NickyP

We are in Wangaratta, NE Victoria there are lots of jobs going in regional areas rather than the cities depending on what sort of area you are looking for work in. It is harder for the companies to attract workers without the draw of having a beach nearby but we love it here with the mountains and rivers and the beach a day trip away.
We were sponsored to come here so that sort of decided for us but we wouldn't change it now.
Nicky

rich8509

thanks nicky, we our going to find the best life we can for our kids. But you need money to live. i will hopefully create enough income through the land scaping where ever we decide to settle, what is the best thing about Victoria and what is the worst?

A dogs life

www.bom.gov.au for all your climate info needs. It should have all you need especially here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/

rich8509

cheers
i need the dogs life. especially my dogs life, meat every day, casual walk and be able to lick my own *****

sherie_in_oz

What kind of work and lifestyle are you looking for?
At the end of the day its not the choice you think it is!! you will go where the work is and the kind of place eg..big city, smaller city, beachside town thats right for you.
Our kids loved Queensland and especially the Gold Coast and we looked for jobs there but its like living in a holiday place hardly any professional jobs, mainly small businesses and a lot of people travelling to brissie to get work so can be a long costly commute,
Try thinking about whether you mind very busy traffic in Sydney?
Or a very big city with lots going on but changeable weather like Melbourne.
Queenland is hot for most of the year but you get tropical storms etc
Perth has very hot summers but can be quite cool and wet winters
lots of people on BExps love Brissie but it didn't do anything for us, ...so u have to find what suits you.

All the best
Sherie

lovely_mummy

Hi there Richard, Claire, Josh and Harriet

We live on the stunningly beautiful central coast of Australia, approx an hour & 1/4 north of Sydney. We moved here 2 years ago on perm res visas and had friends living in the area.
We felt however that on making our move of a lifetime we should check out some other areas, and therefore made a trip to Brisbane shortly after our arrival here.
Our findings were that it was much flatter up there and not essentially as 'scenic' to us, (those living near the Hawkesbury river wld know what I mean.) Also we had heard that you could buy a 4bed det house with pool for $250-$300k in Brisbane, but on looking we felt drawn to the slightly more expensive areas around Brisbane for settling with our young children, which were pretty much on a par price-wise with the central coast. Plus, salaries are higher in Sydney in my husband's line of work, hence better for a mortgage.
So those were the factors that we based our decision on.
We came back a few days later and started to property hunt, buying a 4bed det with pool for $400,000. Hubby works a 3day week in Sydney & we love it here .....
Good Luck!

rich8509

many thanks guys.
all the advice is good. but many of you have been led by work. i would firstly choose for the kids and then create work, here in england for the last 15 years i have had to create my own work and truley believe i can do it all again in OZ. If you where to do it for again with 2 young children in mind where would be the area's you would concentrate on?
sorry for any spelling mistakes, half way down a bottle of brandy now.

regards
Rich

Shellfish

Hi Rich

We have settled in Melbourne and are very happy here. My husband's company has offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

We immediately ruled out Brisbane because there is less work there and so we were concerned my husband would end up working in Sydney or Melbourne and only be at home at the weekend and also my husband 'doesn't do' humidity, a weeks work in Singapore took care of that

We visited Sydney but ruled it out because we have done the 'living in a big, expensive city which is a mission to get anywhere and do anything and could never afford property' thing. Also, I found it to be pretty 'soulless' and wasn't blown away like most people are.

Melbourne...well, you either love it or you don't. For those of us who do, no explanation is necessary .

In a twist of irony, my huband ended up going to Brisbane to do some work and he really like it there. He said the streets are clean and the people are friendly and because it was winter, there was no humidity. We can always retire up there but that's along way away yet.

diddy

We bought a 1980 Toyota Corolla for $500 bucks near Newcastle and checked out most places as far up as Bundaberg staying at dodgy motels and caravan sites. Ended up trying Port Stephens - beautiful, but too quiet, Helensvale - not beautiful and too quiet, but are now in Southport which is the dogs youknowwhat. You don't have to settle where you land. You can try a few places.

Paul.

NickyP

Hi there well where we are is a lot different to being in the city and there are plenty of plus points as well as the downsides.
On the good side I would say:
We like the weather not too humid, proper seasons even if it does get a bit mad in the Spring.
Smaller friendly community, good for the kids, very welcoming to us as a family.
Excellent friendly schools no problems with the kids settling in at all.
Stunning scenery in some places very similar to places I liked in Scotland (many of the local place names are very Scottish sounding).
Easy reach of Melbourne, Canberra and even Sydney is drivable if you want to.
Varied scenery with mountains, plains, rivers etc, very good for sports here.
Hubby is enjoying the off roading.
Cheaper property.
Slower pace of life.
Plenty more I am sure but that is what comes to mind.

The downsides that we find are:
Not being close to the beach (a day trip to the sea).
Mossies :scared:
However if you were looking to start a business here then you do have to be aware that there is no Ex-Pat community to use to help get yourself off the ground. A UK guy here is trying to set up as a plumber and will be fine but he is competing with locals so you do need to do your homework.
You may find the pace of life a little too slow if you are a city person.
If you are the sort of person who needs heat all year around then you would probably prefer not to be in Victoria.
You have to be prepared to throw yourself into the community, people here are very welcoming and if you get involved in local schools, sports etc you will settle in no time.

That is of course only our experience but I hope that it helps.
All the best.
Nicky

mand8002

Hi
I was applying to unis snd in the end had a choice of Perth or Brisbane, and between those two Brisbane was the place as we knew one family there alreadynso figured settling in might be easier. I have no regrets with our decision.

lovely_mummy

Hi Rich
We came with our young kids, Harriet then 5 and Sam 3.
I guess we were lucky because our UK neighbours moved to Avoca Beach, Central Coast & we stayed with them on arrival & as I mentioned earlier we looked around and then made this our home too. I would say however that I don't think we would ever have found this area on our own, so don't stick to the cities try an hour north/south and you will probably find young communities, new housing and people who commute to the cities (and get their gardens landscaped!) We settled in easily and have great friends who are both Aussie & English. Harriet had the hardest time settling which surprised us as she is very outgoing & confident, but schools are different to English schools, plus they taught her a new style of handwriting, and we as parents have no experience of the system here. My advice is get your kids in to a great school in a 'an even better area' and the rest will fall into place. Unfortunately primary schools are not league tabled here in NSW and so you cannot look-up how good a school is on the net. Word of mouth is pretty much the way to go, & you need to rent a house in the catchment area of the schl you want to enrol in, if you move later the kids can stay in the school even if you move out of 'zone'....This was the bit that took us the longest to get right!
We think we now have the perfect mix, accessibility to Sydney for work, airport, concerts etc, beach on the doorstep & lake district type scenery surrounding. Would never go back to Dorset and the rain!
Hope this helps, apologies for being long-winded!
Melissa

Buzzy--Bee

That is one of the best pieces of advice any expat has given on this forum. In one sentence it answers so many questions that have already been posted in round-a-bout ways.

Having lived overseas before, I can speak from experience that the more you do that quoted above, the quicker you will transition from "Fred from England / Fred the Pommie" to "Fred".

A warning from Dr Buzzy to all potential emigrants - if you ignore this when you emigrate you will soon be scanning the "moving back to the UK" forum!

Hmmm...slightly more serious tone than my normal posts - will have to make up for it elsewhere

wargod

We literally stuck a pin in a map and in landed on a place called Albany Creek in Brisbane....

rich8509

Some great advice, many thanks. We are all out going and really enjoy the sporty side of life. Were hoping that through the school and sports clubs(rugby) we will be excepted into the community.
Such varied views on the different places and i don't know why but i am getting the need to have a indepth look around Melbourne and surrounding area's.
Once again thanks.