backtonz
10th May 2006, 10:28 PM
It has been lovely to discover this forum (through Google search). It is so refreshing to read about so many points of views.
Our situation is as follows:
We got our PR amd made our move to NZ in Dec 2001. By default, we landed up in Auckland and we bought our first NZ house up in Red Beach - a lovely coastal suburb in the North. Our boys were young (6 and 1) - so all that we needed was a decent primary school, pretty neighbourhood close to the beach and golf and we were done.
We are an Indian family, but living overseas for the last decade. We were in Hong Kong prior to moving to NZ and are currently in Singapore. I have been in the financial sector and had some unfinished business interests which needed me to be back in Asia. We sold our house and moved out of NZ in mid 2004. Well, the business interest is now finished (a little prematurely) and we will be returning to NZ - this time for good.
We travelled extensively around NZ - so we do know a fair bit about the place. However, travelling on holiday is one thing - deciding where to live is another. Our criteria are as follows:
1)Our boys are now older - one is going to be 11 soon and schooling (specially being in a school where it is the norm for students to go on to University) is probably our most important criteria. From all that we have read and heard so far - Auckland Grammar, Rangitoto and Burnside are the best outside of the private school network.
2)Having always lived in large cities - it is tough to give up the city feel altogether. At the same time, one really doesn't want to deal with the traffic and congestion and "big prices for small houses" associated with cities. We are trying to find a balance.
3)A nice and affordable Golf club, nearby :)
Based on our criteria, we have narrowed down to Christchurch (north west) - though the house prices there seem to be quite high considering the quality of the properties, lack of sea views or any views etc.
This is just a post to introduce ourselves. We would love to recieve feedback on our thoughts. I am happy to also help anybody who needs opinions/info about Auckland's northern parts - primarily Hibiscus Coast.
Hope to be in touch and maybe meet some of you when we are there.
Cheers
Our situation is as follows:
We got our PR amd made our move to NZ in Dec 2001. By default, we landed up in Auckland and we bought our first NZ house up in Red Beach - a lovely coastal suburb in the North. Our boys were young (6 and 1) - so all that we needed was a decent primary school, pretty neighbourhood close to the beach and golf and we were done.
We are an Indian family, but living overseas for the last decade. We were in Hong Kong prior to moving to NZ and are currently in Singapore. I have been in the financial sector and had some unfinished business interests which needed me to be back in Asia. We sold our house and moved out of NZ in mid 2004. Well, the business interest is now finished (a little prematurely) and we will be returning to NZ - this time for good.
We travelled extensively around NZ - so we do know a fair bit about the place. However, travelling on holiday is one thing - deciding where to live is another. Our criteria are as follows:
1)Our boys are now older - one is going to be 11 soon and schooling (specially being in a school where it is the norm for students to go on to University) is probably our most important criteria. From all that we have read and heard so far - Auckland Grammar, Rangitoto and Burnside are the best outside of the private school network.
2)Having always lived in large cities - it is tough to give up the city feel altogether. At the same time, one really doesn't want to deal with the traffic and congestion and "big prices for small houses" associated with cities. We are trying to find a balance.
3)A nice and affordable Golf club, nearby :)
Based on our criteria, we have narrowed down to Christchurch (north west) - though the house prices there seem to be quite high considering the quality of the properties, lack of sea views or any views etc.
This is just a post to introduce ourselves. We would love to recieve feedback on our thoughts. I am happy to also help anybody who needs opinions/info about Auckland's northern parts - primarily Hibiscus Coast.
Hope to be in touch and maybe meet some of you when we are there.
Cheers