[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
[B]Here's a brief list of things to do in NZ off the top of my head. By no means complete. :) I've listed them in order of "if you can only do one thing, do the first on the list, if you can only do two, do the first two, and so on".
Auckland:
[list][*]Climb to the summit of Rangitoto.
[*]Visit the War Memorial Museum.
[*]Go to the top of the Sky Tower. Jump off if you're feeling in the mood.
[*]Visit a west coast beach (Muriwai is a good choice).
[*]Go to Devenport, visit North Head and all the 19th century to WW2 fortifications (ie, tunnels) - take a torch.
[*]Visit Kelly Tarlton's, the world's first underwater world. See real live penguins.
[*]Visit Mt Eden and One Tree Hill.[/list]
Rotorua:
I'll leave this to the tourist centres. There's more to do here than you'll have time for. If you can afford it, though, go on a site-seeing flight over Tarawera, or at the very least a boat trip on Lake Tarawera.
Wellington (Not the most exciting town, if you ask me):
[list][*]Visit Te Papa.
[*]Visit the Bee Hive.
[*]Stand at the end of the runway at the airport and watch a plane land a few metres above your head.
[*]Ride the cable car up the hill.
[*]Have a look at Peter Jackson's studios from the outside.[/list]
Christchurch (also not a huge tourist centre):
[list][*]Go on a day trip to the west coast by train (the [url=http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/services/alpine.aspx]Trans Alpine Express[/url]). This is definitely worth doing.
[*]Visit the park.
[*]Visit the cathedral and square.[/list]
Dunedin (once again... not huge):
[list][*]Visit the albatross colony, see the dissapearing cannon.
[*]Go see Lanarch's Castle.[/list]
I'd recommend heading to Queenstown while you're in the South Island. There's more to do there than in Christchurch and Dunedin combined. Of course if it's a scouting trip you're probably more interested in the cities than the tourist centres. :) [/B][/QUOTE]
oh.... and you'll hate the fuel prices. Unless things have changed drastically since I was last in NZ.... you'll understand why NZ is the land of the 4 cyl car. You d have to ask Biggles for an acutual figure
AU isnt much better, our current fuel prices are about 1.02c per litre to about 1.15c per litre
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by shadow boxer [/i]
[B]oh.... and you'll hate the fuel prices. Unless things have changed drastically since I was last in NZ.... you'll understand why NZ is the land of the 4 cyl car. You d have to ask Biggles for an acutual figure
AU isnt much better, our current fuel prices are about 1.02c per litre to about 1.15c per litre [/B][/QUOTE]
ours are about .5gbp per litre or roughly $1.5nz. In England it's almost double that.
Biggles<font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
Fuel costs here are currently around the $NZ1.15 mark, I think.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
[B]...it is significantly cheaper than the cost of living for my brother in England, some friends in South Hampton, and for people in Asian places like Singapore and Hong Kong. [/B][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
[B]Auckland:
[list][*]Climb to the summit of Rangitoto.
Rotorua:
I'll leave this to the tourist centres. There's more to do here than you'll have time for. If you can afford it, though, go on a site-seeing flight over Tarawera, or at the very least a boat trip on Lake Tarawera.[/B][/QUOTE]
Biggles, I'll get some MicroScope shots of both the pumice from Lake Tarawera and the recent Rangitoto additions you just sent... ;)
Sorry to reopen a long-forgotten thread, but I have a pretty specific question about Auckland. What's a good way to figure out what the different residential areas are for that city, as well as the demographics and house prices for the different areas?
I may come over to Auckland for about a week at the end of the year, the visit being as much a tourism vacation as it will be a research trip in preparation for the move (even though the move may still be years away). So what I'd like to understand is if there are any good web resources for learning more about Auckland residential real estate, and also what's the best way to look at some of the neighbourhoods when I'm in Auckland (I guess just a car rental and go for a drive around the city?)
Biggles<font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Arik [/i]
[B]Sorry to reopen a long-forgotten thread, but I have a pretty specific question about Auckland. What's a good way to figure out what the different residential areas are for that city, as well as the demographics and house prices for the different areas?[/b][/quote]
Ask me? :p
[quote][b]I may come over to Auckland for about a week at the end of the year, the visit being as much a tourism vacation as it will be a research trip in preparation for the move (even though the move may still be years away). So what I'd like to understand is if there are any good web resources for learning more about Auckland residential real estate, and also what's the best way to look at some of the neighbourhoods when I'm in Auckland (I guess just a car rental and go for a drive around the city?) [/B][/QUOTE]
Off the top of my head, I can think of qv.co.nz that I've seen advertised around as having house prices, and the government has a site about [url=http://www.bigcities.govt.nz/housing.htm]housing[/url] that includes things like standard of living. For looking at houses and neighbourhoods, probably just rent a car and drive around I guess, but it would help to talk to a local who knows a bit more about the layout of a city to get an idea of how things go over the longer term than an afternoon of driving.
Well, I talked to Biggles and came up with some information about NZ (and Auckland in particular). Posting it here in case anyone is curious...
[QUOTE]1. Buy vs Rent - how is home ownership perceived by Kiwis?[/QUOTE]
The concept of owning your own land and house, whether in the city or the country, is very deeply engraved into NZ culture. it probably comes from our history as a colony and being a very young country. the labour party is even proposing policy to help young people buy their first house (eg a chunk of money into a fund for your first mortgage). renting rates have gone up because of the rise in house prices, particularly in auckland, but in general people still prefer to buy if they can and see renting as a short term solution until they can afford to buy.
[QUOTE]2. Residential areas in the city - houses or apartments?[/QUOTE]
The vast majority are single family homes. There are adjoined houses around, they're reasonably common. And apartment blocks are becoming more popular in the CBD in recent years. But still the vast majority are proper houses with their own land, back yard, etc, even amonst new houses being built.
[QUOTE]3. Auckland neighbourhood information and crime statistics?[/QUOTE]
ok, at a high level, auckland is divided into 5 areas. the areas are central, north shore, west auckland, east auckland and south auckland. North shore is generally upper middle class. So is central and east. West is a bit mixed, and south is in general lower class (we're talking in terms of incomes and living standards here, not actual class system like the british :))
Quite a lot of east auckland is very new
north shore is rapidly expanding north and is mostly pretty good, although there is one bad neighbourhood. Central has a couple of bad neighbourhoods too plus one of auckland's really-rich neighbourhoods
so in general the north shore and central have the lowest crime rates, i think. east has a bit more in parts because it's close to south and there are a lot of rich people out that way.
and west is... well that's where the auckland equivalent of red necks live :) drive old cars fast, drink, have big parties, etc
if you go really west you get into some quite nice solitary places with houses in the bush, etc
This might help you out (crime statistics)
[url]http://www.stats.govt.nz/products-and-services/table-builder/crime-tables/default.htm[/url]
Comments
[B]Here's a brief list of things to do in NZ off the top of my head. By no means complete. :) I've listed them in order of "if you can only do one thing, do the first on the list, if you can only do two, do the first two, and so on".
Auckland:
[list][*]Climb to the summit of Rangitoto.
[*]Visit the War Memorial Museum.
[*]Go to the top of the Sky Tower. Jump off if you're feeling in the mood.
[*]Visit a west coast beach (Muriwai is a good choice).
[*]Go to Devenport, visit North Head and all the 19th century to WW2 fortifications (ie, tunnels) - take a torch.
[*]Visit Kelly Tarlton's, the world's first underwater world. See real live penguins.
[*]Visit Mt Eden and One Tree Hill.[/list]
Rotorua:
I'll leave this to the tourist centres. There's more to do here than you'll have time for. If you can afford it, though, go on a site-seeing flight over Tarawera, or at the very least a boat trip on Lake Tarawera.
Wellington (Not the most exciting town, if you ask me):
[list][*]Visit Te Papa.
[*]Visit the Bee Hive.
[*]Stand at the end of the runway at the airport and watch a plane land a few metres above your head.
[*]Ride the cable car up the hill.
[*]Have a look at Peter Jackson's studios from the outside.[/list]
Christchurch (also not a huge tourist centre):
[list][*]Go on a day trip to the west coast by train (the [url=http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/services/alpine.aspx]Trans Alpine Express[/url]). This is definitely worth doing.
[*]Visit the park.
[*]Visit the cathedral and square.[/list]
Dunedin (once again... not huge):
[list][*]Visit the albatross colony, see the dissapearing cannon.
[*]Go see Lanarch's Castle.[/list]
I'd recommend heading to Queenstown while you're in the South Island. There's more to do there than in Christchurch and Dunedin combined. Of course if it's a scouting trip you're probably more interested in the cities than the tourist centres. :) [/B][/QUOTE]
Thanks Biggles.
AU isnt much better, our current fuel prices are about 1.02c per litre to about 1.15c per litre
[B]oh.... and you'll hate the fuel prices. Unless things have changed drastically since I was last in NZ.... you'll understand why NZ is the land of the 4 cyl car. You d have to ask Biggles for an acutual figure
AU isnt much better, our current fuel prices are about 1.02c per litre to about 1.15c per litre [/B][/QUOTE]
ours are about .5gbp per litre or roughly $1.5nz. In England it's almost double that.
[B]...it is significantly cheaper than the cost of living for my brother in England, some friends in South Hampton, and for people in Asian places like Singapore and Hong Kong. [/B][/QUOTE]
or California... :p
[B]Auckland:
[list][*]Climb to the summit of Rangitoto.
Rotorua:
I'll leave this to the tourist centres. There's more to do here than you'll have time for. If you can afford it, though, go on a site-seeing flight over Tarawera, or at the very least a boat trip on Lake Tarawera.[/B][/QUOTE]
Biggles, I'll get some MicroScope shots of both the pumice from Lake Tarawera and the recent Rangitoto additions you just sent... ;)
:)
I may come over to Auckland for about a week at the end of the year, the visit being as much a tourism vacation as it will be a research trip in preparation for the move (even though the move may still be years away). So what I'd like to understand is if there are any good web resources for learning more about Auckland residential real estate, and also what's the best way to look at some of the neighbourhoods when I'm in Auckland (I guess just a car rental and go for a drive around the city?)
[B]Sorry to reopen a long-forgotten thread, but I have a pretty specific question about Auckland. What's a good way to figure out what the different residential areas are for that city, as well as the demographics and house prices for the different areas?[/b][/quote]
Ask me? :p
[quote][b]I may come over to Auckland for about a week at the end of the year, the visit being as much a tourism vacation as it will be a research trip in preparation for the move (even though the move may still be years away). So what I'd like to understand is if there are any good web resources for learning more about Auckland residential real estate, and also what's the best way to look at some of the neighbourhoods when I'm in Auckland (I guess just a car rental and go for a drive around the city?) [/B][/QUOTE]
Off the top of my head, I can think of qv.co.nz that I've seen advertised around as having house prices, and the government has a site about [url=http://www.bigcities.govt.nz/housing.htm]housing[/url] that includes things like standard of living. For looking at houses and neighbourhoods, probably just rent a car and drive around I guess, but it would help to talk to a local who knows a bit more about the layout of a city to get an idea of how things go over the longer term than an afternoon of driving.
[QUOTE]1. Buy vs Rent - how is home ownership perceived by Kiwis?[/QUOTE]
The concept of owning your own land and house, whether in the city or the country, is very deeply engraved into NZ culture. it probably comes from our history as a colony and being a very young country. the labour party is even proposing policy to help young people buy their first house (eg a chunk of money into a fund for your first mortgage). renting rates have gone up because of the rise in house prices, particularly in auckland, but in general people still prefer to buy if they can and see renting as a short term solution until they can afford to buy.
[QUOTE]2. Residential areas in the city - houses or apartments?[/QUOTE]
The vast majority are single family homes. There are adjoined houses around, they're reasonably common. And apartment blocks are becoming more popular in the CBD in recent years. But still the vast majority are proper houses with their own land, back yard, etc, even amonst new houses being built.
[QUOTE]3. Auckland neighbourhood information and crime statistics?[/QUOTE]
ok, at a high level, auckland is divided into 5 areas. the areas are central, north shore, west auckland, east auckland and south auckland. North shore is generally upper middle class. So is central and east. West is a bit mixed, and south is in general lower class (we're talking in terms of incomes and living standards here, not actual class system like the british :))
Quite a lot of east auckland is very new
north shore is rapidly expanding north and is mostly pretty good, although there is one bad neighbourhood. Central has a couple of bad neighbourhoods too plus one of auckland's really-rich neighbourhoods
so in general the north shore and central have the lowest crime rates, i think. east has a bit more in parts because it's close to south and there are a lot of rich people out that way.
and west is... well that's where the auckland equivalent of red necks live :) drive old cars fast, drink, have big parties, etc
if you go really west you get into some quite nice solitary places with houses in the bush, etc
This might help you out (crime statistics)
[url]http://www.stats.govt.nz/products-and-services/table-builder/crime-tables/default.htm[/url]