where's best to live in nz,and what do we need to know?

[AngryBeaver]

My dh has been on at me for a year to move from the uk.He wanted Quebec,which looked gorgeous and romantic,but i wasn't sold on the winters and coudn't leave my mum.
He recentley said he wanted to move to NZ and i thought ,yeah if it's warm and a better life than here,let's do it.
So we've got fuck all money and 3 kids under 4.5 ...but we want to do it.
I don't know what's changed in me for me to agree ,but I hear th schools and hospitals are fab,and just want the best life for my lovely children.
I'm worrying though because I've read the houses are crap and cold.
We want sun,space and not too expensive (don't we all!)
We thought Tauranga,but that seems quite busy and we've read about boy racers.
We don't want Wellington as we've heard it's windy and weather not great.
Does anyone know about Nelson?Heard it's nice weather,but what's the reality?
We are going to put the house on the market this week,I am shitting myself,but I feel it's now or never.
Any help or advice,gratefully recieved

Hmm,but 30 mins plus in labour etc maybe a bit much!
It suprises me you should say there are lots on benefits. From what I've read,and the property I've seen,it seems to be quite a 'wealthy' Island. It was described in the nz herald as "where nz's rich list live".
I'm trying to get an idea of how big it is, but Im not great at imagining things like that!I have to actually BE there to comprehend cos i'm a bit thick
How long would it take you to get from one side to the other ,say. It can't be that small because it has a permaant poulation of 8,000./but apparantly ion the summer there can be 30,000! There can not be ONE supermarket for 30,000 people?!

Waiheke is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. It has everything you could need on a day to day basis (food shops etc) and is only half an hour on ferry from central Auckland for anything "big" that comes to Auckland (shows, gigs, exhibitions etc). Def has a bit of a hippy vibe, used to be quite alternative but now has lots of v rich folk buying second homes there.

Property not cheap there though. Also have to factor in daily ferry costs (there is a monthly pass for residents though). Lovely beaches, vineyards, a bit arty with markets, cinema etc, quite relaxed and quiet and feels rural-ish but still with restaurants, shops etc. Prob takes 20-30 mins to drive from one end of island to other. It's one of my fave places in NZ but not that cheap to buy there I think. We used to have loads of impromptu weekends there pre-kids getting pissed at lovely wineries .

Only downside is getting ferries all the time I suppose, if you want to go anywhere different.

I think primaries there are OK but have heard some people send kids off the island for secondary (maybe as weekly boarders). I would witter on write more about it but have to go as taking dds on a train trip in 20 mins.

Ohh,and it was just getting interesting..you tease!

The deciles mean that the children are from average to richer backgrounds, so the schools thenselves may be fab or not, the decile is a measure of their socio-economic intake. 10 is very well off and the top of the scale. The higher the decile the less funding per child the school gets. Parents pay some school fees, not very much but higher decile schools seem to charge a lot more.

Yes, Waiheke is really lovely, you have to weigh up stuff like ferry prices etc - I think the car ferry is about $100 a time for a car + passengers and the passenger ferry is about $25 per person - though like I say I think island residents get special monthly passes at a reduced rate.

Dh and I were actually talking about the nicest place to live in NZ with the conditions of not being too busy but also being within reach of a big-ish city for nights out or shopping once in a while and Waiheke was pretty much at the top of our list.

The Shore (where Torbay is) is also great though and has lovely beaches and you don't have to get on a ferry whenever you want to go somewhere else.

The deciles - as Horopu says - between 5 and 7 would mean the area is middle-income by NZ standards. Decile is just an indication of the affluence or not of an area. Yes of course most decile 9 and 10s will be great - though I have a friend who teaches at a decile 10 primary and she reckons the head really sits on her laurels and doesn't do as much as she could, because she knows the kids have educated, motivated parents who will push their kids.

Middle of the decile schools - I think it is hard to judge by decile. Of my two local primaries the decile 8 one seems to be thought of as OK but nothing amazing. The decile 5 one a little further away - everyone I know raves about how great they think it is. So I don't know yet which one I will enrol my dd1 in.

I think most folk either have home births or come off of the island for a couple of weeks before. I wouldn't fancy the added difficulty but there is an emergency chopper and there would be other boats that could get you off if need be.

You can do stuff like have two cars, on on, one off to make commuting cheaper. And yes, there is only one supermarket! When we went for the weekend I forgot to pack my PJ's and there was no where to buy any spares! But the beach is lovely. If/when we win the lotto, we'll buy a bach there.

By the way, where did you get the figure of 8,000 residents but 30,000 people in the summer? According to Wiki it's 8,000 residents and 3,000 more with second homes there.

The beaches, especially on the north side of the island, really are lovely. Palm Beach is my favourite. And the weather always seems a little bit warmer/more settled than the rest of Auckland.

It does sound gorgeous,but maybe not practical? I've had some complications with labour/birth in the past,so a home birth wouldn't be a viable option.
I can't believe ther's one supermarket for all those people! It must be constantly heaving ?
I think I'd need access to a few more shops without having to factor in a boat ride. What a lovely way to get to work tho! oh,ho hum decisions!

Am still mulling it over. Anyone know what crime rate is like on the Island?
Dh has put together a list of projected outgoings. Would you take a look and see if you think it's accurate or not?

Rent - 1900
Electric - 175
Phone&
internet - 100
health insurance - 150
car insurance - 40
bus pass -230
petrol - 100
food - 1000
clothes - 200
baby stuff - 80
extras -400
school fees - 60
playgroups - 150
mobiles -100
gas/other -100
savings -200

total - $4985

on a take home pay of $5,090

Are we missing anything? Does that seem realistic?

ps..do you have eastenders over there?!!

Ok, crime on Waiheke lower than the rest of Auckland I believe. Wouldn't surprise me if it was the lowest in Ak tbh. Don't know any figures though. And the supermarket has always been quite empty when I've been in it

Yes, Eastenders is on, I don't watch it but I think it's only a few months behind the UK (I'm a Corrie fan myself).

These figures are monthly, yes?

Rent - don't know much about rental costs anymore, 475/wk might not be that much in some areas of the Shore but I'm sure you'd get something for that.

Phone/electric/insurance costs look ok (electric may be more if you try to keep a house warm to UK standards in winter)

Petrol - that would be for you during day as I assume the bus pass is for yoru dh to get to the city? 100/month fine for daytime driving for you, would be more if your dh driving to city and back every day. We are 13km from city centre and my dh puts about $200 petrol in a month I think. I prob put about $50 a month in, for me driving in daytime with dcs.

Gas/other - lots of places don't have gas so you may not need to budget for that - you could add it to your electricity bill maybe.

Clothes - I don't spend $200 a month on clothes but I easily could if I had it! Im a bit of a second hand shop/bargain hunter though (and we get lots of kids stuff passed on to us from friends).

Playgroups - $150 a month? The one I go to is $2 per family per session (twice a week) so that would be $16 a month. Or are you meaning "activity" type things like music groups, baby gym etc.

Mobiles - I strongly recommend 2 Degrees, way cheaper than the other 2 providers, I find.

Only thing I can think of not on there is Sky - or are you not going to have that. We pay about $70 a month for it. Eastenders is on Sky here...

Oh car registration - like road tax - about $280 a year I think (depends what sort of car you have). And WOF (Warrant of Fitness) - like MOT - every 6 months, abour $40-50 for it plus any repair costs.

Thanks for that. I would like to factor in sky,but dh said it is not essential! I think there is room now that you've set us straight on the playgroup sitch.Asked where he got that figure from and he said he'd factored in coffee and cake for me!
I think he's probably going off the fact that I meet my nct buds every week in a palycentre which costs £4 per child plus drinks etc

We're sitting here talking about it.I'm a bit pissed so not sure how far we'll get!But we think it's between the 3 areas...Tauranga,Torbay or Waiheke.Reeeally difficult for me as I've never been to any of them.

I met my friends today and they asked me how the plans were going..I started crying (felt like a real dick!). Feel very stressed and emotional at the mo

I'd say the rent is a bit low unless you plan to live quite far out. It's hard to tell from the trademe ads what a property is like. I found that the estate agents have a stock set of photo's that they use each time- so the ones you see could easily be 4/5 years old.

Electricity is probably quite low. If you don;t have any other heating you need to double this in winter, particularly if you are home with little ones.

We don't have medical cover but do have home and contents insurance. You may also want to budget for one Drs appointment per month?

Have you seen this?

www.emigratenz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML

We get paid fortnightly here which I love. It's so much easier to make do/do without for a few days a fortnight than for 2 weeks a month like we used to in the UK.

oh,I just lookes at waiheke high website which said the population grew from 8 -30,000 in the summer.crazy.
Although wiki ays an extra 3,000... Is somewhere adding an extra digit??!

Als if we lived on the island we'd have to factor in water and septic tank costs.
I dont knowif id feel like it was cruel to the kids .Sheltering them like that? I don't think I can make a decision until I see it tbh

Well, yeah, it is pretty cruel to your kids, living on a beautiful island with stunning beaches, relaxed lifestyle, low crime, warm climate...

Seriously, you prob need to start off on the mainland and visit Waiheke a few times if you're unsure about it.

I like the sign when you get off the ferry:

Slow down. You're here already.

Oh shush,you know what i mean! I think you're right though..we'll have to rent on the mainland and go and check it out.
Did anyone see that comedy programme,I'm sure it was set in nz ..summer heights high? they talked baout the "islanders"
Anyway,am bit pissed ,must stagger on up to bed

Summer Heights High was set in Australia...when people talk about "Islanders" in NZ they are usually referring to people from the Pacific Islands (Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, etc).

If Waiheke does turn out to be too sheltered for you, I can recommend some areas of west/south Auckland with plenty of drugs, gangs, violence, graffiti, etc

That sounds perfect,thanks!

I've been looking at waiheke all day...I'm really leaning towards it!We've watched a few blogs.Trying to read and watch and see all I can to build a picture.
whatshesaid..do you know if there's a cinema on the Island?
I was suprised to see a few posh restaurants (one at the vineyard)..and the stonebaked pizza looked amazing!

There isn't a cinema as such but i think there is a film club that puts on films in a hall once a week or something. There's lots of groups and activities etc over there. Have wine festivals and jazz festivals and stuff like that too. Some v nice restaurants espec at the wineries. Gotta feed all those Rich-listers somewhere! Check out the views from one of my faves, Te Whau vineyard

fuck ...am quite excited.more excited than I have been about torbay

Not to put a dampener on at all but have you checked out rental/house prices on Waiheke at all? I have a feeling it can be quite pricey. Also factor in an hour commute each way for dh - get to ferry terminal (5-10 mins drive or bus or whatever), 30-40 mins on ferry, 5-15 mins walk at other end (depending on where in city centre he works).

It is gorgeous though.

we've looked at rentals and dh reckons we could manage.He's ok with that commute and as someone said,they'd rather be having a coffe/reading a book than on a bus/car for same amount of time. (cos would prob be around the same for torbay) also the guy said he gets a beer on the way home and sometimes the ferry stops so they can watch the penguins/whales etc...sounds incredible.
I may be getting carried aaway with the romanticsm!!
I wonder if the food is expensive to buy in the supermarket there,seeing as they have the monopoly they could charge what they like really.Someone mentioned internet food shopping.I wonder how that would work

oooh.look.we reached 500 posts! oh. now 501