Auckland, New Zealand

[LadyGascoyne]

My husband and I will be arriving in Auckland around for the 1st of November. We are incredibly excited to make the move. He is South African, I am British but have lived in South Africa for a number of years.

We will be spending the first month in a hotel, courtesy of the company my husband is working for, while we look for something to rent. My husband will be working in Takapuna.

We are very into being outside; camping, riding, kayaking, 4x4 trails etc. We also love our animals but have decided that we will give it a year's trial before we start adding to our four-legged family. We already have a 10 month old filly in Denmark can stay at the stud until she's old enough to back if necessary.

Has anyone else made the move to NZ? Or anyone from NZ on the forum?

Any advice on setting up or recommendations on where to look in and around North Shore City? I'd like to be somewhere with access to walking and space. Husband is concerned that being to far out of town will make it more difficult to integrate, especially since I might be on my own during the day.

Has anyone moved a horse over to NZ? I'm leaning towards not taking her, as I'm worried about the trip but then again, Thbs travel all the time so perhaps I'm being over cautious. I don't have to make any decisions immediately but I'd like to know all the same.

Very excited, I've heard such wonderful things about NZ so far!

 

[Equestrienne]

Hello there!

I'm in Auckland atm, although your post is a little old so I'd just like to ask how you're finding it so far? Have you found a place to rent? Are you looking for land also?
I know there's plenty of grazing to be found around Albany/Dairy flat, which shouldn't be too far if you've found a place in Takapuna.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Hello! How lovely to get a reply to this post.

We are in the process of finding a property to rent at the moment, hopefully with grazing attached or close enough to walk. We're viewing one in Riverhead this weekend. The Dairy Flat/Coatesville /Riverhead/Kumeu are has been our favourite so far. Just gorgeous!

We are still in a hotel right now, in Takapuna. We've really enjoyed the area but feel like we need more space, long term.

Are you living in Auckland at the moment?

 

[Equestrienne]

Thats great to hear that you're enjoying it so far!

My best advice would be to join the Facebook group Waitemata Riding Club (you can join this without being a club member) as the people on there are all in our same area and I have recently seen at least three different posts on there looking for tenants for horsey houses. Might be an idea!

I'm in Massey but graze my horse in Kumeu.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Thanks, that sounds like a great suggestion. I've just joined. We'd be thrilled to find something with grazing.

I'm riding a mare near Kumeu at the moment while I look for something to buy. I'm trying to be good about it and not rush into buying, especially since we haven't found a house yet but there are some absolutely lovely horses around.

What's yours like?

 

[Equestrienne]

Awesome! The ladies on there are so lovely as well, it's a very active page. I can understand your reluctance until your'e settled, but it's great that you've found something close by to ride and must agree - there are so many beautiful horses here.

Mine's a chestnut Irish sport horse, getting old but still quite competitive, we mostly SJ and SH. What's your mare like? And you do have any riding goals for your next horse? The person you loan from - are they actively riding as well? We could meet up for a ride on Muriwai as it's one of the most amazing NZ experiences, esp on horseback.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Oh wow, that sounds amazing! I'd love to go on a beach ride.

She's also a chestnut, warmblood with some quarter horse in there too. She's absolutely lovely. The lady who owns her had an op recently and is just getting back into riding. She's a lovely person and the mare adores her. So it's not quite loaning, more exercising and very interactive with the owner.

Riding goals for the next one are to get out and do some jumping, do lots of hacking and to have some fun. My last mare was a very complicated sort and it didn't leave us much time for fun.

Yours sounds lovely, I love an ISH. Did you jump at the Kumeu show?

 

[Equestrienne]

She sounds simply gorgeous! Must be a fab mover. I didn't jump at the Kumeu show as they don't cater to RTRs/working hunters over fences so instead went to a jumping clinic which was really helpful - I'm hitting up woodhill this weekend though for the North Isl champs.

How goes the house hunt? I'm keeping my ears open for you!