Niaome

Hi There

My husband and our young and ever growing family (son 5yrs, daughter 3,yrs and another due in April) are hoping to relocate to Hawkes Bay in the new year.

My husband would be working at Watties in Hastings and we've been trying to research areas and rental properties but I'm still scratching my head as to where is best?

Could anyone please give me the lowdown on the following areas with relation to good schools, nice villages and activities for busy young family.

Areas such as Havelock North, Akina, St leonards, Te Awanga have been suggested but i'd appreciate your reccomendations?
Is there anywhere I shouldnt overlook?
Any areas we should avoid?

Thanks so much

scrubbedexpat094

Hi Niaome & to BE & our NZ forums in particular.

I'm just north of Auckland so I'm unable to help with your particular query. Hopefully one of our Hawkes Bay members will be along later to give you some advice.

I notice that you're a Lancashire lassie like myself though you're from the wrong town . I'm from St.Helens, the right town

Best of luck with all your plans & don't hesitate to ask about anything you're unsure of.

Catchafire

I have been to the Hawkes Bay a few times for my work.

Hastings, is a bit of a dump IMO, I am sure there are some nice neighbourhoods, but I from what I have seen, I would look elsewhere.

Like Havelock North! Which is lovely, has a nice village feel, good restaurants and about a 10-15 min journey for your hubby to his work.

love30stm

I go to Hawkes bay alot as i have friends there, my friend lives in taradale not too bad, Napier is Lovely to see, lots of winerys and the weather is much warmer too. In my opinion a lovely part of New Zealand.

yes and i would avoid Hastings, but saying that i have another friend who lives there and loves it, mind you she used to live in Wanganui

plus you wll notice not many people post on here that live in Hawkes bay, its because they are enjoying life so much all the friends i know in Hawkes Bay have never used BE they dont feel the need for it and have never heard of it, yes and before anynone starts yes i would like to live in that area and maybe in the future hopfeully...

Snap Shot

Hello. As Love30stm said Tarradale is nice. We stayed there last year on holiday for a week. Well, we actually stayed in a nice cottage overlooking Hawke Bay but we drove to the roundabout at the end of Church Road (as in Church Road Winery) as part of the journey back there. We went to a Thai Restaurant and an Indian Restaurant in Tarradale as on Sunday followed by bank holiday Monday as it was then, they were the only places open ! The only supermarket in Tarradale is called, 'New World' it's one of the larger New World stores I've been to but it still reminds me of the, 'Spar' mini-markets in Britain.
Rod Stewart was playing at Mission Winery a couple of weeks later. There was a rock, shop and recover promotion going on which involved free tickets to the concert followed by shopping in Tarradale the next day. Oh, where would I have spent my Tarradale dollars

Havelock North is ok but very small. Some say it's a bit snobby. We drove through it to get to Te Mata peak, IIRC, to get a good view. We then had coffee in a coffe bar back in town. We came back the next night to the pizza place in Havelock North, can't remember the name of it but the restaurant was painted pink. It was very busy for a Wednesday evening and the food was nice.

Hastings would probably be ok for work or shopping but maybe not to live there. They closed the cinema down last year in Hastings. Just, 'on the eye' Hastings didn't look to bad to me. Apparently it's got a reputation for motorcycle gangs/drug gangs. That kind of reputation/rumour, at least, is pretty common for New Zealand towns !

Napier looked good. Right on the coast there. It got rebuilt after an earthquake back in the 1930's. That's why there's so much art deco architecture around. They bother to keep it in good condition too. They have an art deco festival each year. I don't mind a little bit of art deco but some in Napier seem to want to turn it into an alternative religion ! OK, I exagerate but anyway. We had lovely filled pita bread for lunch at a greek/midle eastern cafe. We had a great walk along the beach. The sea has to many currents so swimming is discouraged from there. The Aquarium at Napier was interesting, very kid friendly with the diver making feeding the fish very entertaining for children who were watching behind the aquarium glass (it's not just for children though). There's a museum for the 1930's earthquake but they were renovating it at the time so we couldn't go inside. We went to the Harbour/Customs House exhibition in the old customs house on the Quayside at Napier. That was very interesting. The Thirsty Whale plus any other drinking establishments at the quayside are good. You would have to walk along from the sea side of the quay side. If you drive past the rear of these places it doesn't look very appealing i.e. old wooden storage warehouses. You can turn into the accessway to park much nearer the front of them though. Speights Brew House has a good view out to sea if you stop for refreshments there.

Napier is New Zealand's 'fruit basket' this is because as well as all the wineries there's orchard fruits too. There was a great Cider Pub recommended to me by Love30stm which was great but I can't remember the name of it.

The Mission Winery has a good tour. If you want an evening meal it is wise to book. Church Road winery is good but they just serve a few snacks for lunch. Best to drive back down Church Road and into Tarradale where there's a few more facilities.

TradeMe is a good NZ classifieds website for all sorts of things. You can just google it. It has property to rent / buy as it's the 'shop front' for loads of estate agents. Just put your requirements in i.e. area, rent etc. Just let me point out that in NZ rents are quoted per week.

skybluestu

Hi Niaome

to be handy for watties i would choose either Taradale or Havlock, we lived in Napier for 12 months and settled in Taradale. The schools are very good and lots of parks for the kids and a very safe area. Good choice of local shops and the wineries and the filter room just down the road. Havlock North is also very nice but a bit more hilly. We have friends there who do not have kids and they enjoy the local bars and restaurants. I would avoid hastings far from it being the Bronks its just not as nice as Napier or Havlock.

Si19761

Ummmm is this where I say I live in Hastings and actually it is just fine yes it has mixed areas but so does Havelock North and Napier and every other town in NZ for that fact....

Feel free to pm me any questions... more than happy to help

Niaome

hehe well i cant argue since im a Wigan wench trying to get away from the Billinge rain too!

Niaome

thanks everyone, we definately need to be handy for Watties. Thanks for the Taradale suggestion I was clueless so I will look into it.

My children are quite active and into swimming, football, cheerleading, ballet and gymnastics. Is there any particular area that offers this sort of things as I'd like to keep them busy as they settle in?

love30stm

Yes my friend who lives in Taradale says there are nice parts of Hastings and you can get a lot more of a house for your money. it just has a bad reputation the same as Wanganui, i know how you feel. Hastings bettrer than Wangas in my opinion the one thing going for Wangas is that it is pretty central and has a nice Lake

scrubbedexpat094

Eeee Billinge lump My Auntie & Uncle live in Billinge, I went to school in Rainford.

Niaome

Can you recommend any nice villages in Hastings?

Niaome

thanks for your reply, could you please advise the more favourable areas of Hastings as that is where my Hubby will be working and he likes to cycle to work?

Si19761

Apologies had hoped to send you a message, busy week and joys of a toddler...

Watties is central Hastings assuming not Tomoana site whch is on outskirts of town. Hastings is completely flat and on a grid system but we have a mass network of cycle ways now. You can cycle Havelock to hastings in about 15 minutes, its only 6 miles and flat. In Hastings itself nothing is too far. Napier to Hastings is about 16 miles each way - I aliken it to the distance Leeds to Bradford or Wakefield. Taradale would be about this too.

We don't have villages here in the British sense, Havelock would be the closest but get your doses of stone walls in now as there just isn't anything like that here.

Are you planning to rent or buy?

In terms of Hastings itself the best area to aim for is Parkvale as the school is the best around. We live in Akina which is still zoned for Parkvale school but it is more mixed so you have to be more careful about where you look. We are literally 5 minutes walk to supermarket, vege shop, great cafe, town, nursery and work which is great for us. Flaxmere and Camberley are 2 to avoid. Raureka would be one of my lesser choices. Some of Mayfair, Mahora and St Leanords are ok.

Havelock North again is pretty mixed but deemed to be the much better area, there is a very no go area around Lipscombe, and some of the older areas can be cold and damp so you don't want to be in a gulley or out of the sun.

Rent wise to get anything even remotely decent you are looking around $400 - $450 a week which is pretty criminal but if you can get a private rental you can get the time to look around for something more permanent without being locked in.

Happy to help nearer to time even if you need a sounding board about areas or houses. Any other questions in interim don't hesitate to get in touch.

ManBurning

Hi, we're in the same boat- moving to Hastings area and wondering which areas to look at and which to avoid- so hope you don't mind me joining your thread!

Folks already in the area- which areas of Havelock North are not so good? Also, what are Te Awanga and Haumoana like?