[NickB]

Hi all. We are off to NZ hopefully end Jan and my gf's new job is in Manukau City. Any tips on areas we might look to live based on;

- we want to be within 30 mins non-car commute
- somewhere lively & good nightlife
- good for walk to shops and gyms etc
- not rural
- property type does not really matter

We have been told Manakau Heights, Howick/Mellons Bay/Cockle Bay, Ellerslie, Greenlane, One Tree Hill, Botany Downs. Any advice/suggestions gratefully received.

[KerryS]

When you say non-car commute, are you meaning you want to use public transport such as train or bus - or want to cycle, run or walk instead? Makes quite a difference to the 30 mins radius you're imposing.

I wouldn't say any of the areas you give as examples have a good nightlife, so if that is an important criteria you may need to widen your search.
Would you consider travelling to get to a decent area for nightlife, or would you rather be living in closer proximity and have a longer commute to work?

[NickB]

Hi Kerry

By commute we mean public transport or cycle. If we had to choose either way we would suffer the longer commute to be able to live somewhere lively.

We want to avoid a car commute if at all possible. I read that traffic in Auckland generally is bad, is that right?

[KerryS]

Hi Kerry

By commute we mean public transport or cycle. If we had to choose either way we would suffer the longer commute to be able to live somewhere lively.

We want to avoid a car commute if at all possible. I read that traffic in Auckland generally is bad, is that right?

Personally, I don't find it bad at all - but I think it depends on where you are situated. Going over the harbour bridge seems problematic in rush hour for example, and the motorway can get congested on Friday nights as people leave to escape for the weekend.

I live in Ponsonby/Herne Bay, which is a great area. Lots of cafes and bars and some really nice shops. A lovely community feel too.
I commute to Ellerslie at the moment, which takes me about 20 minutes - that includes cycling down to the CBD and then catching a train. I can do the cycle to the office in about 30, to drive would be 15 minutes in the rush hour. Manukau City is a bit further out, so those timings would need to be increased. I can't comment on how much longer as I haven't actually done the journey.

[gil]

Hi NickB,
We live in Bucklands Beach (Howick) and it's a 20-30 min drive to Manukau depending on traffic. Howick/Cockle Bay/Mellons Bay are lovely areas but hardly jumping night life! I am assured that Basalt in Howick is THE place to be on a Thurs-Sat night but, like most people I know round here, we are a family with four school aged kids, so don't tend to do that sort of socialising.
These areas are typical suburbs, so access to local shops means small superettes and take aways unless you are within a walk of Howick village or drive to Botany. There are gyms around, and you also see lots of people running/walking along the beaches and beach roads around here.
Buzzier nightlife would mena going further into town and that cuts down the option of a walkable commute.

Good luck,

Gil

[NickB]

>>Buzzier nightlife would mena going further into town and that cuts
>>down the option of a walkable commute

Thanks Gil. When you say town I guess you mean Auckland city central then? (so moving further away from Manukau City).

We looked at a lot of places online last night and were a little surprised at the (low) quality of the furnishings...I guess if you let a place you take the good furniture out and replace with cheap. I think we are going to price bringing all our furniture with us now, and stocking up on neutral basics (coffee tables, bedside tables, wardrobes etc) from Ikea before we leave.

[gil]

yes, that's right Nick, further into Auckland.

We brought everything and were pleased we did. Our rental was unfurnished so we hired furniture for the 2 gap weeks before our shipping arrived. Real make-do, but worth it! (Hire co was www.dtr.co.nz)

Gil

[Tia Maria]

NickB wrote:

stocking up on neutral basics (coffee tables, bedside tables, wardrobes etc) from Ikea before we leave.

Just be careful with this as it was some of my 'IKEA basics' that didn't survive the move. A common problem was the fake wooden finish (laminate?)breaking away from, or, breaking off the furniture.

Have a look here for an NZ comparison:

www.freedomfurniture.co.nz

However, you will have a lot more choice in the UK and you won't have to spend your weekends shopping, but with buying in NZ you don't pay to transport it and you can pick items that you know will definitely fit in your new place. Also you never know you might find a nice furnished rental. However, if you are already paying for a 20ft container then bring everything you can! Sorry, lots of contradictory advice there! :laugh

If you do choose to buy in NZ then keep an allotted amount in £s for this, it will seem very expensive trying to do it on NZ$ that you are earning as a sofa will probably cost a big lump of your monthly salary.

Good luck with the move :D

Cheers

Tia

[NickB]

Cheers dudes this seems like good advice. Re the Ikea stuff, we would buy and leave flat packed for shipping to avoid damage. I know through experience that Ikea stuff does not take well to being moved assembled, or taken to bits/reassembled.

[Tia Maria]

If you leave the furniture flat packed, make sure it doesn't look new otherwise you may have to pay duty on it. Not clear on all the rules and regulations but I'm sure someone else on the board will know.:)

Cheers

Tia

[NickB]

Ah, good point. Will pile it up at the back of the container perhaps then :)

[dharder]

Cheers dudes this seems like good advice. Re the Ikea stuff, we would buy and leave flat packed for shipping to avoid damage. I know through experience that Ikea stuff does not take well to being moved assembled, or taken to bits/reassembled.

As long as it doesn't look new. If it is new, you will have to pay import duty on it. However, you can leave it new, ship it as new, declare it as new, pay the import duty and GST, and then claim the British VAT back. IKEA does this, I checked with the shippers. The problem is that you might have to have it delivered it to the people who ship your stuff in order to claim the VAT back.

We took everything out, assembled it, painted the untreated wood, and then took some of it apart again.

It was well worth it, though, and after spending a week 'desk hunting', I am kicking myself for not having bought and shipped even more.

good luck,

Daniela