Moving from Auc to Gigatown (Dunedin) - Advice/comments/suggestions please

Forums › Off topic › Moving from Auc to Gigatown (Dunedin) - Advice/comments/suggestions please

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Hmm, what to write...
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#1392021 22-Sep-2015 15:58

nakedmolerat: My choice of suburbs would be Brighton, St Clair or Dunedin south (in order).

Brighton.. if you like to travel
St Clair .. if you like the beach or can afford Ings Ave
South Dunedin... District 9, Really?

Matthew

graemeh

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#1392024 22-Sep-2015 16:01

Blurtie: Can you get a one way trailer hire? Didn't think of that. We're not overly attached to our stuff, but I'm a firm believer of: if it ain't broke... so the hassle of selling, then going shopping and buying new stuff I'm sure would excite my partner, me on the other hand, not so much!

I have no idea but if you can't then perhaps just buy the trailer or send it back on an empty car transporter.

Blurtie

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#1392030 22-Sep-2015 16:10

Lias: It cost me over 3k to move a ~50 cubic meter household from Hamilton to Kapiti a couple of years ago, and that was the cheapest of half a dozen quotes, most of them being closer to 5k and some even higher. That's just them loading the truck and moving btw, no packing etc. You're moving less stuff but going much further, and crossing the strait which always ramps the price up. I'd brace yourself for it being well over 4k.

Ah good info! Thanks for that. Looks like I might have to up the moving budget. Out of interest, when you did the quote, how did they come up with the area/volume required? I guess what I'm asking is, if I was to say go in for a quote for a specified volume and it turns out to be more... what happens? I assume nothing would happened the other way round (moving less stuff than specified).

Blurtie

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#1392033 22-Sep-2015 16:12

meesham: Time to sell my suburb...

Opoho's great, it's popular with more mature aged students and academic staff as it's more expensive than the student areas but you're still really close to the uni. The main problem with it is we're not getting fibre until July 2018-June 2019, so no gigatown for us (it ends Feb 2018) and there's no VDSL.

It's also excellent if you have kids, depending on the age there's a Play Centre, Opoho Primary is excellent and there's quite a few kindergartens down in NEV. You're also very close to the botanic gardens which my kids love spending time in.

As mentioned previously the main thing is getting the sun, even being on the wrong side of the street can mean getting a decent amount of sunshine each day or living in a dark miserable hole. Opoho's at the top of a hill so most houses get lots of sunshine.

Awesome, thanks! Opoho has been noted! All very good points you have made! Almost sold, will now need to confer with the boss.

Blurtie

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#1392047 22-Sep-2015 16:17

lxsw20: I haven't used bus transport since high school, but it does exist! Some of them go to the Uni but most terminate somewhere in the city area, which tbh is only 3-4 blocks from the uni anyway. It's a pretty compact city.

http://www.orc.govt.nz/Documents/Content/Information%20Services/buses/2015/ORC%20Bus%20Timetable%202015.pdf

As for the flooding, it was mostly just South Dunedin. Remember this was a 1:100 year event so they say.

Thanks for that. Looks like there some decent options in terms of public transport!

I'll let my partner know that info on the floods also. She seems to think it's a flood prone area as it was so close to sea level or something. She had me convinced too! But knowing that bit of info doesn't make it seem so bad after all.

meesham

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#1392052 22-Sep-2015 16:27

Blurtie:
Ah good info! Thanks for that. Looks like I might have to up the moving budget. Out of interest, when you did the quote, how did they come up with the area/volume required? I guess what I'm asking is, if I was to say go in for a quote for a specified volume and it turns out to be more... what happens? I assume nothing would happened the other way round (moving less stuff than specified).

We did the move from Chch to Dunedin 2 years ago and had a few quotes. They basically calculated the volume based on all the belongings and then allocated part of a truck to us. Some did it with paper and estimated it, the Allied Pickfords guy had a tablet where he entered everything in each room and it came up with a total. The was some tolerance for the actual total on the day being over but I can't remember what it was.

In the end we went with a decent sized local company and it was the worst mistake we made - we paid them to pack everything for us but we had a a couple of big plastic tubs in the garage full of baby clothes which they decided to just transport as is instead of repacking them into cardboard boxes, one of the containers then went missing somehow. We tried to claim insurance but they said we couldn't claim as they didn't pack the boxes and there was a clause in the insurance policy that excluded boxes packed by us. I should have taken them to small claims but I got that news the night before my daughter was born so things got pretty hectic (and those clothes would have been useful). Basic moral of the story is make sure you read the fine print, and if you pay them to pack for you make sure you get them to sign off that everything is considered "packed" by them once the door of the truck is closed.

KrazyKid

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#1392063 22-Sep-2015 16:40

One of the things I love about Dunedin is that I can walk everywhere. I live up Roslyn way and it is 20min into town and maybe 30-35 min to the Uni.

I'd also recommend Opoho (I grew up there) - lots of sun, or along the hill line above town - Maori Hill, Roslyn, Belleknowes, Mornington. Prices along the hill start off most expensive in Maori Hill and get cheaper as you head to Mornington
(but nothing like Auck prices. We only have one suburb where the average house price is over $500k - and then only just (Maori Hill is $505K)

Have you considered a short term house sit/rent type deal - friend around the corner form us did just that, rented there house out for 3 months while they went overseas. You get a furnished place, but will have to pay storage for your stuff I suppose. Trade me has these listed.

Two questions I always ask when looking at houses in Dunedin are: 1) how much sun does it get. 2) what insulation does it have. Can't emphasis the sun question enough.

If you pick up a cheap grab a seat or jetstar deal and want to come down for a weekend happy to put you up if you can handle small children and a picky cat. You might get a mattress on the floor but the price is right. DM if you ever want a night's accommodation

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#1392064 22-Sep-2015 16:43

NZ Van Lines (pretty sure that's right) was used by friends to move their houseload from Auckland to Blenheim. There was a two week difference between moving out of their home in Auckland and moving into their new home. Van Lines packed everything in to a shipping container and it sat in their yard in Auckland until a couple of days prior to the arranged delivery date, and then they put it on the back of their truck and headed south. No idea on prices, sorry.

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#1392077 22-Sep-2015 17:05

1. It's cold. If you live in uninsulated house you either sleep in 0-4 deg and live in 4-10 degrees. Houses are insulated from the 80s onwards, which means your heating radius goes from 1m to as large as your room. Insulated + big double glazing windows + sun = hot hot hot. ANything else, freezing cold. Average temp in summer used to be 14 before climate change. T'was a bit warmer last year.

2. Sun helps. Because it's hilly if you have views (usually facing south) you don't have sun. If you have sun, you may not have (south water) views. Unless you live in Vauxhall, which you get sun and views but bad access usually, unless you live on the best street in town, Connell St, in which you only have unobstructed views = unobstructed south polar antarctic wind 24x7x361.

3. Where to live - depends on where you want to live. Avoid Brockville, South Dunedin. Flat and sunny = Mosgiel. Views and beach access (the wind usually blows from Antarctica, water is a cool 8 deg in winter and a warm 10-12 in summer) - St Clair. Views and no beach access - Vauxhall, Waverley, Shiel Hill, Andy Bay, in that order. Working class usually live in Roslyn, Mornington, Wakari. Last 2 "suburbs" cover a HUGE area. Views and dirt cheap to buy - Pine Hill. But don't expect to make any money, my mate bought a house for $190k 12 yrs ago and sold it at 189 last year in Pine Hill. Imagine if it wwere AKL ... If you want land you can get lifestyle blocks 10 mins from the city.

4. Schools - all schools have a decent reputation. How old is your kid and what does he like?

5. Don't count on public transport. It exists, however.

Can't remember much more. Oh, there are no shopping malls. Well ... there is one or two ... but ...

Blurtie

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#1392079 22-Sep-2015 17:08

meesham: We did the move from Chch to Dunedin 2 years ago and had a few quotes. They basically calculated the volume based on all the belongings and then allocated part of a truck to us. Some did it with paper and estimated it, the Allied Pickfords guy had a tablet where he entered everything in each room and it came up with a total. The was some tolerance for the actual total on the day being over but I can't remember what it was.

In the end we went with a decent sized local company and it was the worst mistake we made - we paid them to pack everything for us but we had a a couple of big plastic tubs in the garage full of baby clothes which they decided to just transport as is instead of repacking them into cardboard boxes, one of the containers then went missing somehow. We tried to claim insurance but they said we couldn't claim as they didn't pack the boxes and there was a clause in the insurance policy that excluded boxes packed by us. I should have taken them to small claims but I got that news the night before my daughter was born so things got pretty hectic (and those clothes would have been useful). Basic moral of the story is make sure you read the fine print, and if you pay them to pack for you make sure you get them to sign off that everything is considered "packed" by them once the door of the truck is closed.

Thanks for the helpful advice. Appreciate it. Will definitely look out for the fine print.

Blurtie

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#1392081 22-Sep-2015 17:14

KrazyKid: One of the things I love about Dunedin is that I can walk everywhere. I live up Roslyn way and it is 20min into town and maybe 30-35 min to the Uni.

I'd also recommend Opoho (I grew up there) - lots of sun, or along the hill line above town - Maori Hill, Roslyn, Belleknowes, Mornington. Prices along the hill start off most expensive in Maori Hill and get cheaper as you head to Mornington
(but nothing like Auck prices. We only have one suburb where the average house price is over $500k - and then only just (Maori Hill is $505K)

Have you considered a short term house sit/rent type deal - friend around the corner form us did just that, rented there house out for 3 months while they went overseas. You get a furnished place, but will have to pay storage for your stuff I suppose. Trade me has these listed.

Two questions I always ask when looking at houses in Dunedin are: 1) how much sun does it get. 2) what insulation does it have. Can't emphasis the sun question enough.

If you pick up a cheap grab a seat or jetstar deal and want to come down for a weekend happy to put you up if you can handle small children and a picky cat. You might get a mattress on the floor but the price is right. DM if you ever want a night's accommodation

That's great to hear. Being originally from Wellington, it is definitely one of the thing I miss living in Auckland. NO ONE walks anywhere! And why would you, the roads here are not pedestrian friendly at all. But Roslyn sounds exactly like the sort of place/distance we're looking for.

House sitting did cross my mind, although I'm not sure how that would work with our arrangement with me working from home and my partner going to uni. But definitely a consideration.

Wow, that is a very generous offer! Thanks! I will keep it in mind, but at the moment our schedules pretty tight so there might not be time, but definitely appreciate the offer! Gotta love the geekzone community spirit! :)

andrewNZ

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#1392103 22-Sep-2015 17:37

I moved from Hamilton to Dunedin 6 years ago (man time does rock on).

Shipping We used Crown to do the move. We chose the sole use 20 foot container option and fitted the contents of our 3 bedroom house into it no problem. Price was $3500.
We packed everything ourselves ant they loaded it. I wouldn't pack it myself again, I'd just pay the minimal amount extra for them to do it.
Crown load the container and bung it on a train. It would definitely be worth asking if they'd load extra in Wellington, I cant see why they wouldn't.
I don't think you're going to need storage in Dunedin, just leave it with the moving company until you need it.

Travel We drove down in 2 days, it was hell. Leaving Christchurch I just wanted to drive into a ditch so it'd be over. Taking your time is a very good idea.

Where to live: We rented in Waverly for 6 months and then bought in the infamous Outram. lxsw20 has pretty much nailed the areas of choice IMO, although my first pick is obviously Outram..
Anywhere on the harbor gets sea mist the further out you are the worse it is. We had days on Doon street we thought were terrible so went to town for something to do, it was a beautiful day once we got to Portsmouth drive. The mist is an amazing thing, it steams up the harbor at an amazing speed.
The north valleys are cold in winter, Leith valley in particular. Anywhere high gets more snow, snow at sea level is rare.
Kaikorai valley can be an ice rink in the winter.

People say Mosgiel and Outram are a long way out, but it depends on your view. Mosgiel is about 10-15 minutes from town, and Outram is 20-25. The 5 minute variance is typically traffic.

The climate Although it is generally colder in the south, it's also a lot dryer and that takes a lot of the sting out of it.
The Taieri plain is typically colder but more sunny in winter, and warmer in summer, the difference is usually 2-5 degrees. It's the sea breeze in Dunedin that does it.

Blurtie

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#1392128 22-Sep-2015 18:32

andrewNZ: I moved from Hamilton to Dunedin 6 years ago (man time does rock on).

Wow, very useful info! Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!

Hopefully shipping prices haven't changed much since your move!

andrewNZ

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#1392143 22-Sep-2015 18:53

Something else I forgot.

The beach is much less inviting here a lot of the year, don't be tempted by Brighton etc. just because "it's beachfront". It can get bloody miserable out there. Sure, if you like surfing, or looking at the ocean it can be very nice, but it's not the same as in the north.
I seriously looked at buying in Brighton before we moved, I'm glad I chose to rent first.

mdooher

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#1392153 22-Sep-2015 19:06

Two things about Outram:
1. Not Gigatown, actually not Megatown either, your internet will be lucky to get into the Kilobit speed range
2. It is lovely and quiet. I live in Mosgiel and am in Outram most weeks.

Four things about the climate in Dunedin:
1. No Cockroaches
2. No Ants
3. No fleas.. ok I saw one once
4. You will not need to turn your heatpump to "cool'

Matthew

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