Anyone in Hamilton or Cambridge, NZ?

[thesleepyprincess]

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend who is moving out to that area in a few weeks. She would love any info on anything really...schools, renting a house, what to avoid if necessary!!

Many thanks in advance.

PS her husband starts a job there, she is a SAHM with three DC's aged 9, 7 and 5.

hello thesleepyprincess. i have no specific advice on the schools in the area, I'm in a different city. But you could warn your friend to pack her winter woollies! Some of my relatives live there and it's surprisingly cold at this time of year, much colder than Auckland!

Hi

Dh is from Hamilton so I know it to visit (MIL and other friends/relatives) but havn't lived there. IMO Cambridge is lovely and very commutable if your dh will be working in Hamilton.

Some good websites would be:

Barfoot and Thompson for real estate
Trade me - real estate
www.realestate.co.nz/rental

If I were renting I would avoid any areas around the university, MIL lived in such an area and it could get quite rowdy - real estate agents will be able to advise you.
MIL also lived in St Andrews which seemed quiet, nice, close to town, anywhere along the river is lovely.

The hardest but one of my key things would be the house itself it can get very cold and VERY damp in Hamilton and the housing here is notoriously badly insulated and cold at the best of times. Newish houses can be 'leaky homes' while old villas wind tunnels. Check out whether the rental has a HRV system (google HRV), enough fires (they may need to buy plug in heaters for bedrooms). As you drive down from Auckland you can see the mist/fog from the Waikato hanging in the air and when we've slept over at friends the bed linen has been damp.

For schools my friends chldren go to Southwell but that's private, your best bet is to look at the government ERO site:

www.ero.govt.nz

This will give you some indication as to how well any school did at its last review. The school decile relates to the area (socio-economic etc) the school is in and the amount of 'donations' (non compulsory fees!) you are expected to pay. Decile 1 being lowest and 10 highest.

HTH, if you want anything specific let me know and I'll ask DH if no Hamiltonians come forward.

Thanks whiteflame!

And Sibble - many thanks for your detailed reply. I know my friend is worried about finding a house and a school so your info is very helpful.

I'll forward all this to her now - and try and get her to join MN!

Hi,
totally agree with stay away from the bit around the university!
We used to live in Cambridge and Hamilton pre-children, Cambrige was a strange place - very small town in its outlook. very pretty and some fab shops, but a strange wee place all the same, big income gap between all the race horsey type people and at the other end the people who lived in cambridge cos it was cheaper than Hamilton.
People were hard to meet (although obviously may be easier with children?). We liked Hamilton better.

For kids there is probably way more going on in Hamilton than in Cambridge in terms of activities, zoo, museum, botanic gardens... even if they are all a little on the smaller side.

Have several friends in Hamilton - Horsham Downs seems to be the primary school with the best reputation (2 x friends kids go there and another friend teaches there). But have to be in zone to go there (ie living in the right bit of Hamilton).

Hamilton has lots of good cafes, definitely pack your woollies and check out the type of heating in any rental house before you sign anything!!!!

Update - my friend would like to be the North side of Hamilton as her DH will be commuting to Auckland.

Any new info with regards to this?

Thanks!

Depends just how north I guess! Grandview Heights is a north-west suburb that is quite new, and still being developed. It's a nice place, and i think St Andrews is fairly north too.

Further north still (and out of hamilton proper) is a small town Ngaruawahia, which i mention as i know there's a high school there, you drive past it on the main road (ngaruawahia school)

Thanks!

Ngaruawahia really wouldn't be my first choice I have to say. DS1 plays league there sometimes and we do know people from there but it is a very Maori area with alot of social issues. The river running through it is lovely but it's a bit of a one horse town. Out of interest why are they choosing to live in Hamilton and commute to Auckland. It's a LONG commute. There is no/extremely limited public transport and the traffic in rush hour in and out of Auckland is not fun. We are 30 mins off peak south of Auckland dh leaves at 6am to miss the traffic into Auckland and leaves either before 4.30 or after 6 to miss to coming home. There are alot of really nice places, south of AUckland, around the Bombays is rural, reasonable priced property - Ararimu, Bombay, Ramarama.We are in Whitford, a bit pricey but wasn't as dear when we bought.

For Hamilton, St Andrews is nice and very close to the motorway. Other friends live in Gordonton which is rural and further North, their children go to the local school/high school. They seem to do heaps of sport as well.

I've driven from between Cambridge and Auckland a couple of times recently- it's taken 2.5 plus hours each way and no way could I do it every day. But there are loads of good places to live closer to Auckland. I live in Auckland proper and really enjoy it- all the blue and green makes it feel very different to UK cities. But it is expensive. Maybe they should come and have a look before settling on an area?

No way in the world would I live in cambridge or hamilton and commute to Auckland. DH did just that for six months - took 2.5 hours each way - after about a month he ended up staying in auckland for most of the week as the commute was just a complete 'mare. There is no public transport between hamilton and akld that would get you there for work.

DH Left home at 6.30, didn't get home til 8 usually. Doing that with 3 kids - eek!
He was on a six month contract, and when that became permanent we sold our house and moved to auckland. It is just not feasible as a daily commute at all.

Would also depend where in akld her husband was based, if he was anywhere north of Manukau (where DH was commuting to) you could probably add another 30 or 60 minutes to that time fairly easily.

So the answer to your friends question really is a question as to where in akld her husband will be working.
Thre are some very nice bits of auckland, and some really nice bits that are out of the city itself but close enough for commuting. So she wouldn't have to live right in Auckland if she didn't want to!

Thanks so much for all this info, everyone. I'm forwarding everything to my friend.

I had misunderstood my friend - her husband will only need to go to Auckland very occasionally. So it all makes much more sense! Sorry

I grew up in Cambridge so how bizarre for me to see it come up on MN!

I went to Cambridge East Primary and last year my mother made a passing comment about how it wasn't very good academically. Mind you that was 20 years ago so could have changed by now! The kids I went to school with were shits, but like I said that was 20 years ago. The intermediate school was really good though (it might be Cambridge middle school now). I left before I got to high school, but my Dad taught there for 18 years. I do know it's reputation went down down after we left, but hopefully it's much better now.

I loved having space to roam around,as on a bike the country is super super close.

Also in recent years the road links have been improved so Hamilton and Auckland are so much closer now. Although I was guttered when they made the motorway bypass Pokeno. Traffic jams through the (still unpopulated) Bombay Hills (sp?) and an ice cream in Pokeno were always the highlight of a trip to Auckland!

Sorry if this is a bit long and I really hope I haven't put you off. My oldest friend still lives there and I am still in contact with her. It is a funny little town, but it's where I'm from and I'm sure you'll find your feet there.

There is a great park at lake Te Koutu.

Where in Cambridge are you moving to?

Opps didn't see the bit about wanting to be North side of Hamilton! Well my post will just reinforce that then!