windy Welly

2POSTS

13 years ago

Hi expats in Wellington

We are moving to Wellington around August September time. We have two children 7 and 9. We have researched the suburbs as best we can and decided on either Brooklyn or Johnsonville. Both appear to have good primary and secondary schools. Can anybody tell me if this is not the case?

Can somebody also tell me about the weather? We live in Manchester so we do not mind a bit of unpredictable weather, but on these expat sites I can find no good reports just bad regarding wind, rain, fog and mist that seems to be the constant weather in 'Windy Welly'. Also should we bring our snow shoes, does Wellington see big snow in the winter?

Thanks

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klunman New member

3POSTS

13 years ago

To clarify and expand on the other postNO it does not snow at sea level. There was snow at sea level for the first time in 40 years last year! It lasted a day. You will not need snowboots but you will need gumboots! The school in Brooklyn is a decile 10 and yes, it is a good school although it does have an inner city feel to it and no grass (sounds weird to say that in New Zealand). Have you considered Karori?
Kristen

KiwiLee New member

5POSTS

13 years ago

Hi Becabops

I can't answer your first question re suburbs and schooling as I don't know those suburbs well enough to say but can certainly help you with the weather.

Firstly, let me just say (as a Wellingtonian) that it doesn't snow here in Winter. Yes, we had one day of snow for the first time in 40 years but that's a completely rare occurence so you won't need to worry about snow. We do have a reputation for being a windy city (it comes with being so close to a strait) but it's not always like that. To be fair I've found the last few winters very mild and our temperatures never get as low as that of Europe. You will get rain and some wind but there are also days in winter when the sky is blue, sun is shining and there's not a cloud to be seen, which from what I've heard is unlike the UK. And summer is really summer here. It's a fabulous place at that time. We had a great summer last year and not so great the year before so it depends on how long summer will last. But you will see sun I promise. Hope this helps and eases your mind. I think your family will enjoy it here. Good luck!