MnB

hi Andy...many thanks!
will visit later c/o google earth till we are on the ground!
Bx

MnB

Found it! drove through Helena Bay on way to Russell on first visit, stayed at Ngunguru (through Matapouri) and went to Ocean Beach on last visit ..... just so many lovely beaches!!! sadly didn't have time to do them all when just visiting!!
Google earth's great..... but just makes the yearning to be there even stronger!! lucky you!!
Hope life is still good for you .... B x

ziggi

Life is good thanks

Went for our 'fast track' interview at Immigration yesterday, they looked over the paperwork and all seems ok. So IF (BIG IF) all paperwork is ok, they told us we could be approved in 6 - 9 wks, so just sit and wait now

Andy

MnB

Good Luck!
Enjoy beach life for the next 6-9wks!! thats when you dont have BE/Immigration finger!
Keep us posted
B x

Jo_Paul87

Hi Everyone,
enjoyin this thread we were in the Northland at the end of May, I had job interview nr Paihia, the family were certainly taken with the Bay area, I am hoping the job offer follows soon as I can certainly see us settling in the Paihia / KeriKeri area, has anyone got first hand experience of this area ?

MnB

Hi Good luck & hope you get job offer! I'm sure Pixie Dust will be along ... have you checked out her blog? If you havn't a word of warning.... its addictive!
B x

pixi-dust

Jo_Paul I live rurally pretty much equidistant between Paihia and Kerikeri. My DH works in Kerikeri.
We don't have kids so can't give any advice about schools and such, but some of our friends do and seem very happy with all that stuff.
I can give you the name of a good vet though as we have loads of animals!
Given that I don't live in either of them you'll have to take what I say with a pinch of salt - but if I was to choose I'd say Kerikeri ( if it had to be in a town) purely because Paihia has quite a transient population and in the summer time it's very busy with tourists and I think that it might do my head in, I see it as more of a holiday place! that's not to say Kerikeri hasn't got it's fair share of visitors though. With Paihia you do have the water right there. Haruru Falls is near by and is nice with spectacular views.

As small towns go, I think Kerikeri in really good. It has everything you need and more.
Also all round this area there are other wee places and rural properties tucked away, sections for sale to build on etc. I absolutely love living up here and wouldn't change it - it suits my husband and I perfectly.

I suppose some good advice ( which we didn't take at all!) would be to rent first to get a feel for the place, drive around the area distances that you would feel happy about travelling to work. You don't get traffic jams so geting from place to place is pretty easy.

Is there anything specific you would like to know? oh and fingers crossed for your job offer.

ziggi

I would agree with pixi-dust on the Kerikeri, Pahia property also seems to be more expensive, maybe due to tourist area?
On the renting front, GOOD idea that's what we did. BUT, a word of warning that we didn't know until we were here looking, most properties that are let are un-furnished. When we were looking around Whangarei area, we could only find 3 that were furnished, so either budget for furnishings or be prepared for a 'shorter' list to pick from than you may think. On the budget front, is it me or is the furnishings in NZ a bit more expensive than the UK?

Best of luck with the job offer

Andy & Em

Kiwi-Irish

Yes furnishings are a lot more - most things are more expensive in New Zealand - per salary ratio. Its a tricky one, hard to know whats best with renting - furnished or unfurnished. At least if you furnish yourself you can buy what you like - over here where they always furnish, quite often they have the worse quality furnishings that can fall apart.