[Bernadette]

My family and I are finally making the move the New Zealand at the end of August. At the moment neither my husband or I have jobs (both in IT). So we have decided to rental a serviced apartment in Wellington while looking for work. After 3 weeks we need to find a more longer term rental.

So my question is what areas would/would not you recommend?

What we need is
1) commutable to Wellington (I currently go from cardiff to Bristol , around 1+hr there and back, which I'd like to reduce) but not too far out
2) I need to find a good school, as I have a 5 year old son
3) reasonably priced (we are not looking to live like millionaires!)
4) good facilities to occupy a 2 year old boy

Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks Berni

[Mrs Pony]

will you have a car? If so... you might like Karori...

Not sure about anything for the little ones though

[Angelonthemove]

We spent 12 months driving around until we were able to buy a house and ended up in a village we never been to before and love it. Each place is so different and it will probably a personal choice.

I would wait until you get here and see what's on offer first. We have lived in Kelburn, Khandallah and now Wilton/Wadestown, all are lovely and as metioned Karori is very much live a village atmosphere about it but the traffic gets jammed in and out for about a 3 mins wait:laugh

You would have to live quite far out to commute in Wellington. Up the coast is more rural and beautiful takes about 1hrs commute each way and the beaches are divine. We just decided that we would prefer to live near our work and spend more time in the evenings not driving.

When you arrive get one of us to show you around as its very confusing with the all the bends and hills to work out where you are. No matter where you decide to go its all lovely and I bet you can't wait.

Schools must be a priority so wait until a few others get up and suggest good schools.

What do you do in IT? OH is a software dev.

[irishliz]

Before we came to Wellington we short-listed for Karori and Khandallah, and chose Khandallah because of the school. But we would have been equally happy in Karori or Wadestown. Like Angelonthe move we wanted to be closer into town. I would suggest shortlisting a few areas - this forum is a good starting point and look at the schools and when you arrive visit the areas and schools and you will get your own feel. We like Khandallah as the school is great, we have great views, and very affoardable for rental. Also lots of friendly expats, central village area, good buses, facilities etc. BUT we probably would not buy in Khandallah as we feel it is expensive and we are thinking ahead to High School.

I would be happy to drive you around to show you the different areas within Wellington if you like. Just pm me.

I couldn't advise you on anything outside Wellington though.

BTW if you are staying in serviced apartments in town there are some useful New World supermarkets centrally for the first few days while you find your feet. One is on Willis Street and should be walking distance from where you are. Also if you need anything to tide you over like a box of books, toys etc let me know and I will be happy to loan to you.

Good luck.

[Bernadette]

Thanks for your tips
The time is getting closer to our move & I am getting more nervous
Berni

[Helsandfamily]

Hi,

we are currently in Whitby, and love it. There is a real village feel to it, and there is a feeling of space, wide streets. there are lots of play area's for the little one, and from what I have read the schools here are good. Which is why we wanted to come to Whitby we have two boys. It is about 30 mins to welly.

There area plenty of swimming pools around (not in whitby though) and you only pay for the kids not you if you are supervising them, so very cheap. There is also a great softplay area in TAWA which is about 15ins away. There is a library here, and a pond to feed the ducks.

HTH

Hels

[M-Squared]

The ducks at the pond behind Whitby shops aren't fed as much as the ones at Aotea Lagoon (Papakowhai)... I've had them stepping on my feet before now, to get at the bread. :laugh

Whitby is very nice, some good diverse housing, too. Haven't seen two properties (unless you count Lakeside Villas) that look even remotely similar. Which makes longer-term house-hunting quite a challenge, but fun!

We were originally going to settle in Wellington and rather had our hearts set on Brooklyn, but the cost of housing was prohibitive. We're in one of the Porirua suburbs now, bought in November last year. The Porirua area is extremely child-friendly, but choose your suburb with care... wouldn't exactly recommend Cannons Creek, for example, but Whitby, Papakowhai and Aotea are all very nice. :nice1