katracy

Does any one live in this area? We are thinking of here, but unsure of how long it takes to travel to Auckland during the week? Is it a nice area? Any help would be great.

uk+kiwi

If memory serves me correctly, AnnieN who lives in Gulf Harbour has an expat friend there, but I'm not sure she comes onto this site. I'd PM her.

Yes it's a lovely area, quite small but one of our preferred areas when we did our NZ reccie. But quite far to commute into the CBD if that's what you're thinking. 2 hours minimum in rush hour? I seem to recall it taking us at least an hour from the North Shore during the day. So personally, I'd say it's not a commutable distance (to the CBD), though it's personal opinion and some may do it.

Great place though.

kiwi_child

I remember visiting the Warkworth station with my aunt and uncle when I was a kid. They had moonrocks and other stuff from the apollo space program there. I recall it was a fair drive from Bayswater (North Shore) to Warkworth, and back then there was heaps of countryside (farms and that along the way). I would think it would be too far to commute to AKL CBD for work also.

ewanainsworth

Hi there, we are frequent visitors to Warkworth and the surrounding areas as my brother lives nearby in Ahuroa.
We love the area and hope to move here when we move to NZ.
There is a fairly large new World supermarket as well as local stores that should serve most of your shopping needs. There is also a Warehouse nearby in Snells Beach for housy stuff you may need.
My brothers children go to the local schools which seem excellent.
There are excellent deserted beaches close by and ample opportunity to indulge in a wide variety of sporting activities.
We have found it an ideal place to settle if you want to be out of the way but close enough to Auckland to be practical.
The commuting times to Auckland will obviously vary dependeing on the times your travelling but I have found that I can make it in just over an hour outside rush hour times and anything up to two hours at peak rush hours. The new motorway is slowly making its way towards Warkworth and this can only improve the times, not to mention increasing the house prices the closer it gets.
We cant wait to get there!!
PS. dont forget to "give way to the ducks crossing "when your in Warkworth
Hope it all works out for you wherever you end up.

Karen2000

Hi There my name is Karen and I have been living in Warkworth for almost 4 months . We are in rented accommodation at the moment but will be moving into our own house next month , I am really looking forward to it. Warkworth is very quaint !! it was described to me once as looking like Trumpton in the childrens programme , I have probably really showed my age some of you will not know what I am talking about !!!

We travel down to AKL quite reg but not in peak times it takes about an hour to get over the bridge and 45 mins to Albany approx but as has been said the tunnel will open next Xmas and cut that time down . Anne`s husband works in AKL city and takes the ferry from Gulf Harbour everyday and walks into work from the terminal .

It is a nice place to live it has all that you need for day to day living and is still close enough for good access to better shopping when you want it . My husband works in this area so it is ideal for us and I am hoping to get a job here soon . They have started work on a new 30,000 square m shopping centre and there are several new sub divisions going on in town so it is growing all the time , lets hope it manages to retain its character at the same time . It is small town living , it seems fairly easy to settle the folks are friendly and there is a growing number of expats here . My husband loves it but it will take a little longer for me to settle but then I dont think that is Warkworth itself just NZ in general . IMO you could choose alot worse , I dont have children here but the schools seem fairly good from what I have heard .

I could ramble on but dont want to bore everyone !!! if you want more info message me

Good Luck Karen

KiwiKate

hi, we live fairly close to Warkworth, and enjoy visiting there - like someone else said, it's very quaint, with a english village atmosphere (at least in the main drag, with the river walk). There's a couple of nice restaurants, but I personally think it might be too far to consider daily commuting to CBD. Even when the tunnel's completed, it would still be a fair old run, there and back (not what you really want once you're living here). But it is developing quite quickly, so there may well be work available there, or even on the north shore which might be a more 'do-able' commute.
Anyways, Good luck with your move wherever it takes you!