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Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Old Sep 8th 2010, 1:15 am
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Default Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Howdy all,

Been in NZ since December 09 and currently living in a rental in Takapuna. We had our PR visa approved the other week, so now we know we can stay for good, we have started to look at areas to live.

We have looked around areas on the North Shore (Albany, Takapuna, Browns Bay etc), but when looking at house on TradeMe, we really like the look of the ones in Gulf Harbour.

We drove up there to have a walk around Shakespear Park which was nice, and will be going around there a bit more to get a feel for the area, but just wanted to ask for people opinions on the areas?

Do you live there now? Do you like it and why? Whats your commute like (CBD Ferry or driving to North Shore)? We are looking at starting a family in the near future so whats it like for kids up there etc etc?

Anything you can help with, good and bad, is useful

Thanks!

Andy & Emma
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Old Sep 8th 2010, 1:28 am
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Hi guys

We're just up the road from GH in Stanmore... you really can't go wrong with the Hibiscus Coast, most areas are gorgeous.

GH has good and bad points. My parents rented there before they bought in Orewa and the house was a big dodgy. Although most are new builds a lot have a reputation of having leaky-home syndrome so if you choose to live there do your research! Avoid Oyster Cove, commonly referred to as Moisture Cove! Having said that, not all are like this and there are some GORGEOUS houses. We have a few friends there and their homes are fab.

We love the feel of the place too but we decided the extra 20 mins from Stanmore to GH was too much of a commute for us as hubby works in the city. It takes him 10 mins to the motorway from here but would be 30 mins from GH. I know a lot of people take the ferry over tho and it can be a really nice way to travel to work!

If your into your golf then the golf club is a good point, hubby plays there now and again... theres also one in Whangaparaoa up in Army Bay which they tend to go to more as its less expensive and his mate has membership. His mate's house also backs onto the course so its a quick journey!

Theres a couple of restaurants and bars, Pepe Loco's mexican and also Carpe Diem/Pacific Bar. My dad hosts a quiz in Pacific Bar every Wed night, its almost all ex-pats.. great laugh. You should pop along one Wed, from 7pm onwards... you would get to meet a lot of locals.

And as you said... Shakespear Park - WOW. Its lovely isn't it We holidayed here a couple of yrs ago and spent xmas day down on Shakespear with a load of expats, bbq's beer, wine, games and sun... fantastic.

We're also looking to start a family in the next few yrs and this is deffo the place for it!

You looking to rent or buy? Feel free to PM me for more details... you could even pop over to ours in Stanmore for a beer on the deck if you fancy it. We have gorgeous sea views
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Old Sep 13th 2010, 8:53 pm
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Originally Posted by Flower Pot
Hi guys

We're just up the road from GH in Stanmore... you really can't go wrong with the Hibiscus Coast, most areas are gorgeous.

GH has good and bad points. My parents rented there before they bought in Orewa and the house was a big dodgy. Although most are new builds a lot have a reputation of having leaky-home syndrome so if you choose to live there do your research! Avoid Oyster Cove, commonly referred to as Moisture Cove! Having said that, not all are like this and there are some GORGEOUS houses. We have a few friends there and their homes are fab.

We love the feel of the place too but we decided the extra 20 mins from Stanmore to GH was too much of a commute for us as hubby works in the city. It takes him 10 mins to the motorway from here but would be 30 mins from GH. I know a lot of people take the ferry over tho and it can be a really nice way to travel to work!

If your into your golf then the golf club is a good point, hubby plays there now and again... theres also one in Whangaparaoa up in Army Bay which they tend to go to more as its less expensive and his mate has membership. His mate's house also backs onto the course so its a quick journey!

Theres a couple of restaurants and bars, Pepe Loco's mexican and also Carpe Diem/Pacific Bar. My dad hosts a quiz in Pacific Bar every Wed night, its almost all ex-pats.. great laugh. You should pop along one Wed, from 7pm onwards... you would get to meet a lot of locals.

And as you said... Shakespear Park - WOW. Its lovely isn't it We holidayed here a couple of yrs ago and spent xmas day down on Shakespear with a load of expats, bbq's beer, wine, games and sun... fantastic.

We're also looking to start a family in the next few yrs and this is deffo the place for it!

You looking to rent or buy? Feel free to PM me for more details... you could even pop over to ours in Stanmore for a beer on the deck if you fancy it. We have gorgeous sea views
Thanks Flower Pot.

Looking to buy actually, currently in a rental in Takapuna so the next place we want to be our own. One of the big attractions of Whangaparaora and Gulf Harbour is we can get a much bigger house for our money, but like you say, we'll have to do our research to avoid a leaky home.

Will take a look at Stanmore too.

Anyone else live in the area care to chip in as well?
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Old Sep 15th 2010, 7:44 am
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Originally Posted by AndyR
Thanks Flower Pot.

Looking to buy actually, currently in a rental in Takapuna so the next place we want to be our own. One of the big attractions of Whangaparaora and Gulf Harbour is we can get a much bigger house for our money, but like you say, we'll have to do our research to avoid a leaky home.

Will take a look at Stanmore too.

Anyone else live in the area care to chip in as well?
Stanmore, Manly, Arkles Bay, Tindalls and Army Bay are all good. Gulf Harbour, to me, is a bit like the UK. Lots of houses of the same design....some of the locals call it Coronation Street!
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Old Sep 15th 2010, 8:13 am
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

i think it really does depend on the street and the house. there is such a variation. some of the streets are very "terrace like" anmd have tiny plots and i must admit if you had had a few beers would be hard pushed to find your house- cos they all look the same!

but there are some lovely roads with lovely big houses on big plots and are a lot cheaper than other areas on the peninsula.

you just need to look at everything- we looked at over 120 houses on the peninsula before we found one that ticked all the boxes- you can never tell by the photos online.

but defo do your research and personally i wouldnt touch a house built of "plaster". stick to brick, plastic or wooden weather board and you wont go far wrong.

and it doesn take 30mins- it only takes about 20mins to get to silverdale- just dont drive when school is out etc!! the ferry is fab.

pm me if you want more info
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Old Sep 17th 2010, 10:32 am
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

[QUOTE=AndyR;8833039]Howdy all,

Been in NZ since December 09 and currently living in a rental in Takapuna. We had our PR visa approved the other week, so now we know we can stay for good, we have started to look at areas to live.

We have looked around areas on the North Shore (Albany, Takapuna, Browns Bay etc), but when looking at house on TradeMe, we really like the look of the ones in Gulf Harbour.

We drove up there to have a walk around Shakespear Park which was nice, and will be going around there a bit more to get a feel for the area, but just wanted to ask for people opinions on the areas?

Do you live there now? Do you like it and why? Whats your commute like (CBD Ferry or driving to North Shore)? We are looking at starting a family in the near future so whats it like for kids up there etc etc?

Hello there!!

I've lived in Gulf Harbour, Arkles Bay and now i'm in Manly. Gulf Harbour was lovely, lots of crickets tho!!! but it was summer time so maybe thats why. The schools are good and there is a few shops and i think lots of ex pats out that way. If you find the right house, your grand. Arkles Bay was great and the location was lovely so close to the beach but not a fantastic place to live if you want to walk to the shops. Manly is the place for me I feel, as I can walk my kids to school and kindy and head to the beach, shops and be without my car if I need to be. Like someone else said tho, anywhere on the Hibiscus Coast is pretty sweet. Good Luck!
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Old Sep 18th 2010, 7:09 pm
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Lived in stanmore bay and gulf harbour.
both lovely, but a bit too detached from auckland for me. The commute was a nightmare.
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Old Oct 6th 2010, 10:46 pm
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Hi Andy,

We have lived in Gulf Harbour for nearly 4 years now & like it here. We have made a lot of good friends here. We arrange meet-ups on the beaches around here for a few bevvies & a barbie, mostly at Te Haruhi bay in Shakespear Park. Shops & bars are handy. We launch our kayaks from Fisherman's cove as we can walk there from our house. Alternatively we can stick them on the car & go from Army Bay, Tindalls, Matakatia, Stanmore, Big or Little Manly.

Shakespear park is great for walks all year round. Not too much in the way of crime. Occasional boy racer, tagging etc. But I feel very safe.

OH drives in most days as he has an allocated parking space at work but does get the ferry once or twice a week. He finds this very relaxing as he can have a snooze on the way in (& back!). Ferry takes 50mins & occasionally have dolphins as companion travellers. Most fridays people have a wee drinkie-poo

There are also buses that go from GH too but I don't know too much about them.

The ferry to Tiritiri Matangi stops at GH too. It's a great day out. Last summer the ferry went on to Kawau Island too.

HTH.
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Old Oct 7th 2010, 8:52 am
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Thx vitalstatistix, really useful info there.

Spent the last couple of weekends looking round areas on the penninsula such as Stanmore Bay / Manly / GH to get a feel for the place. Coming to the conclusion it may not be for us at the moment, the big reason being price and distance. We dont have a big deposit at all sort are quite limited the kind of mortgages we have been quoted for, which means we are limited the type of houses we can get. This was one of the reasons we liked the Hibiscus coast as we seemed to be able to get more for our money.

Problem is the communte might also be a bit much as at least one of us is going to have to drive, and the travel time even on a weekend was a bit too much for us. Also, when we looked at houses we could afford, they seemed really cramped in to us, nice houses, just lots of them in a small space, and we wanted away from this as we had this in the UK.

We are not discounting it though, just spreading our feelers a bit wider for now.

Thanks though, really appreciate the time you took to type all that!

Andy
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Old Oct 7th 2010, 8:23 pm
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Originally Posted by AndyR
Thx vitalstatistix, really useful info there.

Spent the last couple of weekends looking round areas on the penninsula such as Stanmore Bay / Manly / GH to get a feel for the place. Coming to the conclusion it may not be for us at the moment, the big reason being price and distance. We dont have a big deposit at all sort are quite limited the kind of mortgages we have been quoted for, which means we are limited the type of houses we can get. This was one of the reasons we liked the Hibiscus coast as we seemed to be able to get more for our money.

Problem is the communte might also be a bit much as at least one of us is going to have to drive, and the travel time even on a weekend was a bit too much for us. Also, when we looked at houses we could afford, they seemed really cramped in to us, nice houses, just lots of them in a small space, and we wanted away from this as we had this in the UK.

We are not discounting it though, just spreading our feelers a bit wider for now.

Thanks though, really appreciate the time you took to type all that!

Andy
No probs Andy.

We live off Regency Park Drive so the houses have a bit more space around them than the 'newer' parts of GH. We rented a house for the first thirteen weeks here in one of those too close houses & it would have driven me nuts long term. There was no garden to speak of either.

Happy house hunting.
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Old Oct 7th 2010, 9:20 pm
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Originally Posted by Vitalstatistix
No probs Andy.

We live off Regency Park Drive so the houses have a bit more space around them than the 'newer' parts of GH. We rented a house for the first thirteen weeks here in one of those too close houses & it would have driven me nuts long term. There was no garden to speak of either.

Happy house hunting.
Ahhh we drove up and around Regency Park Drive actually, as we were going to go look at one of the town houses opposite the model boat lake. Really nice area you have there!

We did see a couple of areas which looked really nice but they were just out of our price range. The other houses really shocked us, as the roads going round were so narrow and it just seemed to be a mass of parked cars and very little gaps between houses.

One thing which I did like of the whole are though was how queit and peaceful everything seemed. Very nice!
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Old Oct 7th 2010, 9:22 pm
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Default Re: Gulf Harbour - Any opinions?

Originally Posted by AndyR
Ahhh we drove up and around Regency Park Drive actually, as we were going to go look at one of the town houses opposite the model boat lake. Really nice area you have there!

We did see a couple of areas which looked really nice but they were just out of our price range. The other houses really shocked us, as the roads going round were so narrow and it just seemed to be a mass of parked cars and very little gaps between houses.

One thing which I did like of the whole are though was how queit and peaceful everything seemed. Very nice!
If you come up again you must call in. PM me & I'll let you have our address
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