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Whangarei & Northland Info?

Whangarei & Northland Info?

Old Oct 24th 2006, 3:53 pm
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Default Whangarei & Northland Info?

Hi all
Just a quick post....
My wife, with her job, and the rest of the family have maybe got a chance of moving to Whangarei (from the UK).... not confirmed yet!!
Has anybody got any info on the Whangarei area?....
Good suburbs, schools, cost of living, house prices, crime etc.... all the usual stuff really, good & bad.
Plus any info on how the schood fees are worked out (2 kids - 16 & 13 yrs old), and also recommended health insurance.
We would be very grateful for any help, prior to making the final decision, if the job comes through.
Cheers all
PS - Her starting salary will be in the 60,000 NZ$ bracket... Is this enough income??
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Old Oct 24th 2006, 4:38 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Originally Posted by lincolns
Hi all
Just a quick post....
My wife, with her job, and the rest of the family have maybe got a chance of moving to Whangarei (from the UK).... not confirmed yet!!
Has anybody got any info on the Whangarei area?....
Good suburbs, schools, cost of living, house prices, crime etc.... all the usual stuff really, good & bad.
Plus any info on how the schood fees are worked out (2 kids - 16 & 13 yrs old), and also recommended health insurance.
We would be very grateful for any help, prior to making the final decision, if the job comes through.
Cheers all
PS - Her starting salary will be in the 60,000 NZ$ bracket... Is this enough income??
Welcome to the site

Here's a couple general of links:

www.northlandnz.com

www.whangareinz.org.nz

What your other half do if you dont mind me asking?
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 2:52 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Originally Posted by lincolns
Hi all
Just a quick post....
My wife, with her job, and the rest of the family have maybe got a chance of moving to Whangarei (from the UK).... not confirmed yet!!
Has anybody got any info on the Whangarei area?....
Good suburbs, schools, cost of living, house prices, crime etc.... all the usual stuff really, good & bad.
Plus any info on how the schood fees are worked out (2 kids - 16 & 13 yrs old), and also recommended health insurance.
We would be very grateful for any help, prior to making the final decision, if the job comes through.
Cheers all
PS - Her starting salary will be in the 60,000 NZ$ bracket... Is this enough income??
Hi,
We moved to Whangarei 6 months ago with 3 children.
Some people call Whangarei Whanga RAIN.....I wonder why?????
We live in the Maunu area, which is thought of as rural, however it only takes 5 mins to drive to town.
I have to say, it is abit of a culture shock....it is quite run down, and there is quite alot of poverty. My girls go to Maunu primary school, and then there are a choice of intermediate schools- however as far as secondary schools go there is Pompallier (catholic) and Girls high and Boys high.
I do not see a long term future for us here, but I know plenty people who love it. It is close to some lovely beaches. There is golf, fishing, cinema (not alot else)
Good rentals are hard to come by, ours came with sheep!!!
I have to say, I think you would struggle on $60,000. I know plenty people manage, but food is quite expensive, and after rental I do not think there would be much left. However if both of you were working it would be a different story.
(that is how I find it anyway)
I hope I have been of some help...but honestly, if I had a choice of somewhere in New Zealand to bring up 2 kids of that age it would not be here. There is a drug P problem in the schools and that is the reason that we do not plan on staying here for our girls secondary school.
I'm just telling it as I see it.
Regards,
Alex
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 5:29 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Originally Posted by Alex
Hi,
We moved to Whangarei 6 months ago with 3 children.
Some people call Whangarei Whanga RAIN.....I wonder why?????
We live in the Maunu area, which is thought of as rural, however it only takes 5 mins to drive to town.
I have to say, it is abit of a culture shock....it is quite run down, and there is quite alot of poverty. My girls go to Maunu primary school, and then there are a choice of intermediate schools- however as far as secondary schools go there is Pompallier (catholic) and Girls high and Boys high.
I do not see a long term future for us here, but I know plenty people who love it. It is close to some lovely beaches. There is golf, fishing, cinema (not alot else)
Good rentals are hard to come by, ours came with sheep!!!
I have to say, I think you would struggle on $60,000. I know plenty people manage, but food is quite expensive, and after rental I do not think there would be much left. However if both of you were working it would be a different story.
(that is how I find it anyway)
I hope I have been of some help...but honestly, if I had a choice of somewhere in New Zealand to bring up 2 kids of that age it would not be here. There is a drug P problem in the schools and that is the reason that we do not plan on staying here for our girls secondary school.
I'm just telling it as I see it.
Regards,
Alex

Hi
Do you think that a couple could live to a decent standard on 60,000 in this area ? We will have to rent and have looked at other posts with cost of living examples and have worked out we could manage with just my husband working , is this un realistic ? We want to be able to manage if I find it difficult to find work .
Thanks Karen
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 5:51 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Hi there - i just registered so that I could post my 2cents worth!

We've been living in a small town in 'Bream Bay' for just over a year now - about a 25 min drive from Whangarei. Whangarei is our 'shopping/cinema/hospital/library' town, and we going in roughly once a week.

My partner is a teacher at Bream Bay College and we have two small children. I work a few days a week and we take in roughly $65k (up untill recently it was $49k). We have a mortgage of $180k. After childcare for the days I work and all our bills and mortgage etc, and allowing $1000 a month for groceries/luxuries/wine etc. (!) we have $300-400 a fortnight to save/spend on clothes/shoes/fun! As I say, this is quite recent ( like, two weeks recent, on $49k we had VERY little spare cash). To us this feels like LOADS and we're very happy. We also run two cars.

I have to agree with Alex that I wouldn't want to live in whangarei myself, but it's a perfectly nice town to visit & shop in etc. My partner gigs alot around the area and always has a good time.

Bream bay where we live is beautiful, however, and many people here that we know work in Whangarei (commute, in other words, a 25 min drive each way). The beaches here are fantastic, ranging from a surf beach, to Langs which has great snorkling and rock pools to 'safe' beaches that are great for our kids. We got to the beach every day in the season - after school/work and at the weekends and quite honestly feel like we live in paradise.

My partner has a lot of contacts with the schools of whangarei (he is the ict coordinator for the area for his subject group) and says that he isn't aware of a 'p problem', and I have to say that neither am I. Some parents from around this area send their children to the boys or girls high which have a similar reputation to grammar schools back in the UK. I'm also on the board of trustees of our local primary school, and that issue has never been raised or brought to our attention either. Weed is certainly an issue, however (although personally I don't know any school that it ISN'T, including in the UK).

Um, what else? I don't think it rains much, and in the nearly 18 months we've been here I've never heard it called 'whangarain', in fact it certainly rains less here than auckland. We love the climate! and have a garden full of laden citrus trees.

Feel free to ask any questions. i work in a real estate office, so if I can help there then just ask. Decent rentals in the Bream Bay are are quite rare but they are around, between $200 - $350, which is pretty much what our mortgage is too.

There are also some beautiful beaches further up above whangarei, tutukaka for instance, as well as others.

Another reason we love Bream Bay is that it's only 1.5 hours to Auckland, which makes it great for days out, getting to airports etc.

HTHs

SF
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 5:52 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Originally Posted by Karen2000
Hi
Do you think that a couple could live to a decent standard on 60,000 in this area ? We will have to rent and have looked at other posts with cost of living examples and have worked out we could manage with just my husband working , is this un realistic ? We want to be able to manage if I find it difficult to find work .
Thanks Karen
Hi Karen,
I would say that as a couple you would manage fine on $60,000. Rentals range from around $250-$350 for a decent rental in Whangarei, and you can probably be abit more choosy because family homes are harder to find.
What kind of work do you do because there are loads of jobs to be had around here so you would be able to supplement it.
If I had no kids I would enjoy Whangarei alot more, it is growing at an enormous pace. I have to say though it rains here even when there are no clouds in the sky!!! I have never seen so many rainbows.
Hope this answers your question,
Regards
Alex
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 7:31 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Hi, I don't live in Whangarei - we're about an hour north in the BOI, but i do use it as my shopping base if I want a bit more choice, so I'm down there every couple of weeks ish. So obviously I have no idea what its like to live there, but there was a time tha we thought this would be where we would have to go for work so we did look into it a bit. We decided that we probably wouldn't want to live actually in Whangarei, but there are lots of lovely places to live within half an hour. It just depends on what you're looking for. Also house prices are still pretty good, I think.

As far as Northland is concerned I love living here. I was wondering about the rain thing though - I dont think it rains much at all actually - we even ran out of water this winter it was so dry! and it's definitely warm. There is so much to do and see, its great
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 4:17 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Hi again
Thanks for the posts....
Seems very confusing though....
Drug problem... then no drug problem??
Rain.. and then no rain??
This decision would be difficult even if everyone said the place was like utopia.
With these comments, it makes you question wether it would be the right move!!
Does seem also that nobody seems to want to live in Whangarei itself. Outside OK, but in Whangarei, no.... Is is violent or full of drug-crazed kids?... or just plain boring?
Also, after researching various real estate websites, I must admit that NZ houses seem rather poor, with not so many new build available. Is this true or is different when you look for a property when actually there?
Help!!
Cheers.
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 7:45 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Originally Posted by lincolns
Hi again
Thanks for the posts....
Seems very confusing though....
Drug problem... then no drug problem??
Rain.. and then no rain??
This decision would be difficult even if everyone said the place was like utopia.
With these comments, it makes you question wether it would be the right move!!
Does seem also that nobody seems to want to live in Whangarei itself. Outside OK, but in Whangarei, no.... Is is violent or full of drug-crazed kids?... or just plain boring?
Also, after researching various real estate websites, I must admit that NZ houses seem rather poor, with not so many new build available. Is this true or is different when you look for a property when actually there?
Help!!
Cheers.
Hi Again...
Whangarei is NO utopia, but it is surrounded by alot of beauty. There is even a viewing point to see the oil refinery!
Whangarei according to the Aetorea statistcs has the highest rainfall in New Zealand, with Christchurch quoted as the lowest, however it is also warm in Summer and hence the tropical association.
I attend the local polytechnic, and have spoken to many kids from the schools around here, as well as lectures from ex police- there is a drug problem, and alot of increasing crime associated with it. (However...I guess you could say that about most places.)
There are lots of new houses going up, and alot of companies to choose from. If I were to stay self build would definately be the way I would do it.
I hope I don't sound too down on Whangarei, perhaps I am homesick for sunny Scotland!! We have made many friends here, and it is lovely exploring the beauty surrounding us.
I guess its all subjective, and differs between individuals.
Good luck in your decision making,
Alex
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 7:52 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

I think that you have to accept that you will ALWAYS get folk's subjective opinions and differing experiences when you ask questions like this though.

For example, we live in a great 'old' house - built around 1950, but would hate to live in a new-build. EVERYTHING is subjective!

If you do want to build you won't have any trouble finding land around here - we're selling loads of it at the moment and the majority of those sections (which around here tend to be 5acres up to around 22) are breathtaking.

Whangarei is a functional, clean, fairly quiet town, with suburbs... some of which are 'better' and some of which are 'worse', just like any town. I think that the main reason that people prefer to live outside rather than in is because the surrounding areas are SO beautiful, and right next to the beach (in our case) that it would seem mad to live in a town when you could leave all that behind you at night and weekends to live in such peaceful/beachy areas, if you see what I mean.

good luck.

SF
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Old Oct 25th 2006, 10:01 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

There is nothing wrong with Whangarei, it is just a small city and for us we wanted to live in the countryside when we got here - that was just our choice.

Drugs - if you want to go looking for them you'll find them - its as simple as that - I've never seen any sign of trouble or anything all the times I've been there, also it is very clean.

I used to live in the east end of glasgow and I didnt see any drugs there either - so what I'm trying to say is yes - Im sure they're there - they are everywhere - but unless you want to find some, then just don't go looking.

People have hit it on the head when they said reasons that they may not want to live in the city its self - it is surrounded by really lovely areas, which I think would be nicer to live in, but its all down to personal choice - I live in an old villa which I know loads of people hate - I love it - lots of people like new builds - I dont - all we can do on sites like this is give our opinions, you just have to weigh these up.

You know yourself best and know what suits you. Where we are we're completely happy and really never want to leave - but I know that for example, my brother - he would hate to live here ( by here I mean the specific area we live in) !! A holiday yes - live - no way! He would find it too quiet.
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Old Oct 26th 2006, 7:06 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Originally Posted by pixi-dust
There is nothing wrong with Whangarei, it is just a small city and for us we wanted to live in the countryside when we got here - that was just our choice.

Drugs - if you want to go looking for them you'll find them - its as simple as that - I've never seen any sign of trouble or anything all the times I've been there, also it is very clean.

I used to live in the east end of glasgow and I didnt see any drugs there either - so what I'm trying to say is yes - Im sure they're there - they are everywhere - but unless you want to find some, then just don't go looking.

People have hit it on the head when they said reasons that they may not want to live in the city its self - it is surrounded by really lovely areas, which I think would be nicer to live in, but its all down to personal choice - I live in an old villa which I know loads of people hate - I love it - lots of people like new builds - I dont - all we can do on sites like this is give our opinions, you just have to weigh these up.

You know yourself best and know what suits you. Where we are we're completely happy and really never want to leave - but I know that for example, my brother - he would hate to live here ( by here I mean the specific area we live in) !! A holiday yes - live - no way! He would find it too quiet.
Which areas around Whangarei are classes as good? Say within a 30min drive.

Important things for us will be schools, short distance to the beach (if not on it ) and of course affordability. Basically Heaven on Earth
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Old Oct 26th 2006, 7:43 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Originally Posted by Jack Daws
Which areas around Whangarei are classes as good? Say within a 30min drive.

Important things for us will be schools, short distance to the beach (if not on it ) and of course affordability. Basically Heaven on Earth
HERE!



(but I AM a bit biased!)

SF
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Old Oct 26th 2006, 8:11 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

Originally Posted by soulflour
HERE!



(but I AM a bit biased!)

SF
haha! I was going to say there too!!
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Old Oct 26th 2006, 8:36 am
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Default Re: Whangarei & Northland Info?

My office just sold a 'do up' with 1.5 acres about 10 mins from that beach (down about 1k of metal road) for $220k (4 bed). It DID need re-piling, and a new roof, kitchen and bathroom, but the bathroom was the only thing that needed doing immediately, and 1/2 of one of the acres was established fruit orchard.

Also just sold an 80 year old villa (in big need of TLC admittedly, but totally livable) with 3.5ish acres for $230k - a bit further inland... maybe 12-15mins from beach?

To be fair though, it's pretty unusual to find a house under $300k in this area.

You can get an amazing section with bush of around 10acres for between $200-$300k.

It's a 25min drive to whangarei and 1.5hrs to auckland.

SF
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