carmele

Hi to all those who are heading to Canberra.

We will be booking our flights to Canberra around 25th July (ish). We have two boys aged 5 and almost 4.

We have never been to oz before, OH is on a sponsored visa for up to four years so we're just seeing it as an adventure really, a change of scenery and all that as who knows what the future may hold.

Anyone else in on a similar timeline.......?

My 4 year old was due to start school this september in Uk, due to the move he won't be (august baby), he will start in jan ' 09.

What ages do children go to kindy? Is this structured like a pre - school?
What age is prep?

My 5 year old will have done a year in reception (he started in sept '06). What year will he go into when we arrive? Will he effectively repeat a year?



Thanks

Carmel

killamarsh

My son and I are moving to canberra early next year and I have spent a lot of time looking at schools etc. I found the following link helpfull and emailed both the schools and the education dept. directly. I found them very helpflul

.http://www.decs.act.gov.au/schools/schools.htm

or just type in canberra schools.

Tiggs+Graz

good link - i have added it to my ever increasing number of bookmarks!

killamarsh

A few more that I hope will help in some way. I had a lot more buy lost them when I got a new computer.

visitcanberra.com.au

http://allhomes.com.au/c/ah?a=frmsearchce


http://www.thegoodguys.com.au/wp-con...id=4419&page=1


http://jobsearch.gov.au/government/d....aspx?WHCode=0

I also get an electronic short version of the headlines of the Canberra Times but can't work out the link as it comes to me via email each day. If you type in 'the canberra times' I am sure it will come up. It's handy to get news headlines each day so I know what is going on there each day.

visitcanberra.com.au

Also try Canberra Connect which is really handy for local services etc.

carmele

Excellent links thanks very much

Carmel

killamarsh

what area are people planning to live in?

carmele

Hi there,

We're not sure just yet. We are trying to get some sort of shortlist together for when we arrive (it's a very long shortlist!).We've never been so we haven't actually got a real feel.

We will be choosing an area base on it's proximity to the Civic (don't want to spend ages travelling to and from work) and schools mainly.

I would be happy with great shopping facilities and cinema's etc nearby too.

Think we may look up in gunghalin? Tuggeranong? it all depends on seeing them in the flesh though.

Does anyone know if gunghalin or tuggeranong are near enough to the Civic to bike there? Or how long it would take ish?

What about yourselves?

Carmel

NickyC

When I lived in Canberra, Tuggeranong was also known as North Cooma because it was such a long way from Civic. The closest Tuggeranong suburbs were 20k away - the furthest ones are more like 30k. It doesn't take that long to drive it as the roads are good, but I doubt if it's a realistic bike commute.

Gungahlin is the Tuggeranong equivalent to the north. Slightly nearer to Civic but still about 20k away. I think you'd need to be a very keen bike rider to be able to do it twice a day, every day.

Tiggs+Graz

I think that these online street maps for canberra are really good to give you a perspective for walking/cycling distances.

Adele

googy

Hey,

I am an aussie and live in Belconnen, Canberra. I don't come on here much but feel free to email me any ?s

[email protected]


cheers

Wade Wrench

Does anyone know anything about all land in Canberra being leased out by the government? How long is the lease and what happens when it expires? Does it all go back to the government? Won't that make it unattractive to buy property?

I was in Canberra during the Easter holidays. On hindsight it was probably a bad time to visit as you can't do much besides sightseeing.

Still, I was lucky to have met lots of nice ppl who showed me around. We visited most if not all the federal buildings by car and we went up Telstra tower to get a bird's eye view of Canberra. I went as far as Kipax which is where the couple who drove me around live. I also visited Belconnen, which has lots of construction going on in the city centre.

samjam

Hi, Also , feel free to ask away, We live In tuggeranong, originally from Burnley and have kids the same age as you. Ask what you like, we may be able to help?

googy

Legally, there is a big difference between buying land in ACT (Canberra) and NSW. In NSW (& other states), you "buy" your land thus you can own it and do what you want with it (subject to the local planning laws etc). In ACT, you get a 99 year lease from the Govt, thus at the end of the 99 years the govt can technically take it back from you. It is a big issue here recently in Canberra, as you will be aware that ACT was settled approx 96 years ago (or around that mark), thus alot of leases are coming up for renewal in the next few years. There was talk a few yrs ago of going like NSW but nothing happened. I think from what I have read the government will offer the people the lease again for another 99 years. I think they will get it for "free" or pay a token amount of $1.00.

However, in reality this system means "nothing" to most normal people. if you asked the average "joe" on the street they problery wouldn't even know. It doesn't really effect anything in the day to day running of the property.


I have found some info that u may like

http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/__data/...3Leasehold.pdf

It explains the lot...


Cheers

Casey
Canberra, Aust.

googy

As others have said on this forum, Canberra is divided up into 'satellite' cities, which include Tuggers and Gunghalin.

Both of these are the opposite ends of town, thus you can't ride to work (unless you are extremely fit). However, the roads system here iS EXCELLENT. I work in the city and live in Belconnen and in peak time it takes around 15 mins to get home...

If you work in the city (Civic), most places will be within a 20-30 min drive (at peak time)... If you live in Canberra, owning a car is a must....
The locals , including the new Transport Minister, describe Canberra as a 'car city'. Public transport here does exist, but for many people the schedules of the buses, particuarly on weekends and public holidays, are not that flexible (mainly because the population is so small and spread out )

carmele

Thanks for the info googy and samjam, yep looks like the bike ride would be out of the question! Not that fit....

Thanks to for the email googy and the offer to answer any questions samjam that's really handy, I'm sure I will have loads of questions......

Carmel