# Help moving to Chch



## harveyevan (Jun 7, 2012)

Hi everyone, very new to all this. We currently live in Yorkshire, England. 
Submitted EOI last Sunday, got 160 points with job offer. We are a family of 5, have 3 boys aged 12, 11 and nearly 5. If everything goes our way, we would move to the Chch area, but no idea what is a good or bad area to live or school in. 

Any suggestions on areas to live or just in general to make the transition run a bit more smoothly? 

Thank you


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## Carolyne38 (May 28, 2012)

harveyevan said:


> Hi everyone, very new to all this. We currently live in Yorkshire, England.
> Submitted EOI last Sunday, got 160 points with job offer. We are a family of 5, have 3 boys aged 12, 11 and nearly 5. If everything goes our way, we would move to the Chch area, but no idea what is a good or bad area to live or school in.
> 
> Any suggestions on areas to live or just in general to make the transition run a bit more smoothly?
> ...


Hi!,

Good luck with the move,

You know CHCH is still having loads of earthquakes right? You would be better if you are set on the South Island somewhere like Waimate or Ashburton, which are around the general area but not so affected by the quakes. (its really cold there right now!)

Don't use Pickfords if you are moving stuff, we had a nightmare with them and lots of furniture was damaged on arrival and it tool way over the estimated arrival time due to there inadequacies.

NZ is great and a much more relaxed way of life :O)


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## bleater (Mar 21, 2012)

Christchurch is not having "LOADS" of earthquakes, so don't let that scare you. There is a risk of earthquake in the future but this can be mitigated with simple precautions.

Having said that, because of the changes in the housing market as a consequence of the earthquakes, it is difficult to find good rental properties in some areas, and buying a house has been made more complex because of the need to get engineering evaluations done. So it pays to look at the rental market before you arrive and make sure your expectations match the prices (Google for "TradeMe Property").

Although the inner city is still being rebuilt, Christchurch still offers a great lifestyle, especially if you're into the outdoors ... 1 hour to the mountains for hiking or skiing, 15 minutes to the beach or the Port Hills (mountainbiking etc).


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## bdl123 (Apr 2, 2012)

The whole country 'has loads of earthquakes'...between 10-15 THOUSAND per year. Download NZ Quakes onto smart fone & u'll be amazed! I was. However, a lot of these quakes are not even felt but remember the whole of NZ sits in the 'Ring of Fire' so there is always a risk of bigger earthquakes at any time in the future. We are in Wellington & had a biggy the other night (7.1.. Biggest in region for 150yrs) and to put in in perspective CHCH big one a year ago was 6.2! But ours was very deep so no surface damage (thankfully) but felt countrywide!! You will see for yourself than some areas tend to suffer quakes more regularly (CHCH being one of them) but as u can see from the Richter Scale figure not many are felt. Good luck with your application x

Sent from my iPhone using ExpatForum


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## G-Mo (Aug 17, 2011)

bleater said:


> Christchurch is not having "LOADS" of earthquakes, so don't let that scare you. There is a risk of earthquake in the future but this can be mitigated with simple precautions.


Magnitude 4 last week, and a 4.9 today... Pretty quakey!
http://nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10817883


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

Lol! The whole of New Zealand is in one of the most tectonically active places on earth. It's one of the risks that you take when you move here. Anywhere you live will have a risk of earthquakes, volcanoes or tsunamis.

But all risk is proportional. 
To me it is an extremely miniscule risk when compared to crossing the road or eating dodgy shellfish!


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## CaroG (Jul 16, 2012)

If you move to Christchurch with the expectation of feeling a few shakes, it can still be a wonderful place. I only notice a proportion of the shakes these days and when I do notice them they are just part of daily life. In all honesty, our house shakes more when a truck goes by!

In regards to your original questions about which areas to move to, it all depends upon what you are looking for. In general if you draw a line down the centre of the city, the west side received less damage, but there are still some good pockets on the east. As someone else has suggested, look at Trade me to get a feel for the rental market. Furnished places are being rented for a premium at the moment as they are being snapped up for short term rentals, because people are having to move out of their own homes for about 4 weeks whilst they have earthquake repairs completed on their own homes.

Sorry I can't help you in regards to schools, my little girls just turning one and I haven't got my head around all of that yet!


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## bleater (Mar 21, 2012)

G-Mo said:


> Magnitude 4 last week, and a 4.9 today... Pretty quakey!


Anything less than about 5.4 is not even worth getting out of bed for.


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

bleater said:


> Anything less than about 5.4 is not even worth getting out of bed for.


That's the Dunkirk spirit!


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## harveyevan (Jun 7, 2012)

We have now submitted the visa application, so it's just a matter of waiting for a decision. My husband would be working on the west of Chch, so think we would maybe look for a temporary place to rent close by, until we find our way around and settle in. Thanks everyone for your replies.


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## ClemClan (Oct 8, 2009)

harveyevan said:


> Hi everyone, very new to all this. We currently live in Yorkshire, England.
> Submitted EOI last Sunday, got 160 points with job offer. We are a family of 5, have 3 boys aged 12, 11 and nearly 5. If everything goes our way, we would move to the Chch area, but no idea what is a good or bad area to live or school in.
> 
> Any suggestions on areas to live or just in general to make the transition run a bit more smoothly?
> ...


Hi there Harveyeven, I've lived in Christchurch for five years now and here are my suggestions for places to live. There are some places you would be best to avoid now because of the earthquakes as they have been affected substantially by the earthquake. Therefore my list below won't include any of those areas and only areas that have not been badly affected by the quake. Don't get me wrong everywheres been effected but some a lot more than others, there's rarely a home that hasn't suffered any minor damage. Of course you need good schooling and usually good areas will have good schooling. 

Cashmere
Halswell
Prebbleton
Lincoln
Tai Tapu
Rolleston
Springston
Ladbrooks
Green Park
Burnside

Map of Christchurch New Zealand NZ - Christchurch Region Street & Road Maps.

I hope that helps a bit. Good luck with all your plans. If you need any more information, don't hesitate to ask!


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## Leinth (Jul 21, 2012)

As far as looking for schooling you can look up any school's ERO Report (equivalent of Ofsted in UK) online Schools have a decile rating ranging from 1 (lowest rating) to 10 (highest decile rating). Some schools are zoned. Good luck! I moved over here 5 years ago as a teacher and live it.


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

Leinth said:


> As far as looking for schooling you can look up any school's ERO Report (equivalent of Ofsted in UK) online Schools have a decile rating ranging from 1 (lowest rating) to 10 (highest decile rating). Some schools are zoned. Good luck! I moved over here 5 years ago as a teacher and live it.


Decile rating isn't to do with how good the school is - it's to do with what the average income of the families that send their kids to it - not necessarily the same thing. Although unfortunately good schooling does seem to follow the money...


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## wammers (Jan 30, 2010)

Hi there 
We moved just 2 years ago to this wonderful area, from Lancashire, might I add too! In fact we arrived just 3 weeks before the big quake in September - good timing or what! Anyway despite our shaky introduction, we still love it here but thankfully we settled just a few kilometres north of Chch in a rural location near Rangiora. Both hubby and I travel into the city every day for work, which isn't a problem. Because of the quakes, areas to the north, west and south of the City have become very popular so naturally there is great demand on any for sale or rentals. But eventhough you might have to pay a bit extra, it's definitely worth it for peace of mind and nowhere near as depressing as seeing signs of the devastation day in day out. 
Anyway, just wanted to send you our best wishes with the move. You're gonna love it


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