moonie2011

Fed ex delivered them today 4days after submitting them to INZ

Looking at leaving end of may



So exciting

Persephone

Many congratulations, finally you have them

How many times have you looked at them already

Lb welly

Wow! Congrats. Would love to hear how you organise the timing of moving your stuff over. That's the thing that's got me in a panic!
Where in Welly will u be? I will be moving to Kelburn. X

moonie2011

Just the once as the film crew want to come and film us telling the kids tomorrow, so we are saying nothing and trying to act normal

moonie2011

Hi Kelburn, we have no idea yet, until we get there, have a look around and decide on a house/area
I quite like the look of Titahi bay or Papkowhai, but maybe somewhere nearer the city
This is what i'm panicing about the most, 1 hubby, 2 kids, 4 suitcases, no car, house or school

Lb welly

You can organise a rental car from the airport. Tick
You could book a motel or look for short term rental on trade me. Tick
School-How old are your kids?
I hve 3 boys and they will go to Kelburn normal school (Kelburn) or clifton terrace school (city) both within walking distance. My teenager will go to Wellington College. My hubby visited the latter two schools last year and was very happy with them.
I do know a friend who lives up the kapiti coast -Paraparaumu- and commutes to the city. Think it takes an hour.
Are you looking for beach or city, want a decent garden? Our house in Kelburn is near cable car and fairly central but this means our garden is a small hill covered in trees so not much flat space though Kelburn park is directly opposite so hope that makes up for it for us.
My OH is from Upper Hutt so he knows a bit about areas but has lived here since 1997 so his knowledge may be out of date!
Such an exciting time but so nerve wracking all at the same time!

moonie2011

Hi yes we will hire a car for a few weeks then buy one, we will also book a rental cottage or something for 4-6 weeks.
Our boys are 8 & 11 this summer, or should I say winter lol
We did look at Paraparaumu but an hour commute is too long, we have been told the other areas is said are 30 mins
Ideally we want to be walking distance to the beach and we have seen some houses below Lower Hutt and east of the city that are very near the beach. We would also like a fairly flat garden. We would like a community but not too near the city, we live rural here and don't want city living
Like you, it would be nice to be walking/cycling distance of the school
We plan to use the first two weeks to drive around, looking at rentals etc, Trademe have agreed that I can have 4 weeks restricted access so I can contact some rental owners to arrange viewings in that 2 wks.
I am hoping the right house in the right area near a good school will be there when we need it 🙏
A scarily exciting time

MrsFychan

glad its all coming together.
make sure keep in touch
don't forget further north out of Wellington the nicer the weather and train ride into town is painless and lots and lots of people do it even from Waikanae which is an hour. what I'm saying is look around lots before you decide

escapedtonz

Hi,
Paraparaumu is a good hour drive from Welly and unfortunately only one route to use - SH1 with the middle section all single track which is the cause of the driving delays.
You are correct the other areas Titahi Bay and Papakowhai are approx 30 minutes drive. Over the two I'd pick Papakowhai as its virtually on SH1. To get to Titahi Bay you must drive around Porirua City limits and out on to the Titahi Bay peninsula. Only one way in and one way out unless you have a boat

What sort of a beach do you want to be near..... sunbathing and playing with the kids or walking the dog ?
There are very few really nice beaches for sunbathing and playing with the kids - Wellington's best is Scortching Bay, South West of the city nearer to the airport.
Other than this the man made beach at Oriental Bay just on the outskirts of the CBD is OK but not really the best for kids as it's more crushed shells than sand.
Plimmerton beach is nice but does tend to be windy all the time but the waters are safe and shallow.

Houses below Lower Hutt city....Do you mean Woburn or Petone ?
Woburn is a lovely suburb with leafy streets and decent sized to large houses and also walking distance to the train station.
We spent our first 8 weeks there in a holiday cottage when we arrived and although the house wasn't to our taste and the fact we didn't have our own stuff the area was really nice.
Petone is very different. Older, smaller housing within defined blocks and not pretty. Has a decent little town centre with many shops, restaurants, take away's, supermarkets etc.
Beach is good for walking the dog as it's pebbles but has a great view of the city on the other side of the bay and has shallow waters.

Just my opinion but I've never liked to live South, East or West of the city. Only ever considered North.
Just feel everyone is hemmed in without much land. Living on top of one another so to speak.
We currently live at Churton Park 13.5kM from the city. I work shift times but it takes me 16 minutes to get in the car park under the building in the CBD and on the bicycle approx 40 mins going to work and 1hr 10 mins home as it's all up hill.

Your not going to get rural living uless you head out into Ohariu Valley, Makara, Pauatahanui, Blue Mountains, Whitemans Valley which all slow down the driving as they are located down country winding roads.

Exciting times ahead!

Good luck with the move.

moonie2011

WOW thank u so much info, my gut feeling is up north still. We don't want rural yet as we want to make friends and be involved etc. beach would be a nice kid friend.y beach that we can have b&b q's at weekend 😃

I forgot to mention my other passion horses, I had one for 20 years until recently but I am hoping to find someone who would be happy for me to help with their horse 2-3 days a week, also kids love riding, so some teaching for them as well if possible.

We will certainly be visiting all these areas in our first two weeks.
Thanks again

BEVS

So.
Are you excited then?

Time for you to sort an avatar then. ( not a big bum though )

and

never forget that it doesn't really matter what anyone else says is right or wrong. It is what you feel is best for you and yours - always.

c_wal10

Congratulations x

j19fmm

Fantastic news!! Yes, do tell how the arrangements go. I've paid a deposit to the movers but need to ask them how much notice they need!!!!
Really excited for you xx

escapedtonz

Yeah same here. Initially I wanted rural, a house with lots of land and out in the country but not really fair to isolate our little one away from other children so we opted to live in suburbia for the time being until he's grown up some.

Your only options for kid friendly beaches with picnic and bbq in Wellington are going to be Scorching Bay or Plimmerton.
Scorching Bay defo the best and there's a cafe called Scorch O Rama across the road which serves excellent food, coffee and ice cream, but that's it!
Kiwi's defo don't make the most of what they've got!
It's a really nice sandy beach and also has a large grass bank for lying and BBQ on instead of getting everything covered in sand.
Plenty of parking but gets really busy at the weekend and public holidays.
The water itself isn't that great for kids as it quickly gets deep and being the water of Wellington harbour/bay it's freezing. Brrrr!
We do spend a lot of time on this beach as it is the best.

Plimmerton isn't as nice of a beach but has a couple of shops, a nice cafe, a chippy etc within a short walk and a bit of a shopping precinct/bars/fast food a couple of mins away in the car.
We like having a fish and chips picnic on the beach often during summer.

The only place I've come across horses is in Ohariu valley accessed from Johnsonville. There's an equestrian centre there supposed to be the best in Wellington.
They surely have lots of em!
http://http://www.horsetrekking.co.nz/page/home.aspx

Boopy

Great news Papakowhai is a great choice.... I'm there. My friend has a horse in a paddock (less than 10 mins drive from Papakowhai) she works full time & would welcome help with Rosie