gina and danny

hi

i know there was a thread simlilar but i cant find it.

my son is 8 and in summer he plays out with his friends all the time and i do feel he is safe whilst he is out( although he does have boundaries like he is not allowed off the back of the houses). in winter he and three friends go between each others houses,on a mon fri and sat he goes to football, so he is busy quite alot of the time,

my question is that when i look at the houses in nz they all seem so spaced out, so do your children have other kids that live close by or do they play out with there siblings, its just that i would hate to move there because everyone says its so much safer for kids to play out only to find that yes they can play out but they are on their own.

also what other pros and cons have you noticed about bringing your children up in nz,

thanks gina

Am Loolah

Hi Gina,

Where are you looking at and where are these spaced out houses? We found the houses here on the whole are really built on top of each other!

We live in a cul-de-sac and there are approx 40 kids that live here of all ages and they all play out. All the time!! Infact, we hardly see ours (since we ran away and left no forwarding address!)

Our now 15 and a half year old can drive/walk/catch bus to town/shops/cinema etc and has a part time job.

Our nearly 13 year old has lots of friends that she cycles to and also has a part time job. Occasionally she's allowed to accompany the 15 year old but only if she's paying.

Our 9 year old is always playing out on skateboard/bike/roller blades/in pool/at beach etc, etc. We leave the garage door open as it's 10 kids in ours, all kids to someone elses, all day!

Our 5 year old has had sleepovers/rides bikes/on scooter/in pool out all the time too.

It's all a vast improvement on what they had in the UK!

gina and danny

thanks for that we are looking at wellington danny going over to check the suburbs out sometime this month we need to be closer to lower hutt than any where else really,
i am glad to hear that your kids play out like that, cam would be out 24 hours a day if i let him
i think it will be him that takes like a duck to water when he gets there he makes friends so easily its not a case of hi can i play with you or do you you want to play with me more a case of im cam and im playing with you

if you know of any good areas near lower hutt then please post on here then i can give danny a short list for when he goes

cheers gina

TeamEmbo

LOL! I thought Wellington housing was all piled up on hillside, one on top of the other Have only ever flown over it and it looked like a very pretty Cornish seaside town with loads of brightly coloured and unique houses.

Am Loolah

I'm in the Bay of Plenty - but the Wellington lot will be on at some point - there's loads of them all with kids, they'll be able to help!

Karonious
Danny & Donna F
Maz
oolie
simonmarkellis
poppets
Dreamfish
Littletoe

the list goes on and on

Good luck.

garryhg

hi we are in Auckland....spaced out.....you must be joking...thers houses round beside us that are up for sale....you have million dollar houses(with no outside space)and behind them there are shacks for sale...its crazy here for housing...

i find the exact opposite for kids here,imho..my daughter had a more outdoor life back home....where we are the kids don't socialise like they do back in scotland....

when i say socialise,i am talking about a 13 year old girl that was born to shop,she is to cool to skteboard,surf,if she went to the beach it would take a day to get the outfit sorted.....Perez Hilton eat your heart out....

you don't see kids out on there own playing round east Auckland,we were very dissapointed,as my son needs his friends....jacky

yes we have his friends over for dinner and to play,and visa versa,but its not the same as the freedom they had back in scotland....just my opinion....

Jude J

It depends on where you come from as to wether you think housing is more spaced out here. I lived in portsmouth for 8 years where the housing is mostly like Coronation St so compared to that even here on the North Shore I feel I have more space.

It sounds like your son will be just fine with that attitude! Bless him
I haven't been to Wellington but I have heard there are loads of things for children there. Hopefully one of the welly crowd will be along soon. As AL said, there are plenty of them on here, and they are all very helpfull.

MandyB

Hi, I agree the houses are spaced out, i also used to live in a terraced house in Salford so the space is great. We now live just outside of christchurch. We have a 9 yr old boy who loves it here, definitely feel its safer to play out here and don't worry half as much (though its not perfect) and he made loads of friends from day one and definitely has a much more outdoorsy life - played football 3 nights per week too back in UK - also plays twice a week here now but only in season unfortunately - BUT - he now plays tennis (for a team and has lessons) and golf, goes fishing, and is on his bike/scooter/skateboard at every opportunity, though i must admit i don't see as many kids playing out as i did in the UK, which is a shame because there is sooooo much more space here for them with excellent amenities - umpteen football fields (with goal posts, no need for jumpers as goals) and tennis courts/basketball courts/netball courts etc all kept clean and in pristine condition (no glass and dog shit everywhere).