WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ AND WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW:PART 3!!!!(HOLY SHIT!)

[AngryBeaver]

Can you believe we've finished finished off another thread? Jeez we can talk!!
Just an update..we've found a nice double glazed,4 bed house,with nice garden. So that's one stress off the last.
Hilongwhitecloud

Great news AB!! And double glazing too - lucky thing

I didn't even notice we were at 1000 posts!

Double glazed

Yay, I can join in early.

DP spoke to a woman from the company this morning and she told him that he has been allocated the Auckland office.

Once his contract is signed, they actually have a company that deal with pretty much everything with regards to the visa's so all we have to do is fill in a few forms and then turn up to any appointments they give us. A few less things for us to worry about.

I've made a mental note to pack hot water bottles.

Yup, getting cold up in Northland too. Took my mum and dad up to Russell today, lovely and warm in the sunshine, but as soon as you are in the shade, a bit damn cold. Very jealous of the double glazing AB. I've had the electric blankets on for the past 2 nights, why on earth I never used them in the UK I will never know, they really are the dogs whatsits. DS has even nicked the quilt I made last month for his bed ... think I need to make a few more quilts

FECK - just typed a massive thread and said now accepting so lost it. Got Job today but nanny stress. Trial girl great BUT references say she's unreliable. She seems desperate for another go (she called porse in advance of my call upset that she knew her refs were crap) and we are local and she even brought her mum round to meet me today (who seems lovely and normal - receptionist at the Dr I've joined). I like nanny and so do boys (DH1 asked why I was getting him today and not her) BUT DH is not convinced. I have now got big job that is 5 days a week and cannot fuck up on and so does he. I'm a sucker for lame ducks and she's lovely. What to do. I feel like I need to sit down with her parents and stress the importance of her turning up but should I really?

Great news AB! And well done Lolly!

Ok Aucklanders.

When you're awake and have had your morning cuppa and have 5 mins could you possible make me a list of all the places around Auckland that are good to live and which areas to avoid.

We need a pretty straight forward commute into Auckland of under one hour if possible. We'll only have one car to start with so I'll need to be able to walk/use public transport to get to places with a 3yr old and a (by then) nearly 2yr old.

Thank-you and

Welcome to Auckland AE. So is DH going to be CBD? Are u planning on working in the longer term and what do u do (so I know where you may be based) and do you have thoughts on budget?

We are St heliers and I love it. One car. Bus stop at end of road - 20 mins to CBD along waterfront and lands very near to DHs job (and for me outside my office). Very family orientated and all walkable re school, Playgroup but it's not cheap (there has to be a catch).

Buy the where to live in Auckland book. It's very useful.

Oh yes, the book. Forgot you recommended that. Will get right on it.

Yes, to CBD. The job is 30months leading to permanent depending on visas.

I'm a SAHM so will be looking for just a little cafe/restaurant/bar job of some description when we get there.

Budget about 700 a week I reckon. Certainly not much more than that.

Where you live sounds fab, Will definitely look there and see what's available.

Thanks for replying.

OK AE I'd recommend you look at Trade Me rental pages here and search for properties around $700 to see what you could get.

Most of the North Shore is very nice. Up the top end of it (Whangaparoa penisnula/Orewa) you are probably looking at an hour or more commute though in the rush hour. The rest of the Shore you could prob commute in less than an hour to the CBD, though you may be wise to set off quite early in the morning. The Shore also has an express bus lane to the CBD so that may be an option.

Inner suburbs are all nice but not sure what you'd get for $700. Most of east Auckland is nice. Some of south Auckland and west Auckland are not so nice, some bits are fine (I'm in west Auckland, I like the bit we're in ).

Auckland is so big and spread out, it may be a good idea to throw a few suburb names at us and we can always give you our opinions.

We r paying $775 but it's 4 beds. You could get 3 for $700 (just). It's truly lovely here and the commute couldn't be better. Very set up for families and kids with loads of parks and playgroups etc. Glendowie, kohi and st heliers are the areas in the eastern bays. Has a real holiday feel about it.

Mission Bay too in the eastern beaches area

Ok, well you've all given me a few places to start so thank-you.

Ideally we would like 3 beds but could manage with 2 if the area was right.

I'm not going to get too excited about any houses yet as we've still got a while until we're there but it'll be good to get an idea.

Once we're there, we'll pick out a few houses and I'll list the areas so you can tell me the ones not to bother with.

I started with schools tbh and worked out houses round that

Lolly, I had a nanny turn up for an interview who spent a great deal of time thanking me for seeing her despite her previous issues, etc etc. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

She had actually ended up in a relationship with the dh of her previous employer, and the employer had left the marital home with her and the kids still in it. So she was living with the her previous employer's ex and children...

She was lovely though. I hired her. She was great.

I'd be more worried about what they don't tell you.

hi AnxiouslyExcited and everyone else. A good friend just moved to Auckland and here is the summary that I put together for her - it's not quite "Where to live in Auckland" but I think that it is a reasonable summary for starters.

lollystix makes an excellent point, living in Auckland is all about school zones, so you need to take that into account wherever you go.

So here goes...

Auckland can be divided up into 5 main-ish regions.. Central, Eastern Bays (part of central really), North Shore, West Auckland and East Auckland.

Central, obviously, is closest to the CBD. The 'trendy' inner city suburbs are Ponsonby and Freemans Bay (also Grey Lynn, Herne Bay and St Marys Bay). Very cool but an affordable place would likely be quite small and probably no parking.

Parnell is on the other side of the city. Great for shops and stuff but very expensive.

Still very central is Mt Eden. The Mt Eden village is lovely although maybe not quite as trendy as Ponsonby. Still quite exey.

An older and posher bit of Auckland is Remuera - people associate it with snobbery as the most expensive houses in NZ are here, but it is a very nice suburb.

Eastern Bays - Mission Bay, Kohimarama and St Heliers Bay. Very lovely and have a beachy/villagey feel. Some places have lovely views of the harbour. Not quite as central and can be a pain to get to in peak hour as there is only one main road to and from the city.

East Auckland - I wouldn't bother about this unless your job is out this way. Nice but a bit far out. Can provide more info if required. Same with West Auckland really - there are some nice bits but I wouldn't live out there unless there was a reason. Cheap though, so you could probably get a mansion for $700 pw.

North Shore - I haven't lived there but DH is working over there at the moment. We are half considering moving over in a couple of years time as your money goes a bit further (when buying anyway). The main detraction from North Shore is the commute - the Auckland Harbour Bridge can be horrible in the mornings. Probably the nicest suburb is Devonport, but as you can see from a map it is quite isolated. Takapuna is central and popular. Lots of other suburbs on the north shore but I would start with those two.

We live in Mt Eden, albeit in a cheaper part not near the village...

Obviously there are lots of other suburbs, but this should give you a feel. The best website to get an idea of what is out there rent-wise is trademe.co.nz

Auckland is very green so you should have no trouble finding somewhere that is walking distance to a park, and all of the suburbs that I have mentioned have good access to shops.

Hope this helps.

Oops whatshesaid and other westies, hope I didn't sound too dismissive of West Auckland. You probably won't get a mansion there for $700, the original note I wrote for my friend had a bigger budget and I changed the number but not the wording.

Good news AE. Auckland rocks IMHO. (Although I wanted to move to Welly originally.)

Schools in the bays have good reputations which is one reason they are quite popular. The only one to be careful of is Orakei which is decile 2 or 3 I think. Some streets in Mission Bay are zoned for Orakei which makes it less popular for families. I haven't looked into it in enough depth to say if the school should be avoided tbh and there is a bit of prejudice against the Maori in Orakei. I use the community centre in that area and it has some great stuff for kids. I'm starting a class at the Marae soon.

DD has a horrible cold- third in four weeks and I'm feeling sleep deprived. Is this normal for almost three year olds or should I blame my house?

Lolly- what is the deal if it doesn't work out with the nanny? Can you just fire her? NZ seems to have quite odd employment law so it might be owrth checking with Porse.

I'm just going to weigh in in favour of the north shore. We love it out here. We heard horrible tales of the commute - but honestly DH finds it fine. He gets the bus & is in the city in 45 minutes. He took the car yesterday and it took him about 40 minutes to get home - in bad traffic.

The commute certainly isn't any worse (in fact it's a lot better in many ways) than commutes we have done in Dublin, London & Brussels.

You'd get plenty for your 700 here - we're paying 600 for a nice 4 bedroom in a nice area.

It's allright, rodent, there are probably suburbs of west Auckland you could rent the entire suburb for $700 pw...no, I exaggerate, but there are certainly bits out west I wouldn't like to live in, our bit is pretty nice though. It takes dh 25 mins to drive to the CBD but he leaves by about 7.45 to ensure it doesn't take him longer.

Good summary but I see you missed out south Auckland

Oh dear, that was an honest oversight, don't read too much into my omission of South Auckland. I would categorise South Auckland the same as I would East - I am sure that there are some nice parts, but if you don't have a reason to live there then I probably wouldn't.

I think the reason people go further out (be it north, south, east or west) is usually price. We got by the sea/decent area/very green/near the Waitakeres for under 400K which would have got us nothing closer to the city. The downside is not-so-good high schools and some slightly dodgy (but not terrible) areas close-ish.

South Auckland is a big area. I know a lot of folk who live in Howick and love it. The high school there has a great rep too. You get more house and space for your money there. Here in the bays there has been a lot of subdivision and many plots are 300 sqm- one plot divided into three for town houses which doesn't leave much garden. Most kiwi's are looking for more land. I think British folk like St H cos it has a proper village centre.

I like it cos I've come from a very urban area in the UK. However if you like living in the countryside the eastern bays are not for you. It's pure suburbia.

Lolly- this house might suit you:

raywhite.co.nz/KOH21188