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Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Old May 24th 2016, 8:31 pm
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Default Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Hello everyone,
We're a family with a 5yr old girl and 7yr old boy (who loves ponies). Possibly looking to move to Auckland near to where my husband could be working Mount Roskill. We're used to living near the sea. Want a short commute to the office (30-40mins). Don't want city living. Want to take the opportunity to improve on schooling. So any suggestions of anywhere that has good schools, quieter suburb, near to the beach but not too far away from civilisation i.e. it would be nice to be able to walk to some shops, restaurants etc. so not properly tucked away. We're used to a village, close community with a good community spirit. Any help / advice greatly appreciated.
We're in the process of making a decision as to whether the move is for us. Many thanks in advance
Steph
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Old May 24th 2016, 9:57 pm
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

The beaches around Mt Roskill are inner harbour tidal mudflat type things. Plenty of properties with decent harbour views, just that the beaches arent much good. The better beaches are to the east around Mission Bay and the Howick Peninsular and on the North Shore over the Harbour Bridge. It would maybe be a 30 to 40 minute commute from Howick or Mission Bay / St Helliers to Mt Roskill. Any of the suburbs have close by malls or shopping areas. Best idea is to come out for a week and have a look around for yourself if you can manage it.
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Old May 24th 2016, 10:10 pm
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Originally Posted by BAINOZ
Hello everyone,
We're a family with a 5yr old girl and 7yr old boy (who loves ponies). Possibly looking to move to Auckland near to where my husband could be working Mount Roskill. We're used to living near the sea. Want a short commute to the office (30-40mins). Don't want city living. Want to take the opportunity to improve on schooling. So any suggestions of anywhere that has good schools, quieter suburb, near to the beach but not too far away from civilisation i.e. it would be nice to be able to walk to some shops, restaurants etc. so not properly tucked away. We're used to a village, close community with a good community spirit. Any help / advice greatly appreciated.
We're in the process of making a decision as to whether the move is for us. Many thanks in advance
Steph
I'm quite near Mt Roskill so may be able to help with this but first can I ask a couple of things?
1. Will his work hours be the usual business hours i.e. will he be travelling in peak hour traffic? It makes a big difference as to how far he can travel in 30-40 mins.
2. Approximately what is your budget for housing? Renting or buying? There are some lovely beachside suburbs of Auckand but for some of them you need mega bucks.
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Old May 24th 2016, 10:47 pm
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

You might also like to look at Pt Chevalier, which would be a shorter commute down the South-Western. When the new section is completed maybe 15 minutes. Pt Chev has an inner harbour beach too but they have spruced it up with truckloads of sand. We spent a day there over summer. Bit cheaper than out east.
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Old May 25th 2016, 8:32 am
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Originally Posted by A Rush And A Push
I'm quite near Mt Roskill so may be able to help with this but first can I ask a couple of things?
1. Will his work hours be the usual business hours i.e. will he be travelling in peak hour traffic? It makes a big difference as to how far he can travel in 30-40 mins.
2. Approximately what is your budget for housing? Renting or buying? There are some lovely beachside suburbs of Auckand but for some of them you need mega bucks.
Thanks for responding;
1. Usual office hours
2. 700 / wk. renting
My husband is commuting 5hrs a day into London so I think anything is going to be an improvement. The biggest quality of life pull is him being with his family more. Seeing the children and myself before school and at the end of the day (which currently is hit and miss).

Titirangi looks nice?! But is there a good beach near?!

I'm not quite sure if I've responded on this forum correctly so apologies if I've messed up the response.

Cheers again Steph
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Old May 25th 2016, 8:37 am
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Many thanks for this info. We saw a nice house for rent in Titirangi?! Seemed to look nice. Though not sure if any nice beaches near? Any thoughts on the area, do you know?
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Old May 25th 2016, 8:47 am
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Originally Posted by BAINOZ
Thanks for responding;
1. Usual office hours
2. 700 / wk. renting
My husband is commuting 5hrs a day into London so I think anything is going to be an improvement. The biggest quality of life pull is him being with his family more. Seeing the children and myself before school and at the end of the day (which currently is hit and miss).

Titirangi looks nice?! But is there a good beach near?!

I'm not quite sure if I've responded on this forum correctly so apologies if I've messed up the response.

Cheers again Steph

Ok, he wants more time with kids etc. but would there be other job opportunities in other parts of New Zealand? You say he could be working there, but is it 100% clear that it will be there?
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Old May 25th 2016, 11:22 am
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Im not too familiar with that area, but they are harbour tidal beaches. Good for swimming and fishing but some are a bit muddy to be laying a towel out to catch some sunrays. I think Green Bay is somewhat sandy. None of them have waves. There are generally grass areas by the beach for picnicing etc. Must go and have a better look around there. Theres always Piha too, which is a sandy surf beach about 20 minutes over the Waitakeres. Sometimes dangerous for swimming but not so much if you swim between the flags when the lifeguards are on patrol. But the beaches in Auckland you see on the net with the white or golden sand are on the east coast. If you live in Titirangi you would be known as a Westy. For shopping, Lynn Mall is close by. I would estimate your commute to be 30 mins from Titirangi although I havnt driven around there in rush hour.
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Old May 25th 2016, 8:01 pm
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

My view as an occasional visitor - the West coast gets the prevailing weather (much like the UK) and has a high percentage of rugged and big surf beaches. Great if you are a surfer but not always as good for kids to paddle.

The East coast is generally much gentler, more likely to be sandy and sheltered and good for kids.

If you could say which areas you like as sea side in the UK then it would be easier to match this to a New Zealand location. It is difficult to know what you class as a "good beach".

Is your dream Southend, with miles and miles of golden mud?
East Coast shingle like Kessingland and Felixstowe?
St Ives in Cornwall?
St. Davids in South Wales?

Just trying to picture what you are picturing.
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Old May 25th 2016, 10:07 pm
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Originally Posted by BAINOZ
Many thanks for this info. We saw a nice house for rent in Titirangi?! Seemed to look nice. Though not sure if any nice beaches near? Any thoughts on the area, do you know?
I thought of Titirangi when I first read your post! It's a nice area with 4 very good primary schools (Titirangi, Woodlands Park, Kaurilands and Laingholm). It has some nice cafés and restaurants. It has a bit of a reputation as an arty/creative place and has an art gallery/theatre where they sometimes show films too. Great library too.

One issue (possibly) is high schools, while the primaries are great the local high school (Green Bay High) for years had a rep for being very low-achieving. It has apparently improved a lot in the last few years - more people send their kids there now but some still move/send their kids out of the area for high school/go private. Not an issue for you at the moment but something to bear in mind. My kids are 8 and 5 and we don't yet know if we'll send them there, something to consider in a few years time.

Beware in Titirangi of cold damp houses, so many are surrounded by trees which is lovely and private but can mean little sun gets through and houses are difficult/expensive to heat. Look for one that faces north and gets some sun.

As someone above said, the beaches round here are quite tidal and some can be muddy. Lots have parks/playgrounds/harbour walks near them though and my kids have spent many happy days at them over the years. Cornwallis (10 mins drive from Titirangi) is a lovely beach, much sandier and not as tidal. All these beaches round Titirangi/Green Bay/Laingholm are inner harbour so very calm water. Once you drive over the Waitakere hills you get to the beaches on the open sea which can have rough water, stunning landscape though - google image Piha, Karekare, Whatipu, Muriwai.

Bit closer to Mt Roskill, near water, are Lynfield, Hillsborough, Blockhouse Bay, again all inner harbour beaches so a bit muddy and very tidal, nice enough areas, don't have the cafés/culture of Titirangi but decent areas and closer to Mt Roskill.

Sandy beaches are, as someone said, more on the North Shore and East Auckland, but longer commute.
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Old May 26th 2016, 7:58 pm
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

Thanks so much everyone for you comments and info and advise etc. I'm wowed already by the responsive support. Very helpful. Cheers.

We're used to the beaches in north wales (Llandudno). We live in Felpham Bognor Regis, so our beaches very stoney, and if the tide goes far out we get a bit of sand. Time it right when kids out of school and at weekend we go rock pooling and make sand boats / castles.

My 7 yr old son is heavilly into horses. He rides. I'm not. So the idea is, if he's still mad about horses when he's say 10-12 then we'll have to think about him having possibly his own horse (MAYBE). My daughter too likes them but not as much as my son. SO......are there plenty of opportunities out there for horsey stuff?

We moved to the UK south coast from up north. We've no family around down here. And don't get me wrong, we're in a beautiful part of the world and I appreciate everything we have. We would like to see Daddy more, which is the pull and big question is the quality of life better out there in NZ than it is here in the UK?! Yes, there's pro's and con's to all places and life situations and I know it's for us to decide if its for us. There values in being well informed from guys like yourselves who's done it and got the tshirt.

I'm just sounding and speaking my mind as to how I feel. I appreciate we'd get home sick and all of the emotions. Took me 3yrs settle here. But so glad we did it. Think wherever you are in life you move on and forward.

Anyhow....I've been looking (as best i can) at north shore, titirangi. I would rather a smaller school. Is there a rating for the schools performance as opposed to the decile rating which I understand to be non performance related?

I understand the cost of living to be higher, which a concern for me.

We do enjoy our red wine, take out curries at the weekend. Pizza hut etc. I love cooking too. I appreciate food. Love park runs and running along the beach front. I love going to the spa of which I'm a member, swimming pools.

Husband likes motorbikes and has one. We enjoy going to the races (horse) and motorsport at Goodwood.

So that gives you a bit more flavour about us. We've a detached 1920's 4 bedroom house a stones throw to the beach and same to the nice local pub which serve great food. Our school needs improvement (ofstead rated 3). Are class sizes same over there about 30 children to 1 teacher and teaching assistant?

Thanks again guys for your input mucho appreciated
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Old May 27th 2016, 12:22 am
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

You're correct, school decile is a reflection of how affluent (or not) the area around the school is. 10 = richest areas, 1 = poorest. They have recently introduced National Standards which us testing in reading, writing and maths - lotsif teachers and schools seem
quite opposed to them. Primary schools especially are much less focused on academic results (I think) and more focused on encouraging children to do their best in lots of different areas (e.g. sports and music as well as academic learning). There is a website that lists National Standards results for each school
But you have to create a log-in and password to access it
2000 schools on School Report | From The Newsroom | Stuff.co.nz

Do your sums really carefully. You can calculate take home pay on a NZ salary here Calculate your tax and kiwisaver payments | salaries.co.nz

I like Auckland but rents are high and buying a house is ridiculous, prices have grown massively in the last 4-5 years. We bought years ago but if we were buying now we probably couldn't - we are on one (pretty good) salary. Median house price is in the $800K's now I think, a few years ago it was about $500K.
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Old May 27th 2016, 12:28 am
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Default Re: Help looking to move near to Mount Roskill with Family

I should add, we probably could just about buy a house in Auckland if we were trying to today - but it would be in one of the least desirable areas. Where you are now sounds very nice, you need to work out what sort of area you could afford in Auckland (or look outside Auckland if jobs are available there)
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