NickyP

We are living in NE Victoria and the scenery here is beautiful, lots of open spaces, mountains etc. The kids are enjoying having far more access to the outdoors as although it is a bit chilly here at the moment it is mainly dry.
We have found people here to be very community minded (sometimes a good thing some people may find it a little suffocating at times) and generally they are very welcoming of newcommers.
The kids love school here (our 17 year old hasn't settled but that is the area rather than OZ itself I think, plus his age isn't the best for a big move). The younger ones are gaining confidence by the day and are involved in loads of different clubs etc (not all sport you will be surprised to hear ).
It is far quieter away from the cities and the pace of life much slower so you have to be sure that you can deal with that. If you can then there are a lot of good points about living in a smaller community. We feel perfectly safe here I am sure that they have drugs etc but it isn't a big problem and Sam hasn't come across anything at school.
They are always looking for teachers out in the country (I am planning to do my diploma next year all being well).
All the best.
Nicky

lawrenson

thanks Nicky
I had read you post earlier about your son not settling. I hope that you all feel like your getting somewhere now. We have two girls and a boy. they are all into swimming, the girls netball & hockey & my son -cricket. They love their music so moving to an isolated place may be harder now that they want to go and see bands etc. The eldest will be wanting to think about Uni too.

There are so many things to take into consideration outside the obvious.And guess what - the sun is shing and it feels a bit warm today!!!!

Lawrenson

kt.2006

Hi, in my experience in Brisbane my children have settled into their schools really well. They say the children are much more friendly than those in the UK, who can be quite critical of each other. An example is my son is now enjoying playing football again, which he hated in the UK as the verbal bullying had become too unpleasant.

There are far more sports available for the children to do as well as places for them to go. I haven't seen the same problems with bored youths hanging out on the streets here. Families often go out together, even grandparents and teenagers. Eating out is very cheap but the supermarkets appear to be dearer for a lot of items. Transport is a lot cheaper. My advice reference jobs would be to sort out jobs before you come as I know nurses and teachers who have been surprised at how difficult it has been to get jobs.

I have not seen any spiders in the house but there are a fair few in the garden (not sure what type) but I hate spiders so I am not looking too closely. There are snakes in this area (out in the countryside) and they like long grass. Apparently they disappear when they hear noise so hopefully you should never see one, but it did shock me to see one on the road coming out of a field where my son had just played football :scared:

sasbear

No need to be so harsh KW child.

We lived on a farm to start with - with the family and have since moved to the outskirts right on the edge of Canberra. I have NEVER seen a snake yet - either driving to the coast or back or anywhere at all except in the zoo. I have however seen about 4 redbacks - small spiders - in the garden - but they run away or hubby kills them. They don't chase you - what I am more scared of is the huntsmen spider - even though it isn't really dangerous (aside from a nasty nip) - they just look so fri*** ugly and euwwwww - lets change the subject...

KatieStar

We live in Pine Rivershire, just outside the Brisbane border, and have had 2 snakes in our garden since we moved here a year ago. One brown, and one black. Both where hiding under things, a piece of plastic and a pile of grass. I would say they come through and if they find a nice place for a bed they stay Having said that we seem to be unlucky, my friend has lived in the same suburb as us for years and not seen a snake. We are nowhere near bushland. We had red back spiders in our post box as well. :scared:

As for good points for staying in Oz . I love Brisbane city. There is so much to see and do. There are loads other spots we have found as well that are beautiful. The wildlife, apart from the above LOL, is great. I love relaxing with family, and friends, while having a BBQ on a sunny afternoon.

Katie

Ialibu

Having lived in Sydney, Perth's northern beachside corridor and now Melbourne over the past 10 years and travelled fairly extensively around Australia during that period, I haven't seen a snake and the numbers of red backs, white tails, funnel webs and trapdoor spiders I have seen can be counted on 1 hand. And No! I haven't stayed in 5 star all the time, I have been to some fairly rough and ready places.

Although, whilst motoring through Deer Park on Sunday I saw a huge sign that said "Huntsman" so I suppose that is where those big 'uns originate from

kiwichild

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kiwichild

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Vash is a married man Kev... not married to me We do 'spar' a bit but I think we also kind of like each other as mates.

kiwichild

You're just a man I simply marvel at Hutch

NickyC

I totally agree. I've lived in Australia for 26 years, mostly in the eastern suburbs of Sydney but we did have a couple of years in Canberra. I've travelled all over the country (the only state I've not been to is NT), been camping and bushwalking and I've only ever come across ONE snake.

Seen a couple of redbacks in 26 years, and about one huntsman a year. Never seen a funnel-web - and incidentally neither have most people (except if they live in Castle Hill).

To talk of funnel-webs in Sydney people's bedding and shoes is abject nonsense. Practically every funnel-web bite (around 4 a year, that's a lot isn't it - in a population of 5 million?) occur outside, when people are gardening and not wearing gloves.

kiwichild

Actually for your information (and others reading this) there was a doco on tv a couple years back about a woman in Sydney who got bit by a funnel web and it had gone to sleep in her shoe, and she lived in inner suburbs.

NickyC

And it was such a rare occurence that they made a documentary about it.

Actually for your information (and others reading this) there have only been around 200 known, documented funnel-web spider bites EVER. http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/...b10564_fm.html

That's not 200 a week, 200 a month or 200 a year. That's 200 during the last century or so.

As I said, hardly a common occurence and nothing at all for people to be worried about.

Hutch

Aw come on Nicky - let's not let a little thing like real hard facts get in the way of opinion and hearsay.

kiwichild

Believe what ya want.. I really don't give a shit. But bites are far more common than the fantasyland stats you have dug up from God knows where.

Admittedly they don't happen to ALL or even the MAJORITY of people, BUT they DO happen REGULARLY!

Hutch

So you're saying that the information linked above, which I read with interest, was collated by (amongst others) The Medical Journal of Australia and the NSW Poisons Information Centre database are 'fantasyland stats'. Are you a world expert in arachnids and, more specifically, envenoming funnel web spiders?