[penny_65]

Hi all, we will be moving to Queenstown in the very near future and I will be working at the Lakes District Hospital in Frankton. We will be looking to rent a property, hopefully something with a bit of space around it. Does anyone have any info on which districts are best to live in? Because I will be on call much of the time I can't be based much further than a 20 min commute into Queenstown. Any info would be appreciated... :nice1

[Andy-Dee]

Cant help except to say LUUUUUUV Queenstown - lucky you!

[penny_65]

It looks so beautiful..... we have been to the North Island but not the South, so really looking forward to exploring. Not sure about heading for another winter though..... perhaps a bit of skiing will make it all good! :)

[singlefin]

Coming into winter, it would be best to avoid places like Fernhill, and along that side of the lake, as they don't get much if any sun, so houses are cold and damp.

Sunnier areas are Kelvin Heights (costs a bit to rent though), Frankton, Quail Rise, Arthurs Point. A bit further out of town, there's Lake Hayes Estate, lots of new houses, but a bit out of the way, and Arrowtown, which is lovely, a bit cheaper to rent, and 15 minutes or so from town, but maybe only 10 minutes from the hospital. Decent rentals are hard to find there though, and it's important that anywhere you get has sun, insulation and heating - because it gets really cold!

40 minutes away, there is Kingston and Glenorchy, maybe Cromwell, but the drive into Queenstown can be hard work if it's snowing or icy. Those places are a lot cheaper though.

A lot of it depends on your budget for renting. $400 a week is the starting point for 3 bedrooms in a decent enough house. You can pay up to about $650 a week for a $1m house on the lake in Kelvin Heights.

Have a look at Ray White for rentals in Arrowtown, or Executive Accommodation and QAC for Queenstown rentals.

It's a great place to live if you don't mind the cold in winter, and especially if you like winter sports.

[penny_65]

Thank you for that Singlefin, thats really helpful. We had budgeted for up to $500 a week, we have dogs which is going to make it a little more difficult I think.....

How do people survive the winters without heating :confused: They must be a real hardie lot!! I think we are going to invest in a few portable oil fired heaters to bring over.

Thanks again.

[aberdian]

Thank you for that Singlefin, thats really helpful. We had budgeted for up to $500 a week, we have dogs which is going to make it a little more difficult I think.....

How do people survive the winters without heating :confused: They must be a real hardie lot!! I think we are going to invest in a few portable oil fired heaters to bring over.

Thanks again.
Oil heaters are cheap as chips here but expensive to run. Better to get a house with insulation and decent heating. Queenstown and Arrowtown are cold just due to their position, tucked in under the mountains so morning sun is hard to come by. Wanaka is much nicer :)

[barbapapa]

btw, not only is housing more expensive in wanaka and queenstown, but also food at supermarkets is. i have noticed this is def true for beer. compared to the surrounding non touristy towns

[andrewp]

btw, not only is housing more expensive in wanaka and queenstown, but also food at supermarkets is. i have noticed this is def true for beer. compared to the surrounding non touristy towns

That's what I've also heard. Coincidentally, I have just applied for an IT job in Queenstown, so been researching. How far out of town would one have to move to see the food prices return to normal? I've seen some lovely houses out Arthurs Point way that look lovely and are only 6km out of town. Now that's a commute I could live with!

[singlefin]

btw, not only is housing more expensive in wanaka and queenstown, but also food at supermarkets is. i have noticed this is def true for beer. compared to the surrounding non touristy towns

Most of the bottle stores do locals discount cards. You just need to ask, and most places give you 10 or 15% off if you live in town. Queenstown is definitely more expensive than Christchurch, petrol is 3c a litre more, and the weekly shop is about 5% more. It's worth bearing in mind that skilled employees are really hard to find, so it's not hard to get a few more $$ on the wages to make up for it.

Arthurs Point is nice, but a few bits of it don't get much winter sun, so if you're going to live there, it's worth checking the houses out morning and evening. Sun is really important if you are looking for a house. Shady places may be cheaper, but the heating bills will be more.

[macs gold]

There are plenty of newer tourist apartments that are largely empty over the winter except for the peak season. If you were arriving in the next couple of months you could potentially get a deal on one of them for a rental out until October or November, by which time you'll know where you want to be. As singlefin says look for places with winter sun, which is more difficult than it sounds around Queenstown.

[CatherineP]

That's what I've also heard. Coincidentally, I have just applied for an IT job in Queenstown, so been researching. How far out of town would one have to move to see the food prices return to normal? I've seen some lovely houses out Arthurs Point way that look lovely and are only 6km out of town. Now that's a commute I could live with!

What you need to consider is the town that will service your needs regardless of distance eg. Arthurs point means you would probably still go to Queenstown (Frankton area is where the New World Supermarket is). So for example you could live many km's from Queenstown, but still need to go there for everything day to day anyway.

We have found that quite often the Queenstown,Wanaka and Cromwell supermarkets are all comparable price wise, however as they are all franchises they seem to have different products on 'special' at any given time. I think to get away from the 'higher prices' you are looking at quite some distance from Queenstown - probably one that is not practical if you are working there. Petrol is ususally at its cheapest in Cromwell/Alexandra, followed by Queenstown then Wanaka. But driving 30-60 mins in search for potentially cheaper products usually doesn't stack up. Properties can be really cold and as others have said do not underestimate the sun as it is very strong and can provide a significant heating effect thus saving on the exorbitant electricity bills plus generally houses are very badly insulated adding to the problem/costs.

If you make the choice to live in Queenstown Lakes area you just have to accept that you may need to go quite a distance to pay less for some things or move if its all too expensive!!!

[singlefin]

We usually head off to Invercargill once every couple of months to get things like clothes, furniture etc - works out cheaper, because there's not much choice in Queenstown for stuff like that, and it's usually lots of $$.

On the other hand, if you want a cheap snowboard/skis/fishing rod, Queenstown is great!

For me, it's definitely worth the extra cost and inconvenience, because getting a couple of hours of snowboarding in before work most days during the winter is awesome. The fishing is pretty special too.

[andrewp]

Guys, Thanks for all the excellent tips on Queenstown. we're definaitely giving it a serious think. will all depend on the job, but we're looking at it as an adventure. Try it for a few years and who knows.

And Penny 65 - sorry for hijacking your thread!

[nikkidynamo]

Thanks for all the info in this thread everyone, we've just signed a lease on a house in Kingston.. moving over from Sydney in August.. much excitement!

Re the shopping cards for locals, would we just ask for them at the supermarket desk?

[aberdian]

Re the shopping cards for locals, would we just ask for them at the supermarket desk?
They'll be delivered to your letterbox once a month, or you can just ask at New World.

[Richard7666]

Working at the Hospital, I'd say Kelvin Heights or Frankton itself would be good places. Queenstown is only a small town (12,000 people) but because of the lake it's very spread out geographically, so you wouldn't want to live in Fernhill. Plus it gets depressing as hell on that side of the lake because the sun goes behind the hills at like 4pm!

[TimAck]

I concur with the above. I used to live in Queenstown for a about 7 years before I moved to London. Try and get a place that gets the sun in winter. Kelvin Heights, Queenstown Hill, Frankton. Avoid anything on the Frankton Road into Queenstown - it get no sun in Winter and will be unbelievably cold/icy.