Wellington again!!!

[dannigirl]

Hi lovely mumsnetters,

I am having a bit of a mid life crisis and need some help. I am a kiwi living in London with British hubby and 14 month old daughter.

Have been here for over 7 years and have not been too homesick before now, six months ago it hit big time (motherhood and all that yearning for the NZ lifestyle).

Hubby is on board and we are seriously thinking of the move, we have quite good job prospects (hopefully) and should be on a fairly good (but not ott) income. We just want to live a comfortable, not flashy or expensive lifestyle. I am originally from Dunedin and although I have visited Wellington I have NO idea of the areas....we are hoping to go over next year to do some serious investigating

I have a couple of friends in Lower Hutt who seem to like it, although neither have children and one definitely will move when she has children (not out of the hutt, but maybe to a better area). For some reason I keep getting drawn to Petone, think it is the old wooden houses, flat backyards, but have heard it is quite industrialised? Supposed to have a bit of a cafe culture?

I have another friend in Whitby, but I feel this may be too far out for us. Don't mind driving or using public transport but it would be nice to have some local amenities...I fear Whitby et al might be a step too far (and suburban) for hubby.

Not sure how I feel about living in the city, not sure I know enough about different suburbs.

We are conscious of schools but not sure if all we should be driven by is decile rating???

Lavenderbongo - have been reading your blog (and Chez Lee ) really inspiring and makes me fall in love with my country all over again.

Would love to hear experiences of mums in Welly, buzzybee, lavenderbongo etc etc.

Thanks all.

Dannigirl.