Rustie

I think you need to invest in a map! Palmerston North is around, what 7/8 hours South of Auckland!!!!

http://www.ginini.com/nz/maps/newzealand.gif
http://www.nzmaps.co.nz/ this may help or www.wises.co.nz

Or even better you can pick up a map in the UK or via Amazon and look up the area's in Auckland. There is also a book that others have used called 'Places to live in Auckland' and I'd really recommend you come for a visit first.

southerner

Some inland areas of the north island get decent frosts.

reecefam

not for three months of the year though!

reecefam

thanks rustie...i appreciate your thoughts and advice...looking at your average climate and ours...i know which is warmer and better for enjoying outdoor life!

southerner

Really?

lapsed kiwi

Gee, you must be living in some sort of freakish micro-climate if you had a frost north of Auckland this morning. Where are you exactly? The overnight minimum in Orewa was +6.5C, the coldest so far this year. The coldest overnight minimum last year was +2.5C, I never had to scrape ice off my windscreen when I left for work at 07:10, and I think I saw a ground frost about five times. The coldest maximum daily temperature was 12C. I wouldn't describe the winters here - to someone from the UK - as chilly or cold. I would say they are very mild, and about as damp as SW England.

lapsed kiwi

Reecefam - trying to clear up your confusion re Rotorua, Bay of Plenty etc. Rotorua is about 45 min drive south from the BoP coast, but is counted as in the BoP region. It's about 2.5 hours SE from Akl, and you certainly wouldn't want to commute.
If you're going to be working on the North Shore, you shouldn't contemplate living south of the bridge. You should be looking at the North Shore suburbs or as far north as Hatfields Beach, or along the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. If you're working as far north as Albany, which is on the edge of the city, you could even extend this up to Warkworth or across to Helensville if you want to be in a small town. As a general rule, the further out you go, the cheaper the houses are, although areas away from the coast, such as Glenfield, will be cheaper than say Brown's Bay.

Genesis

No one said it was perfect. We just like living here. One man's fun is another's hell, aye?? It is very landlocked by NZ standards, but by ex Northampton standards its so close to the beach I can smell it. By the way I think Palmy is rather nice looking..again its frame of reference..spent most of my life in inner city UK, ergo Palmy looks great from my frame of reference!!

Living it, loving it, never been so content..... inspite of what 99.99999999% of the rest of the world thinks!!!!!

Poppy2

Genesis - I like Palmy too, it is a great place, though at first when we were renting there, we thought we would prefer Wanganui because it is closer to the beaches and seems *prettier*. However, it feels really very small here and I love going to Palmy. No I was commenting upon the unemployment issue, there is a lot of benefit claiming and unemployment in NZ, it is far from perfect here. But as you say, a world better than many of us had in the UK!!!

reecefam

That is brilliant...thanks very much for the advice...do i take it from your mail, the bridge is a pain to cross in the morning?
Balancing the expenses of the houses in the area and schools available, which area/town would you suggest we start our search for a rental home in?
Thanks.
Martin

reecefam

As we are 2 hours away from the sea...i presume we will be nearer than that!
I did think frosts were a rare thing in the north, though living in lincolnshire, frosts are not a major thing, just the winter in this place, with the dark morning and dark afternoons, seems to go on for months.

lapsed kiwi

Well, I like the area we're living in - Hibiscus Coast, and the schools are quite well thought of (although our kids are too young just now). There's a wonderful safe beach for the kids to play on and swim off, some good parks, sports clubs etc and an active surf lifesaving club which gets loads of kids involved. You can be within a couple of minutes of the beach and still get reasonable value for money in houses; we found that closer to Auckland, you had to go quite a way inland for the same pricing.
The bridge and motorways within about 10km either side get horribly busy in rush hour, definitely best avoided. I can't work out why so many people live south and work north, and vice versa.

reecefam

Thanks...what would the average rental be for a 4 bed. house in the area then?
Take it takes about 30 mins to the North Shore then?
I would imagine i would be going to work at 07.30 and coming home 6pm, so may miss some of the traffic?