[K&CS]

We're moving to Chch early March and will be moving into a holiday let in Sumner in April, when the girls start school. Am very excited about it - we've visited Chch before and love the city and have researched areas etc and thought Sumner sounded pretty much what we wanted (despite the high house prices).

I've just come across a thread from about a year ago where Chch and Sumner were getting a bit of a bashing. Someone was saying that Sumner was no good for families. Can any of your Sumnerites give me your opinion on this? Are there any other drawbacks that you can see?

I think basically that I just want to hear loads of good things about Sumner, so that I can be happy we're making the right decision (not that we're committed to anything anyway, but it helps to have plans!).

Kate x

[GeorgeM]

Depending on the ages of your children and your lifestyle Sumner may or may not suit.

Many in Chch see it as a long way out - it's all of 20 mins from Cathedral Sq and 40 mins to the Airport on the other side of town!

If your children get involved in a lot of things outside of Sumner, and are not of an age that they can bus to some of them, then you could spend a lot of time ferrying them from place to place. But this could be said of most other suburbs, I would guess. Many suburbs are as far (in time terms) from the centre as Sumner but psychologically don't seem so because you don't have the physical separation of the causway to emphasise that you're travelling a distance.

BUT - Sumner does have a wonderful bus service - every half hour at least until past midnight - so if your children are old enough to use it (and it's quite normal in NZ for kids to go on buses on their own from 11 yrs or so) then they can remove to some extent this drawback.

Sumner has a very village-like community feel and it's easy to get into especially if your children go to a local school (meetings at school gates etc). There are also a number of things going on for children of a wide age range - Scouts/Guides, Surf Lifesaving, Rugby club, Horseriding, Fuze (a youth club in the centre of town which operates at different times across the age range), etc etc. And there's always the beach for 75% of the time! As with all communities, though, you get out of it what you put in so if you choose to keep yourself to yourself people will leave you alone and you could end up thinking that they were a bit cold and unfriendly.

Our kids (girls, 10 and 13 when we moved in) love it, and say that they're very glad we chose to live there rather than in town (where many of their school friends come from).

[Moorf]

We love Sumner too and agree with what GeorgeM has posted above. From working and living there I got to meet many mums there (ALOT of Brits) - many who look to move out to another area or move their kids into a private school to avoid the catchment school of Linwood. You might want to check this if your kids are heading to High School in the near future.

Plus, whilst it's a great place to start you off, the prices there are high (renting and buying) and so you could be letting yourself in for disappointment if you can't afford to buy in that area. Sumner is very unlike other suburbs so I'd keep an open mind whilst living there and get straight out and look at your affordable areas so you don't expect it to be "just like Sumner". ;)