[debsandandy]

Hi all
I was wondering if anyone had any input - good or bad - on either of these 2 areas in terms of lifestyle, homes, commuting distance to the city, schoolig etc etc
Your help would be much appreciated
Debs

[real_sunfire]

Hi Debs,

Funnily enough on our Sunday explore of Auckland we visited Greenhithe - there is a nice pub/restaurant, community hall, diary, and a couple of other shops. I suspect the commute to the CBD will be tough - at least until the busway is finished but it did look quite a nice area. Housing does seem to be expensive there - we looked at an estate agent window and prices for a large 2 bedroom house with sea views went from £515K upwards.

Our biggest concern was they are building a big housing estate on the outskirts - very ugly box like houses - yuck!!!!

Someone who actually lives will be able to give you a better idea of what it is like to live there.

Rgds.,
Nick.

[Kim39]

Drop kiwidollie a PM as she lived in Pukekohe for arond 6 months but returned home in Sept. She'll be able to put you right on that location.

Kim

[Miggy]

Hi,

We've lived in Greenhithe for the past 6 months (with relatives). I found it to be a really friendly place with a great community feel about it. Schools (Greenhithe and Upper Harbour) are both decile 10 and it is also in the Albany Junior High zone. The houses here are really expensive - I would think you'd be lucky to find anything below £580k - and it is a bit of a nightmare commuting to the city from here. To be in the city for 8.30 am you would need to leave home no later than 7 am.

That said, there is a motorway currently under construction (due to open October 2007) which cuts right through the village. Whilst this should relieve a lot of conjestion, you need to be very careful when looking at houses at present because many will back on to the motorway. Also there is an air force base quite close by. Whilst there isn't a great deal of noise from the base, there is the possibility that this may be turned into a commercial airport in the coming years. The locals are up in arms against it (due to potential aircraft noise and pollution) and have launched a petition/appeal to try to get this blocked - see waag.co.nz for more info.

We are actually due to move down to Wellington at the end of the month as I've been offered a job down there. Were we staying on the North Shore (and if we could afford it) I would definitely have liked to buy here.

If you need any more information about Greenhithe or the surrounding areas, drop me a PM.

Steve

[Jameelka]

We live about 25 mins from Pukekohe, on state highway 2, and previous to that we were about 20 mins from there when we rented too!
Seem to be there just about every other day, as Ell swims 3 times a week there and Katie rides there once a week, plus I shop there!
Can't comment about schools but we like it (girls go to our local school).
Get most things we need there, sometimes end up in Auckland if need be, but on the whole nice place.
Certainly expanding alot, like everywhere building lots of houses.
Alot of peops live there and travel to Auckland, but depends where u mean, south is fine but further north will take longer.
Just pm me if u want any other info, don't know about the other place u mentioned!
Good luck

[debsandandy]

Hi everyone who was kind enough to reply to my questions on these 2 areas. It sounds like Greenhithe is really expensive, but sounds like a great place to live if you can bite the cost and traffic bullets. Pukehoke sounds like it's up and coming and certainly an option.
Hopefully we'll be there to make a decision soon!
Thanks again
Debs