Southland

Southland is the name of New Zealand's southernmost region and also the name of a district within that region. The region also has one other district, Gore, and one city, Invercargill. Southland boasts stunning landscapes from high mountains and icy glaciers to green and lush grasslands.

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Invercargill is Southland's main city and the gateway to some of New Zealand's most picturesque destinations, including Stewart Island, Fiordland and the Catlins.

The city offers a combination of cultural attractions, city life and outstanding nature reserves and parks. From great shopping to lively cafes, restaurants and bars, Invercargill has all the benefits of city life with few of the drawbacks.

A recent inner city upgrade has transformed the city centre into a modern, attractive and vibrant place, while the variety and number of heritage buildings in the city centre add to the city's character.

Education

Invercargill and Southland offer a wide range of education facilities catering to all age groups and areas of study. Schools in the region offer numerous extra-curricular activities in both sport and arts and excellent student/ teacher ratios ensure that students receive the attention required to maximise their learning potential.

Throughout the region there is plenty of choice for pre-school age children, with a variety of crèches and day care facilities, state-run kindergartens and play centres.

The province has 84 primary schools, as well as four middle/junior high schools and 12 secondary schools, six of which are in Invercargill.

The region's secondary schools provide a range of education choices, from co-educational, single sex and Catholic options, with segregated boarding available for both boys and girls.

School buses service rural areas, taking children to and from their nearest schools each day.

At the tertiary level Invercargill's Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) is the home of zero fees - the first tertiary training organisation in New Zealand to offer zero fees to students.

With around 9,000 students, SIT is big enough to offer variety and a student culture, yet small enough to retain a friendly atmosphere. Rather than learning for learning's sake, SIT has been active in working with local industry to provide relevant and tailored training programmes. Its trade skills courses, for example, include aluminium boat building, designed specifically to meet the needs of two Invercargill manufacturers. T

he Dunedin College of Education also has an Invercargill campus offering teacher training.

Key industries

The linchpins of Southland's economy are farming, forestry and horticulture, however fishing, manufacturing, retail and hospitality are also important.

The most popular occupational group in Southland is agriculture and fishery workers (making up 19 percent) of the workforce.

In 2004, the most advertised jobs in Southland were dairy farmer/worker, sales assistant, care giver, general clerk, and mixed livestock farmer/worker.

Unemployment in Southland is very low, standing at the equal lowest in New Zealand.

While farming has traditionally formed the region's economic base, Southland is also home to a diverse manufacturing industry which exports a large proportion of its output. Large manufacturing includes the Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai and Fibreboard Plant at Mataura.

Boat building is also important and ranges from pleasure craft to passenger and tourist vessels.

Clothing manufacturing is based on the plentiful supply of local pelts and includes high class outdoor wear. There are also several niche market operations in Southland including classic car and aircraft restoration.

Tourism is rapidly expanding throughout the region, largely due to Southland's unspoilt nature and an increasing recognition of Southland being a place to 'restore the soul and recharge the batteries'.

Currently the Southern region is addressing skill shortages in agriculture, forestry, building and construction, food and hospitality, meat processing, viticulture and horticulture, and civil construction.

Vacancies within Invercargill and the Southland region are generally advertised in The Southland Times.

Housing

Typical housing in Invercargill consists of a wooden two or three bedroom, single-storey detached house, set on a 'section' of land with a good-sized garden and grass area.

Although most houses are insulated, it is unlikely they will have central heating or air conditioning or double-glazed windows. Instead, open fires, wood burners and gas or electrical heating are used during winter.

In rural areas of Southland you will find stand-alone houses including cottages, old and new family homes and large old villas or 'homesteads'. An increasing number of people are now choosing to build new homes in the suburbs or on 'lifestyle blocks' - a piece of land of several acres in a rural or semi-rural area.

House prices in the region vary considerably depending on the size of the house, its facilities, and the area in which a home is located. According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, as at April 2005 the median house price for a home in Southland was NZD$144,500, down from NZD$147,000 in March 2004.

Renting

Like house prices, rental prices in Invercargill can vary greatly. According to the New Zealand Ministry of Housing the average rent for a three bedroom property in the city is approximately NZD$175 per week. (Rental prices shown are as at Jan 2005).

The Southland Times daily newspaper is a good start for finding a place to rent. Real Estate Agents and private landlords list properties in the 'To Let' section of the 'Classified' index, with Wednesday and Saturday editions being the best for Real Estate.

Not all the properties will be advertised in the newspaper so it can pay to call in to the offices of the Real Estate Agents and ask for a copy of their listings.

Transport

Invercargill is generally flat and easy to get around regardless of your choice of transport and despite the city offering all you would expect from a modern city, there are no traffic jams and delays commonly experienced in other metropolitan areas.

A public bus service operates six days a week covering the inner city and outlying suburbs, whilst a 'Freebie Bus' travels within the inner city free of charge on weekdays.

There are two main taxi companies in Invercargill which provide an excellent service including shuttles to and from the airport.

The flatness and close proximity of facilities make walking and cycling around the city an attractive option.

For those who intend to drive, Invercargill is only 10 minutes from Oreti Beach and less than 30 minutes to the port town of Bluff and from the fishing town of Riverton. The Catlins, Fiordland, Queenstown and other magical locations are readily accessible from Invercargill, and Stewart Island can be reached by a short flight or ferry ride.

Population

Southland's total population is around 95,000, with 52,000 located within the Invercargill Council area, 30,000 within the Southland Council area, and 13,000 within the Gore Council area.

Roughly 88% of people in Dunedin City belong to the European ethnic group while almost 6% are Maori. At the 2001 Census, 93.4 per cent of people in Southland Region said they belong to the European ethnic group, compared with 80.1 percent for all of New Zealand.

Climate

Southland's climate is characterised by cool coastal breezes and a general absence of shelter from the unsettled weather that moves over the sea from the south and southwest.

Despite this, hot north-westerly conditions in summer can bring high temperatures, with typical summer daytime maximum air temperatures ranging from 16 degrees celsius to 23 degrees celsius and occasionally rising above 30 degrees celsius.

Southland's winters can be cold with infrequent snowfall and frequent frost. Typical winter daytime maximum air temperatures range from 8 degrees celsius to 12 degrees celsius.

Hours of bright sunshine average around 1,600 hours annually and are often affected by low coastal cloud or by high cloud. Southwesterly winds prevail for much of the time about Southland.

Rainfall varies throughout the province with Invercargill's average annual fall of 1,072 mm a mid-range figure.

Geography

Southland contains some of the most distinctive landscapes in New Zealand, with landforms including high mountain areas, glaciated valleys, fiords, forests, tussock grasslands, extensive rolling plains, rivers, estuaries, wetlands, vast sandy beaches and islands.

Some of Southland's notable features include Lake Te Anau, the largest lake in the South Island and second largest in New Zealand and Milford Sound where the world's deepest cliffs plunge 1,600m below the surface of the water.

Southland is also home to Stewart Island, an island made up of sheltered inlets, sea pounded cliffs, sandy beaches and New Zealand's southern most tall trees and native birds, including the kiwi, saddleback and penguin.

Cost of living

The cost of living in Southland is very competitive and of all of New Zealand's main regions it has the lowest median house prices.

However the key factor that best distinguishes Southland is the region's balanced approach to life. For example most people in Invercargill travel no more than 10 minutes to get to work, meaning there is a great deal more time to be spent with children, family and friends enjoying everything the region has to offer.

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