redvolcane

Hi,

I am travelling to New Zealand form Mnachester, UK with my partner and our 2 young children (2 and 4!) in November 2014 for a 3 week stay. Primarily it is an educational visit to see if NZ suits us as a family. Making the move has always on the back burner but now seems to be the right time to do it. I have been in contact with a number of employers over the past 12 months and hope to have a few interviews arranged for when we visit.

The intention is to stay in a few of the suburbs (say 4 or 5) rather than the CBD to experience the local life as best we can whilst we there - housing, local facilities, commute to CBD etc. I am looking to stay in Howick for the first few nights but I havent looked at anything beyond that.

Firstly can anybody tell me what Howich is like and if its suitable for us? Secondly, can anybody recommend any other suburbs that may be suitable? Must be within an hours commute (in rush hour) of the CBD and family friendly, near good facilities, schools etc - the usual!

I am a Chartered Building Surveyor and expect to earn in the region of $100k so any suggestions will need to have housing affordable to us.

Thank you
Alex

Moomoo

We live Howick/Cockle Bay and love it here

We don't have small kids anymore but there are plenty of parks and the schools here are very good. Plus there are the local beaches at Howick, Cockle Bay, or Eastern Beach/Bucklands Beach.

Howick village is lovely and has everything you could want - cafes, restaurants, a couple of bars, boutique cinema, all the shops you need ie pharmacy, bakeries, butchers, supermarkets, etc. A lovely library and a fab Saturday (and sometimes Sunday too) market. It's a very family orientated place.

Botany Town Centre is around 10-15 mins drive away and is a bigger shopping area - its very tidy and is really nice to mooch around. There is also an ice rink there plus cinema and a bowling alley, so plenty of activities in this area. There's a swimming pool at Lloyd Ellsmore Park in Howick and just past Botany is Barry Curtis Park which is great for a walk/bike around.

The commute to Auckland CBD can vary - 25 mins off peak - 1.5 hours peak traffic or if there are any accidents.

Auckland Int Airport is around 30 mins drive from here.

We've been in NZ nearly 6 years and have been in this area for the whole time and really like it.

Moomoo

I said 1.5 hours peak to CBD, but not always - it just depends on what time you leave to go there and other factors like the weather and possible accidents

redvolcane

Hi Moomoo,

Thank you so much for replying, Howick sounds like a perfect base.

Can you recommend any other suburbs perhaps North Auckland that are worth taking a look at?

Thanks again
Alex

Moomoo

Hi there

I only really know east Auckland the best - ie Howick/Cockle Bay/Dannemora/Botany/Bucklands Beach/Eastern Beach so can't recommend anything north Auckland as I don't have first hand knowledge, sorry.

I'm sure someone from over the bridge will come along and help you out.

Moomoo

There is a really nice motel at Half Moon Bay Marina that you might want to check out - it's right by the marina in a lovely setting. There is a Fresh Choice supermarket just across in the marina and also a couple of lovely cafes along with several restaurants. It's around a 10 minute drive from there to Howick. There are some other motels around Howick, but the Half Moon Bay one looks especially nice in it's marina setting (I've not stayed there).

davros1984

Howick is an expensive suburb. Unless you have 250-300k nzd of savings, a 100k-ish salary will not be enough to afford at least a 3-bed house there. Look out west for a bit cheaper, i.e. te atatu or further south towards papakura. Good luck!

whitesand

What about the North SHore? Milford, Takapuna, Northcote are all less than thirty minutes from the the centre of town. Although they are expensive places to buy into there's plenty of rentals around those areas where you could live for a while. Beaches on the North Shore are the best in Auckland too.

redvolcane

Thanks guys really appreciate you taking time to post. North Shore is somewhere we are definitely going to look into.

I haven't really heard anything about the west of Auckland. What's it like and are there any areas in particular I should look at?

Thanks again

westie1234

Titirangi is a nice place have a look around that vicinity.

rinnie79

Hi, I live in Howick. Have been in Auckland my whole life and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. There is so much here for families and we are very spoilt for excellent school options. With a salary of 100k you should be able to afford Howick pretty comfortably. I wouldn't recommend West Auckland or Papakura, yes they're cheaper options but also rougher. Parts of the North Shore are nice. Birkenhead, Browns Bay, Milford would be most like Howick. The very expensive suburbs in Auckland are Parnell, Epsom, Remuera, Devenport, Takapuna. Some good primary schools to look at in the Howick area are Owairoa, Point View, Cockle Bay, Mellons Bay, St Marks, Star of the Sea, Howick Primary, Wakaaranga, Shelly Park . . . Just to name a few. There are many more and these would all be within a 15 - 20 minute radius

davros1984

We have a household income of over $160,000 and cannot afford to buy in Howick (nor would we choose to live there, too many landlords and BMW drivers).

Moomoo

Too many BMW's? I very rarely see them around my neighbouring streets, majority are regular cars.

rinnie79

Me too lol. I'm currently sitting in my Subaru and can see a Honda, a Peugeot and a Nissan. Not one BMW in sight haha

rinnie79

Oh and also we have a combined income of around 100k and bought out first home here in Howick only a few years ago. Can't see why you can't afford howick with an income of 160k??