kiwineko

Hi There,

we are a family of 4 living in Auckland (NZ ) at the moment. My husband has the possibility to transfer to Melbourne in the new year and I am trying to find some feedback about the life over there.
I am French (have dual citizenship French and NZer) originally, and my children are going to a bilingual school.
So far I have found 2 schools in Melbourne which offers a bilingual teaching (Caulfield and Camberwell). Do you of any other ?
Any parents in this forum whose children attend those schools ? ANy feedback ?
I am planning a trip to Melbourne soon to have a feel for the suburbs and areas where I would like to live but any tips on nice green suburbs (probably not too far from Caulfield and Camberwell), my husband will work in the CBD so with not a very long commute ?
How is the public transport system in Melbourne ? I heard it is great, but coming from Aucklanders, so not very objective (for those of you who know the state of public transport in Auckland, you will understand what I mean ).
Thanks in advance ! Will try to dig in the forum ...

jad n rich

Public transport system is good. Especially if you are in the or the mid to inner suburbs. Plus trains go out about an hour from the city in many directions. Very well priced adult is about $7.60 a day cheaper weekly. Trams inner city too. Lots of buses doing the burbs.

My only real tip regarding property is it can go way over the guide price when buying, the prices you see are hideously unrealistic. All recent auctions we went to in the middle to inner burbs been going up to $170,000 over the guide price, it can be way more than that too.

Renting. Be aware a lot on the net looks way better than it is. If you want new, there may be competition, we had to offer slightly over the lease price. Look VERY carefully at heating and cooling, I cannot stress this enough. Often when the temp says 16 it will feel like or apparent temp of half that. Our new unit we might as well be living outside for the insulation it has, ice box palace. And even in early march it was boiling as hell in there on the top floor. Landlord is still considering AC units.....

Its a nice city to spend a few years.

Buzzy--Bee

Hi, I am aware of the school in Camberwell that teaches French by immersion. It has a very good reputation. Camberwell is a very expensive suburb, and very nice, you do have to live in the zone to go to the school.

My children do not learn French at school, so we send them to L'Alliance Francais in St Kilda for extra-curricula lessons. You may wish to have a look at their website.

Are you both NZ citizens? If so you will be able to move to Australia as temporary residents. If you can get your husbands employer to sponsor you for Permanent Residency it would be much better.

BB

kiwineko

Thanks for your replies.
By the sound of it, Melbourne is like Auckland property market wise (over inflated prices both to buy and rent). Insulation is a problem in Auckland too, so we will have no surprises there and know what/where to look for !
Do you suffer more from the heat or the cold in Melbourne generally speaking ? (i.e. is it better to have a A/C unit than heater for ex. ?).

I will have a look for Camberwell rentals. For Caulfield, what suburbs around it are nice ?

Sorry about my question (I haven't really digged into the forum yet), what is the difference between temporary residency and permanent residency ?

The 4 of us are NZ citizens.

Thanks

jad n rich

I think you would need heating and cooling.

I have lived in northern UK, london and canada and extended periods in the USA, I have never froze like in melbourne INSIDE a house. Temps in melb can say mid teens daytime but often feel in single figures, the nights can say single figures but feel very very cold indeed, the unit has often read 7c inside at night

Heat. We have lived in QLD, sub tropical, so humid from dec to march. Melbourne heat is much dryer. But when it gets hot it is VERY hot, many say 30 and humid is supposed to be much worse, I find them equally bad . 30 35 and 40+ with furnace winds is a dry heat of course but we find that hell too. Its like being blasted by a hot oven, awful.

Days over 30 are not that common in SE QLD or melbourne but there are enough of them in both places to make cooling essential if you are troubled by severe heat.

Remember apparent/real temps can feel quite different to the nice sane ones you read on weather stats. Winds are a big factor in melb in winter and summer.

One other thing I would look for is fly screens. Rented without them in melbourne, ummm bad decsion. The flies in summer are much worse than QLD, the mozzies less so but without screens we were bitten and cooking was absolutely disgusting without screens to keep the flies out.

Not being negative about either place, but australia has a harsh climate and having the right bits and bobs like AC, heating and fly screens are vital to life quality IME.

Buzzy--Bee

You can't go wrong with suburbs directly around Camberwell or Caulfield. They are all good areas.

You will need heating and cooling in Melbourne. Summer can get to 40+ although it as a very dry heat, no humidity, and these super-hot days normally only last for a day or two. Winter is cold, on a day like today when it is about 10 degrees outside I would not want to be without heating!

New Zealand citizens get a TR444 visa on arrival to Australia, with no application process. This is a perpetual temporary visa, you can never get permanent residency or citizenship. On a day to day basis this may not matter much, but ask any NZer who is here on that visa and they will all complain that they feel hard done by that they can't get PR.

If your husbands work will sponsor him for PR (many will) it is a FAR better option.

BB

bcworld

Heating is definitely more advantageous than cooling. It does depend on house design of course...some of the large modern homes are very poorly designed when it comes to keeping heat out.

Generally I'd say there are a just handful of nights per year when you'd welcome A/C in the bedroom...and at least 3 months when you'll need the heating to some extent.

Most A/C units are reverse cycle though, so they heat as well.

OzTennis

As an aside, the 2nd language (sometimes 1st language) in the Caulfield/St Kilda East/Elsternwick area is often Hebrew or Yiddish.

Interesting article:

Cable loop lets Melbourne's Orthodox Jews feel at home

Pollyana

For the residency thing, have a read of this - http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Life/New-