Hotpots

Arrived at 4.20 am this morning

Now the hard work starts:

Get a car ~ how the hell do you find the private sales here?

Get a home ~ we've been round some estate agents and got the rental lists, going to look round tomorrow. Been looking at Howick, Dannemora, Botany etc. Anyone any info about Pakura ~ is it an area to avoid? On a previous thread the general message was keep clear of West AKL.

Can you buy adapters here? We only put one in the case and we're using that for the laptop, we need one for the internet phone and other stuff too.

Get a bank account ~ I need an address first.

Get an IRD number ~ Need an address for that too?

Furniture on route but we have to make do without necessaries e.g. fridge (if the rental does not have one) is there anywhere we can hire some stuff short term?

It's all too real now.

Off to do a bit more flappin

Any advice gratefully received

irnbru14

Private sales on www.trademe.co.nz while there are dealers on there too, its like the kiwi version of ebay! Rental homes on there too!

Where are you staying, just use your temp address to sort your bank account and change it when you get a proper home, tahts what I did!

IRD, can you do it through work, they have an address! You will need this to get paid anyway!!

Hope some of this helps!

dlmckay

Welcome! Now go to bed to be refreshed for tomorrow!
TradeMe is a good place to start, but to be honest, I would go with a car sales forecourt because you can beat them down on price if you pay with banker's draft or cash and you'll get some sort of protection through the Consumer's Act if it breaks down within the week.

[sarcasm] yeh, stay away from West Auckland... all mullets and black t-shirts there... get thee to the North Shore with all the other POMs [/sarcasm] Don't believe the hype. Go and have a look before listening to some Home County Mrs Bucket wannabe. Some lovely wine comes from out West - The Piano was filmed on Karekare Beach out west, 5000 surfers can't be wrong and besides, don't POMs love Titirangi????

Adapters? Do you mean the english multiway boards? If so, I have a spare you can have, love and cherish for your very own if you wish - surplus to requirements now. You'd have to come to West Auckland for it though - lol

I believe that's the case - but a temporary rental address should be fine.

Try http://www.mrrental.co.nz/home/ fridges are about $12 a week, but they bring them to you. You may wish to buy a cheap one off TradeMe. A rental should have an oven, and some rentals do come with whiteware - all depends on the individual landlord.


Good luck!

rockape

For all your needs try finding the local Salvation army store as they may have what you need for the short term.
And on the car scene try looking in Haymarket as there is a car place there that people take there cars to sell there and theres even the AA to check cars out for you.
I hope this is of use to you.

Regards

CAN2NZ

It's pronounced bouquet.

dlmckay

still spelt Bucket though

CCGM.IN.NZ

Hi guys, welcome aboard!

Where you staying for now? We use a place called DTR in Panmure for our rental stuff http://www.dtr.co.nz/index.cfm/Home. Got TV, DVD player and fridge freezer. All sorted without any problems within our first day or two and they deliver it all pretty quickly too.
Houses - you will probably get more house for your money in Dannemora/Botany than in Howick. Some parts of Pakuranga are ok. We love it in Bucklands Beach, bit pricey but we have the schools to consider.
Cars - there are a quite a few car places not too far away on Panmure/ Mt Wellington. You'll find that they all tend to be next to each other so plenty to choose from.
Need any help with anything, let me know. Only too happy to lend a hand where I can. Good luck with the house hunting! Carol.

garryhg

welcome to nz.....wow i remember that feeling well....its just overwhelming the things you have to do when you first arrive..

everyone has given you good information,we got our cars of trade me.....they have been fine and we got them at a good price......

we are in howick,and we really like it here.....if you need a lift anywhere or want to go and see any houses or that ,feel free to ask.......only to glad to help......feel free to pop in for a coffee and a chat....pm me and i will give you my phone mumber if you want anything......jacky and garry

TIE

Hi

As regards your questions on suburbs, try this site

www.auckland-suburb-guide.co.nz

The site lists all the suburbs in Auckland with a simple "good/bad/indifferent" rating plus links to descriptions of most of them. There is also a map showing where the suburbs are.

good luck

banshigirl

Congratulations on your move and good luck with everything.

Excellent link TIE. Going to save that to my favourites.

TeamEmbo

AA shop sells UK/NZ travel adaptors for plugs. Think they're around $22 each.

Elizabeth I

The best place to buy a car (imo) is at Turners Auctions. We have bought three cars from there since I've been here (10yrs) and they were all great and about a quarter to a half the price less than at a salesyard. I wouldn't buy from anywhere else now. Turners auction house is reliable and excellent value and the govt departments off-load their company cars there so they have been well maintained and looked after. I bought two ex-healthcare cars (full service and maintenance logs were included) and no expense was spared on their maintanence as originally brand new company cars so when they came to me they were in better nik and repair than any privately owned car could be, fantastic!

They also have other auctions for furniture and stuff like that, you could furnish a whole house from that place. I had to furnish two offices and I think it only cost me about $500! I got a fantastic desk for only $120 whereas eveywhere else the same thing cost about $300. Seriously good deals to be had at that place.

Here's the link:

http://www.turners.co.nz/Branches/Tu...5/Default.aspx

Elizabeth I

LOL! My general advice would be to keep clear of Howick and papakura! I can't stand those areas.

West Auckland is great, just be careful where you go, but a lot of it is great and unpretentious, I love it here.

Elizabeth I

LOL! Yup, aint that the truth! The vineyards, surfing beaches, and rainforest are the best part! Actually, I think this area is Aucklands best kept secret, I don't mind if we don't get inundated with people out here...not like the North Shore, that place is overrun now! I went for what was supposed to be a pleasant drive around Browns Bay on a Sunday no less and it was like peak traffic hour and such an ordeal with the amount of cars on the road. And all the landscape has been scarred with development. But here, they've at least kept the National Park unspoilt and you can drive around there in peace and feel like you're out of the rat race, it's great! (altough Henderson can get pretty congested too but during business hours.)

TIE

I agree - When we first arrived in 2000 I bought a car there after going to a few auctions just to check it out. No problems and we have bought more since. They have branches alll over NZ. In Auckland, teh Penrose one is the biggest & has widest choice but they also have a good setup on the North Shore.

Wasnt quite so please selling our cars thru them as we got very low sales price - however, it is a hassle-free way to sell...