blackburn lass

Hi,

OH has possibility of job in Leigh, nth Auckland. This seems a small town so have been looking at close by Warksworth or Wellsford. Anyone live around there and tell me anything about it? Especially schools. Is it a nice place to live? Got any suggestions on other towns close to Leigh that are commutable?

Thanks in advance

Dawn X

lapsed kiwi

Leigh is a nice (very small) town with great sea views and good water access via the river. (popular boat launching spot). The Sawmill pub is very good for food and is family friendly
Wellsford is a rural service centre and IMHO is a bit of a dump.
Warkworth has a very nice feel to it, a good range of essential shops, banks etc. It has a nice park and a boardwalk along the river. There is definitely a school there - not so sure about Leigh
The other place would be Matakana - very trendy these days with weekly farmers' market, vineyards and a new cinema. Quite an artsy feel to the place but seems friendly. Again, there is a primary school there. Not much bigger than Leigh but much more going on and feels less isolated probably.
Omaha is full of yuppy holiday houses and Audi-driving Aucklanders with too much money - best avoided apart from a great beach
The other place is Snell's Beach - I don't know much about it but it has shops and a reasonable population and is in a beautiful part of the country - Mahurangi Regional Park.
There will be some very good deals renting and buying houses because there are a lot of second homes in that area and many people will probably be offloading them
My advice would be to get a holiday let for 4-6 weeks (negotiate a good deal out of peak season) and explore thoroughly before committing to anywhere.
HTH

pricklykina

I love leigh. My friend's mum is living there at the mo...beautiful.
Has a primary school, a dairy, the sawmill and a very very decent cafe.
Warkworth is great too and really well set up
Personally I would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to live in Matakana as it is remarkably up itself and vomit inducingly twee.
I do however love to get a cuppa and a cake there - great for an afternoon but tragic for a hometown
The area around Leigh is so blinking fabulous though. goat island, tawharanui...and not too far from Auckland if you need a city experience once in a while

smudge1

Have to agree with all the above. Would definitely avoid Wellsford if at all possible...

scrubbedexpat094

Try PM'ing Karen2000, she lives in Warkworth.

southerner

Have only visited the area for a few days, and I think Warkworth or one of the villages a few km south of there like Snells Beach are probably good places to live. Leigh might be a bit small for most people.

Its a great area, if you've got a good job lined up then lucky you.

Bo-Jangles

Second, third or fourth all of the above - if I didn't have to live close to Auckland, I would move out to that area in a shot. Warkworth is a lovely little town and a great base with the best of both worlds - great beaches nearby and you can chhose rural, beach or near town. Warkworth is a quaint little town (village) on the river and we always stop there for coffee on the way elsewhere. It probably has all you need on a day to day basis and also it's not that far to come into Orewa / Whangaparoa or Albany for the real big shops. Or of course going the other way, it's not too far to Whangarei.

For me Warkworth is one of the nicest feeling little townships, a nice ;historic feeling' high street where you actually want to stop and have a walk through the arcades, like a 'proper' town unlike most small town high streets here, which tend to be rather drab, run down and ugly.

I agree, stay away from Wellsford, it is as rough as.

blackburn lass

Thanks for all your comments. Now I am really excited!!
Fingers crossed this job turns out to be the one.

If anyone knows of a place to rent in Warksworth pls let me know.

Dawn X

Bo-Jangles

Might be useful, if you haven't found them already:

http://www.warkworth-information.co.nz/

http://www.warkworthnz.co.nz/

http://www.eventswarkworth.co.nz/

http://www.warkworthrealestate.co.nz/

http://rwwarkworth.co.nz/

j19fmm

And don't forget the New Years Day Rodeo in Warkworth....lovely lovely

blackburn lass

Hi,

Anyone know of the Mahurangi College in Warkworth? Any good or bad.

Dawn X