Here? or There? Really...Anywhere.

Ola! Me and my husband are moving to Auckland, New Zealand. Somewhere in May-June 2008. I will be studying school in the Grafton suburb, and would like to know what are some of the areas or suburbs in Auckland that are somewhat safe, decent, areas to have rented accommodation? I am not sure what type of transit system that Auckland has, could somebody fill me in? I am not planning on purchasing a vehicle while I am there, so I would like to live near a bus/transit station. I have looked at the surrounding areas of Grafton (IE: Eden Terrace, Parnell, etc.) and find the rental costs high, is that normal because it is closest to central Auckland? Anyway, a place with average/moderate rental prices would be especially great. Any other info & tidbits about relocating from Alberta to Auckland would be thoughtful as well. Cheers!

I know nothing about New Zealand but I figured this website might be useful to you:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=83

It's mostly people from the UK on there but everyone is welcome. I'm sure there's lots of information on there if you look for it.

Good luck with the move.

how are you doing on your location search? yes those places you mentioned are quite expensive, as is everyone in the central city. you might be lucky to find something reasonable in Ponsonby, Grey Lynn area, or in one of the south eastern suburbs. You do not have to live right in the city as there is a good bus service. and there is no place to park a car in the city anyway. good luck

Hello,
thanks for the tips! I have arrived in
New Zealand, but I ended up not staying
in the Auckland area. Queenstown in
Southland has worked out better for us!
Thanks again!
S. Blackett

hi
we are coming from alberta to auckland in august also. What can you help us with? You are there now, how about banking, rentals etc.

hi
we are coming from alberta to auckland in august also. What can you help us with? You are there now, how about banking, rentals etc.

If you have some more specific questions, I will try to help with answers.

Hi
I was wondering about money- do alberta bank card works, I have presidents choice. When we lived in USA we had a hard time, only place cards worked were Walmart, and couldn't deposit cheques from Canada even in our USA account. Many places did not even take a bank card. How does the price for food, utilties and rent compare to ALberta, we live in Red Deer. Now you're there is there something you wish you had brought with you that you didn't? (eg. peanut butter or other food they don't have, or your own cell phone, etc.) Where did you rent, was Auckland too expensive? Thanks
Dina

First of all bank cards work if they are with the fourplus or cirrus networks.(look on the back of your card and see what symbols it has) I am a member of Coast Capital savings which is a credit union in BC and my card works fine here.
Food is expensive. everything is more expensive here, however if you are working with Canadian dollars, it evens out. I married a kiwi so am not renting but rent is expensive too.House purchase prices are very high in auckland. My husband's kids pay $350 a week for a 2 bedroom apartment. I dont know about rent in Alberta but that would be expensive for BC comparison.
Unless your cell is a GSM phone (triband or quad band) it will not work here, so check first. Mine was a triband and it still did not work properly here so I had to buy one for here.

I woudl recommend you check out http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/ which has heaps of people asking and answering these types of questions for people considering moving to NZ.
Good luck