[leejenns]

Flying out on Tuesday, with my wife and 2 children, will be working in east tamaki so we are looking for rental property in Howick/Bucklands beach/eastern beach/cockle bay areas.
Are these good areas, are there any districts/streets we should avoid?

will be stopping in a motor lodge in howick for first 2 weeks, while we wait for our container to arrive, have been given a date of 12th august into auckland port any idea how long it takes to clear customs?

[Familyofmonkeys]

Customs can take anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. It depends whether your stuff is in a shared container or sole use. Also, it will depend whether all your paperwork/declarations are in order (and everyone elses if shared container), and if you have anything they will want to look at e.g. alcohol etc. You could find that you have to wait longer for MAF inspection that customs.

Also, bear in mind that the date for arrival is only an estimate. It will depends on tides, weather etc. Usually it is within a day or two.

[kanatakiwi]

those are all good areas to rent in.

[nippa&pippa]

Customs took two weeks to deal with our shipping container because of medications in the container not "ok" under Medsafe list despite the letter from UK GP confirm it is prescription medications. Eventually released after our NZ dr got involved and had to produced a letter to confirm it is prescription medications!!:uhoh

[katmat]

Hi, we have 2 kids and are renting in Bucklands Beach. Love the whole area- great for walks along the beach, close to Howick and Botany for shops. The schools in the area are fantastic, nothing bad to say about the place!

[thepiesleys]

hi leejenns

we live (until SeP) in halfmoon bay, (edge of) 10 mins from Bucklands beach and same for howick, all areas you mention are lovely, the house we rent is fab too, we are leaving to go home in Sep and this house will be up for rent from then on, if you are staying at Howick motor lodge you are 5 mins fron us pm us if you want to meet up, or i might just look you up if thats ok, babette from the forum and gill came to meet us there and it was really nice, Mandy and Dave run the lodge (from UK) and they are spot on really helpful and friendly, we are close to them and socialise quite often, anything you need to know ask away.

Sue

[Familyofmonkeys]

Customs took two weeks to deal with our shipping container because of medications in the container not "ok" under Medsafe list despite the letter from UK GP confirm it is prescription medications. Eventually released after our NZ dr got involved and had to produced a letter to confirm it is prescription medications!!:uhoh

Good point...I had some prescription painkillers in our stuff that I had forgotten about. Had not registered with Dr when container arrived, so ended up sending a copy of my UK medical records to customs, to show when painkillers were prescribed, what for etc. Luckliy did not delay things too much, so was obviously OK.

[leejenns]

thanks for the advice guys, have read a few threads on here and we were a little worried at renting in the wrong area, but i feel a whole lot better after reading your replies.:cheers

[gil]

Hi guys,
Hope all goes well, PM us when you arrive. This whole area is lovely, if a bit on the pricey side to buy. But there are loads of expats here, so it's obviously do-able!

Gil