Helpful advice regarding moving from UK to Auckland, NZ.
 

Hello,
We would gratefully welcome advice & any helpful tips/what to do/what not to do etc regarding moving from the UK to NZ. We're leaving for Auckland in June. As you can imagine we have many questions, for example; Is it cheaper to buy furniture in the UK (in comparison to NZ prices) & ship over in our container? Or better to buy furniture in NZ? We have heard furniture is much more expensive to buy in NZ? So many things to research & find out! I know hindsight is a wonderful thing & some of you could write a book on the topic no doubt. All pearls of wisdom welcome.
Many thanks,
Simon & Layla

Re: Helpful advice regarding moving from UK to Auckland, NZ.
 

One thing that I would do differently if I did it again is I would ship everything I own, I wouldn't throw imperfect items away thinking that I could replace them once in New Zealand.

There were some fairly ordinary kitchen items that I have either had to live without since moving here, pay through the nose to replace or buy in Waitrose during the one visit I did back to the UK because I haven't found a place that sells them here.

Re: Helpful advice regarding moving from UK to Auckland, NZ.
 

I agree with you Clappy, aside from food stuffs there are some everyday random and things that you have come to rely upon are simply not available here or are too expensive to justify replacement. Notwithstanding costs I would still advocate for bringing everything as you can waste a heck a lot of time and effort trying to source even the most basic of things in the early days.

Re: Helpful advice regarding moving from UK to Auckland, NZ.
 

Thank you Clappy & Bo-Jangles. We will make sure we ship all of our belongings over & more!

We grew up in a surfing/beach life community in Cornwall, UK. Can anyone recommend an area to live in Auckland that has that similar kind of vibe? Also, i'm an Artist & have heard that Devonport has an Arty vibe? To be recommended the kind of places that have these elements would be great. It would give us a helping hand in finding where we would be happiest setting up home.

Re: Helpful advice regarding moving from UK to Auckland, NZ.
 

I think it will depend on how much money you have. Auckland is not cheap, knowing how expensive the North shore has become I imagine you will need at least a million dollars to buy something nice in Devonport.

Re: Helpful advice regarding moving from UK to Auckland, NZ.
 

I agree with everyone else, bring absolutely everything. It is hard to replace some items and the $$$ cost is significant for many things. That said, I do think some things are now cheaper (not cheap) than when we arrived 8 years ago.

Location is a difficult one. The North Shore is very expensive with the average house price over $950,000. I'm not a surfer, but out west is good for surfing - Piha and the likes and some do commute into Auckland.

Here in Orewa there's some surf but not always. Plenty of kite surfers out though especially this weekend. It is just about commutable into Auckland - takes me 50-75 mins to Takapuna.

Devonport is a lovely area, it is expensive, not sure if I would say it was arty as such, but certainly nice enough. My major issue with Devonport is that it only has one access road in/out and is a nightmare especially at weekends. You can get the ferry over to the CBD which is fine for commuting, but for everywhere else you would need to use the car.

Good luck.

Re: Helpful advice regarding moving from UK to Auckland, NZ.
 

Hi Guys, thanks for your valuable input. My place of work will actually be in Albany so I won't have to commute to the CBD. My hours of work will be 7am - 3pm so i'm hoping i miss the worst of the rush hour as well. Due to the nature of the job i need to be within 30-40 minute drive of Albany. After some more investigation Devonport its going to be out of our price range and the commute from Piha is a bit to far. I think further north could be a better option. Warkworth is probably the cut off in terms of distance. Any recommendations between Albany and Warkworth? Thanks! Simon

Re: Helpful advice regarding moving from UK to Auckland, NZ.
 

Warkworth is a growing area but is inland, although not too far from the sea. I would suggest Torbay area for beaches and commute, or Orewa, Millwater and those areas. Only takes me 15 mins from orewa to Albany off ramp in the mornings. But be warned rush hour starts before 6am here, and the motorway can be queued back to greville road even at this ungodly hour! Some of this is people trying to beat the traffic and a lot is hospital staff wgo start by 7 at the latest.