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Original poster

Auckland NZ - Anyone have tips for moving there?

379 replies

nickiw · 26/05/2005 08:21

DH is having 3rd telephone interview tonight, they seem quite keen and may want us out there in 2 months!! Any tips for good areas to live, schools etc??

OP posts:

Chuffed · 26/05/2005 10:41

do you know where the job is in Auckland, is it in the city.
How old are your children?
dh and I are both from Auckland and both of us grew up there.
There are lots of cool areas to live, depends on what the priority is for living, city life, greenery, beaches lots of different areas.
Also depends on money for renting and houses.
realestate is somewhere you can get an idea of house prices for buying and some renting in different areas too.

ghosty · 26/05/2005 10:42

I live in Auckland ....
Like Chuffed says it all depends on where your DH's job is and how much you can afford ...

Original poster

nickiw · 26/05/2005 10:53

I have no idea where it is yet! I guess the priority is good schools, nice safe area, near beaches. I don't want to arrange a rental and end up in a dive. Price wise I guess we are looking at about $500 per week for a 3 bed house. The salary being discussed is around a 3rd of my husband current salary so I am hoping the cost of living is a lot less!! What do you think?

OP posts:

ghosty · 26/05/2005 11:02

nickiw ... try not to compare $ with pounds ... it makes it hard.
For example ... when we first moved here DH earned much less in pounds than he did in England but I could afford to give up work ....
$500 a week should get you a 3 bd place in a reasonable area. I can look to see how much rental properties cost where I live if you like ... we live in what in my opinion is the nicest (NOT poshest) area of Auckland ... Eastern suburb called Howick ... lovely, beach is 5 minutes walk down the road ... lovely village etc. Bit of a commute into the city though ... it would take an hour in the morning ... but from here you can get a little ferry into the heart of the city which takes the stress out of commuting ... you can sit and read the paper and have a coffee and in 20 minutes you are in town.

Chuffed · 26/05/2005 11:05

Cost of living is quite high, you should get a reasonable place in most spots for $500 a week. The nearer to the beaches you are the more you are going to pay. To get an idea of food check out here you can browse without logging in.
The first thing is find out where your the company is based as you will want to live somewhere that doesn't take him 2hrs each way to get to work and that could happen with Auckland traffic if he has a crap journey from one end of Auckland to the other.
Let us know and we might be able to point you to some suburbs with easy access. The easiest point to get to work in Auckland is actually the central business district.

ghosty · 26/05/2005 11:27

Check out this website ... I just found a 3 bed house for $400 a week in a place called Cockle Bay which is just down the road from me.
Of course, if your DH is working in Ponsonby the that would be useless for you because it would take him at least 1.5 hours each way to work.
Auckland isn't like European cities in that there is no ring road to speak of so you can't live at one end and travel around the city to get to somewhere else. Auckland is a long bottle neck of land ... lots of water everywhere and open sea on the West and East sides ... so it is a long (in distance) city. So if you work in the west you'd be mad to live in the East. Also the city is divided North and South by water too ... by a Harbour Bridge (not as glam as the Sydney one) and if you live on the North Shore and work on the South you have a hell of a journey over that bridge.
So where your husband works is really quite crucial.

MrsDoolittle · 26/05/2005 11:32

Thought you might be here Chuffed!

Chuffed · 26/05/2005 11:33

our place in in Takapuna Ghosty - well just down the road on the way to Bayswater. It is also a great location and you can just jump on the Devonport or Bayswater ferry to get to the city (10mins), good schools too. We are moving back next year from London.

Fennel · 26/05/2005 11:37

ooh we are looking for jobs there too. don't mind lower salaries if we can live on a beach

ghosty · 26/05/2005 11:40

Oooh, Chuffed, Takapuna beach is lovely ... and it is a great school area isn't it?
We didn't look over on the North Shore as DH works in Mount Wellington and the thought of crossing the bridge every day him off but if I did live there I would want to be in Takapuna or Devonport ...

MrsDoolittle · 26/05/2005 11:40

Now you see , if you were my friend in RL that would bother me Fennel.
But here, it doesn't matter

Fennel · 26/05/2005 11:41

mrs d it will make that elusive april babies meet up a bit harder though won't it?

MrsDoolittle · 26/05/2005 11:43

Maybe we won't like each other in real life?

Chuffed · 26/05/2005 11:45

oooh we might be able to do a meet up Fennel when Mrs D comes to visit.

MrsDoolittle · 26/05/2005 11:48

Now there you go. See?

Original poster

nickiw · 26/05/2005 12:16

I think the company is called EDS which is apparently quite good! What age to the kids start school? the places near the beach with the ferry to work sound perfect. What about cars and petrol etc, is this as expensive as the UK? Also what is the social side of life like in Auckland? am I going to feel like a square peg in a round hole, not too good at meeting people, bit shy, but kids are a good icebreaker (on a good day!)

OP posts:

Fennel · 26/05/2005 12:28

nickiw I am sure some of the kiwis around will tell you how friendly it is there, i have only been once ages ago now.

mrs d it would be a shame to go all the way to Auckland for a meet up and then not get on, wouldn't it?

have just been reminded by this thread to go and email my NZ colleague who's got the best job options for me out there.

Original poster

nickiw · 26/05/2005 13:12

I know this might sound odd, all of the houses I am looking at (great link ghosty!) have quite small gardens and no pools, how come! Is the weather that bad!!

OP posts:

Chuffed · 26/05/2005 14:12

no weather can be good(ish) but to have a pool and a large garden you need a full section and those are the 'very' expensive houses now so you probably won't find one of those for $500 in the sort of areas you want to live.
The ferry journeys from the shore are only really convenient if EDS is in the central city.
School starts at 5 generally in NZ. Preschool is called Kindergarten and it starts normally a couple of mornings or afternoons (depends on the kindy) a week. Kids are a good icebreaker.
When we go back I have my friends on the other side of the bridge but only one set of friends really on our side and they are the only ones with a child so I'm going to have to start again too...so hopefully it won't be too hard.

Chuffed · 26/05/2005 14:13

my link earlier should read www.realenz.co.nz but it didn't work sorry.

Original poster

nickiw · 26/05/2005 19:50

just found a fab place on the beach near cockle bay for $625 per week, will find out address of job later, really quite excited!!

OP posts:

Original poster

nickiw · 27/05/2005 12:28

the offices are in takapuna, which looks great, should get the job offer next week and then a decision will be make!!! Does the school year start in January? Charlie will be 5 on 20.9, not quite sure when he would start?

OP posts:

Chuffed · 27/05/2005 14:18

I'd recommend looking in say Takapuna, Bayswater, Milford maybe Castor Bay areas. The primary schools are all good in those areas, as are the high schools.

Original poster

nickiw · 27/05/2005 18:30

Are there any airlines that are particularly good with kids for such a long flight and reasonably prices. We are thinking of a couple of stopovers on the way.

OP posts:

Chuffed · 27/05/2005 19:56

I think Singapore Airlines are the best, they aren't the cheapest though. Emerites is supposed to be good as well.

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