davek

hi all....have lived in NZ previously,visited wellington and liked it...need advice please on nice,family communities,with good schools and high schools...housing with views and near beach if poss.............cheers

Ted Logan

and your budget is ..................

what sex are the children ...................

Do you want seaviews or are you happy on the flat ..................


I could say Seatoun is nice, expensive houses but close to the beach and a good community (though a bit to nosey in my opinion). Primary school is excellent and zonesd for a good girls college but not so good boys. But saying that any Eastern or Southern suburbs you will have the same school zoning. Does lose sun early because of hill

Lyall Bay, more affordable houses, nice beach (unless a southerly comes through) mainly flat but hills look down onto beach though they also lose sun early. Unsure about primary schools.

Island Bay, nice community, affordable houses, excellent bus service. Beach at end of road. Choose a house on West side for good sun. Unsure about primary schools.

Those are a few areas but you need to check it out more. A lot of expats are in Hutt and Porirua (god knows why ) Unsure of schooling up there way.

Boopy

Cos we love it! Away from all that traffic - so much space - less wind etc.etc.....

Kerry W

Errr, what happened to Miramar?

danny.f

He's trying to keep Mirimar to himself Kerry!

We live near Boopy in Papakowhai, there are a few expat familes with kids up here too - Wilma, simonmarkellis, maz to name a few. We have 3 kids - 2 go to the local primary / intermediate school which is excellent. My OH works in wellington and gets there in 15 - 20 minutes. You get a lot more for your money up here, a lot of the houses in Wellington are on sub divided plots so if a decent sized garden is important you're goin to need a reasonable amount of money to get that in the city.
Ignore Ted logan - for someone who slates Porirua he spends enough time up here - although I do see his point when it comes to older children, there is more for teenagers to do in the city.

simonmarkellis

Listen to Ted Logan, stay away from Porirua until i've at least managed to find that home i want to buy...

Kerry W

Well I was giving him information about what he was after.

Yes Porirua is nice for a day out but the travelling to Wellington City might do my head in.

davek

hi,thanks to everyone for the info......kids are 7 & 10,we want to have sea views and be close to sea/beach...budget is to $700-$850k.......hopefully this will buy 3 bed house in goodish area....cheers

simonmarkellis

That'll be moe than enough!! Have a look at www.open2view.com, that'll give you an idea of the type of home you'll get for your money.

Ted Logan

As Simon has just said, start doing your homework on where you would like to live. Wellington has plenty of suburbs which you would be fine with that budget.

For good views look at either Miramar/ Seatoun, Maupuia, I think Melrose would be too far a walk for the beach.

Eastern Suburbs tend to be beachy while Island Bay or Orwhio Bay (sp) in the Southern Suburbs.

Remember that NZ houses aren't up to spec on English houses so somewhere where the sun goes early can be a disadvantage.

Look at a few suburbs and let us know. Are you doing a visit before you come out ??

davek

hi ted...thanks for that,will look at these area's.....have lived in christchurch before for a few years so seen a few kiwi houses !!...........cheers.

Ted Logan

These are my views of Wellington City.

The Porirua mob may be able to help you more up there (Plimmerton looked nice or even Pukerua Bay). Saying that, Kapati is also lovely but a bit of a distance into city centre.

Depends if you want city life or not

Kiwiprincess

Travelling to Wellington City each day a pain? Porirua is only about 20 minutes by train. Pukerua Bay is nice too but that admittedly is further out (still only 35 mins on train). Plimmerton, Camborne, Paremata are nice too

What about Tawa? It is 15 mins on train (13 if at Takapu, 17 from Linden), it has very good primary schools, an intermediate (11 and 12 year olds) which is very highly regrarded and has a good range of teachers along.Next door is Tawa College which has a waiting list a mile long when it comes to out of zone students and has a good range of sporting, cultural and of course academic experiences for the older nippers.

Not to mention the fact that Tawa has a nice feel about it. Villagey without being expensive

Kiwiprincess

Oops you won't get the views in Tawa (unless possibly up around Redwood looking back to Porirua or Greenacres on the other side of the valley) but it is only about a ten min drive from Titahi Bay.

jennifer45

ABOUT EASTBOURNE

Eastbourne is a picturesque suburb nestled in lush, thickly-vegetated hills facing Wellington Harbour providing spectacular views for its residents.
Eastbourne is approximately 20 kilometres from Wellington on the opposite side of Port Nicholson. After driving towards the Hutt Valley and then on to Petone Esplanade the Eastern Bays area begins at Pt Howard and includes Lowry Bay, York Bay, Mahina Bay, Sunshine Bay, Days Bay and Eastbourne: all with panoramic views of the harbour.


There is one road in... Marine Drive becomes Muritai Rd at Eastbourne itself where the village is situated. There are a range of service shops in the village ,including a supermarket and boutique butcher and green grocer.

Properties in the area are in strong demand and the average sale price hovers round $650,000 with entry level for small cottages being round $500,000. Schools are primary and include Muritai School (ages up to 13) Wellesley College a prep school for boys and San Antonio attached to the Catholic Church. Secondary schooling is available outside the area in both Lower Hutt and Wellington city.

Suburban bus services are available to Wellington and the Hutt Valley and a comuter ferry service runs between Days Bay and Wellington.

Eastbourne is renowned for its artists, beaches, cafes and restaurants. It is a haven for those who appreciate the importance of building a lifestyle around where they live.

To live in Eastbourne means enjoying the assets of the area which keeps visitors returning time and again; right on your doorstep.



The beaches are one of the areas main drawcards. Eastbourne and Days Bay have wonderful sandy beaches which are safe for swimmers. The East Harbour Regional Park backs onto Eastbourne and features fantastic bushwalks, with panoramic views, for all levels of fitness. For those who love mountain biking the Pencarrow Coastal Trail is unsurpassed.
Eastbourne has a population of around 4,500 people. It has great pre-school facilities with a top quality day care centre, two playcentres and a kindergarten. In addition, the schools include Muritai School, primary school going up to Year 8 (intermediate), a small Catholic school and a private boys’ college (Year 1-8). This means that we have a great choice of schooling for our children- '
Eastbourne has a strong sporting community. As expected for a seaside village, the local yacht club is bursting at the seams with approximately 50 children learning to sail each year. There are Rugby and Soccer teams; a vibrant Youth Worker organisation for slightly older children and a very popular Retired Person's Association

The harbour ferry runs a route across the harbour to Wellington City. This is the ideal mode of transport for the Wellington City commuter as there are no traffic or parking worries and the drop off point is at Queens Wharf, a two minute walk from the Wellington CBD. Coffee and morning papers are available on the ferry and it’s not unusual to pave a pod of dolphins escorting the boat across the harbour.


Eastbourne's village is small but eclectic - combining several gallerys and gift shops'; a great bookshop with 3 cafe's; a Tavern and a Brasserie; a gourmet butchery and Green Grocer; a local dairy and a small supermarket.
Properties are sought after in this wonderful suburb with entry level being at approximately $400,000 and the average price for properties being between $500,000 - $600,000. Upper level goes into the $1,500,000 ++ range.

People who live here describe Eastbourne as “paradise”.

PS. I lifted the above from estate agents blurb.