The book can be bought direct from the publishers in NZ at:
http://www.wheretoliveinauckland.co.nz/
If you buy the combo package with The Streetwise Homebuyer, postage to the UK becomes more cost effective. We found both books to be very useful.
The best bit of advice to me was, decide on the lifestyle you want and that will lead to deciding on a part of Auckland and then, eventually, a few suburbs.
And be prepared for lots of days driving round in the car!!!
We rented a serviced apartment in CBD until our container arrived. We had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to be by then, and didn't have to live without any belongings. Although of course living in CBD has a few drawbacks, especially if you have young kids to entertain. But we managed with two under-5's. We rented a house for 6 months then bought a little further up the Shore
Good luck!!
Thanks hosebergine.
The company I will be working for has agreed to put us up until our stuff arrives, and I guess, based on what they are saying, that it will be in a serviced apartment/Motel in or around the CBD.
We have a 21 month old and he is very active/mischievous (like his father apparently ) so I'd be interested to hear what/where are good places to take him for a run-around, that are also relatively safe.
I guess Lifestyle is a good place to start, as we do not have to worry about schools just yet, although we do need to find a good nursery.. Again if anybody has any suggestions, please let us know.
I've read quite a lot about the North Shore and it seems that a lot of Europeans choose this as their base. The pictures certainly do it justice and an area where we are definitely going to explore in more detail when we arrive.
Thanks for your reply.
N