marbles

Hi,
I think we've decided that its back to NZ for our family. We lived in Wanganui for 5 years but for various reasons (including sick family and very young children who we thought would benefit from relations), we moved back to the UK over 3 years ago. We now realise that there isn't much to stay here for and that the quality of life we could give our children in NZ would be much better. I'm a teacher so my job is pretty much the same where ever and hopefully i will find it quite easy to find a job. We've been looking at the map and have decided that Tauranga is where we would like to settle. Its close enough to get to auckland and Hamilton and further north if we want to, but also only a days travel to get back down to Wanganui to see my mum who still lives there. I would love to hear from anyone who knows the area, who could tell me which are the good neighbourhoods and which are the bad ones, and which schools are the best/worst etc (both secondary as that is where i teach and primary as i have 2 boys). Basically any information about living in the place would be great as we only spent a brief time there when we were over there.

howden40

Hi

We have quite a large community of us ex-pats in the Tauranga area. I'm sure she won't mind me saying as she is such a lovely lady I think AmLoolah may be able to give some guidance as to areas.
My OH's Boss gave us some indication on where to live - Papamoa and we love it.

Best of luck in your choice,
Pauline

marbles

Thanks for that Pauline,
Lots of nice things seem to be being said about papamoa, nobody has really mentioned any other areas, is there a reason why?

Am Loolah

Hi marbles,

Apologies for not replying, your thread mus have slipped my attention. Thanks Pauline for your kind words.

Tauranga as a city (now the 4th largest in NZ) is much bigger than people first assume. It is made up of many "suburbs" with Mount Maunganui and Papamoa being two that are on a peninsula over the Tauranga harbour bridge.

Have a look in the Wiki here http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Tauranga_City_Guide for some interesting links to the area.

We have lived in Papamoa for 21 months and love it. I have friends who live in Tauranga itself in Omokoroa (try Ash1 he moved from Papamoa to there) and also Otumotei (sp?) a long with some who live around the CBD itself.

It all depends to a certain extent on what you are wanting out of the experience. Papamoa and the Mount are the places to be if you want a beach lifestyle. The beach is fine, soft, golden sand that runs the entire length of the peninsula. The climate obviously is everywhere and it's pretty darn good on the whole! From here it is only a 15-25 minute drive, depending on the time of day, into Tauranga itself.

The additional links on the Wiki page will help you get a feel for other areas.

I have my eldest at Mount College (secondary), my 13 year old at tauranga Girls (secondary) at 2 at Tahatai Coast School (primary through intermediate.)

How old are you two children?

Let me know if you'd like more specific information.

Regards.

Loolah.

PS: I'm moving your thread into the main forum where more people will see it.

JimandLucy

I have been in Tauranga for a couple of years now and still havnt quite figured out the city.
It seems clear that it is divided in two with the beach towns on one side that include Mount Maunganui and Papamoa. On the other is the more residential area of Tauranga with a variety of suburbs and schools.

The Beach side seems to have a more laid back vibe which a lot of Brits love but it is a bit like Blackpool with kids zooming around with big exhausts and muzak (you can drive at 15 here).
The Tauranga proper side is a bit more traditional suburban and had good areas and bad.
Good is Matua by the peninsular with great schools. Avenues right by the city centre so expensive
Pyes Pa and Bethlehem are reasonably affluent newer suburbs again with great schools.

I have lived in Matua and now in Pyes Pa and still renting so havnt fully settled. I would like a stay on the beach side but I am not sure about the schools.

What you think Am Loolah

marbles

Thanks for that,
my main concern is for the my two boys aged 4 and 7 (they will probably have turned 5 and 8 when we get there), i know having lived in nz previously that all schools go on zones so i need to make sure we rent in a good school zone, ideally near the beach to start with (if we get to dislike it we can always move but i think we would all like to start off near the beach) and then its for me as i am a secondary school maths teacher - which is the best school in the area? Obviously i would try and apply there first and then make my way down the list.
So any specific details about schools would be great.
Also is there anything such as afterschool clubs/care? It looks like primary schools generally finish earlier than secondary schools so i would need them looking after till i could pick them up if my husband gets a job too?

ex geordie

When we first arrived here 5 years ago we lived in Ohauiti which is up in the hills near Welcome Bay we loved the views up there but there wasnt much else there We came across to Papamoa 2 years ago and love been next to the beach.Papamoa has a good community atmosphere its got its own library and plenty of shops .Theres a gym and even a few pubs. Good luck in your move

Am Loolah

Hi Jim and marbles again,

I would agree that's a fairly accurate summing up of the larger area! As with anywhere there are areas that are not so salubrious, such as Greerton, Merivale and Brookfield IMO. And probably Arataki in the Mount, but on the whole most of the general area is pretty good.

We liked Matua very much and the primary school there has an excellent reputation, but it was a bit quiet for us with 2 teenagers as well as 2 little ones.

I think Pyes Pa is very nice as you can still get some quiet large sections there and it feels almost semi-rural, and yet is a stone's throw to the city centre.

We have been pretty pleased with Tahatai Coast School here in Papamoa, yes it is strictly zoned, but one of the advantages is it takes the children through Intermediate too so one less change for them after the big move.

Secondary schools wise there is only Mount Manuganui College this side of the bridge, it's been ok for our eldest, but our second daughter chose to go to Tauranga Girls which is excellent. Other secondary schools worth a mention would be Otomotei (sp?) and Te Puke High School. St Peters in Cambridge an hour and 20 minutes away) is private with an excellent reputation too.

We ended up in Papamoa for the beach lifestyle, which we love as do the kids and it seems to have something to offer everyone in our family, we adults and a now 6, 10, 13 and 16 year old.

Loolah

Margaret Parkinson

Just a visitor but I agree with the above. Gail even does shouts the bingo on a Wenesday night at one of the local pubs

Am Loolah

And an excellent butchers for your Barbie!

marbles

Thanks for that, looks like i need to find a job at mount maunganui college and live in papamoa. What is tauranga boys high school like? Would you send boys there if you had them or would you send them to mount maunganui?

I really appreciate the help and advice that people give on this site, thankyou
Helen

Hokey-pokey

Tauranga Boys has a reputation for excellence in sports ( has a sports academy ), also a good reputation academically. I t is a very large school and I suspect it may be zoned. Have heard mixed reviews Mt College - although Im sure it depends - as in most cases , the individual child. Have you considered Aquinas College ? - Catholic, although they do take a % of non Catholic. Also Bethlehem College has a good reputation. My personal preference for my sons would be either Aquinas / Bethlehem.

Am Loolah

We will be sending our son to Tauranga Boys as a preference over the Mount and because our eldest will have left the Mount by then and our 2nd daughter will still be at Tauranga Girls so it just makes sense. We live in Papamoa and we just pay, I think, about $60 a term for the bus as it's out of zone.

We couldn't get our eldest in to Aquinas as neither we nor she are Catholics and their % of non-Catholic students is pretty low and gets taken up very quickly. But it does have an excellent academic and pastoral reputation.

I had forgotten Bethlehem and Aquinas - thanks for jogging my memory. Helinuk works at Bethlehem, you could try PM'ing her although she's not on here much at the moment but I can give her a nudge! She is some kind of special needs assistant there I think. Also Ash1's daughter is a student there and they seem very pleased with it.

HTH

Ash1

[QUOTE=Am Loolah;7198576]We will be sending our son to Tauranga Boys as a preference over the Mount and because our eldest will have left the Mount by then and our 2nd daughter will still be at Tauranga Girls so it just makes sense. We live in Papamoa and we just pay, I think, about $60 a term for the bus as it's out of zone.

We couldn't get our eldest in to Aquinas as neither we nor she are Catholics and their % of non-Catholic students is pretty low and gets taken up very quickly. But it does have an excellent academic and pastoral reputation.

I had forgotten Bethlehem and Aquinas - thanks for jogging my memory. Helinuk works at Bethlehem, you could try PM'ing her although she's not on here much at the moment but I can give her a nudge! She is some kind of special needs assistant there I think. Also Ash1's daughter is a student there and they seem very pleased with it.


Hi,

Yep, we are really happy with Bethlehem School all though it feels like there is a fee attached to everything !!! But its well worth it. They also have a school bus that picks up in Papamoa , no doubt for a fee!!
We have friends that have kids at Aquinas and they also think that its a really good school. Both Bethlehem and Aquinas are rated very highly acedemically but aren`t quite as sporty as the others IMO.

Ash

Hokey-pokey

Spot on . If you have sports mad sons then Tauranga Boys would be the place. My boys enjoy sports but arn't obsessed. Some of the boys I know who will be heading off to Tauranga Boys are very , VERY keen young sportsmen . Once again though - it does do well academically too.