starfish

Hi all,
I have a job in Timaru. We have heard from immigration and our PR has been approved, just waiting for the passports.

We would like any advice or recommendations on the following would be useful

Areas to rent/live in or around Timaru to Ashburton
Primary schools
Facilities (ie shops/sports)

We have tried to research as much as possible online and by emailing friends in NZ, but would appreciate your comments. We have found this forum really useful over the last 8 months.

Thanks for your help.

southerner

Hi

I'm not local to that area, but have travelled through there a bit.

Timaru to Ashburton is about a 50min drive, on fairly straight roads and is a very agricultural area. Main towns apart from Timaru and Ashburton are Temuka and Geraldine. Geraldine is probably the nicest, it reminds me a bit of Rangiora (where plenty of Brits have settled nr Christchurch) but a bit smaller.
Its about 20min from Timaru if I recall correctly.

Truth is, depending on what you are after, then it might be that Timaru itself is the best option. It seems a pretty well to do town, has a beach and some cafes, decent schools I think, and is well located between Christchurch (2 hrs), Dunedin (2.5 hrs) and Tekapo (1.5 hrs). If you are into skiing it is pretty ideal, and some of the best scenery in NZ is not far away in the Mackenzie country.

All the best in deciding - and remember, you can and should rent first to get a proper feel for a place.

lapsed kiwi

I used to live in Ashburton. I wouldn't recommend commuting there for a job in Timaru; it's a nice enough place but has nothing to offer that Timaru hasn't and the drive (about 80km) is quite boring - and will cost you about $30 in petrol every day.
I always liked Timaru, it is a good size town, has a nice beach and more interesting geography than the Canterbury plains. I'd live there if you're working there.

kiwinow

HI there
I'm living in Timaru, so ask away. Most people here would consider Ashburton too far to commute. Temuka is about 15 minutes but it's a small town, and not so fantastic, unless you want a country property. Geraldine is about 30 mins - very pretty and a nicer climate than Timaru in summer, but cold and snowy in winter and inland so not near the beach. Timaru itself is OK. About 40,000 population. A small beach, cafes, art gallery etc. It's about 1 1/2 hours to a ski field and your kids, depending on the school will likely have the opportunity to learn to ski with the school, which is much cheaper than taking your family if you have a large brood. It's also about 2 hours to Tekapo, pretty lake and outdoor ice skating.

Two of my kids go to Bluestone School which is a good primary school. Two of them go to Mountainview High School which is fine. Timaru Boy's High School is old school, used to have a good reputation but not so flash these days. There is a Timaru Girls High and Craighead High which is a private girl's school and a Catholic school Roncalli College which seems to be part private and part govt funded.

HIghfield and Gleniti are probably the better areas to live in Timaru, but like anywhere you have pockets of good and bad housing in most suburbs. The southern suburbs aren't all that wonderful and I'd stay entirely away from Marchwiel as there is a bit of gang activity there these days.

Good that you have a job. That's the first step.

starfish

Thanks for all your comments we appreciate the knowledge of the area you guys have. We are expecting my job to find us accommodation initially, but we are all excited about our move to NZ. My son is more concerned about the container (his toys) being lost at sea?!!!

The activities on offer sound good. I'm a bit concerned about the gang activity as my job will involve travelling around Timaru?!!

Looking forward to a NZ winter?!!

planty

Hi from sunny (ish!) Timaru!
As Kiwinow has said, Timaru has got pretty much everything you need. We rented for the first 6 months, which gave us time to get familiar with the different areas in Timaru before we took the plunge to buy.
Lots of good schools here; most have their own websites which give you a flavour of what they're like before you arrive. We just popped into a few schools when we got here; the school principals were all happy to show us around.
There are a huge range of clubs and groups to get involved in, and given the relatively small population, I would say that the sports facilities here are excellent. We spent lots of sunny afternoons at Maori Park Outdoor Pool this summer.
Gang activity is fairly low key here, compared to other areas of NZ. I would say that Timaru is a pretty safe place to live (local paper reports hoses stolen from garden sheds as major crime!).
It was great when our container arrived from the UK - it really was just like Christmas for the children when they were able to pull out their toys from the boxes.
Feel free to PM us if you have any questions you think we can help with.

Best wishes,
Debbie.

kiwinow

True. I didn't mean to imply that there are ghettos where you might be shot as you drive through. Most of the time unless you mix in their circles you'll never be aware of the gangs. If anything it's the young gang associates that have caused trouble recently, so there are areas you wouldn't want to live at night. But if you don't have teenagers you'll probably never be aware of such toubles, and it's as safe as anywhere to bring up kids.

If accomodation is provided you'll have time to drive around and suss out the areas. House prices have plateaued here after rising steeply for a year or two.

beaudixon

Depending on the age of your son, the Toy Library over here is great to borrow toys, thats what we did til the container arrived. Was great as i had 2 and 4yr olds when we arrived and there was so much to choose from.