kevmitch

I've fairly recently come across this site - and read with interest the postings Yes, even PB's) ... but tell me, is there anyone out there who is considering emigrating to, has migrated to or is from Sydney? It appears all the contributors are based around Perth, Adelaide or Brisbane, with the odd Melbournite.

If there is, I'd be very interested in making contact - I'm hoping to be out there this August.

walaj

We are strongly considering going to Sydney, for various reasons even if the housing is more expensive.

Will know a bit more next month as we are off to Sydney & Brisbane this week (for factfinding holiday), and it will be Mr walaj first time there.

Sandra & family are already in Sydney

you are not alone!

kevmitch

Good to hear from you. Good luck with the trip and keep in contact - we can compare notes!!

Best wishes


Kev

jambo_g

I'm heading off to Sydney way. I plan to work in Sydney but live around 40 mins to an hour outside the city so that I can afford a decent sized house.

I would agree with you, there are few on the board that want to move out that way. I guess one of the main reasons I am going is because my fiance has family in Sydney.

Personally, (and I may get some stick for this!!)

Perth = Too isolated, hot as hell!!

Brisbane = A bit too hot/tropical for my tastes!! Whilst in Oz last time around I travelled from Sydney to Coffs Harbour and the difference in landscape and wildlife (mainly beasties) freaked me out so I can't imagine living in Brisbane let alone any further north!!

Melbourne = Well I guess it's the same as the whole Glasgow, Edinburgh thing and I've got to say I'm on the Sydney side!!

Other places in Oz, I'm not familiar with!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure all the above places are great and when spending my life out in Oz I will visit them all a great deal and explore the surroundings, but for me it's NSW!!

Graham

kevmitch

When are you looking to go? Where-abouts are you looking at? I'm tending towards the Northern Beaches (up as far as far as Collaroy), or slightly further inland towards Ryde. Alternatively, I have a friend who lives out in the Blue Mountains.

From my limited experience, I'd agree with your comments. I've only been to Cairnes, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, but from what I've seen, Sydney can offer an unrivalled cocktail of variety, natural beauty, cosmopolitan feel and energy. It may be more expensive, but I'm a great believer in "you get what you pay for"

From my limited perspective and research Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart all seem too 'one dimensional' for my liking.

jambo_g

Yup I agree with that.

I have done my x-rays and I have also got my police forms completed and my medical is this Monday. Once I have the results of the medicals back I will send the lot in so I guess we are looking at going out around end of April/May.

My fiance has family in Penrith at the foot of the Blue Mountains which is a pretty nice place. It's about 40 mins west of Sydney.

We are going to stay there to start of with but we are looking at buying a house in the Central Coast. Probably up Gosford way.

The reason for this is really the house prices and the fact it is right on the beach. My fiance grew up in Penrith so it will be a nice change for her as well, but her family will be only about an hours drive away.

We haven't looked to the south of Sydney but when we get there one of the first things I am going to do is buy a car so we can go and check out all the options.

Graham

kevmitch

Sounds similar to my own ideas - albeit without the family connection, so for us it will be a short-term furnished rental - at least until my stuff arrives.

With luck(and the visa authorities permitting), I'll be some 3 to 4 months behind you - so I'd appreciate staing in touch and picking your brain from time to time.

In the meantime, I hope it all goes well next week

Best wishes

Kev

mashiraz

Furnished rentals few and far between...

Might need a back up plan

Mash..

kevmitch

Looking at a variety of internet sites, there look to be a number of 1 or 2 bed furnished 'apartments' available for 1 to 3 months, particularly 'closing out' longer rental agreements. However, how many are 'real' is anyones guess. I'll need to check this out further. Thanks for the tip.


Kev

Mandy Bale

Hi,

We are near Sydney, emigrated out here 10months ago. We are in the Hills District (Castle Hill/Cherrybrook). Yes houses are expensive here, but the school our kids are in is fantastic, the activities the kids are getting into are fantastic and the parks are excellent. There hasn't been a day in the holidays or weekends where we have been stuck for something to do. And yes there is plenty of variety here. One day we are in the bush and fishing and the next we are dining in Darling harbour, superb!

Like you said, 'you get what you pay for'.

Mandy

kevmitch

Good to hear from you - sounds great and I can't wait. One particular question, how easy was it to get your children into school? My son is 16, so will be looking to go into year 11 to do his Higher School Certificate. It appears the private schools in Sydney are generally over-subscibed. What are the state schools like?

kevmitch

Hi Mandy

I've had a look at one or two of the real estate sites. I must say, the Hills area looks good. It wasn't somewhere I'd considered earlier, but it looks excellent value for money when compared to the Northern Beaches, with an excellent choice of 3 and 4 bed family houses.

One quick question. How easy is the commute into the CBD - and how long does it take during peak times - I'm ideally looking for somewhere within 45 mins or so by car.

Best wishes

Kev

Herman

We live in North Sydney, which takes a mere 10 minutes by train, but a 3 bed semi will set you back at least $1 million and it will have a smaller garden than your average English home.

An English guy I work with here came over 6 months ago and he settled in Pennant Hills. Despite its distance from the city the bus service is quite good and he tells me its an hour to the city door to door (about 45 minutes actually sitting on the bus). My advice is to try and get on a bus route as driving into Sydney is the same as driving into any other city, plus parking is extortionate. The other issue is that they just announced some major roadworks in the city (something to do with a new tunnel I think - I was'nt really listening), which they say will cause absolute mayhem in and around the city for at least 2 years.

An area popular with people at work, and one we would have looked at if our decision had been to stay, is Forrestville in the Northern suburbs. Worth a look as its very green, surrounded by national park, I'm told it has good schools, its 10 minutes to Dee Why beach and there is a good commuter bus service that takes about 35 minutes. The big appeal is that prices are relatively good - a 4 bed houses with a big garden and pool available for around $700k to $800k. What I like about this suburb is that it is exactly like the next door suburbs, such as Lindfield, but house prices are about 50% less just because the train line and pacific highway runs through the neighbouring suburbs. A mate at work lives in Forrestville and some mornings he drives to Lindfield train station and gets the train in - that only takes 45 minutes in total he reckons parking close to the station is not an issue. Or the bus service is good as its 30 to 35 minutes down the highway.
We dont yet have kids and our decision is to return to the UK for our own personal reasons (family, financial reasons - in the UK my wife wont have to work when we have a child but not so here, and our own personal weather preference - we hate the heat/sunshine/constant application of sun cream and wearing of sun hats and love the seasons (even winter). Guess we are just warm blooded!).
Good luck.

kevmitch

Thanks for the tips and advice - I'll check Forrestville out. Sorry to hear you're looking to come back to the UK - in my case getting the wife out to work sounds like a damn good idea and I'm sure the sun screen budget will be worth it!!

jambo_g

No Problem Kev, I will keep in touch.

Got the old medicals today at 11.00 so at least that will be out of the way soon.

Cheers

Graham