit of effort to get here. It’s a bit 

isolated but in a good way. All the prime real estate is taken by 

caravan parks and not Club Meds.” 

If any further example of the lifestyle benefit were necessary, 

Jenny points to the school system.

“The education system here is different, which is something 

I really noticed as an educationalist. “Our children are 

becoming really well rounded, happier and not stressed”,” 

says Jenny.

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 Almost perfect

Tanima Mishra – India

For Tanima Mishra, making the move 

from Bombay, India to Taranaki, 

New Zealand was a perfect move, 

with the sole exception of the 

region’s lack of Bollywood films. 

A job offer in Taranaki was the catalyst 

for Tanima (27) and her husband Mahendra (29) to make the 

shift in November 2012.

“We didn’t know much about New Zealand before we arrived, 

other than what we’d learnt on the internet,” Tanima says, 

“It was a bit of a shock moving from a city of 18 million to a 

country of 4 million though.”

In India Tanima worked in investment banking, while Mahendra 

was in oil and gas, and it is this connection that secured his 

role as a Senior Engineer with Halliburton, based in Taranaki. 

It wasn’t long before Tanima also got a role in Taranaki’s 

thriving oil and gas sector, as a technical administrator with 

Todd Energy, though gaining a suitable position wasn’t as easy 

as she had hoped. 

Perhaps surprisingly they don’t find the contrasting weather 

such a concern. “I really enjoy Taranaki’s weather. Bombay it is 

way too hot – always. I enjoy the cooler weather here and love 

spending time in the snow up the mountain at weekends.”

“Weekends are great – we go out on Friday and Saturday 

nights for dinner with friends, and have quickly built up a great 

circle of friends. I can’t believe how friendly people are here!” 

Tanima says.

“We are very happy here, and have much more time together 

now and it’s really great.”

 The days seem 30 hours 

long here 

Leandro Fossa – Brazil

Taking a 1-year career break was 

the initial motivation for 31-year old 

Leandro Fossa to make the move 

from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to New 

Plymouth, but he has since fallen in 

love with Taranaki and has no plans 

to leave.

“I wanted to come to New Zealand for a year and Taranaki was 

quite similar to my home in Brazil. I got a job as the Business 

Development Manager at Tenderlink, and stayed – Taranaki 

now feels like home.”

On an average weekend Leandro can be found exploring Surf 

Highway 45 around Taranaki’s coast, heading to the renowned 

surf breaks that span the 105km road from New Plymouth to 

Hawera.

“If there isn’t any surf then there’s the coast to explore, the 

mountain for walking on, and lots of parties and BBQs to enjoy!”

“There’s just so much time here. I still work long hours but 

there’s no traffic so the lifestyle is much better in Taranaki,” 

Leandro says, “Sometimes it feels like there is 30 hours in each 

day because you finish work, go to the gym, go surfing, play 

tennis, go out for dinner with friends and then the day is over.”

“If you’re an extrovert like me it’s very easy to fit in and meet 

new people. People are friendly in Taranaki,” he says.

 “Taranaki is also really good at putting on big events, which 

bring in a special atmosphere,” Leandro says.

“I’m trying to talk my friends in Auckland into moving here. For 

anyone thinking about moving here, I’d recommend it.”

 The place to be

Derek Stevens and Hazel Kidner – Australia

In 2013, Derek Stevens and partner 

Hazel Kidner made the move to 

Taranaki from Adelaide, Australia, 

after having wanted to live the Kiwi 

lifestyle for years. 

“We knew heaps about New Zealand 

– we’d been here a number of times and spent a lot of time 

backpacking around,” says Derek. 

“We had family discover New Plymouth and rave about it. We 

visited over Easter 2013 and confirmed it was the place to be, 

so here we are.”

Derek advises looking for jobs early on, and recommends 

getting in touch with the region’s development agency Venture 

Taranaki to help with connections. They also offer a free jobs 

website which lists opportunities in the region. 

They’ve bought 10-acres and are currently planning their dream 

home. “We really wanted to live somewhere that got rain,” says 

Hazel, “it’s good for the garden and our plan is to be as self-

sufficient as we can on our property. Rain, and sun of course, 

were key criteria when it came to choosing where to live.”

“We expected and planned for a change in income given the 

move from Australia, but we knew what we were in for and it 

has meant we’ve now got the lifestyle we wanted.”

Hazel is learning how to surf, Derek has joined the New 

Plymouth Kayak Club, they love walking on the 200-plus 

kilometres of walking trails on Mount Taranaki, walking their 

dogs, mountain biking, and as many other outdoor activities as 

they can cram into the average weekend. 

“We love Taranaki and all it has to offer. There’s just so much to 

see and do here and great cafes and restaurants. It offers the 

perfect lifestyle for us and we look forward to becoming locals. 

Taranaki is a real little gem!”

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Case Studies

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“It’s absolutely STUNNING, 

BREATHTAKING. How could 

anyone not want to be here?”

Tom Cruise, 

on the film set of The Last Samurai, New Plymouth.

In addition to the New Plymouth District Council, Venture Taranaki is supported by: 

South Taranaki District Council, Stratford District Council, Taranaki Electricity Trust, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, 

Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, Callaghan Innovation, Business Mentors New Zealand and numerous other 

private sector organisations. 

Photo credits: Rob Tucker, Mark Harris, NPDC, Surf Taranaki, Jane Dove Juneau, Michael Flynn,  

TDHB and Glenn Jeffrey.

The toolkit is printed using paper stock from responsibly managed forests and vegetable based inks.

C7/VT0394/0615

Taranaki’s Regional Development Agency

9 Robe St, PO Box 670 

New Plymouth 4340

Phone: [phone] 

Email: [e-mail]

www.taranaki.info