[Iain & Liz]

when we first arrived in chch city we were taken back with how different it is compared to all the books and video's we saw.
chch city is a smaller version of london,busy, lots of traffic,no parking and when you do find it ,it costs a fortune,dirty,and extremley over crowded.
and expensive.
it's ok if you like city life but if like us you will find it hard,and wonder what have we done.
BUT when you travel out of chch and reach the out skirts it's a little better although the houses are still cramped one behind the other,with very little gardens and no heating just wood burners or storage heaters that cost the earth to run.
when you start work the wages are really crap and after paying the rent ,shopping , pre school fees, car insurance, petrol as every thing is spaced out and you use loads of it ,house insurance,telephone.elec, doctors bills , you don't have any left. so be prepared . and they charge bonds on all utility bills usally $80/$100.
i must say that the views are lovely and the people are great.
houes prices are not that cheap only the ones in the middle of know where which are no good if you have to work in chch city.
has any body else had these thoughts?

[Moorf]

Hi

I read your post through a couple of times... the first time I read it I got all defensive and thought "noo, Chch is lovely it's a great city"... then I read it through again and realised that alot of what you say is probably true!

I don't agree that's it's like a little London, having lived there and subsequently fled from the awful place... in that I am not tripping over homeless, I don't walk around clutching my bag, it's comparatively uncrowded and small enough to cover on foot.

Traffic can get busy (nowhere NEAR as bad as London (or any major UK town!)) and parking (at Farmers multi-storey or the one near the Bus Terminal) has never been a problem for us.

Like any other city you are going to pay more for space/home the nearer to the city you are, and also in the outlying green areas, and yes, the inner city housing isn't that nice except some of the more expensive areas and even they appear to have their fair share of neglected houses and subdivisions! Housing is very reasonable in Rangiora / Kaipoi if you want a more rural lifestyle and I believe the commute is easy too.. perhaps our Rangiora members could comment?

Expensive? Hell yeah - but isn't everything once you get into Kiwi $$ on a Kiwi salary ;) We're feeling the pinch! Whilst we're on less than half of what we had coming in in the UK the shopping/bills etc aren't half of the cost of those in the UK.. and so it goes on..

Heating... :wah nightmare isn't it! I don't think anyone can prepare you for just how cold the houses are! We had to buy oil heaters that we could move around the house and we are still using them now as we go into Summer :wah

House prices aren't cheap at all. Unless you are coming from the UK with a sizeable stash for a deposit the house prices (taking into consideration crap NZ salaries) are high. It's appears to be a common misconception that house prices here are cheap - sure, if you're down Dunedin/Invercargill way you can pick up a great place for a good price but Chch Welly and Auckland are pretty pricey (in my opinion :uhoh ).

BUT - having said all that - apart from work, why do you need to go into the city once you've seen the sights? You can shop and bank at the malls or at a more local supermarket and then the rest of the time you can head out of town to explore the real New Zealand :nice1

Moorf

PS - Are you the guys who had a BBQ today too?! Did you smell ours? :laugh I believe you are staying just of couple of streets down from us... drop me a PM and we can arrange to meet up and moan about Chch in person!

:cheers

[Junnifer USA]

I am reading your posts with great interest.

For those of you already there, would you share your opinion on the following questions:

1. Is it possible to find well insulated flats or houses.... is everything so poorly insulated?

2. Modest 3 bed rooms in a good school area... what would you really expect to spend...? I thought the relative prices seemed pretty good. Not dead in the city... but an easy distance from the city.? I don't ecpect to go into the city much. Maybe a couple times a year... but not every week, or even every month.

4. Compared to home, do you have less access to leisure activities... I am not acking about the actual dollars inyour pocket... but can you go out for dinner as often... take a weekend trip as often... Or do you feel you have loss leisure buying power?

Not there yet, and still trying to figure it out!
Thanks!
Jennifer

[Moorf]

Hi

In my opinion:-

1. Yes, it is possible to find well insulated property - new builds are a good bet. Having said that, all the houses we have seen haven't had any significant insulation :?

2. School areas - sorry, thats one subject I can't help you with! Cue Tanya / Nic !

3. I had to think about this one... leisure has taken on a different meaning since we have been here. We loved to eat out and go for trips away and that was our leisure... but now we would rather take a picnic and head to the hills, or eat chips with the seagulls in Akaroa, or walk along the beach. We can still go away at weekends but we just don't do the 5* thing.. hostels/motels etc nice and relaxed and cheap! And then just think of all those other nearby places to visit ... Oz, Fiji, Raratonga, Antartica all on the doorstep!!


Moorf

[Tate6]

Wow--really gives one reason to pause and think about this. We are possibly looking in the ChCh area. Definitely not in the city. More like Akaroa. But Moorf, your take on it is similar to mine. It all comes down to rearranging priorities. Or deciding what your priorities are.

If you can figure a way to do with less money, that is the key, I think. And we are all coming from a generation and time of taking that for granted.

Best of luck to all of you!

Terry

[veronica]

Have got to agree with Moorf, I don't find chch at all like London. I wouldn't even say its like Chelmsford (Essex county town) really, its much more leisurely. We are living just outside the 4 avenues and its only 12 mins walk to Cathedral Square. The house we have bought is on a 1/4 acre and cost under $350,000. so I don't feel that it was expensive. We have bought it to convert to a backpackers so its location has been bought with that in mind as our choice would always be to live more rural. But even so I don't feel like I am living in a 'big' city. On the whole I am pleasently surprised by Christchurch. As for the parking, we park in the multistorey over the library at the end of Gloucester street and the 1st hour is free, so far we have done whats necessary at that end of the city and been out within the hour. Its also possible to park at the edge of the city and walk in. Spend some time talking (and listening :laugh ) to Moorf, shes a mine of info.

[Diny]

Can't help you on this one as I really don't know that area at all well.

However - I'd like to show you this:

www.open2view.com property I.D. 93763

Our friend (Kiwi) who's been living in Aberdeen for a long time has decided to go home. This is the property he has just bought. He takes possesion in a couple of weeks.

I know it's not Chch city - but heck .... it'd do for me.

Diny

[Tanya]

As for the parking, we park in the multistorey over the library at the end of Gloucester street and the 1st hour is free, so far we have done whats necessary at that end of the city and been out within the hour. Its also possible to park at the edge of the city and walk in.

There is also a FREE!!! shuttle bus that goes around the city from Moorhouse Ave to Kilmore street in a loop where you can hop on and off as you desire. Helps with the parking too!!

Tanya

[Moorf]

Hi Diny - yep, some lovely places available outside of Chch. However what seems of most concern to many I have met / seen arriving in Chch is a good school zone.

Warren and I are in the position to be able to move out of Chch to these areas but most with kids seem to want to stay in the city for schools.

Personally I don't know much about what the rural schools are like around Chch and wonder why more families don't move out to the rural areas for a larger plot and rural lifestyle (it's a personal choice, I appreciate that).

Anyone have experience of NZ rural schools?

Moorf

[Iain & Liz]

it was just a shock to see so many people and houses ,huge industrial buildings ,and alot of empty buildings too.
the park and cathedral sq are really nice but surrounded by all the above i have never seen any thing like morehouse ave,
the public transport system is fantastic but not so good if you have small children,and need to get shopping for the week.
we are constantly counting the cost of everything as there is a huge difference between shopping at the local shops and pak and save.
we live in sumner and to get in to the center it takes about 20 mins but there aren't really any short cuts(none that we know of).
we love new zealand just not chch,some people will love it and some like us wont.
A very wise kiwi told us that "it is so easy to be comfortably poor here"
and they were so right we have spoken to many kiwi's now friends and they have all said the same thing or very simular
We came out with the impression that the money from our sale in the
uk would set us up and buy a house, but like many others and others to follow this will not be the case and will still need a mortage a subsantual one at that
we don,t mean to winge on about it as we do love NZ just not CHCH

[chrissie]

Sounds like you are going through exactly what I have been going through...although I'm living in Auckland on North Shore. I am having a real love/hate relationship with the place. I love NZ and the people and the scenery etc. but I just HATE the housing and the way everything is built on top of each other. I am dreading the winter coming as our house doesn't have any heating and I think it gets really cold.....although all the kiwis I speak to say 'it never gets cold..just put another jumper on'....arghhhh!!!
I must say, the longer we stay here the more I like it here, but I have seriously been thinking about going back to UK simply because I know if I feel cold I can turn the central heating up!!! (at my age I feel the cold!!).

[veronica]

Chrissie, why don't you just put in central heating, they do some good electric , underfloor heating that goes under carpets. There are also lots of plug in rads that aren't too expensive if you are in rented accom.

Iain and Liz, whereabouts did you live in the UK.

[Mildred]

Ian and Liz

I'm sorry you are feeling the pinch. If you are counting the pennies it can put a huge strain on you. I also thank you for your honesty. Last spring we were all for going to NZ straight away until I found this message board.

We live along a beautiful stretch of Kent coastline so we need more than scenery to make NZ right. I remember coming across a site that suggested most people going to NZ can afford a speed boat, new 4 wheel drive and fantastic house along with plenty of disposable income!

We have decided to give it until the summer before deciding whether make the big move as at our time of life we really don't want to be struggling.

Have a good New Year - by the way to NZ do a national lottery?

[Iain & Liz]

my husband iain is a plumber and to put any sort of heating in it would cost a bomb especialy if you went through a heating company.
the houses or most of them are built using weather board,windows not fitting, and tin roofs etc and most need demolishing back in the 70s we had such a struggle finding rentals under $300 a week which weren't complete dumps.
and were not in the town. and unless you are fortunate to have loads of cash to buy your own house and put heating in, forget it

[richard]

Have a good New Year - by the way to NZ do a national lottery?

That will be the Lotto:-

http://home.nzcity.co.nz/lotto/

"2 out of 3 adults play Lotto on a regular basis!"

[Beach Kiwi]

...by the way do NZ do a national lottery?

Yes, it's called Lotto.

Click here (http://www.nzlotteries.co.nz/) for the Lotteries Commission website.

As to Christchurch being cold, well, it is on the bottom half of the South Island, so you can't really expect it to be tropical. Another 'warning sign' should have been the fact that both the US and NZ use Christchurch as the jumping off point for their Antarctic bases!

Mind you, it can get quite hot there in the summer, but if you wanted a milder climate you should have chosen somewhere in the North Island, preferrably the far north of the island. ;)

[Iain & Liz]

i mean the houses needed demolishing in the 70's and not when we were looking for rentals back in the 70's we are only in our 20's so that would have been hard.

[Moorf]

Hey Guys - come on over to our place and have a natter :nice1

Love to exchange experiences etc and a few beers :cheers

We are literally down the road from you - staggering distance!

Moorf & Woz
(Helen & Warren!)

[Rimbo]

Hiya,
I am very interested to find out how people are experiencing "the pinch". each of us have different standards of living and spend money in different ways. Some people will have large equity in their homes in the UK and if your like us, hopefully upon arrival in NZ (if i manage to secure a job) we will be mortgage free. or is this just a misconception?
is the cost of emmigrating so expensive that i may not be able to afford a modest home?
a modest home to me would be a semi-rural (near schools / ammenities in a suburb i imagine) with 3/4 beds, 2 reception rooms and a garage.
will I expect change from £150k?
enough change to buy a second property or even property develop?
of course i am talking about Chch or similar towns and not AKL.
I expect to be on a crap salary when i arrive, i expect Susan not to work for a while. We are non smokers but love to eat & drink! ;) weekends are not spent at expensive out of town shops/cinema complexes and Jon never eats that crap from McD's and so on. So in that sense we don't spend alot of money but, we like to eat a high standard of food and drink at home so shopping for us is quite dear for a family of 3.
I know there are many threads on the cost of things, i'm just interested to join in on this one.
When you talk of an easy commute.... :? what is an easy commute, bearing in mind i was used to jumping in the car at 08:50 and being sat behind my desk by 9:00 with steaming cup of coffee!
What is expensive parking? is that like £1.10 for an hour like the multi storeys in Wigan?
I'm not interested in anyone's personal finances, just a few examples would be good though.
Have I been rabbiting? :oops:

John.

[freeflyer]

Hi Iian and Liz,
we came back from NZ in July last year, after spending some time in both the north Island and the south.
we rented a house in Redcliffs and our daughter went to Redcliffs school.
I feel for you and what you must be going through. But by now you should be getting into some better weather. It's funny to think that your summer hols start at Christmas.
Anyway I went to NZ as a plumber and had to Register into the Gas Plumber Drainlayers Federation. I landed a job at the new art gallery in C/church plumbing.
My take home pay was less than $600 aweek and out of that our rent was $400 aweek for a 3 bed, yes you've guessed it .... freezing, cold, damp, tined roof shack that leaked.We could'nt cut the wood up fast enough to keep the place warm. To buy this house would have cost us $400,000 so the real value was in the land and location and not the house. The house just needed to be pulled down and a new one put up, which happened to the plot next door.
Have you thought of going down to Queenstown which in my view is one of nicer towns. it has a very low crime rate , because it's so far away from areas that people pass on stolen goods.
The wages are better in QT as they can't get tradespeople and we managed to find a lovely new rental for slightly less than what we were paying in CC.
Getting back to plumbing the only way I could see of making a good living would have been to set up my own company but it seemed that i had to work for a company for two years before doing that , by which time we would probably have been broke.
I think that the crime in CC kind of put us off a bit as well , findng your car jacked up and the wheels missing doesnt improve your feeling for an area.
good luck , hope the weather warms up for you
eddie

.

[freeflyer]

Hi Rimbo ,
I think that to get anything half decent in a reasonable area in CC , then probably $400k would be about the starting point.
Also I think it has been said before but get a container and take out everything that you have , as it is horrible to see your money dripping away on basic household items.
so i think that you should be fine with your budget, property dev. seems to be a bit more difficult over there as most houses that are quite cheap , seem to need knocking down rather than a bit of paint.
eddie

[Iain & Liz]

we lived in sunny old dover
which was lovely as we had the beach,cliffe walks,london just over a hour and a half away,and paris an hour away via the tunnel.
also beautiful land scapes but nothing like NZ.

[Iain & Liz]

Hi Freeflyer,

You have pretty much described our situation!! After taking home poor wages then paying out high rent, our disposable income has pretty much gone, all bar $10 -20. The only thing which has kept us afloat is dipping into our savings from our house sale in England, (which was nothing special just a standard two bed terrace). As for packing up everyting in a container we allowed a good chunk of money to buy these essentials (kettle teaspoons cups ), I don't know if there is a right or wrong answer to that, if you hire a container it can cause all sorts of problems, I know a guy who had a container but customs wouldn't release it so they sat for weeks at a plastic table and chairs. Either way you will have to spend money and buy some things upon arrival.

How did you get on with the PGDB this seems like a real pain in the butt to me, at the moment I am working on a limited license, and waiting untill November before I can sit my exam, after which my wages may rise to liveable :hopeso .

Hi Rimbo,

House prices are very area orientated here, you may or may not need a mortgage, but please don't forget that when you get here you will be earning $ with a mortgage in $. I remember after getting our house valued going onto the realnz site looking at properties and saying oh look we can buy that and our mortgage will only be £15000, that will be cheap. But when we got here and started to settle and look around things don't seem so cheap any more, with out a pound in your pocket.

[Iain & Liz]

here are some samples of weekly out goings aprox:

rent $300 playschools $10
house ins $10 basic shopping $160/180
car ins $10 telephone line rental and local calls $10
not including international calls
on top of this you also have eletric, gas, logs, coal, petrol,doctor fee's,and internet can cost between $10-40 a month, childrens clubs, (some are free) so by the time all this has been payed there's not much left to put away for a rainy day. and we have seen loads of them hurry up summer!

[veronica]

Considering that plumbing firms charge between $50 and $65 an hour for a plumber if you can just hang on until Iain gets his NZ papers so he can go self employed you should be ok.

[Annierobrigado]

Can't help you on this one as I really don't know that area at all well.

However - I'd like to show you this:

www.open2view.com property I.D. 93763

Our friend (Kiwi) who's been living in Aberdeen for a long time has decided to go home. This is the property he has just bought. He takes possesion in a couple of weeks.

I know it's not Chch city - but heck .... it'd do for me.

Diny

diny,

it would have done for me too! gosh that was a great lookin property, but of course, it has been snapped up before i could even dream of running around those cows! Did the cows go with the land?

are there many others like that available?

annie

[richard]

we live in sumner and to get in to the center it takes about 20 mins but there aren't really any short cuts(none that we know of).
we love new zealand just not chch,some people will love it and some like us wont.


May be the fact that you have settled in Sumner is part of your problem. We spent our first week there but like Jimmy we live out West (in Ilam). I do like Sumner and was there only this weekend at a BBQ but it wouldn't meet all of our families needs.

I think that Sumner is also quite a pricey area to rent or buy in. We are paying $330 per week for a good sized 4 bed house. Apart from the fact that the decor is dire and the insulation is non existent it is fine. The area is pleasant, is zoned for some of the best schools and is handy for the airport.

We have been here since the beginning of November and apart from to go and watch the Christmas Parade I haven't really gone in to the town centre as there just isn't any need. There are loads of malls over this side of town with plenty of free parking and they have most of the shops you could need. Northlands Mall is 5 mins away and The Palms and Westfield are not much further.

[Moorf]

I agree with Richard in that Sumner isn't the best place in Chch for those with families or limited transport .... but for us it's just what we wanted although we will be buying further outside of Chch in the Banks Peninsula/Harbourside area.

Tate said: If you can figure a way to do with less money, that is the key, I think. And we are all coming from a generation and time of taking that for granted.

So true, many of us are coming over after enjoying a lifestyle in the UK that we perhaps have taken for granted... time to get back to basics!

[Iain & Liz]

that is the problem every half decent area to live is about 20/30 mins out side of chch city and all the decent housing new/old rentals are still around the $300
we need to be this close as iain needs to be on call,
it would be lovely to be able to go further a field and have a reasonable sized garden for the kids,but having small children its impractable to live further then we do.
around the best schools and there zones are expensive areas to live .
also iain has no interest in having his own business as it causes more stress than its worth .
if you have a fantastic job and you both work full time, money in the bank you can live the good life.
i am just trying to get across that things aren't much cheaper, most of chch isn't lovely, and there is alot of poorness,as most every day kiwis will tell you

[Rimbo]

Iain & liz, your comments are very worth while and I certanily am glad to read your views and experiences. It will help us with our transition. I hope the situation improves for you soon (and i'm sure it will). You know what its like, when you buy your first house everything looks easy on paper, but when the bills finally start rolling in you wonder how your gonna manage, within 5 years though, your looking to upgrade to a bigger property. It all pans out in the end.


John

[freeflyer]

Hi Iian and Liz,
have you been to the QE2 swimming pool, we loved the place and if you go when it's not busy it's a great place to chill out.
What a pity every town in the UK does'nt have a QE2.
Have you been to hamner springs, the motels are nice and clean and there's a lovely resturant called the post office that does great food.
Have you made any kiwi friends?, and how do you find them.
I must say I found them a strange bunch, thats not to say there not friendly ie, the super market check out. But they just lacked something. The best way I can sum it up is, after 3 yrs is, I'm in a bar having a great night with a crowd and I looked around and all of us were from the UK, not a kiwi in the group, it's was'nt as if we were a different colour and spoke another language. What are your thoughts.
With ref the PGDF it's a body abit like Corgi. in the UK. I hope Iian took his tools with him as there not cheap over there.
eddie.

[Annierobrigado]

hi freeflyer

3 years already, you're not yet kiwi? maybe they go to a different bar? or they'd rather go to the mountains and lakes to chill out.

take heart mate, they did save the middle kingdom you know :angel :mrgreen: ;)

annie

[Iain & Liz]

hi freeflyer
we have only been here about 9 weeks and have made a fair few friends most of which are kiwis.
we havent been to the pool.
but we are going to dunedin after the weekend for a week or so to have a good look around as house prices and cost of living is lower and with iain having a trade there might be some work going,also pop in to all or most of the towns on the way.

[kiwi]

John, they are renting, they havent bought..so cant up grade later!

It is hard too when one doesnt drive and the other is at work all day..can be really lonely.

Kiwis dont really have a sense of humour freeflyer..that is what I recon anyway. I dont know one funny kiwi bloke, and we have been back 10 yrs.(I know one funny kiwi girl.. when I met her I grabbed hold of her friendship and told her she had to be my best friend)

Enjoy your trip down south, we just spent the night in timaru (hubby and 5 kids) for the caroline carnival. Cold grey and 10 deg...and we drive back to chch today and it is hot!!?? and I missed it...arrgh!

Timaru was really hilly, much like peneden heath hubby said in Maidstone.
And there were so many pommie style homes, the sort in allington if anyone knows those areas. (london road types)

a real dive though and as we travelled out, I took notice of rolleston etc cos so many poms have moved there and have asked my opinion and it is even more firm in the fact that I am sorry but it is Scank!

Scrubby gum trees a rail way line following the main road through the place, scrubby yukky dive.

each to his own though (and there is a prison and a sexual predators unit...yukko!)

I digress, safe trip south and I really hope you find somewhere that you will love,

nicky
(and yes people..I have been friendly to them!! we had xmas together and new years day BBQ, so dont have a go that I am not looking after them!!! they are lovely but chch isnt for everyone...and me stalking them probably hasnt helped) ha ha

[freeflyer]

Iain and Liz , We hope that your trip down south works out. have you been to dunedin yet , just curious as Dunedin really is a bit of a dump and the towns on the way down are truly awful (i m o) I think somebody called moorf wrote a very funny piece on Timaru ? last year.
Dunedin truly makes christchurch look like paradise and its colder and greyer , but there are some nice old houses there. Have you thought about moving to a cheaper area in christchurch. once you have your kids enrolled in a school , you dont have to stay in the same area. maybe linwood or lyttleton.
Do try and visit the qe2 and hamner as they are really great places , might give you a different opinion on christchurch.

kiwi , thank you ( um looking at your name hope we didnt offend anyone, or any kiwis on the forum) you put much more eloquently what i was trying to say.
lots of people write on the forum how friendly the kiwis are , and they are right , people ask you how your days going , talk to you in the shops etc etc. but sometimes it can be quite hard work with kiwi friends as most , not all seem to have a different sense of humour . and it was much easier talking with english friends and i think its the humour thing This is quite hard to explain and obviously wont be true for everyone.

[Mildred]

Kiwis dont really have a sense of humour freeflyer..that is what I recon anyway. I dont know one funny kiwi bloke

What went wrong with PB then - he has me in stitches although I find Diny's humour also brilliant so perhaps he gets it from her :P

Iain and Liz, Imagine only having been in East Kent for a few weeks - we all know there are some brilliant places to live and work but without that local knowledge you will probably come across the crap ones first. Keep your chin up because you will end up in the right place for you.

[Babette & Andy]

Frances - I can vouch that PB's sense of humour is totally his own. He thought it very funny to call Diny from Manchester airport, after she'd finally made it to the pub we were meeting in (dreadfull journey on the motorway) - and asked her whether she had his passport :uhoh :uhoh Diny went pale at the suggestion, quickly started to look in her handbag, and mentioned to PB 'Isn't it in your pocket?' - 'Oh yes, so it is' came his cheeky reply :mrgreen: Diny uttered a few words (can't print here :angel ) - Maybe there is such a thing as Kiwi humour after all?

Jimmy - your entry above describing your living conditions warmed me, literally. It was great to hear that warm accommodation does excist, this has been troubling me. Will have to look on the map where Avonhead is, not heard of this area before.

Ian & Liz - thanks for sharing your experiences. Hope things seem a bit brighter for you guys in a few months time. My family found it pretty tough going too, when they first arrived in Nelson. 16months down the line, they'd never go back to Holland and have gotten used to a different lifestyle.

Babette :cheers

[markkellaway]

OK, after Kiwi's tirade at Rolleston we've got to look elsewhere, we can't live somewhere where people will refuse to visit. :no Looks like Rangiora is now top of the list, opinions? (I know this should be on the "Where to live" forum, but seemed to fit here.)

Mark. :P

[freeflyer]

In reply to your post Annie, a Bar would be the place for us to chill out after going to the Mountains and the lakes. You can't spend all your time walking around mountains and lakes. :cheers
eddie.

[Iain & Liz]

in my opinion avonhead is nothing special,it looks and felt just like any other sub it could have been any where, we have friends in avon head and even they say its not all that, .and as for lyttleton there is a lovely view from the mountains but when you get in to the place all you see is big industrial containers,huge industrial ships,and you dont really get much in the way of sun because you are surrounded by mountains and huge ships, we were going to rent a place but after spending a day or so there to see if we liked it it wasn't all thet.
and i agree with kiwi rolleston is yuk.

[Mildred]

Hey,

Swap the mountains for white cliffs and you could be back at home in Dover :laugh

[kiwi]

Eddie of course you didnt offend. I was 3 when we left here (I think that has a big part to play in humour..if you got out and got your SOH! in the UK say, you will be fine even if you were born here...)
and Mark I have 3 photos of the street as we drove through rolleston if you want me to email you them...just email me below...and they are yours to use as a dart board!

Ohoka and north loburn and rangi are nice....anything north!!

My parents first house was in avonhead (on the flight path...but hey you cant have everything!!) it is very leafy and has a road called maidstone road so cant be bad. A lot of koreans and Asians like it cos of burnside, cant knock the area..better than a lot of places.

Liz, when you do get to qe2, let us know and we will come too...we live 5 mins walk from the place, have a season ticket!

good luck to you and everyone else trying to find a home that you can call yours and be happy in.

happy 2005,
nicky

[jocalla]

oooooh really worried after reading this as we are renting in rolleston :eek . We have found it ok here, only 10 minutes down the road for husbands work, that was the main reason we chose here. I must say though, that we decided very early on that we would not be buying any property here, but for a rental we are happy to stay here as a starting point, has everything we need and very friendly.
Joanne

[ruthyroo]

Quote
"if you have a fantastic job and you both work full time, money in the bank, you can live the good life. "

I think this has been the biggest eye-opener / myth / misjudgement for me... DH and I areclassic Double Income No Kids Yet (DINKYs) and we are having a ball here in NZ at the moment. Renting a lovely big house at the lakes, bought a couple of kayaks and a very flash mountain bike, planning our summer holiday to the Cook Islands with a couple of long weekends to Hawkes Bay and the Bay of Islands to tide us over to then. We eat and drink very well, which isn't a cheap thing to do here. New-ish car in the garage. Can't deny that we have a very nice life... but it's all going to fall apart if we have children and go down to one income even for a while. There are lots of articles in the papers / magazines here at the mo about how middle class, relatively high earners e.g. teachers, are not able to support a family on a single income any more... and that was of the big attractions of life in NZ for me. And it turns out that we would be just as financially strapped as in the UK - and with no grandparents around to babysit!

[veronica]

It doesn't seem to matter where you live going down from two to one income requires adjustment.

[Moorf]

I have to 'fess up.... having discounted Rangiora early on I am being drawn to some lovely properties we have recently seen there...

Just goes to show how one's view changes after living here for a while!

But I'll never change my views on Lyttleton or Timaru!! :laugh

[Annierobrigado]

In reply to your post Annie, a Bar would be the place for us to chill out after going to the Mountains and the lakes. You can't spend all your time walking around mountains and lakes. :cheers
eddie.

hi freeflyer eddie

yup. i have been to bars more than i have been to mountains and lakes, though, so maybe i'll see you there. will have to do with iced tea, though, i get allergies from alcohol :angel

:cheers
annie

[veronica]

quote "hi freeflyer eddie

yup. i have been to bars more than i have been to mountains and lakes, though, so maybe i'll see you there. will have to do with iced tea, though, i get allergies from alcohol :angel

:cheers
annie"[/quote]

I think a lot of us suffer from that Annie....makes us lose our sense of balance and fall over. :laugh

[Iain & Liz]

i suffer from that too!!!