kiwis- help! Moving to NZ

[Dunediner]

Moving to Dunedin in January. Can't wait :-)

Any advice on good suburbs to live (rent) in, good primary schools, good music teachers, good orchestras/choirs for adults or kids (I know that last one is a bit of a tall order)...?

We like the studenty life (cafes, bookshops, cycling) though would assume we'd want a car as well.

Also who are reputable house dealers? We plan to rent for a while, while we find something to buy.

I was there an age ago, at university! From memory the "best" areas for families are Maori Hill and Helensburgh (as with most places in NZ cities, the expensive real estate is on hills). South Dunedin not great. not sure about agents but www.realestate.co.nz is usually. a good place to start.

make sure you pack warm clothes!

Thanks. Got plenty of warm clothes - have been living in an unheated C18th cottage in the fens for the last few years, so know what the house temperatures will be like in winter!

Do you know if the university has reasonable music that academics can join? or do you go to Auckland if you want to study music?

here student choir, samples on the right

here

city choir

here
male choir

They seem to have a few. I like Dunedin. Definitely studenty type place

if you join a choir, I would ask there about music teacher recommendations and also about children's choirs. They should be the people in the know

Maori Hill definitely best place to live. Is the older established bit of Dunedin. South Dunedin is very grim - avoid.
The better schools are generally those closer to the city centre.
Take all your warm clothes (and then a few more). Dunedin has looooong winter, and short summer. But is only couple of hours to central otago with its blissful looong summers and gorgeous mountains and vineyards and lakes. and less than that to other coastal bits that are a bit warmer!!

Dunedin has good cafes!

OMG....Maori Hill looks AWESOME: 150000 pounds for a 3 bedroom house with dining room, plaster ceilings, hardwood floors/doors/doorframes.........

Seriously, that doesn't buy a one-room bedsit in the crappiest part of Cambridge! We had thought we would never be able to buy a house!!!

other parts of NZ very much more expensive though

Wow never thought I would see a message on here about Dunedin. I grew up in Dunedin and hope to return there in the next year or so once I have twisted hubby's arm gently persuaded my DH.

It is a great city to live in and a great place to bring up kids IMHO.

One posh part is the area between Maori Hill and Belleknowes...although it doesn't take long to be in less salubrious areas. There are lots of lovely streets leading off George Street where there are massive, lovely houses with easy access to town/Uni and have mixes of people living there from students, families and professionals. Also, in Winter you can just slide down the ice into town!! ha ha

The main student area is North Dunedin, best to avoid right by the University. Anything past the Botanical gardens heading up North East Valley is fine.

Do look at South Dunedin, St Clair is lovely. Tainui and Musselburgh very family orientated but not posh at all. St Clair has some lovely houses, very easy access to the beach, salt water pool, and has some lovely cafes. There are certain streets in St Kilda that are lovely too.

If you wanted more of a community feel you could try the Peninsula (Broad Bay etc). Bit of a long drive though and might not be so great if you do lots of things in 'town'.

There are plenty of great suburbs to live in in Dunedin, and the great thing is you are never too far away from the centre of town (unless you want to live a bit further out).

Sorry I can't help you out on the music part, I am not musical at all!

Check out www.ero.govt.nz for school information. Watch out for decile rating, this is not how good the school is, it is a calculation of socio economic profile and income of school area and can be misleading (although probably best to stay away from decile 1-3 schools). Read the ERO reports.

Try www.trademe.co.nz for property, it has streetview which is great as you can get a real feel for the neighbourhood. Google earth is your friend.

Honestly, it is such a lovely city. I can imagine some people would go mad there after the UK it will seem small - but for 120,000 people it has some amazing amenities.

Winters are cold and be prepared for houses NOT being insulated, I am a true Southerner as I hate central heating over here and can't wait to open a window everywhere I go! You just cope by putting on a few extra layers.

Very jealous of you right now!!!!

oh no not sure why my strike didn't work!!

Yay! :-) nice to hear from a real Dunediner (and from the others - thanks to all).

What's Ravensbourne like? Looks nice and close to the university, as well as the boat club (we like rowing) and on the bike track (we like cycling).

We don't like central heating much either, being from Melbourne/Adelaide originally so used to bloody freezing houses in winter.... if not particularly enamoured of bloody freezing houses after the last few winters in the UK with frozen pipes!

Thinking of buying a cheap house and then spending up big to insulate it properly (german style foam stuff & cladding; double glazing, etc). Would this be considered strange/impossible? or is it merely regarded as unnecessary ?

I actually grew up in Ravensbourne, I loved it as a kid. It is kind of an acquired taste though. You need to get a house in the right position, sun can be tricky - fine in summer but winter would be hard with little sun. There are also great views of the harbour which is spectacular on a calm day. We used to see pods of dolphins jumping up the harbour from our house, cruise ships coming in and out (although not as many come right up the harbour anymore).

There isn't as much of a community feel to Ravensbourne, not sure why but I think it is because there are fewer and fewer amenities there now. Having said that there is a primary school, I loved going to school there, felt like a little country school. Not sure if even the local pub is still open.
It is indeed a short cycle to the Uni, the cycle track is quite new but a much needed addition as it can be quite scary cycling with huge lorries (holding containers and smelly sheep) passing you on the main road into town. There is also a fertiliser works in Ravensbourne which can let out a bit of a pong on occasion, not sure how toxic it is, hope not too much as there is a rugby club right beside it!!!!

Regarding insulating properly, it is a bit of a catch 22, worth doing it to keep heating costs down and keep warm!! BUT not sure many kiwis would appreciate the investment, in UK that might add to a property, not sure it would be the case in Ravensbourne. Houses are fairly average (few very nice ones but that is such a small market) so not sure if you would reap the rewards of the investment. Having said that I haven't lived there for a few years so things may have changed.

There a couple of houses on trade me in Ravensbourne.

is a good example of a Ravy house with views www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-me-property/Residential-property/Houses-for-sale/auction-272498958.ht m

Hope that helps.

Good example of a ravy house with views

Hope the link is working, am a bit useless!