alanmoore1981

Hi, were a gay couple looking into moving to Auckland. Where is the best place to live? Were looking for a house with access to a local beach and park areas for our dog. Do these places exist?

Many thanks Alan

BEVS

Hi there and welcome to our cosy wee NZ forum guys.

I can't help as I'm nowhere near Auckland which is as much use as a chocolate ashtray but hi there all the same.

alanmoore1981

Aw no worries, thanks for the welcome though

scrubbedexpat094

Hi Alan & welcome to BE & our cosy, wee NZ forum.

I live on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, north of Auckland. It's a great place to live with access to a large number of beaches. I know that there are various laws surrounding when & where you can walk your dog but not being a dog owner I can't help you with this.

One of the main factors in choosing where to live in Auckland will be dependent on where you will be working. Auckland is notorious for it's traffic jams at rush hour.

There are lots of great places to live around Auckland & I'm sure others will be along soon to tell you about where they live & what's great about it. So many Brits on the Peninsula now that it's known locally as Pommyparaoa

Good luck with your plans

P18PPS

Is it important for you to be close to a gay community? If so some of the inner city suburbs are worth a look, but you will compromise on the beach access...

Ponsonby is the artie trendy area of town, but it is expensive and walking distance of the city itself and although you'll find parks there is limited beach access there, if you look at some of the surrounding areas you'll get more for your money - Grafton and the Karangahape Road (known as the 'K" Road) is walking distance of Ponsonby but much cheaper and you'll find every conceivable type of person living there, then there is Kingsland which is a bit further out with loads of cafes and bars.... these are all generally either singleton/young couples/childfree areas.

If however this isn't important for you, personally I don't think you can beat central east of the city - follow a map along the route of Tamaki Drive out of the city and you'll find Orakei, Mission Bay, Kohimarama and St Heliers - all gorgeous communities each based on a separate beach with loads of cafes, bars and restaurants. Dogs on beaches are limited during the summer time you are restricted between 8am and 6pm (I think) - winter time I don't think there are restrictions, generally around most of Auckland there are loads of parks and open spaces for dogs. These are generally expensive areas with small plots of land .... if you want more land then you'll need to go further out or have millions to spend!

As previously mentioned, it depends what you want, how much you've got to spend and how far out you are willing to travel.

Good luck, and throw back a shopping list if you want as I'm sure they'll be loads of people offering advice!

Justcol

Another vote for Whangaparaoa here, I move up there tomorrow.
If thats to far out of the city you could try looking at the bays around
the north shore. Its easy enough to find a good balance of beach and city.

killercat

Hey Col, hope the move went ok today?

Justcol

Just need to find some drinking buddies and a decent local now.
any volunteers ??

Am Loolah

I'm not sure the resident Kiwi ladies will like being referred to as "a decent local?" If I was closer I'd come to the house warming. I could while away the hours sat on your deck sipping bubbles ...

scrubbedexpat094

I've not had an invitation to the house-warming I hope Veuve Cliquot is provided

pricklykina

Depends on how much money you have. Herne Bay would be nice. Or maybe Pt Chevalier - lovely beach, very gay friendly and not far from Ponsonby or Grey Lynn (Gay Lynn as is is sometimes know )