jajpe

Just looking for suggestions re. good areas for housing about 20 mins to 1/2 an hour out of Christchurch. we like the idea of all the facilities of the city but we have never been city people and would prefer a lifestyle property with a bit of space but not too far out.


we will be on holiday there in april and would like to have a look at some potential areas to live, so it would help a lot to narrow it down with some suggestions if people could tell us good/bad areas etc.

we would also appeciate suggestions for the must sees/don't bothers in the south island for when we are there on holiday. we will have about 10 days in christchurch but plan to tour the surrounding areas as well.

thanks for your help in advance

Watt Dabney

hi

We live in Kaiapoi which is about 25mins north of Christchurch. Having not been here very long my knowledge is limited but i'll tell you what i know. I like Kaiapoi its big enough for 2 supermarkets, a library and a macdonalds etc but still small enough for a sense of community. Oxford is a bit further say 40 mins from Chch but lovely views of the mountains and lots of lifestyle properties. Rangiora is a bit further than Kaiapoi but is bigger and a bit rougher(so i'm told), Woodend is also a bit further than Kaiapoi but is a lot smaller plenty of large plot properties but a bit of a drive-through town. Don't know much about south of Chch except there is a prison in Rolleston which we found a bit offputting!
I belive JWW lives in the southern suburbs and has done for sometime so maybe you could PM them for their opinion.

Paula

jajpe

thanks a lot paula. we've seen all the places you mentioned on the map and it certainly helps when we can put a bit of character to them. much appreciated. i think i will try and get JWW'S opinion too as we had thought of maybe halswell or lincoln direction as possibilities too.

thanks meantime

garrisondamn

Hope this helps.

We have just come back from our fact-finding holiday in NZ. Love it!! you will too, no doubt.
The South island is very beautiful (not to say the North isn't, just not as spectacular) We basically went the whole way around the South Island starting in Amberley, (we have an email friend there from this forum, which is why we went there for Xmas dinner straight from Picton)about 40 mins north of Ch/church, very nice, quiet, maybe a bit too quiet for you?

Visit "Brew Moon", a resturant/brewery, just out of Amberley on the right as you go out of the town (south), very good, (tell 'em the English guy with Nigel (the owners friend) who was limping sent you!!)

Then on to Timaru, again very nice, Caroline Bay especially!

Then we headed for Queenstown, a must. It's a very nice town, but be warned, take plenty of money if you intend to live it up!!
The street luge at the top of the gondella ride is good, but not as good as the one in Rotorua! Pig & whistle pub is good & reasonably priced.

The drive to Queenstown is breathtaking, turquoise alpine lakes (lake tekapo) with snow capped mountains as a backdrop!!

West coast is nice, but apparently a bit on the damp side!
Stay at the "Formally The Blackball Hilton" in Blackball, North of Greymouth, it's an experience & very friendly!!

Nelson, at the top of the South Island is very nice, but motoeka to the west is a lot smaller & better access to the Abel Tasman National Park. Which is where Kaiteriteri beach is (brilliant!) water sports & sea kayaking which is recommended.

Take the Alpine Pacific Highway (1) down to Christchurch ,its lovely & stop in Kaikora, which is also very nice.

Watch out for Fur Seals on the APH (1) just before Kaikora, there were dozens of them! We stopped the car & watched them for about half hour, they were very close & it's totally free. They organise Seal watching trips in Kaikora, at a cost, so pull the car off the road & watch the free show from the side of the road.

So we started in Christchurch, went all the way around & left from there too!

Only major places we missed were Dunedin & Invercargil, not by choice, just couldn't fit it all in! It was all very nice, obviously there are good & bad areas, but we didn't see anything as bad as British bad!

Good Luck, have a great trip!!

jajpe

thanks a million alan for the detailed reply. lots of uesful tips in there for our holiday. it's just about 10 weeks until we go now and we really can't wait. have you been able to make any decision from your trip re emigration etc or maybe you were definately going anyway. if so where would you like to settle, although i suppose these things are more often than not dictated by the old job situation. also were there any things that surprised you or that you found greatly different to what you had expected?
sorry about all the questions but i don't want to go with my rose tinted glasses on if i can help it!!
if you have time to reply i'd appreciate the answers

Watt Dabney

.

we would also appeciate suggestions for the must sees/don't bothers in the south island for when we are there on holiday. we will have about 10 days in christchurch but plan to tour the surrounding areas as well.



Hamner springs is v.nice. Akaroa is very beautiful. Canterbury museum in central Chch is good (and free!) The International Antarctic centre is ok but pricey and our 2 kids ( 7 & 4 ) were not very interested in the facts and figures we were reading to them from the displays! but the ride on the Hagglund (all terrain antarctic vehicle thingy) is excellent and you can do this without doing the Antarctic centre.


Paula

jajpe

thanks paula!
sounds like we will not be short of things to do.
can i just ask you have ever been to Nelson? it looks and sounds super and i know there is a hosp there but just wonder if we would be better off at christchurch for education etc. also work for paul which is obviously going to be important too. the scenery looks tempting although that seems to be the case just about anywhere.

anyway how are you settled these days! are the kids still enjoying it or are they getting anxious to get to school now? do you feel home sick much and if so any tips for coping with it? i worry about missing my parents a lot but i imagine to maybe write down some stuff about reasons for leaving might help. just wondering..... i hope you have no regrets

Watt Dabney

Hi Shirley,
We have never been to Nelson. We haven't travelled in NZ much at all. It would of been kind of nice to travel round for a look then pick a place but Ian came to a job (landed on Thurs started work on Mon!).The security of a job to come to was good though, you can't have everything.
We are all still enjoying it v.much. Kids love it they are keen to start school to make some friends. They have been off since end of Oct! I am not homesick at all! sometimes I feel a little guilty about that. I miss my mum a bit but have found a web cam and yahoo instant messenger very good. I normally catch either her or my dad on line most mornings or evenings, so have chatted to one or both most days. Ians dad does not have a computer but has gone to my mums for a web cam session. Also my brother & wife are coming in March and my mum,dad and dads wife are coming in April. They booked this before we left so it was nice to say see you in 5 months and not goodbye!
Anonemouse's tip for homesickness is also right on the money! After tea last night we went for a walk along the beach (5 min drive from our house) and we were both in agreement we could never go back to the UK. There is a buskers festival on in Chch at the mo. We were going to go but no babysitter! Its nice to be able to benifit from being close to a major city. We used to live not much further from B'ham & Worcester in the Uk but popping into either was a nightmare, traffic,parking etc. No such problems here 'pop' into Chch quite often completely stress free!

Paula

JWW

I did say you'd love it here, not bad walking along the beach in the evening when it's still nearly 30c is it?

garrisondamn

We visited NZ for a month & already had our residents visas, so yes we knew we were going. It's just a question of where to settle.
After saying all those nice things about the South Island, it's looking more likely we will initially go to Warkworth area. It's about an hours drive north of Auckland. A lovely area & there work in my trade & experience around the area. It's also a very pretty area. Orewa (about half hour out of Auckland) is also tempting! But having said that, we may change our minds again, we're not 100% yet!!

What surprised us?
Hmm, people are friendlier than we thought they would be. They seem to go out of their way to be helpful, nothing is too much trouble!

Pull into a petrol station & if it's not too busy, they will serve the petrol, check the oil & wash your screen!! Can you imagine that happening in the UK these days?

The driving is not half as bad as people make out, not compared to where I live anyway, but they do follow too close, pull to the side & let 'em pass!
Oh yeah, hardly any motorways (hooray!) major roads are well surfaced, single carriageway & interesting scenery. Some of the smaller roads may turn into unsealed surface (gravel).

If you are landing in Auckland, don't be put off by the some of the places you drive through from the airport to the city, it's not that bad, but they not all like that!

If you get (or have ) a NZ bank account (we have) EFTPOS is a great & convenient payment method!

If you drive at night, watch out for the Possums, they are everywhere!! The Kiwis aim for them, as they are a pest! Oh & the insects (at night) after a 3 hour night time drive, you couldn't recognise what model our car was, there were that many dead bugs all over it!

If you are driving out there, be sure to understand the strange (but effective) left turn rule. If you are turning left into another road, you have to give way to anything that wants to turn right (from the other direction) into the same road. Not sure if I have explained that right, but I'm sure someone will correct me!

Anything else I can help with let me know.

jajpe

thanks for all the replies!

glad for your reassurance re. the driving alan. it is something that has concerned me a lot. i can't really imagine it being any worse than it has been in NI recently though. i think there have been something like nineteen fatalities on our roads this year so far, includung a local mum and her 7 year old daughter!

thanks to paula too for your tips and tempting me with warm evening strolls on the beach. i can see myself now.............

muppetking

MMMMMM. Did you ask the petrol station workers whether they were happy?
The driving is not as bad? Even Cantabrians are happy to admit they Christchurch drivers are the worst in NZ.
Some of the roads in Christchurch, local roads that is, not Highways, are appalling.
You pay for every single EFTPOS transaction!!
The left turn rule means that you end up looking 3 ways instead of 2...VERY effective!
Touring is not the same as living.

garrisondamn

Yes I know its not the same as living there, I was trying to give a small insight as to what to expect!!
The petrol station attendants may not be happy, they seemed happy to serve us, & they dont have to work there!!

Yes I know you pay for every EFTPOS transaction, that is a bit nasty!
The left turn is strange, but everyone seemed to know what was going on, it would never work in the UK, people would start getting shot! Road rage is an epidemic in UK!

The MAIN roads in UK are utter shite!, you'd think with all the road tax we pay, it would much better, tyres & suspension get a severe pounding.

You may have lived in Britain, if so, you'll know whatI mean.

Don't carve me up for trying to give a little help!
Sorry I spoke!

Watt Dabney

[QUOTE]Originally posted by muppetking
MMMMMM. Did you ask the petrol station workers whether they were happy?
The driving is not as bad? Even Cantabrians are happy to admit they Christchurch drivers are the worst in NZ.
Some of the roads in Christchurch, local roads that is, not Highways, are appalling.


My husband has ridden motorcyles all his adult life all over the UK (despatch rider in his youth) and is now riding in NZ he says NZ roads/drivers are much better than the UK, some of the minor roads are not sealed but overall they are better, less potholes. The driving standard we have found to be fine, they are possibly less courteous (ie letting you in/out) but with the volume of traffic being so considerably less than the UK it really not neccessary.


You pay for every single EFTPOS transaction!!

We don't, negotiate a better deal with your bank.


The left turn rule means that you end up looking 3 ways instead of 2...VERY effective!

Unless you have neck problems I do not see why this shoud be an issue!



Paula

jajpe

Don't feel too bad Alan i appreciate your help - and everyone elses too!

Also i have a question for Muppetking although I'm almost scared to ask, but i would really appreciate your objective opinion on high schools around Christchurch. before you start i know that you believe the education sytem to be much inferior in general to that of the U.K but if you had to choose are there any high schools either public or private preferably public) whose reputations stand above others.

we realise that at the ages our kids are at (10,9 and 7) we really need to be thinking in terms of the next school stage when choosing where to settle, so that we are well placed for secondary education. we had liked the look of some houses around the Lincoln area but then then the Lincoln high school website is not so detailed as some of the others and wondered if you could offer an opinion from what you have learnt there. it's o'k, i've braced myself for whatever's coming!!!

many thanks