Don

1. We just bought a house here.

2. Cheaper than the other 4 big cities.

3. Four or five long golden/ white sandy beaches less than 5 mnutes away.

4. Dunedin is full of students (1 in 5) so has a lively atmosphere and PUBS!!!

5. Home of the very rare yellow eyed penguin.

deedee

Dunedin is brill and its in the oh so friendly cheap south.....and its only a couple of hours from the nicest bit of NZ
Can highly recomend it.

debsy

Hiya Don

Hows it going? Hope that you and the family are well. Is Mrs Don settling in ok?

regards
Debs

Watt Dabney

Bloody hell Don, I can't keep up with you, I thought you were up round Auckland way?!

Aaaah well glad to see you are settling in well. All the best to you and the Don clan.

Paula

GetMeOutOfHere

Crikey Don, you must have covered every inch of NZ

I too thought you were going for North of Auckland, whats happened to change your mind?

Fill us in on the new house then?

At last you've settled somewhere, you'l now really start to enjoy yourselves, especially after all the travelling.

Look up Southerner(Blair) he's there now, he's also trying to find a place.

Keep in touch Don

jajpe

Hi Don,
Have to say you've shocked me too! What does Dunedin have to lure you away from the ultimate Paradise up north!!

Please tell us more - we are all intrigued but really glad that you've found what sounds like home this time!

jandjuk

check out the Catlins Don. A very little known gem of NZ coastline. great wildlife - dolphins regularly hang out in one the bays there.

chippy

Whadaya want go and live in a place like that for? You just keep messing up don't you pf.

Don

Great, thanks! #1 starts kindergarten tomorrow and #2 is nearly walking (at just 10 months). M'dear wife is putting up with my foibles as usual and likes Dunedin too!

Don

Well, we were very serious about the Warkworth area but decided we were being offered a lot of rubbish houses for far too much money (eg tumbledown bach on just 600 sq metres in Snell's Beach for NZD400K) so decided to keep some powder dry for later, ie buy cheap in a place we like and go back to Warkworth area a bit later with more dough (and probably build).

This way (rather than renting) we should qualify for the IRRV through the family home route, not a bad idea as my wife's mother is oldish and might need us to stay in Europe during the 'wrong' months for IRRV purposes.

Don

Lookingh forward to my beers in QT Deedee...

Don

Yep, I make it nearly 15000 kms in 7 weeks, a bit tough on the kids and my wife was fed up too but I must say I like truckin' it in the badass 4WD. See above, we just decided on an area we liked where money went further in housing for now as you may recall we're back in Europe for 6 months next year so won't be getting permanent jobs just yet.

New house: modest, mid NZD200s, 3 bed, brick, classic inside (built 1920s and all the original plaster ceiling fittings, rimu polished floors, solid rimu kitchen etc, wood burner real fire, stain glass windows etc - ie a real Edwardian feel but modernised. Needs redecorating, we'll restore the solid wood doors which have been overpainted but otherwise tidy throughout incl nice, safe garden + garage.) Sitting on 700 sq metres with Ocean view from front garden and harbour view from back garden.

Don

A lot going for Dunedin that doesn't get mentioned! Having said that, we generally liked more or less everywhere we went NZ-wise in at least some areas of town/ city and although I'm not a city boy at heart, even Auckland wasn't too far away from Warkworth area which was our ultimate choice.

It came down to: some disappointment at losing dream #1 (11.5 acres, Leigh, beautiful mature garden full of birdlife and a modest house that could be lived in for now then sold for removal later when we'd build Don Towers, sold just before we saw it); and losing dream #2 (8000 sq metres, Sandspit, rubbish house for demolition but one of the best building sites you'll ever find - crazy price for 2003 as the owners wouldn't sell it to me pre-auction for NZD500K+ though at auction it topped off last week at 455K and luckily we came to our senses as the site was really only worth 400+ - though in 20 years time who would care? Still, it would have meant big cashflow problems for us so we're happy to have missed that one for now). So 2 dashed dreams, we put in place plan B which is a holding measure while we decide on our permanency in NZ and get the IRRV and hopefully jobs in due course.

Don

Will do. One of the areas we drove through, liked but didn't see enough of and will revisit. I love the NZ wildlife and so does my wife! Another penguin visit scheduled for tomorrow plus we want to do the albatrosses too.

Don

Hey Chippy! You should try NZ, your skills are very much in demand just about everywhere.

Dunedin - nobody talks with a Scottish accents despite all they say in the guidebooks and I haven't seen a kilt yet.