Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

Hi, I'm a kiwi who has lived abroad for 25 years. I married a Brit, we have kids, and because of my ageing parents and our general curiosity, we are considering temporarily relocating to NZ. I have a bunch of concerns and questions which I hope you can indulge me with. I should say I'm under no illusions at how challenging it can be, we have a great life where we currently live, but I think we both feel it's a now-or-never opportunity (our children are still young).

It could only ever be Auckland as that as where my family and friends are based, presumably we'd work in the CBD. My parents are in the East Coast Bays. We would initially stay with them, but then what? What is commuting like now from Browns Bay to Auckland CBD? What is the North Shore even like these days? Our main priorities are excellent primary school (preferably one that is primary & intermediate so our children can stay togethe), reasonable commuting time to CBD. We'd also prefer an area that is more multicultural/international, with a good mix of professionals. I don't recall the North Shore being very multicultural, but that was 20 years ago. If not the Shore, then I'm thinking we'd look at the City suburbs - swap the beach lifestyle for an easy commute. But where? Also, does anyone know a good recruitment agency for Senior IT professionals? Thanking you in advance.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

Not necessarily the CBD - a few (and it is a small number) of companies have Head Offices on the North Shore - and Vodafone are about to relocate from (next to) the CBD up to Smales Farm so more are on their way.

Commuting in Auckland is grid-lock hell, there is nothing good that can be said of it. But don't take my word for it, or anybody else that pops their head over the parapet; NZTA are good at providing regular updates over their Twitter feed @NZTAAkl so you can take a look yourself to see what has been happening.

Alan Davies did a tour of the country recently including a show at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna which I went to. I counted four people in the theatre that weren't Caucasian (I had noticed that there weren't many so I counted) - one of them was staff.

Here is a TV advert that has been on recently extolling the virtues of the place so that you can see for yourself.
- My background - I have been working on the North Shore for five years - two different companies. I don't live there.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

That's hardly a fair representation of the population in general - I am sure the audience for any middle aged pommy comedian visiting Auckland is going to be made up of middle aged white pommie folks. :p In my experience the shore is becoming increasingly Asian and will continue to do so with high rise apartments and such like being built to meet that demand.

It's certainly no secret that traffic is a nightmare especially at school pick up and drop off times. You either need to be up and out with the sparrows first thing in the morning or allow at least 45 minutes to one hour to get anywhere and even that would be cutting it very fine some days. Some say you can bus it to CBD in 45 minutes but there are a few obstacles that can make that quite challenging on a long term basis as you either have to get on another feeder bus or drive to the bus station where lies the further sneaky wee problem of finding somewhere to park.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

To be fair, if you are not british, you won't know much about Alan Davies.

I can remember about 4 years ago, walking down queen street in Aux CBD and seeing more than a few people actually
stopping and pointing at a woman walking along dressed in a full burka. I think things have improved a little since then,
although there was a fair bit of animosity towards the growing number of asians, as many felt they were the ones
driving up the house prices.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

I found this quite interesting.

Asian Auckland: How our city has changed - Explore our interactive - National - NZ Herald News

Its not difficult to spot that the rich white folks all live on the coast with the expensive sea views. The rest of the suburbs are rather more colorful, ranging from 20 to 60% who identified as Asian in the last census. Three years on I expect it will have changed even further, as we hear repeatedly that majority of houses of late have sold to Chinese immigrants.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

And most of the people walking along Queen Street are tourists or foreign language students. :lol:

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

Who is Alan Davies ?

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

guy on the left from QI, Jonathan Creek, Whites,

Alan Davies - IMDb

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

And very good citizens they make too. Generally intelligent, low crime, hard working and pleasant.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

Not even close to true. Name one creditable source that says that.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

We saw Alan Davies in Palmerston North on his, 'Little Victories' tour last year. It was the opening night, well, he had to start somewhere I suppose. It was brilliant, he's hilarious. :thumbsup: :rofl:

:focus:

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

I am a credible source. I go to auctions throughout the year when I'm able to keep an eye on the market. I would say, nearly every house that sold, was sold to either a family of Chinese origin (NZ born or not, I have no way of knowing), or of Indian, or Indian Fijian origin. It might be due to the area where I look (Manukau City) but that's the situation as I've witnessed it.

Our real estate agent is convinced our house will be bought by an Asian investor, and will be marketing the house with that in mind. Considering how many houses he sells, he should know who's buying.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

[QUOTE=The Weezer;11884910I would say, nearly every house that sold, was sold to either a family of Chinese origin (NZ born or not, I have no way of knowing[/QUOTE]

As you've said in your post - how can you possibly know if Chinese looking people are or aren't New Zealanders? A persons skin colour or features often doesn't bear meaning to where they have been born and raised, especially not nowadays in a world so mobile. In fact the next time to see a Chinese looking bidding at auction they could well be more Kiwi than you! So not really an accurate measure in my opinion.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

Hi, nice to meet you. I am a kiwi and was in London for 24 years before returning to Auckland in 2011. There are a few of us here. I felt British when I came back, and it took a while to adjust. Fortunately, like you, I didn't have to worry about visas etc and I had family here. Happy to answer questions. I don't know the shore very well but I hear there are a lot of expat poms there.

Re: Temporary relocation to Auckland for 2 years
 

I think I meant credible. Oh well. Silly me.