We hit the road (again) at 9am, so that we could call at the Real Estate offices as early as possible.  To secure a rental we must first view one, then submit an application before we are selected by the landlord.  There is so much demand, that the landlords are pretty picky.  When we reached Caroline Springs, we were taken aback.  The main road through the middle of it is a bit boring and souless, but on either side, there are some mature streets that could be found anwhere in suburban Melbourne.  We drove around to try and find some of the properties that we had seen online, but couldn't reach any of the agents, because they are out and about on a Saturday.

 

We stopped at the sales centre at the heart of the estate and talked to the receptionist about how the state has been planned out.  We were struck by the difference between development in OZ vs UK.  In the UK, councils approve plans to build a new estate and then, when the number of pupils trying to go to the local school surprisingly goes up, they bring in some portacabins.  Whereas in this development, they have already built half a dozen new state, private and Catholic schools, shops etc etc.

 

So all in all, we have completely changed our mind and decided to give Caroline Springs a chance.  We have a short list of properties that we will try to view on Monday and hopefully we'll have something before the end of next week.  Fingers crossed.