Moving to Auckland-help!

[Stereolab]

Hello
I have read through some helpful posts on NZ but thought I would take the plunge with my own panic induced thread. My partner has accepted a job in Auckland. All being well we will arrive in September and are plannning to stay for two years minimum. I have done lots-perhaps too much -on-line research and am feeling by turns excited and terrified! We have two boys aged 4 and 2. Our eldest is 5 in October so schools are a major factor in deciding where to live. The job is in Albany. I am thinking at looking for a rental (initially) in Milford, Torbay or Whangaparaoa (sp?!) Milford because Milford school looks just gorgeous. Torbay because commute would be short and Whang because of school (Whangaparaoa Primary), leisure centre, sense of space and Playcentre (friend in Christchurch highly recommends). `i am aware that many schools are zoned and looking on Trade Me have been a bit concerned about a lack of decent rentals in the areas we like. My aim is to be able to walk to school. Any thoughts, or even better personal experiences on these areas or schools would be much appreciated.
Many thanks for any help or advice.

I'm South of Auckland so can't help with the areas themselves. The only thing I can say is we have friends who live in Whangaparoa and the traffic in and out can be horrendous by Auckland standards (but probably nothing compared to London/some UK standards so I guess it depends on what you're used to and why you're coming). I guess alot would also depend on the times your dh would be commuting. Our friends catch the ferry into town and then walk or catch the train out to where they work most days to miss the traffic. Not an option for getting to Albany. Renting to start with is a great way of getting to know areas. We rented when we first came over and ended up living somewhere we hadn't even considered before we came.

You can look school reports up on the govt site google 'ero'. Most are and it seems a recent thing, very zoned so if you find one you like do look for a rental in the zoned area.

Good luck with the move. We arrived in a September with our summer clothes as dh who's a kiwi had kept going on about how warm it would be and froze our * off. It;s the season of layers so bring a variety of clothes in your cases. Fleeces for when the clouds are out and summer tops for underneath for when the clouds move and you break out into a sweat

Hello

Thanks for your helpful weather tip! Will be sure to cram a few cardies in the cases. We were hoping for two summers on the trot-but perhaps that was overly optimistic!

Are your friends in Whangaparaoa happy there (apart from the traffic probs)?