Hi Andrew Family: Nice to hear from you and yes it wd be great to meet when we all get there.
Like you we'll rent first. We provisionally are looking at Titirangi and Oratia, but principally that is because we have some great friends who live there, and also because we loved the way the houses blend in with the bush, and have space around.
When we get more practical, we'll have to consider travel distance to school and work, but neither of these are yet settled. That may take us completely elsewhere.
I can point you to an excellent website which I just discovered from a forum entry:
Auckland Suburb Guide
Additionally, if you are bothered about schools, you probably already know that proximity is key (which I hope means that the Schoolmums Rush Hour doesn't dominate in the way it has grown in the UK with people travelling ages to get to their school of choice - we are guilty of that ourselves.) Sites to help you in this decision are:
Enrolment Zones Redirection Page
ERO - Kia ora - welcome to the Education Review Office - Te Tari Arotaki Matauranga
TKI - Schools
Plenty (too much) reading material for us all.
Best wishes
Dave