pomsincoffs

Hi All,
Just wanted to see if there were any ex-pats in Coffs Harbour out there. We moved over in January of this year and had our little girl out here. Now all that excitment has died down - and the thrill of finding McVities chocolate digestives and hellmans mayoniase in coles has worn off - I just wondered if there were any ex-pats locally who fancied meeting up?
Would love to hear from anyone ........

cobblers

HI
we are thinking of moving to coffs this summer from uk .could you tell us what you think of the area.(see thread 31.12.07 cobblers).really grateful for any info.cobblers

pomsincoffs

Hi Cobblers,
We love living in Coffs - it has changed alot since we first visited 8 years ago and is growing fast. It still has that small town feel without being isolated and has enough shops to feed my habit for shopping and Sydney is only a 45 min flight away should I need more culture (also known as more shopping!).
I was seconded from the NHS in the UK in 2002 to come over and help commision the new hospital build - the new base hospital is really lovely and state of the art. There are plenty of opportnities for nursing. I suggest looking at the web site for the Mid North Coast Health Service - it advertises jobs at the Base Hospital.
My husband and I chose to move here because of the life style it offers us. Beautiful beaches and not too many people that you are fighting for a spot on the sand. We are often the only ones on our favourite beach and it is so beautiful. Having said that it is big enough to have many fantastic restaurants, a theatre, cinema, huge shopping complex (yeah!), lots of lovely hotels and resorts and is growing all the time. It was voted one of the top places for people to holiday on the east coast and is still one of the cheapest places to buy property on the coast. We ourselves have a 4 bed house with a one bed granny flat on 1/2 an acre and it cost us less that we sold our 2 bed terrace for in Exeter!
There is a big ex-pat community and we have just set up a group - called poms in coffs- that meets once a month. There is a real variety of people that meet - from older couples who have retired here to young couples with children and babies. If you would like any more info or any other opinions I am happy to pass your email onto any of the other Poms in Coffs group. One couple just arrived in August with their 3 children and are also in their 40's - they maybe able to give you a better idea of schools - I only have a 9 month old daughter so I don't know anything about the schooling system yet.
Good luck with everything
PIC

cobblers

Hi pomsincoffs
thanks for your reply coffs sounds great.we would really appreciate any advice from others re;schooling/high schools./facilities for teenagers/orchestras[violin].
Reading back on threads quite a few have said jobs are scarce in coffs/though lovely area.
Planning to rent as our visa is a bridging[3yrs]hows the market?looked on sites not sure the best areas- (british dream want the pool!!!!!!)
When we get to Ozz we'd look forward to meeting u all.

pomsincoffs

Like any rural area jobs are not the easiest to find but as your wife is a nurse I really can't see a problem. I would spend a little time making contacts before hand though - contact the hospital, let them know your coming (if you choose Coffs) and it all makes things a little easier when you get here. Even send a CV perhaps and get in touch with some temp agencies. My husband set up his own business and another couple who came out here 18 months ago bought businesses and are doing really well. The couple who came over in August have both also got jobs already so there is work available.
We live in Middle Boambee but it is proving too rural for us with a baby so we have decided to sell up and move back into Coffs. Good areas include Sapphire, Korora and Diggers Beach - but they are pricey. Sapphire is about a 10 min drive outside of Coffs and with Korora and Diggers being 5 mins drive - Diggers the closest and next to our favourite beach. I don't know about getting a rental with a pool. We rented a town house in the Jetty are when we first arrived - it is a walking distance to a nice restaurant area, a few shops and another nice beach and creek -it cost 285 a week. I think there was a house with a pool at Diggers the other day for about 450 a week . Good real estate agents are The Edge and NSW Real Rstate but there are plenty to choose from.
I will get in touch with some of the others from Poms In Coffs about schooling etc and perhaps pass on their emails to you if they are happy.
Good luck with everything and be in touch soon
Rachel

pomsincoffs

Hi Cobblers,
I have been in touch with the Poms in Coffs group - here is part of a reply from Nik
'Narangi and Kororo seem to be the big schools. Jake goes to Kororo and it has 600 pupils, so far we have been very impressed with their attention to Jake (9) and his learning and needs so we can recommend this school http://www.kororopublicschool.com/ '
And Brian knows a local school teacher and is happy to ask any questions you might hvae - his email is [email protected]
Hope this helps
Rachel

paula 1

Hi
We lived in Coffs, but due to work we had to move to the Gold Coast (which unfortunately didn't work out for us). My son went to Korora public school & i have to say this was the best school he went to by far. Mr Randall (headmaster) was a lovely man & he knew all the kids by name, also made us (as parents) feel very welcome.
We loved Coffs, unfortuantely at the time (2005/2006) my hubby struggled for work, but I would love to move back there one day, as the life style is fantastic. We now have moved back to the UK, hubby fell back into he's old job as a Sports Teacher, so things are going great now, but we still miss Coffs Harbour very much. I've got some lovely family/friends there, who keep us informed with all the goings on, & i check out Park beach everyday via the internet.....sorry side tracked a bit there!!!!!
What i have to say is Korora is a FANTASTIC school, & i highly recommended ....
Thanks Paula

cobblers

hi poms in coffs
thanks so much for your help ;weve emailed brian with a mountain of questions re schooling for jess [high school] etc.its now a waiting with selling our house before we go.speak to you again .sarah

pomsincoffs

My pleasure - good luck with everything and i hope Brian is able to help. If not I have a few primary school teacher friendsa who might be able to answer your questions. good luck!

cobblers

Hi Rachel (Pomsincoffs).
Thanks for your previous help and advice. Could you help a little more? We are thinking of renting out our property in the UK, which then would subsadise our rent in AU. Any Tax advice (Links)would be great. etc.
Thanks Jason and Sarah

pomsincoffs

Hi guys,
Tax advice in what way? here or the UK? We kept our property in the Uk and rented it out for a year. We had to pay tax on it in the UK as it was classed as income - signed a N11 form???? - which meant we had to declare the income when we did our return in the UK. We sold the house in the end because we just had such a nightmare - i would recommend getting that renters insurance you can get which protects you if the tennants don't pay the rent. As regards here I know when you do your tax returns you have to declare any income from abroad but I am not really sure. Look at the ATO website (Australian Tax Office) We use Gerrard McGrath accountants here in Ocffs but I don;t know if they have a web site or could help you at all.
ope it helps!
Rachel

shakila08

Hi

I've just moved to Coffs - we arrived a fortnight ago!! Now that I've managed to find and furnish our home, i'm starting to get bored whilst my partner is at work... It would be great to meet up - I heard something about a bbq on Sun, do you know anything about that??

pomsincoffs

Hi Shakila
Yeah I run it! hehe! We are meeting at 12 at the Jetty foreshores at the BBQ's there. BYO everything! There will be red, white and blue streamers on the BBQ we are at. If its raining we are going to the Greenhouse Tavern. It started out as a real young couple and family thing but recently we have had loads of retired people come too. It is really nice though to all meet up. I heard you met Louise's Aunite at a house viewing.
Hope to see you there and that you moved in all ok!
Rachel

cobblers

Hi Rachel,
Still here in the UK (Housing markets very slow at the moment) but still hoping to be in Coffs by the summer (Our Summer). We are still looking into the best High Schools for our daughter. We've mailed Brian Freakly several times but nothing. Could you kindly give him our E-mail ([email protected]) if pos.

Thanks alot Jason & Sarah

Amanda001

Hi there, We are in the middle of making the decision as to whether me make the BIG move to Coffs from Scotland. We really want to go and the only negative we can think of is leaving family behind! We have 2 young boys and I'm a bit worried as the first one is due to start school after the uk summer holidays and wonder how he will react if he is taken out of school next year for this move. Any advice good or bad on schools in coffs and how he might adjust would be welcomed! Not so worried about the youngest as he is only nearly 3 so think he would be alright!!

Also my husband is a Baker and would be looking for a job doing the same, anyone know of what the job situation for bakers is in Coffs? Are there many vacancies? Struggling to get email addresses for bakers to ask!

Thanks Amanda x x