Kerry and David
11th April 2008, 07:51 PM
We have had a great week here in Auckland and having seen quite a few threads on Reccie trips, I thought I would share with you what we have done and achieved since we have been out here.
David came out first as we didn't bring the kids I didn't want to come for as long. We both flew with Air New Zealand and were really impressed with the service, entertainment etc, we would fly with them again.
David had some interviews and received a job offer on Tuesday:raebanana they have given him a start date of 13th August so hopefully that gives us time to sort out visas, sell the house in the UK etc.
While David was in his interview I spent time driving around the suburbs of Auckland - many hours and miles later we have decided that we would like to settle in the Howick/Bucklands Beach area.
We contacted a number of schools in our chosen areas - all were great and booked us in for visits ( we have 3 children coming out with us aged 4, 11 and 16) so needed to look at primary, intermediate and secondary schools. We really like Bucklands Beach Primary and Intermediate and Macleans College so will need to look at property in the zones for the intermediate school and College.
We have been in touch with the local real estates and one has kindly offered to take us to see a few properties on Sunday to give us an idea on what we will get for our money (they know that we are not in a position to purchase at the moment)
They have given us contact numbers to speak to mortgage consultants who we have spoken to so we know what to expect roughly to pay for a mortgage.
We have done a rough cost of living excercise, including having a nose around the supermarkets to see how much it will cost to feed our hungry boys:D
It has been a really busy week but we feel we have achieved loads and love it out here.
The weather has been great and we have seen some great spots - today we sat down at Mellons Bay for couple of hours - we were the only people there! Finding peace and quiet over here is not a problem!
Tomorrow night we are meeting up with some folks from the forum for a drink which will be great to hear how they find the NZ life.
We fly home on Monday - Can't wait to see the kids and look forward to coming back out to NZ soon.
Love
Kerry x
David came out first as we didn't bring the kids I didn't want to come for as long. We both flew with Air New Zealand and were really impressed with the service, entertainment etc, we would fly with them again.
David had some interviews and received a job offer on Tuesday:raebanana they have given him a start date of 13th August so hopefully that gives us time to sort out visas, sell the house in the UK etc.
While David was in his interview I spent time driving around the suburbs of Auckland - many hours and miles later we have decided that we would like to settle in the Howick/Bucklands Beach area.
We contacted a number of schools in our chosen areas - all were great and booked us in for visits ( we have 3 children coming out with us aged 4, 11 and 16) so needed to look at primary, intermediate and secondary schools. We really like Bucklands Beach Primary and Intermediate and Macleans College so will need to look at property in the zones for the intermediate school and College.
We have been in touch with the local real estates and one has kindly offered to take us to see a few properties on Sunday to give us an idea on what we will get for our money (they know that we are not in a position to purchase at the moment)
They have given us contact numbers to speak to mortgage consultants who we have spoken to so we know what to expect roughly to pay for a mortgage.
We have done a rough cost of living excercise, including having a nose around the supermarkets to see how much it will cost to feed our hungry boys:D
It has been a really busy week but we feel we have achieved loads and love it out here.
The weather has been great and we have seen some great spots - today we sat down at Mellons Bay for couple of hours - we were the only people there! Finding peace and quiet over here is not a problem!
Tomorrow night we are meeting up with some folks from the forum for a drink which will be great to hear how they find the NZ life.
We fly home on Monday - Can't wait to see the kids and look forward to coming back out to NZ soon.
Love
Kerry x