shepslady

I totally agree. Nothing wrong with being a snob at all & I applaud you for being able to admit it. That to me makes you a different class of snob (gosh that really is an awful sounding word isnt it?? he he he) A lot of my family in NZ are snobs too but when anyone tries telling them that they put their denial into overdrive & thats the thing about some snobby people that disturbs me. And before anyone comes down on me for my previous postings re snobs, I am proud to state that I am the black sheep of my family. Sure I like money & I like nice things but its never been the be all & end all for me & it never will be!!!!

GeorgeM

SCHOOLS

In Chch schools are zoned, which means that (by and large) if you don't live in the zone of a good school it's very difficult to get in. There are some exceptions to this broad generalisation which I won't go into here...

As a result of this there is a bit of a correlation between house prices and school zone - areas with a school perceived to be a good one generally having higher prices.

Surely this isn't surprising - the same forces seem to be at work in the UK (try buying into a village with a 'good' primary school in some areas).

Notwithstanding this, it is possible to find decent housing in Chch in good school zones. Currently Girls' High, Boys' High, Riccarton and Burnside are amongt what are generally regarded as sought after schools and houses in their zones will be somewhat higher in price than if the school was seen as rubbish. But there are decent houses in these areas for less than $300K. Within the past 18 months I bought decent 4 bed houses in each of these areas (as investments), one for $255K, the other for $260K.

Most schools have a website (xxxx.school.nz) which gives their enrollment rules and policy plus a map of their zone. From that you should be able to identify the areas - for example Burnside zone includes an area known as Bryndwr which hasn't been mentioned by anyone as far as I can see, and Avonhead is generally in either Burnside or Riccarton zones. Beware Riccarton Park (I think that this is what it is called) as this is (I believe) in Hornby School zone which is not generally so sought after...

The relation between price and zone is not necessarily always there - the houses on the Mt Pleasant, Redcliffs, Sumner side of town are very expensive, but their zoned secondary school is Linwood College. Many children from these areas somehow manage to get into Shirley Boys' School or Avonside Girls' School which also appear to be regarded as amongst the better state schools.

There are a lot of private schools in Chch which whilst expensive are MUCH cheaper than their equivalents in UK - some people choose to buy cheaper out of zone and pay for education than get to the education for free and pay through the nose for a house.

And at the end of the day what's a good school for one could be totally inappropriate for another, which is probably no use to you at all from such a distance...

GAS

We had always used gas in the UK and were disappointed that we couldn't get piped gas in Chch. But after 3 years we are totally used to the bottled stuff which we use for our main heater plus kitchen range. We've got two huge bottles of gas against the wall of our house and the only hassle is having to go out and switch to the reserve when one runs out (which usually occurs in the middle of a downpour). Then you ring an 0800 number, punch in a few digits to give your user code and a replacement bottle is delivered within 48 hours. It works very well, isn't any hassle and so far has been 100% reliable.

Hope this helps.

sky

That was a flipping good read, I wouldn't live in Christchurch I came from Leeds which is a busy city and we actually rented in Bryndwr when we first arrived and got our sons into Burnside High and Colburn Intermediate. As far as Im concerned the area sucks! As for Cashmere and Sumner etc I wouldn't live there either .. when we first arrived I thought god those houses must be cheap who on earth would want to live on the side of a cliff, just silly as far as Im concerned.
Kaiapoi is beautiful and Rangiora is so lovely with it's proper townstreet.
We bought in Kaiapoi but had to move and now live just outside Rangiora and it is lovely...our house is not posh and we have a little garden but it only cost us $230k so we're not complaining and we are content with what we have.

kiwijetpilot

Well I can't be bothered reading the whole thread, which appears to have degenerated into the usual scrap!

This business is really very simple.

First of all, visit http://www.minedu.govt.nz/index.cfm?...xparentid=1000 and familiarise yourself with how NZ schools work.

Next, visit http://www.minedu.govt.nz/index.cfm?...d=10163&data=l and familiarise yourself with decile ratings.

Then, find out about individual school performance from http://www.ero.govt.nz/reports/Indexsearch.htm - you can search for individual schools. Check all the schools around the area you want to live. You will OFTEN be surprised at how good schools are that are not located in the supposedly "good" areas.

Next, head over to www.open2view.com and check out house prices for the areas that you have identified as having a good school. Prepare for a further surprise, as it is a complete fallacy that you need to spend 400K to get a house near a good school.

Pretty simple, really, and not dependent on wildly divergent opinions...

shepslady

Sorry you didnt like living in CHCH itself but cant say I blame you because you really didnt choose what Id call a decent suburb to live in. Glad you found both Kaiapoi & Rangiora good places to live because in an earlier posting they were two of the places I suggested as I think they offer the best of both worlds, a bit of country living on the outskirts of a city. Most of my family still live in CHCH itself but I have loads of friends who have moved out to Kaiapoi & Rangiora, still work in the City & love their lifestyle. My hubby & I have already decided that when we move back to NZ Kaiapoi will be our first choice of places to look for a home followed closely by Rangiora. I currently have a son living in Nottingham right now but he commutes to Leeds on a daily basis to work!! Seems like a lot of travelling to me but he doesnt mind it at all.
I hope you & your family continue to enjoy your life in Rangiora wish you all well.

Cheers
Shepslady

d1eng

My family and I are interested in moving to the Christchurch area, could you tell me a bit more about kaiapoi. We have two girls aged 4 and 8, the 8 year old is into gymnastics in a big way. What are the local schools like, is it easy to make new friends etc. How far is it to central Chch. Any other info would be useful.

Watt Dabney

Hi,

Kaiapoi is a small river town with good ammenities. It has a library, a pool, 3 primary schools (1 of which is Catholic), 1 high school. Several eateries incl mcdonalds, subway and an Indian. My children go to Kaiapoi Borough school, I am very happy with it. It is by no means the best school in Christchurch, but it is certainly not the worst. It is very mid-range.
It is 25mins from central Chch, 45mins in rush hour. There is a gymnastics school on Chch which is very easy to get to from Kaiapoi, about 15mins away.

http://www.chchgymnastics.co.nz/

Making friends all depends on the individual, I have joined the PTA which I have found really helpful.


Paula

d1eng

Thanks for the info. the link to the gymanstics is excellent. The area you live sounds nice, so we shall put it down as one to investigate further. Sorry to here you have a McD's, Is there no escaping them ?

sky

Just be aware as someone said earlier of the rates. The rates are quite high in Kaiapoi and Rangiora.
Dont know how much they are in Ch.ch cos we only rented but prob be the same.
We live in Ashley now and the rates are $800 a year and thats including the water rates. We dont have a refuse collection but we pay a private company $9 for a once a fortnight collection and that is sufficient for us. We burn what will burn in the log burner and recycle cans and bottles. taking them to the local refuse station where you can dispose of them fee.

Now to Boy Racers ... just remember that there are also girl racers in NZ who are just as mad about their precious cars.
My sons mate got beaten up by a moari girl and her gang the other night in Ch.ch cos he said something about her car :scared:

kiwijetpilot

Silly boy...

shepslady

Funny you mention the girls & their cars, Id forgotten how passionate some of the girls can be about their cars too. I went back to school a couple of years ago & had a young 20 year old girl in one of my classes who knew so much about cars it was like she spoke a different language & yes she loved to spend every spare minute of her time out on the streets racing the guys just to show them she was as good as them. I know the girls wreck almost as much as the boys but you dont hear too much about that do you? Or do you??

sky

There was a programme on just the other night highlighting the problem of boy and girl racers in Ch.ch. Trouble is the whole society in general seems to be so accepting of young kids driving cars. And the whole car culture in NZ is mad mad mad about automobiles.
Apparently ... my son tells me, I drive a mum mobile but if I put a stack in, fitted it with mags and the full body kit it would be COOL .
He's caught the car bug off his mates and all I hear when I'm giving him a lift anywhere is .... "OMG look at those mags!" or "Ooooh Turbo!"

kiwijetpilot

Don't forget tints, big rims, airbag kit, NOS, "phat as" paint job, lowered seats and suspension, BOV, and the fluffy dice around the mirror...

Same as when I was a kid... some things don't change...

Cassa

I thought that that programme was disturbing actually. Most of the kids were drugged out of their heads. The write up in the papers since then have been of worried people trying to get something sorted for Christchurch. I have been knocked for this before but I tell you now, I would not feel safe on the streets of Christchurch with some of these kids around.

Last night an even more disturbing programme on NOS. I was left speachless and wonder how a prescription drug can be sold so openly in NOS bars (all 11 of them in Christchruch). The guy they highlighted is making 16K per night on selling balloons full of the stuff in his bar and his take away and home delivery service of the little silver bullets of the stuff. It really is time people, parents and council as well as police did something about it. Oh and beware the rest of the country and this chap is expanding into all over NZ. Look out for a NOS bar near you soon. Its a worry.

Cassa

People in Sumner and Cashmere live there because of the wonderful views. Two of the most expensive areas in the city now. Sumner is overtaking Merivale etc for growth and popularity. In a city as flat as Christchurch, with the houses so close together, its good to have an aspect and feeling of space. They say add £100K for a view.