Stormer999

Put a vertical line through Chch and start looking at rentals to the West of that line i.e towards the mountains and not the sea.
Stacey don't worry about driving speed, the city limit is generally 50kph and the locals do adhere quite strictly to it.

Tom1983

If your wanting cheapish furnished properties, then it's the city/Linwood areas. Good luck finding anywhere round Hoon Hay furnished under $400 a week. Infact good luck finding furnished properties under $400, we're hoping to move to Burwood soon but nothings popping up.

As for driving, it'll be start, stop, start, stop. The roads round round the city centre remind me of Woodseats Road in Sheffield. Traffic lights every 10 meters, very lucky to get a clean drive through the likes of Bealey Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue, Barbadoes Street etc (providing they're all open). Don't think being in the right lane means your in the fast lane, there's no such thing as overtaking lanes over here. Feel free to undertake/overtake at your will. Oh and literally be careful when approaching traffic lights, the general consensus is that most drivers slam the brakes as soon as it turns yellow despite having plenty of time to go through the yellow light.

Football is not shown in any pub, it's a case of staying up till the early hours of the morning to watch. It's only premier league games on sky sports here although they did show the cup semi finals. I'm hoping they'll show the play offs so I can see my football team walk the league one finals but I doubt it.

Just to let you know there are some fantastic areas around the east, Northshore, Parklands etc with new housing areas being built. Don't rule the east out completely, yes you'll feel the shakes a bit more but that's part and parcel of being here. Good luck getting Contents Insurance though, I still can't find any bar one that was wanting $4000.00 for the year *angry face*

chippy64

If you have $350 pw to spend there is always this -

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/re...-459373133.htm

chippy64

Yep, we live in Parklands and we love it here. Near the beach and golf club, short walk to a range of shops plus on bus route. With regard to the shakes, it depends which fault is rocking! . If it's the one in Pegasus Bay (Dec 23rd) then yes, I feel them (my boys rarely do, especially if it's in the night!). If it's out Rolleston way, or Lyttleton then it depends how strong they are. A lot depends on where you are - if we are walking, then we often don't feel anything under around a 4. If we are sitting in our lounge we are more likely to feel them than if we are sitting in the garden. Basically, if you live in ChCh, you are going to feel a wobble at some stage!

scottishstacey

Cheers guys. Im on trademe the now looking, there was some more rentals added yesterday i think.

Theres a few for parklands, looks nice and i like the description of being near the beach etc. Theres a few other areas that i've noticed too, still trying to see which is good and which is bad.

What about Sumner, theres 23 rentals. is that a bad sign then? Sorry for all the questions, please be patient with me lol.

Like tom said - I'll be looking for furnished or at least partly furnished if possible so expect it to be hard or to pay a bit more. Either that or need to see if we can find a good deal on furniture.

As I've said aswell I dont drive at the moment so would need to be near the shops etc unless I travelled in with dave everyday which I cant plan atm since I dont know where/if i'll be working.

Aaah its so hard! So worried if we come we wont find a decent place, I might need to camp my tent in one of your gardens lol

shirl

Sumner has been hit very hard by the quakes. There are containers stacked along the approach to keep back falling debris. We used to go there a lot before the quakes but the last time we went for a drive there I couldn't wait to get out of the place. I really felt unsafe! it is such a shame to see so much devastation.

shirl

http://www.sumnertoferrymead.co.nz/earthquake.htm

This gives info on various stages of recovery for that area.

scottishstacey

Oh dear i'll be crossing that one off my list then! I'd like to be near the beach if possible, doesnt have to be right beside it though!! our nearest beach is almost a hour away and its not the nicest.

Are there any other rental areas that you would recommend? from looking at trademe a lot of them seem to be 3bedrooms or larger and its only going to be the two of us so we only need 1 bedroom or 2 at the most

scottishstacey

thanks very much

shirl

I have lived in Parklands and now I live in Rangiora. For me Rangiora is a nice place but you do need a car, an upcoming country town with loads of English here and 10 mins from the beach and views to the mountains. takes hubby about half hour to get into Chricstchurch for work but longer to come home if the traffic is bad but either way it is a walk in the park as there is not as much traffic as we were used to in the UK so it's like a Sunday drive for us! however, our town centre is looking pretty bad now lots of shops have been declared earthquake prone and we also have containers in our High Street but hopefully these will go once the buildings have been sorted out which they are working on now and not like holding cliff face back like sumner! Depends if you want the quiet life of a country town or if you prefer suburbs of a city really as we all have different priorities. I would say in my opinion look further out away from sea areas. I always wanted to be near the sea but since all the weather pattern are changing all over the world I don't want to be near the sea as you never know what is coming next ! My advice would be to come and stay in a motel for a week and do an intensive search and drive round places before deciding on where to live, once you are tied in to a tenancy you are stuck there until it runs out and if you hate it six or twelve months can be a life sentence!

scottishstacey

Yeah Rangiora was somewhere i had a look at. I prefer somewhere a little quieter but with some shops and maybe a pub. but if i dont drive then maybe it would be better for me to stay nearer the city (if i can get a rental!) I've been havinga look at the public transport to see which sort of areas are on route, i think i noticed rangiora on it? I'll need to start these driving lessons asap!!

I know what you mean about staying beside the sea, its actually probably better to just drive there! I've been stuck with a crappy tenancy before so i know what its like, nightmare!

Still trying to familiarize myself with all the different areas, i'll get there eventually! also been looking at trade me and seek NZ to see what jobs are around

Stormer999

Stacey, we live in Burnside and within very short walks can access 4 different bus routes around the city all running at approx 1/2hour intervals. You just buy and top up a card something like a tube Oyster card and press it to a reader when you get on the bus. Don't be too drawn by the car option if you are going to work in the city centre (wife does) there is no parking as all of the centre multi car parks are 'munted'. I like to walk but Chch being such a spread out city means very long distances I am beginning to think there is a reserve (park) in every block I pass....

scottishstacey

Yeah one of those metro cards? i was having a look at those earlier, most fares seem roughly $2 each which isnt bad at all. I would imagine by best chance of work would be in the city centre, just in a shop, cafe etc and i dave would be working in the city aswell somewhere with the demolition.

I'll go have a look at burnside now Are yous still having nice weather?

Stormer999

Chances are that he will be OK for parking especially if he is in the red zone. Bus travel is cheaper here just one fare for one route or part of it. To-day the sun has yet to come out but the house was 18C when we got up this morning so not so bad, yesterday was another blue sky special. The air temperature will appear cold on the thermometer but the sun strength will mean shorts and jandles but cold if the sun goes in (but not UK cold yet)...

chippy64

Museum closed

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/cant...e-risk-4836009

Hopefully it won't be long .