[LisaandPaul]

Hi,
I am moving to Auckland with family (2 children) and 2 persian (indoor) cats. I need however to rent somewhere within easy distance of work. I will be working in the CBD in Auckland.

Can anyone help us please with sorting some accommodation for us. We would be looking for furnished only initially whilst waiting for container!.

So something for about 6/8 weeks would be good.

Anyway any help really apprecriated.

Regards,

Lisa and Paul (Expect to arrive on 8th May 2008)

[JandM]

Hello.:) I'm still in England, but sure you'll get some replies when NZ wakes up.

[mgbridges]

Hi Lisa & Paul,

Welcome to the Forum! It will depend a bit on how close to the CBD you want to be and whether or not you plan to drive/bike/bus/walk etc? If you are planning on driving and your place of work doesn't provide parking you'll need to think about the costs of parking in the CBD which can be high.

Buses are pretty good and not too expensive and can be fast, check out this website for an idea of routes and times (www.maxx.co.nz). e.g. we live in Browns Bay on the North Shore and my OH catches the express bus along the new Busway (www.busway.co.nz) to Queens Street and it can take as little as 45mins door to door.

It is possible to walk and/or bike to the CBD from some of the more central suburbs and there has been discussion elsewhere on the forum about this.

In terms of rental you might struggle to find something furnished, we did last July/August and ended up in non-furnished. We rented some furniture from DTR (www.co.nz) and purchased a few kitchen essentials from the Warehouse (www.thewarehouse.co.nz). I also Fedexed some stuff out as OH came out ahead of myself and our son. You might want to consider a serviced apartment or holiday home, its often possible to negotiate good rates for a long term stay. As you have pets you might be asked for extra bond (usually somewhere around 1 wks extra rent) or might have a condition put in your contract that states you'll have the carpets cleaned professionally when you move out. However cats in general don't seem to be such a problem as dogs and even if a place is advertised as 'no pets' its often worth asking.

I'd recommend booking somewhere for when you arrive (hotel/motel) and then spend some time looking for something more permanent. Have a look on www.trademe.co.nz and www.realestate.co.nz to get an idea of whats available. However I wouldn't recommend renting something without seeing it in person as photos on the Net don't show things like the noisy neighbours, the busy road, the factory etc.

HTH, please feel free to ask more questions.

Anneliese

[LisaandPaul]

Thanks,
I would like to be able to commute to work withour car. I have briefly looked at North Shore and Devanport which looks good. A short ferry cross to CBD. I neeed to consider schools for my 14 year old son and college for my 16 year old daughter and am not sure whether there are any close by in these areas. I have looked at Mission Bay too but am unsure of how good bus is in from there to CBD.

So many questions I know but all help, even if small, will be of so much help to us.

Regards,

Paul

[JandM]

http://devonportdirectory.co.nz/schools.htm

If you look at the schools' own websites, you should be able to get a clearer impression of what they're all about. (My d-i-l went to Takapuna Grammar, and she's turned out okay!;) Was some time ago, though but...)

[mgbridges]

Hi Paul,

Milliemoo, Tia Maria and Bruckner all live in Devonport so could all give you an opinion on it as an area to live. Although Tia & Bruckner only have young children so I don't know if they would have any info regarding schools for your kids. Its very definitely commutable from by using the Ferry across to Auckland CBD and the ferrys are frequent, I think this is the relevant company/website; www.fullers.co.uk

Mission Bay is another lovely area but the buses don't have dedicated bus lanes so have to travel with the rest of the traffic and the main road in and out of the CBD is Tamaki drive which gets very congested. However, if you can travel outside of peak time it would probably be easier and I'm sure there are forumites who live out that way that can advise. There is also a bike/pedestrian footpath all along Tamaki drive if you wanted to consider cycling or walking.

As mentioned on the North Shore Takapuna Grammer isn't far away from Devonport, neither are Westlake boys and girls schools, further north there is Rangitoto College but I'm not sure what ages all these go up to as our son is only 6yrs old at the moment! This is the Ministry of Education website; www.minedu.govt.nz which might start you off on the right track.

You might want to post a few specific questions in the more relevant forum areas eg. about schools on the Education section, where to live in the Locations section etc.

Good luck!
Anneliese

[Familyofmonkeys]

Alot of your decision for location will depend on what sort of housing you want to live in. Rental prices and housing standards vary wildy between different areas. Depends how much space you want for your money, but I guess with older children you don't have to worry so much about room for toys...although they would want their own rooms.

We are in Albany. Rent here is cheaper than alot of houses in areas further South on North Shore and alot are modern/new good condition houses too. It takes OH about 25 minutes on bus from Park & Ride to CBD on bus expressway and costs $137.50 per month for a ticket. It takes him about 10 minutes to walk to park & ride and there is also a bus stop about 100m away from house. Alot of Albany (bits near the new Mega Centre etc) are in zone for Rangitoto College....which I understand is very good.

Like mgbridges we ended up hiring furniture from DTR as it is difficult to find cheap furnished accomodation short term. We did spend the first month in a serviced apartment paid for by OH company, but it was far too expensive for us to stay any longer when the first month finished. From DTR you can hire all the basic furniture including stuff like frisge/freezer, washing machine/tumbledryer etc. We also bought some cheap crockery and cutlery from The Warehouse and a cheapie $12 toaster and kettle too.

[LisaandPaul]

Thanks for all the replies.
Looking at Albany, looks good for rentals/schools etc. However cheked the maxx bus route site and it says it takes 1 hour 25 minutes to Auckland domain!. Familymonkies says that it would take 25 mins. Looking at site it also appears as if you have to change busses to.

Can someone confirm please, If its 1 bus taking 30 odd minutes then great, but not that long a journey!

[mgbridges]

It depends where exactly in Albany its from. FOM's OH travels from the Albany Park 'n Ride station which is on the new express busway (I believe). My OH picks up an express bus on East Coast Road (one of the main 'A' roads up and down the North Shore) that goes via the busway.

Have to admit the Maxx website isn't brilliant when looking at timetables but if you play around with departure times and places you should find that Albany to the CBD can be done in around 30/40mins dependent on the route and time of travel. There are definitely express buses during rush hour morning and evening.

HTH
Anneliese

[LisaandPaul]

Thanks Anneliese!,

I guess the maxx site is not fully up to date. If it can be done on one bus from park'n'ride then that will be ok.
Guess I will need to look at rentals close to this or East Coast Road, so that I can walk easily and not too far to bus.

Paul

[Familyofmonkeys]

Areas in Albany close to the Park & Ride include Pinehills, and all the roads around Medallion Dr and Fernhill way are very close. Plus as Annelise says, Brown's Bay is just a stones throw away and would be another area worth considering as most of the buses use expressway too and only take an extra 10 to 15 minutes journey time. Also no change of bus is required, and buses run until pretty late in the evening now aswell....good if you go for drinks after work as you can still get home in reasonable time.