# Got the visa:-)...Best places and schools around Christchurch???



## joannewalker33

Received our work visa this morning:clap2: took 1 week only!!! I would like advice on where to settle. We are looking at Pegasus, Sumner and Cashmere. Would love an excellent primary & secondary school for my 2 children. Can anyone recommend any for me??


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## Christchurch Lad

Congrats on the visa!

Cashmere Primary and Cashmere High School are both excellent schools with good reputations in Christchurch. Christchurch Boys High and Christchurch Girls High also have good reputations however they're further away. If you're looking for Private Education then both Christ's College and St Andrew's College have fantastic reputations.

Have a look at the school's ERO reports (Government Evaluation of School) as they will definitely help with your decision. I would post the links however I'm not able to as I'm a new member.

Good luck!


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## joannewalker33

Thanks for the advice. Cashmere suburb looks very nice too. Do you know which schools would be the best near to Pegasus town as we have the possibility of a rental here and also in Sumner?


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## edelq

congrats we just received our visa this week as well so im also looking with interest here I have 2 school age primary school.Ive been looking at Fendalton open air school which seems to be high on my list so will also check out cashmere. will check in here to see if theres anymore advice.When are ye travelling,we will hopefully go 10th Feb.


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## joannewalker33

Hi, congrats also. my husband starts his job 30th jan so are looking to go from london on 14th jan but struggling to get flights to cc as they are all booked up, we are therefore flying to oz then getting a cheap flight over...couldn't have picked a worse time. Fendalton looks really nice, its so difficult when you are at the other side of the world. We are going for a rental at Pegasus, its a bit out of the way but looks really nice. The school we are looking at is Rangiora..most people have said that schools around cc are pretty good so we should both be okay. Have you been to cc before?


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## Christchurch Lad

Sorry I don't as I've never lived around Pegasus. I would recommend you look at the school's ERO reports and contact the principal to organize a tour of the grounds and classrooms.


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## lorgnette

Joanne, wish a very happy, warm New Year to you and family in your new faraway home. Enjoy CC !


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## escapedtonz

Especially for those of you heading to Christchurch to start a new life....... Taking that big step into the unknown etc!

Just spent 2 days/2 nights in Christchurch on a little road trip around the South Island (we emigrated to Wellington).
I must say we loved it. Don't know what we expected but whatever it was, Christchurch surprised us as we didn't expect the city to be as great as we found it to be.
It's a beautiful part of NZ and a gorgeous place even with the devastation of the earthquake.
Lots to do and see, excellent for kids, excellent sports on offer etc etc.
With hindsight we would definitely consider moving there now.
The earthquake put us off when we were in the throes of emigration which made us concentrate on Wellington or Auckland!

Out of the few places we've visited in our 10 months Christchurch is surely the most English of them all. 
Cant pinpoint why. It was just a feeling it gave us.
Many beautiful streets and many beautiful houses on the outskirts and also close to the city centre.
Fantastic Park across the river from the city with excellent facilities for kids, walking, running, cycling, golfing, concerts, picnics.

Only the central part of the city is closed off whilst buildings are demolished. 
The tidy up is going on all the time with around 4000 buildings still needing to be flattened. Heck of a lot of work to do before new buildings start to be erected.
Town Centre rebuild proposal is fantastic and a 10 year programme so for all you contractors, electricians, plumbers, builders, ground workers etc etc out there........Years and years of work to be had.

Good luck to all on the way. 
I'll definitely be back soon for a longer stay.


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## joannewalker33

Thank you..thats very encouraging. I must say when my husband visited in november for his interview..he said it was beautiful with a much nicer feeling than Auckland too! I am so excited but very nervous too, it is difficult to pick somewhere to live when you dont know the areas:-/ EEk! 
We are brave and feel ready for the adventure....I hope you continue to enjoy Wellington and your life in NZ too! Do you have any regrets ??? Where did u live in UK?


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## escapedtonz

joannewalker33 said:


> Thank you..thats very encouraging. I must say when my husband visited in november for his interview..he said it was beautiful with a much nicer feeling than Auckland too! I am so excited but very nervous too, it is difficult to pick somewhere to live when you dont know the areas:-/ EEk!
> We are brave and feel ready for the adventure....I hope you continue to enjoy Wellington and your life in NZ too! Do you have any regrets ??? Where did u live in UK?


Assuming you're coming from the UK, Christchurch will be perfect. Really is very English feeling. Reminds me of Cheshire........well the parts that we saw at least!
Yes we are from UK. North West. Born in Wigan and since late 2007 - Feb 2012 lived on the outskirts of Preston.
Know all about the feelings you're experiencing. We too had the problem of not knowing areas. Luckily we had a friend of a friend on the inside who we were able to contact to let us know the nicest areas to rent initially etc.
Yeah the sense of adventure was a massive driving force for us. Didn't want to follow in the footsteps of many other people and not experience life away from UK.
Best decision we ever made, even if it doesn't work out at least we gave it a shot!
Can't ever see us going back to UK though. If we became fed up with life in Wellington I'm sure we would try somewhere else in NZ first - like Hamilton, Christchurch or Auckland then after 5 years and citizenship if it wasn't working give Oz a shot.
Really like Wellington but after experiencing Christchurch I think we would have settled there much quicker than we have here but hey ho that's the way it goes.
We have some good friends emigrating to Christchurch in April 2013 so hopefully be spending more time there in the years to come.

Only major regret is committing to a house rental contract for 2 years. Should have just done 6 months then continued monthly from then on. It'll work out but just going to be a bit of a waste of cash unless we can shorten the contract somehow.
We wish we had brought over the new car we bought in UK in 2011. Wanted the same here but we couldn't afford it as it was way more expensive. Wouldn't recommend anyone shipping a used car though. Just not worth it.
Also wish we had just packed everything in the house and shipped it instead of sifting through everything - giving stuff away or selling things on then bringing the stuff we thought we needed or wanted.
You'll laugh, but we wish we had stockpiled things like nappies, everyday medication - paracetamol/cough medicine etc etc because the price of them here is astronomical.
Also clothes, shoes, trainers etc. - all really expensive.


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## Rainbowoveson

We are moving to CC soon and was hoping for any advice on places to live, suburbs, schools, as we have 3 kids. An email would be fantastic!


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## Kimbella

Rainbowoveson said:


> We are moving to CC soon and was hoping for any advice on places to live, suburbs, schools, as we have 3 kids. An email would be fantastic!


It really depends on what your budget it, age of kids, lifestyle preference, etc. I come from a strong (upper) middle class background in California, and prefer the areas of Cashmere, St Martins, Opawa, Beckenham, in terms of community feel, neighborhood amenities, and socio-economic demographics. I would consider these areas mid to upper middle class--engineers, architects, health professionals, professional builders, etc. Higher up in the Cashmere Hills is generally higher upper class--developers, contractors, etc. Merivale and Fendalton are the primary areas considered "rich." Big developers, bankers, old money, etc. I'm not especially enamored of those neighborhoods because they tend to have very high front-yard walls or fences, so the vibe isn't very friendly or inclusive. However, if you are coming with a lot of money, perhaps this is what you're after, so definitely check the homes out on TradeMe. Other areas with decent reputations are Riccarton and Upper Riccarton... those neighborhoods, though, in recent years have had a fall in their reputation as they are near to the University, and many of the homes (rentals) now cater to college students, which has made many of the residential neighborhoods party central. 

If you could give the ages of your kids, it would be much easier to provide you recommendations to check out for yourself... 

I'm happy to provide my email address, if you could post a few more times so you'll be allowed to receive private messages (don't want to post my private email address publicly).

Cheers,
Kimberly


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## Rainbowoveson

Hi Kimberly,
Thank you for the reply. Appreciate it. We are by no means rich, and would say we live an average lifestyle. Our children are 8,6.5 and 2. My husband will be building in Christchurch while I stay at home with the kids. We are really just looking for a roof over our heads while we explore the great outdoors. We don't need anything extravagent but more cozy and homey. I would love to find a community that the children are safe playing outdoors with other kids. I seem to be drawn to Sumner as the beach is a big thing for us but will keep looking for sure.


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## Rainbowoveson

Oops I meant to reply here but I am u sure if it did or not.


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## Kimbella

Rainbowoveson said:


> Hi Kimberly,
> Thank you for the reply. Appreciate it. We are by no means rich, and would say we live an average lifestyle. Our children are 8,6.5 and 2. My husband will be building in Christchurch while I stay at home with the kids. We are really just looking for a roof over our heads while we explore the great outdoors. We don't need anything extravagent but more cozy and homey. I would love to find a community that the children are safe playing outdoors with other kids. I seem to be drawn to Sumner as the beach is a big thing for us but will keep looking for sure.



So, in terms of schools, it will mostly depend on where you wind up moving to. In some cases, schools accept a certain number of out of zone placements, but it is never guaranteed. So, you can easily google those neighborhoods to find some pages of demographic info, as well as what schools are in zone, and check out the school websites, etc.

In terms of your housing, please, please, please just be VERY AWARE that you WILL need more than just a roof over your head here in Chch. It gets VERY cold in the winter, and winds up being quite chilly most seasons except summer. I cannot stress to you enough how *poorly* insulated and built most homes are. If you are coming on a budget, you will likely not be in the market to afford the few "modern" homes in the rental market, which means like the bulk of city residents, you will be living in a home that is 60 to 100 years old, with little to no (good) updates done. This isn't intended to scare you, but if you have young children you have to know what you are coming to. You can only know what to look FOR, if you know what to stay away from.

For instance, we live in a nice home, in a very nice neighborhood. As I say, upper middle class. Our home has ceiling insulation, a heat pump, and a gas fireplace. Last night the low was -4C, yesterday morning was -5C ... the ambient temperature in our bedroom when we awoke yesterday and this morning at 0600 was 5 degrees Celsius--in our bedroom. Other areas of the house (kitchen and bathroom) were colder. 
This is not an anomaly of our house. Our prior house, when it snowed in 2011 and 2012, had ice on the INSIDE of the kitchen windows. 

Obviously don't be dissuaded by my info, forewarned is forearmed! It's a lovely city, but you've got to be prepared for it, especially coming with little kids! 

If you post a few more times, it will then allow me to send you a private message, which I can include my email address or facebook contact info in.



Cheers!


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## Rainbowoveson

Thanks again for the info. Have you been to Sumner area? Any thoughts on being a little further away from city centre and loser to the beach? Is there a lot of traffic coming into town? When I look for rentals in Christchurch area it seems there are a lot of rentals in the $400 a week price range, but when I google living comparisons it says that we would be looking at $1000+ a week rent which becomes confusing. I will make this reply short to be able to post again.


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## Rainbowoveson

Also, could you maybe tell me some everyday items so I can get some sort of idea. 
Toilet paper, shampoo, soap, diapers, contact solution, coffee, milk, chocolate milk, or anything you know of  you could search me on Facebook with a space after rainbow


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## escapedtonz

Rainbowoveson said:


> Also, could you maybe tell me some everyday items so I can get some sort of idea.
> Toilet paper, shampoo, soap, diapers, contact solution, coffee, milk, chocolate milk, or anything you know of  you could search me on Facebook with a space after rainbow


Just have a look on www.countdown.co.nz 
Go through the process of an online shop to see the cost of items here, but cancel before payment


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## Rainbowoveson

Thank you


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## Kimbella

Rainbowoveson said:


> Thanks again for the info. Have you been to Sumner area? Any thoughts on being a little further away from city centre and loser to the beach? Is there a lot of traffic coming into town? When I look for rentals in Christchurch area it seems there are a lot of rentals in the $400 a week price range, but when I google living comparisons it says that we would be looking at $1000+ a week rent which becomes confusing. I will make this reply short to be able to post again.



I've been to Sumner many times ... it's part of Christchurch, just a little suburb around the estuary. It's about 15 minutes drive from where I live ... in terms of the drive, being from California, I find EVERY neighborhood to close to everywhere, because this is the smallest city I've ever lived in -- so, my thoughts are biased to a degree. There can be a lot of traffic because there is only one road in and out of Sumner and it's neighboring suburbs of Mt Pleasant and Redcliff -- all three neighborhoods use the same road in and out of Christchurch. But, I don't think it's like a 45 minute commute... could be 30 minutes on a moderate traffic day, depending on the road works (they've continuously been having road upgrades in that area for at least two years now). Sumner is nice, I enjoy walking on the promenade, and my daughter has taken a year of surf lessons from Scarborough Beach there. Just be aware that there are plenty of other neighborhoods with beach access, many (most), right in Christchurch. And, even the neighborhoods farthest from the beaches are still only about 15 or 20 minutes drive in traffic...

I did a quick search of the rentals in Sumner, minimum 2 bedroom, max 3 bedroom, with a capped weekly rent of $450. Seven properties popped up, some two bedrooms, a couple of three bedrooms, prices ranged from $375pw to the $450 max. You are aware that rents in NZ are typically per week?


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## Rainbowoveson

Yes, weekly rent I know  We pay $2100 a month now for our place and boy would it be nice to be able to pay weekly rather than one lump sum  yes I am constantly looking on that site. 
My husband will be taking some drives around for sure when he gets there to narrow down the search and what not. 
We are still in the beginning stages of application so am sure it will be a month or two till we get this going but gives time to research for sure.
Is there anything you miss about home? Are you happy you moved there? 
How about flights out of New Zealand to travel other places? Are the prices high?


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## Rjlariosa

hi there  i would like to ask, are you holding a visitor visa first after having a working visa? thank u!


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## escapedtonz

Rainbowoveson said:


> Yes, weekly rent I know  We pay $2100 a month now for our place and boy would it be nice to be able to pay weekly rather than one lump sum  yes I am constantly looking on that site.
> My husband will be taking some drives around for sure when he gets there to narrow down the search and what not.
> We are still in the beginning stages of application so am sure it will be a month or two till we get this going but gives time to research for sure.
> Is there anything you miss about home? Are you happy you moved there?
> How about flights out of New Zealand to travel other places? Are the prices high?


Weekly rent is way better than monthly for sure. So much easier to budget when salary is usually paid fortnightly also.
Still costs a bit to move in to a place though, so don't be surprised at the likely bill 
Usually you have to stump up 6 weeks worth rent up front - 4 weeks for the bond which gets lodged with the government and is held in trust, then 2 weeks in advance. On top of this there will usually be an agents letting fee of 1 week rent plus GST, so in total, say for a $500 a week rental, you would pay $3575 up front before moving in then as soon as you move in you'd have to pay the rent to maintain being in advance. Can get very costly depending how much you are paying per week in rent.

In my opinion domestic flights in NZ are expensive unless you're flying between Auckland and Wellington which seem to be cheap as there's decent competition with carriers so it keeps the prices down but otherwise you're only choice (at the moment) is Air New Zealand so it can get quite expensive just to fly for an hour.
Yes flights out of NZ internationally can be expensive but there are many deals to be had if you're willing to wait and of course the earlier you book the cheaper in general the flights are. We recently priced up return direct flights back to the UK for next year and it's around $6000 - $6300 for 2 adults and a 5 year old keeping the transit times en route under 4hrs


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## Kimbella

Rainbowoveson said:


> Yes, weekly rent I know  We pay $2100 a month now for our place and boy would it be nice to be able to pay weekly rather than one lump sum  yes I am constantly looking on that site.
> My husband will be taking some drives around for sure when he gets there to narrow down the search and what not.
> We are still in the beginning stages of application so am sure it will be a month or two till we get this going but gives time to research for sure.
> Is there anything you miss about home? Are you happy you moved there?
> How about flights out of New Zealand to travel other places? Are the prices high?



Well, clearly some people prefer a weekly rental, but I definitely prefer monthly--depending on your rent, it can be $1k to $2k per year cheaper IF your rent is monthly versus weekly. For example, an average weekly rent of $420 per week x 52 weeks works out to $21,840 in rent a year. The same "per week" rent done on a monthly basis: $420 x 4 weeks = $1680 a month x 12 months = $20,160 -- essentially providing you a months rent "for free." Anyway, that is how it is done in the US where I'm from, not here. So, if you prefer budgeting in that manner, you'll be happy!

There is plenty to miss about the US, and North America in general, but none of it are deal-breakers, and since I've never lived in Canada, I don't know if they are things anyone from there would miss. California has an incredible food culture based on incredible and nearly year-round growing season because of (usually) stellar weather; so I miss the fantastic weather, and abundance of easy to access but not typical cooking ingredients ... I miss being able to get into a car and easily drive to a completely different place than where I started (state, city, country, climate, etc). Coming from such a large place, NZ can feel claustrophobic and small. I miss the ethnic diversity of the place I came from. But, none of these *directly* impact my quality of life, so they are things I miss, but can live without, or compromise on. 
Overall I am happy here. We are a financially comfortable family, all of our needs, and most of our wants are taken care of. We would all enjoy global travelling more, but it is very expensive from NZ, being such a remote destination (I guess), but we make do with the places around (Cook Islands, Australia, New Caledonia, etc), and budget for bigger trips (US, Europe). If I could do the move over, I would probably have preferred Australia, as it is a nice mix of both Northern and Southern Hemisphere attitudes...

Travel prices are quite high, even domestically, imo. There is a dearth of competition here, so the two major airlines are able to essentially set their own pricing, and the public doesn't have much recourse. A weekend trip from Christchurch to Auckland on AirNZ can set you back $300 to $400 per person, and on Jetstar (a more budget airline), it can still be easily $200+ per person. During the weekdays they have very cheap flight details, but when you have kids in school, and work during the week, this isn't very helpful. Both airlines also hike prices up over the school holidays, so even when you finally have a weekday to fly, the low price deals are gone, unless you manged to book in advance. Anyway, it's just something you have to deal with. You can also travel by car, of course, if you don't mind long drives (from Christchurch to Auckland is about a 15 hour drive by car), but will still pay a HUGE amount of money to cross Cook Strait by ferry ... there are 2 ferries, Bluebridge and Interislander, and they both charge about the same... example prices I just quickly plugged in using my family stats are: 2 adults, 2 kids, 1 car, round trip, crossing on Friday morning to Welly, returning on Sunday morning, is $560 ... that is an amazing amount of money to pay to travel within the country you live in--considering it is literally the only *other* way to cross to the other island, except for flying. Anyway, I won't go on much further about his, but perhaps you can see why it can feel claustrophobic here, if you are accustomed to wide open spaces.

Overall, New Zealand has both good and bad points--bad points are: it is very expensive (when considering average and median wages here, although I've seen several posts about how the prices are equal to other international places. I find this to be a disingenuous defense of NZ price gouging given the low wage economy, but people see things through their own lenses I guess). It is quite isolated (and thus there are some very firm and odd preconceived notions about both the world at large, AND NZ's place in the world ....) , and very small in terms of how far you can travel. If you are used to value to money, quality products, and high choice of items to choose from, it will be shocking here at first. But, you will hopefully be pleased with how pretty it is, how generally nice people are (HORRIBLE DRIVERS THOUGH!!!); the low crime rate (maybe not a big issue coming from Canada); the ease of outdoors entertainment (when the weather is behaving), and the good social safety net the government provides, as well as the generally laid back style of life. 

Best of luck in your journey!


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## escapedtonz

Kimbella said:


> Well, clearly some people prefer a weekly rental, but I definitely prefer monthly--depending on your rent, it can be $1k to $2k per year cheaper IF your rent is monthly versus weekly. For example, an average weekly rent of $420 per week x 52 weeks works out to $21,840 in rent a year. The same "per week" rent done on a monthly basis: $420 x 4 weeks = $1680 a month x 12 months = $20,160 -- essentially providing you a months rent "for free."


It'll never be cheaper Kimbella. What you have done is assumed 4 weeks rent is monthly when in fact it is not. It is weekly rent multiplied by 4 so the full year total will be exactly the same.
Normal monthly rent is calander monthly which works out around 4.3 times the weekly rent and if you multiply this by 12 then again the total will be the same.
Take it from me as a tenant and a landlord, nobody gets nothing for free. No landlord would be daft enough to offer rent in such a way as they'd be doing themselves out of a months worth or 4 weeks worth of rent.


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## Kimbella

escapedtonz said:


> It'll never be cheaper Kimbella. What you have done is assumed 4 weeks rent is monthly when in fact it is not. It is weekly rent multiplied by 4 so the full year total will be exactly the same.
> Normal monthly rent is calander monthly which works out around 4.3 times the weekly rent and if you multiply this by 12 then again the total will be the same.
> Take it from me as a tenant and a landlord, nobody gets nothing for free. No landlord would be daft enough to offer rent in such a way as they'd be doing themselves out of a months worth or 4 weeks worth of rent.


It seems a bit off topic to discuss this particular nuance, but, I'll bite, by first restating what I ended that blurb with: "Anyway, that is how it is done in the US where I'm from, not here." 
In California, rental terms are written into the contract, and 30 days is standard, as well as language that spells out prorated rental rates--usually something like, "periods less than a full calendar month (30 days), the daily rate is (1/30)th of the monthly rate." 
My wording was clumsy, I definitely wasn't suggesting it's cheaper here in NZ -- nothing is -- only that where I'm from, that's how it works out.

Anyway, that's my understanding of tenancy law in the state I'm from. 


Cheers


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## suslik

Kimbella, I wonder if you, too, see escapetonz posting/replying to your posts and think, "Oh, no, not that guy again..."  He always has got something to say and always knows it better than anyone else does


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## inhamilton

suslik said:


> Kimbella, I wonder if you, too, see escapetonz posting/replying to your posts and think, "Oh, no, not that guy again..."  He always has got something to say and always knows it better than anyone else does


He does know his stuff. And all power to him. Hes been so helpful to so many people on here and puts a lot of time into the forum.


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## Kimbella

suslik said:


> Kimbella, I wonder if you, too, see escapetonz posting/replying to your posts and think, "Oh, no, not that guy again..."  He always has got something to say and always knows it better than anyone else does




LOL ... no, not per se. 

Undoubtedly the number of (already ex-pat) contributors on here has fallen dramatically and inexplicably, and I suppose it's always possible that it's happened because there are commenters here who have a tendency to minimize, discount, or dismiss the personal experiences that expat immigrants share here, as well as people just living their lives, I guess. I'm not speaking about our dedicated mod specifically, there are a few who do it, and I suppose the same could be said about my counter-arguments, if seeing it from their vantage point. But, as an immigrant, I'm really not interested in arguing or debating my own experience--I'm just not that kind of person by nature, I'm very zen. I put my stuff out there so people see that there are a variety of opinions and ways that settling can happen, etc. And I try to always tack on a disclaimer that *this is my experience, based on/compared to the US, etc* ... and for some reason not everyone accepts what I share, with my disclaimer in mind. 

I take nothing personally, but have come to find this particular forum has become a bit like an echo chamber belaboring the virtues of NZ without allowing much critical assessment of the downsides. It's really hard to take on the "facts" splashed around by people who aren't actual immigrants, and I find it undermines the sharing process. The kiwi experience is not the immigrant experience; my experience isn't your experience; yours isn't mine, etc., so when someone answers directly to an experience I shared, unless they too have shared the exact experience, I wonder what the point is, if not to "refute" what I'm sharing--which they can't do unless we've walked the same general path! And, again, what is the purpose of doing that anyway?
No one person is guilty of that, and I always try to own my own behavior, so who knows, maybe it's just me seeing it that way.

Aside from being sensitive about those points, it doesn't prevent me from commenting, obviously, I'm just aware that there's a good chance that I'll get a dissenting or counter-point of some sort. And, if I *really* want my original post to stick for people legitimately looking for expat input to help refine their thoughts... I'll trudge back in and firm my remarks up further. I don't enjoy the debate portion of an open forum like this as much as other people. I prefer to simply share my experience and let people derive their own ideas from it, or ask me directly for clarity. 

I think my reply turned out more serious than I expected.


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## escapedtonz

suslik said:


> Kimbella, I wonder if you, too, see escapetonz posting/replying to your posts and think, "Oh, no, not that guy again..."  He always has got something to say and always knows it better than anyone else does


Unsure why you think I always have something to say or always know it better than anyone else?
Seems a strange statement to make.

I don't recall implying that in any of my posts and unlike a lot of people in this wonderful world I dont insist my opinion is the correct one and I can put my hand up and accept when I get something wrong, which happens occasionally. 
I'm often on the forum as I am the only NZ forum Moderator so it's kind of my job to put the effort in and Moderators are expected to be actively involved in the forum threads and not just to be around to police the spam or rearrange stuff into the correct areas. 
Being completely awesome is a difficult job!


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## eastendoflondon

Hi All - Picked up this thread and was curious to know if anyone on this forum had any opinions on the Woodend / Pegasus area north of Christchurch.
We are moving there in Feb/Mar 2016 as we have a house to stay in but we aren't sure what the area is like. We visited and met the school / head teacher at Woodend primary a few years ago and got a good feel for the place but would be great to know if anyone on here has any thoughts? I have heard that the commute into Christchurch is quite bad during rush hour. At the moment i cycle to work in London so would look to possibly do that so if anyone knows anything about cycling on the larger roads that would be good to know. 
Thanks


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## Kimbella

eastendoflondon said:


> Hi All - Picked up this thread and was curious to know if anyone on this forum had any opinions on the Woodend / Pegasus area north of Christchurch.
> We are moving there in Feb/Mar 2016 as we have a house to stay in but we aren't sure what the area is like. We visited and met the school / head teacher at Woodend primary a few years ago and got a good feel for the place but would be great to know if anyone on here has any thoughts? I have heard that the commute into Christchurch is quite bad during rush hour. At the moment i cycle to work in London so would look to possibly do that so if anyone knows anything about cycling on the larger roads that would be good to know.
> Thanks


No opinion on the schools, the area in general is just a bit too urbanly rural for my taste... not much to do out there in terms of civic projects to enjoy, imo. But, lots of people love that lifestyle. I've heard the traffic is nuts,and have had occasion to be in it, but not often enough to have an educated idea on whether what I experienced was normal or not. It seems, though, that it might be. Have a read in the local news about their experience and commute time-lines. 

Cycling just about anywhere in Christchurch or the outlying areas can be very risky business--cyclists are *not* respected or admired, but are seen as a scourge. It's a very unsettling vibe, especially for me, having come from one of the most cyclist friendly areas in the United States (Davis, California).

Best of luck

Test driving the northern motorway commute | Stuff.co.nz


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## eastendoflondon

Hi Kimbella - very useful information. I can see that story about the Northern commute was from May 2014 so i'm guessing by the time i arrive early 2016 there will be cycle and bus lanes already in place(laugh).
Luckily we have motorbikes on hand so that commute will be less painful. I'm keen to know how the Police in NZ view filtering on main roads? My guess is you may not know the answer to this question. Thanks very much again.


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## escapedtonz

eastendoflondon said:


> Hi Kimbella - very useful information. I can see that story about the Northern commute was from May 2014 so i'm guessing by the time i arrive early 2016 there will be cycle and bus lanes already in place(laugh).
> Luckily we have motorbikes on hand so that commute will be less painful. I'm keen to know how the Police in NZ view filtering on main roads? My guess is you may not know the answer to this question. Thanks very much again.


Filtering is a very grey area. 
It is legal in NZ but there are specific rules surrounding it and unfortunately the interpretation of the rules are difficult to fully understand.
Being from the uk I've always filtered and never batted an eyelid doing it here and have never been stopped and fined but many have fell foul to the rules.


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## eastendoflondon

Thanks (EscapretoNZ) I have heard that it's a grey area(my other half is a kiwi biker and used to ride in Auckland). That's actually really frustrating to hear. I'd like to know either way if i can or can't do it. I'm going to email with the state police in Canterbury to hear what they say about it. Fingers crossed i get a straight answer!


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## eastendoflondon

FYI Escape to NZ. Here was the response from Christchurch police dept.

_*"Good question. Under the Land Transport (Road User) Rules motorcycles are allowed to move between heavy traffic while the vehicles are stationary - ie moving alongside traffic in a queue. However, you are not allowed to move between traffic when the vehicles are moving. Just a basic safety thing. If one of the vehicles was to turn suddenly or change lanes without looking, the rider would come off worst.Thanks for your query, and please pass this information on to any of your mates that ride bikes".*_
That makes sense to me. Basically in the eyes of the law you can't filter if vehicles are moving. Pretty sure the laws are the same in UK. I can see how grey areas could appear though if vehicles are "stop / starting" as it may actually become more dangerous to stop with the traffic.


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