[Helen & John]

Hi, john has just been offered a job in palmerston north :clap so we will be looking to rent when we first get to nz, then to buy later. Just wondered if anybody had any information on pn or pics or anything really about Manawatu and palmerston north.

We are hoping to go out february next year, fingers crossed we get the visas.

also has anybody had some really good quotes on shipping costs, trying to work out whether it is viable to ship over our stuff, nothing of real value, certainly no antiques! or just to seel for what we can get here and then buy again when we get settled over in nz? whats your view? anybody shipped out and wished they hadn't bothered or anybody wish they had taken their own stuff with them?

all advice greatly received

thanks

helen and john

[Diny]

Hi there. We live in Ashhurst which is just outside Palmy. The town (city) of Palmerston North itself is really nice - it has everything you need, all the shops, cafes, banks, businesses that go hand in hand with every other city but it still manages to keep the small country town feel. It's an incredibly easy place to get around as it seems to be built on a grid system. You have the square with the clock tower in the middle - from there you can find your way to anywhere.

House prices in the Manawatu are pretty good, but they are on the 'up' and my advice would be to buy rather than to rent (I have a thing about rent being dead money). If you buy a place as a stop gap at least you're on the property ladder by the time you decide what and where you want.

This is a pretty good place to base yourselves too. Wellington, Napier & Hastings, New Plymouth are all just a couple of hours drive away. The Whakapapa ski fields are only about a 3 hour drive too. Go east or west for a short drive and you find yourself on some really beautiful beaches - mostly deserted.

The surrounding 'villages' of Ashhurst, Feilding, Marton, Colyton etc are all really nice places to live (avoid Bunnythorpe like the plague), and all within easy commuting distance of Palmy itself. The roads here are wide and well maintained.

The scenery in the Manawatu is pretty spectacular (as is most of NZ). We are at the foot of the Ruahine & Tararua Ranges and we have some spectacular views of the wind farm. There's some great walking tracks too.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions or need me to go and find out any particular snippet of info for you - I'm happy to help.

Diny