My first thought was “Pete will be totally into this idea.”
ftfy
Didn’t know H was into nude communes. Do know that Pete is.
you dont take cyclocross seriously enough to live in boulder. 
squampton is getting good, but its nowhere near as cheap as it was. plus a good chunk of the people who have moved there now arent as awesome/grimy. its beautiful no doubt and access to outdoors and activities is great, but its getting more like anglesea/lorne from what i hear. pemberton OTOH… not hating, but for me that boat has sailed. a cabin in bralorne is where its at though…
boulder is definitely very good. the front range straight up rules, so much good stuff and CU keeps it interesting. denver being just down the road (and not a twisting hwy you wouldn’t want to ride often) means urban access is better. a lot of the nearby towns (golden, nederland, even arvada) are pretty good too. lotta good stuff happening in those towns as well.
work situation would be better for you in CA though i’d guess. you’d be super stoked in both places i think. should have a think about salt lake city, or ogden in utah. good mountain access both summer and winter… lots of stuff you’d be into and some good communities there.
Pemberton definitely an option. Squampton is up there because I can get an outdoors job with weekends off and they sort out accommodation and pay me a decent wage so it’s appealing. If I get really into trad/crack climbing that’ll be the place to go. Could end up at UBC as well but it doesn’t seem as good a fit as CU.
Boulder is definitely the #1 pick because of the university and other organisations there. I want to sort this move out properly though as I am keen to stay long term not for a lil working holiday or something.
All of this is dependent on me writing a kickass paper and really enjoying myself this year so I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself.
Back in Boulder is the new back in Van.
but with less black metal and alleycats
No idea where to post this but also looking at Masters programs at University of Otago in Dunedin for 2017.
A couple really good scholarships that I can apply for as a domestic student and what looks like great local mtb/hiking trails.
Also potential field work in Mt. Aspiring national park if I want to do glacier stuff.
Anyone been/lived there before?
I spent a few years there. It’s a great spot and probably has a lot in common with Canberra ie not too big/small, good summer but cold (but wet) winters, close to the outdoors and surf. MTB trails are great and plentiful and there’s a pretty strong culture there.
You will probably learn more than a bit rugby though, Highlanders being Super champions atm.
It’s kinda like Hobart, bit dark and Gothic (and students make up a large % of the population)
I spent a short amount of time (2 weeks) in Dunedin about 10 years ago - so relevance is probs low - but it was so nice over there that we looked into moving there, but no jobs. Good riding & hiking, lots of students and quite liberal (had the highest LGBTI population of NZ i think). People were super friendly as well - but that’s all NZers i have found.
Having dinner with some older Kiwis and they reckon its pretty Scottish, lots of holly hedges and Uni students. Cold, wet, wheelie bin races, sofa races, everything’s built on a hill.
The city plan is a complete copy of Edinburgh. I.e. they laid the street map onto Dunedin when planning
I’ve only been to Dunedin overnight, but I loved it and would live there. I’d live anywhere in NZ though eh…
I wouldn’t live in dunners. To cold, wet and dark.
But your young Sean, go burn couches in the streets.
Sounds perfect for Sean
Steepist street in the world is steep.
Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinburgh
this is in keeping with what i was told by a couple of friends that went to uni there as well.
but they also spoke very highly of the student culture there (as per above).
I lived in Auckland for a year, and yeah, my overriding memory of the weather is cold and dark and pretty wet. Also, don’t ever live in Auckland, it’s a shithole. Everywhere outside of Auckland was beautiful though. I liked Napier a lot.
Jeez, if you though Aucks was cold and dark… Dunners would be terrible for you.
Pretty sure Auckland has a milder winter than Melbs.
and Aucks is ok, kinda like Melbourne and Sydney, just avoid a lot of the suburbs and your ok. The west coast of Ak is pretty good.