kazzie

Hi, We are hoping to be in Auckland in 3 months time. Hubby offered job with Accredited Employer, so go out with work to residence visa, then apply for residency under skilled migrant category to speed things up, as have a 19 year old who will probably come out on Working Holiday Visa valid for one year, so need residency before this runs out. Hoping if she doesn't have work when we apply, she will be classed as dependant and be included in our application. Also have 17 year old doing A Levels in UK, and a 13 year old. Worried how 17 year old will cope with change in education as hoping to go onto university. How have other people's teenagers coped with the change of lifestyle - they have more to give up than younger children, as have more long term friendships and got used to different social life. The 19 year old is up for out door activity, but 17 year old is more into shopping and socialising. 13 year old makes friends easily, loves swimming, horse riding etc, so not so worried about her. Any advice would be appreciated. Any good schools in Auckland area. Hubby working in CBD, so would need to be a reasonable commute. Has the public transport got any better in Auckland? How about the commute by car?

happynz

Sounds good.
Auckland has plenty of shopping opportunities with everything from massive indoor shopping malls, boutiques, big box discount stores to funky outdoor markets.
As far as university goes you will need to get permanent residency (PR) so you won't get murdered with the international student fees.
Public transport in Auckland is not a joy. Commuting by car into the CBD? I hope his employer provides a car park. Expect a lot of traffic jams. It is part and parcel of living in Auckland.

Good luck.

kazzie

Thanx for that advice, keep it coming!!!!

happynz

erm...that's all I have got.

I hope someone else comes along with some sage advice regarding teens.

CCGM.IN.NZ

Hi kazzie have a look at this http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=igcse+results bit younger than yours but she's a success story!
We live in east Auckland, and our teenagers love it here. We are 15 minutes away from the nearest shopping mall, Botany, which also has a cinema. There is a bowling alley and ice rink close by too. Sylvia Park, a very new and rather large shopping mall is a 20 minute drive away so lots of shops for your 17 yr old! We live walking distance to two lovely beaches and have a lovely marina on our doorstep. From here you can get a ferry into the city. Commuting by car/public transport could be a bit of a headache though:curse:. Both our kids go to an excellent school which offers the International Cambridge course (IGCSE, AS level and A level). I'm sure there will be some more people along soon to let you know about the areas they live in and around Auckland. This may be useful http://www.auckland-suburb-guide.co.nz/. Good luck.

kazzie

Thanx for those links, CCGM.IN.NZ - very useful.

Sorry more and more questions!!!!!
How old are your teenagers? Are you in Bucklands Beach and do your children go to Macleans College? Will your children be doing the Cambridge exams? I had been looking at Macleans College and the Bucklands beach area, with the ferry link it seemed like a good option. What do you think of the college? Have your children made friends easily?

Is the ferry reliable and does it run regularly day and night in CBD? Does that go from Half Moon Bay? (Sounds like Enid Blyton book, doesn't it!!!) How long does it take and what is the cost?

How are you finding the cost of living - ie food, clothes, furniture? Is it worth bringing everything? Would we be able to afford a 4/5 bedroom house for 700,000 NZD in Bucklands Beach area???

What is the driving like? - 17 year old having lessons here.

Thanx for the advice, any help would be good.

CCGM.IN.NZ

My two are 16 and 13. They are both at Macleans. My 16 year old has just passed all her IGCSE's (that was her in the link I sent you). My 13 year old has just started in Feb. He has made lots of new friends and just returned from the year 9 Camp at Greens Bay. We have recently moved to Eastern Beach, still in zone. Both kids really enjoy school and so far I am impressed with it too.

Ferry info here http://www.fullers.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/34

Bring as much as you can. We brought most things with us. We bought a new sofa and a couple of new beds when we got here as ours in the UK needed replacing anyway. When we bought that stuff we still had our English pounds and the exchange rate was pretty good at the time so we didn't feel like it was a huge expense. Ongoing costs of stuff, food, clothes etc is probably similar to UK prices but with the lower wages here some people do struggle a bit. Not sure what you will be able to afford (we are happy to rent at the minute) but you should certainly be able to get a 4 bed house here for around $700,000. Try here for some ideas http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Cate...0000&x=52&y=11

Driving can get pretty busy around rush hour. Seems a bit mad when you first get here but we soon got used to it. Hoons seem to come out at night mostly with their noisy cars and booming music. Depends where you live. We dont here anything where we live

Hope this helps! Carol

kazzie

Thanx Carol, it is great to hear from someone already there. You must be very proud of your daughter. I think the Cambridge exams would be ideal for my 17 year old as based on the english system and therefore not such a big change for her. Macleans looked very good on paper so it is good to hear that you are impressed with it to. Are the Cambridge exams accepted by the universities over there alright?

The links for the houses were great and the views there look amazing. Are there any drawbacks to living in the area - looks too good to be true????? Is the ferry port near to CBD or would you then need more transport to get in? Are there lots of other teenagers living in the area? Are there any areas in that locality to avoid, with the hoons etc. or is the whole area OK?

How long have you been there for now? Do you have your residency? Did you apply once there and was it difficult? We would be getting there with work to residence visas, but are considering speeding up process by applying for residency under skilled migrant category when we get there, to include our 19 year old as a dependant.

Do you miss anything about UK - I think it would only be family and friends for me!! Anything you wished you had brought with you?

Is renting with pets - we have labrador dog and young cat - very difficult?

Do they have homeopathic doctors in the local area? How about orthodontists - 13 year old wearing braces!!!? Are doctors and dentists easy to find? vets?

Are dogs allowed on the beaches where you are? Are they allowed in the reserves/parks? Our labrador loves swimming in the sea here.

So grateful for all this help.

Campbells

Have a look on www.trademe, everything on there from cars to houses, may give you an idea.

Re furniture you can have a look online at Noel Leeming, Harvey Norman,

Re the housing pricing , personally I would suggest that you rent for at least a year in NZ so you can get a feel for the various areas and what is on offer.

For $700 k you could do the “lifestyle” thing and get a decent piece of land.

We live on the North Shore which is quite different to the Botany areas.

Do you have a job to come to? If you are heading for Auckland it may be an idea to consider buying in an area that offers a good commute to work and depending on work location that could be a nightmare in Auckland.

You may also discover that you want to steer you kids away from the mall culture and go more for the outdoor options which will impact on your area to buy.

There is also the factor that it is very much a buyers market in Real Estate and folk are watching what is going to happen. Some say that the house prices will drop and the interest rate is going up again.

In terms of geography of Auckland you will also find that certain areas all sound good but when you get there it may not be your cuppa. For example Northcote and Howick have a very high number of Asians.

Personally I would get some input from this site but not base your kid’s schools and areas to live from online input. Go see for yourself in the flesh.

You may decide that you want to live in Mission Bay which has a very continental and is very vibey. You could buy a big piece of land in South Auckland but some of those areas are very dodgy.

So considering your options and the variance of the areas within Auckland that is why I would suggest the rent for a while and scope it out. You may even decide to move to Invercargill

minky

I can see that your driving force is your childrens schooling and a lot of English do go up to Bucklands Beach for Macleans so therefore you will have to live in the zone.There is quite a mixture from old to new up there and prices are also dropping also go to the Ray White auction on Mondays at the yacht club.Mellons Bay is also quite nice but I would avoid living rifgt on the beach. Howick area does have a high amount on Asians living here but I see it as a positive for my children as they are well educated so the schooling reflects that.
We have lived in Dannemora since Sept 06 it has been good for the amenities here.Our children have had a good start in school and we have moved and been able to stay in the same school eventhough we moved out of the zone.We are still renting but hoping to buy this year seeing how the market has changed we have made the decision to go to private school so we can live where we want to and not worry about the zones.
Lloyd Elsmore is the sports area with cricket hockey rugby baseball athletics and swimming.
Like the previous poster we stayed in Parnell for a couple of weeks which was central for looking around areas but in the end the job schools will be your determing factor.We did look at the North shore but the traffic coming over was a bit of a nightmare.
This area is growing with the new Highbrook Ind Estate and Flatbush being built at the mo.
We find it easy to get around from here from going south or North.

CCGM.IN.NZ

Cambridge quals are accepted in unis here and abroad. More info here http://www.acsnz.org.nz/schools.html

They will only show you the best views! They certainly wont show the ones who look out into someones living room from your kitchen! Or the one where your toilet window opens directly onto next doors garden! It is quite densly (?) populated here, as it is across Auckland, and some houses can be very on top of each other. The other posters are quite right. I would rent for a while till you have settled on an area you like. You really would have to see for yourself. I know the schooling is quite an important issue and yes Macleans are very strict on zoning. You can move out of zone after 12 months but that would be harder to do if you are tied to a house you have bought. In the link above there is a list of other schools offering the Cambridge. We love where we live but that only my opinion. Lots of teenagers in the area? There's lots of everyone! Like I've said, its quite densly populated here. Most of this area is ok. I would avoid seafront properties as these areas do seem to attract the hoons at night in their noisy cars. The ferry port is in central Auckland, right at the bottom of Queen Street. Walking to the CBD from here, no problem.

We have been her for nearly 16 months. On LTBV so temporary residency for now. We can apply for PR at the end of this year.


We only miss family and friends too. We did go back for a visit just after Christmas as we had promised family we would. Have no intention of doing it again though! Anything I wished I had brought with us, Primark and Tesco, how sad!


Jackie (garryhg) may be able to help with that one. We dont have any pets.
I think the dogs are restricted, in this area, to certain times of the day as far as the beach is concerned. We see plenty of them being walked in the reserves though.


Not sure on the homeopathic doctors but all the others yes, lots of them in the area. Yellow pages is a good place to look. We do have to pay for all of those services though. Under 18 can at most dentists get free treatment but orthodontic treatment is not free, and from what I can gather, quite costly. My 13 year old will need braces so I will find out in due course just what that will cost.



I think that was everything

My kids are not into the 'mall culture'. If we go to the malls, we go as a family, get something to eat, do a bit of shopping, go to the cinema. My kids are happy out with their friends walking or cycling in the local reserves, and on weekends we have family days out too.