nyarie99

Hi - my husband and i are moving to the central coast where i have secured a job as a GP (in Toukley) in June of this year. He's an accountant, so ideally needs a job in the city, or a city of sorts....so preferable Newcastle or Sydney. We are expecting our first baby in March...and so will arrive in Australia with a small baby. We have not decided where we are going to live, but we need somewhere easily commutable to sydney for my husband and easily commutable for me to go to work. A Londoners We dont think we could cope with living in a small village/town. We have done our own research and so far Gosford seems the only big place in the central coast which is commutable to syndey - however a train to sydney from gosford is almost 2 hours!!!
does anyone have any advice re places to lie in the Central coast...big towns.
any one got any comments regarding the commute from Gosford to Sydney?
Or can anyone comment on job prospects for acountants within the central coast region so he doesnt have to commute?

DrWho

It's not 2 hours from Gosford to the Sydney CBD, that's for sure...! There's a lot of people that take those trains everyday... Friend of ours works in the Comm Bank in Toukley and lives in Woongarah... We live on the Northern Beaches and it's 1.5 hours drive to Toukley from here... If you have to be in/near the city then maybe Wahroongah area is the best compromise you'll get... on the rail line for commuting into the CBD and perhaps an hours drive to Toukley... Personally I don't like Gosford that much, but as far as largish towns go it's the only thing on the Central Coast...

HelenTD

If you look on www.seek.com.au you can search for regional NSW and there are options to narrow that down to the Gosford area or Newcastle area, among others. Newcastle also has a uni, so there may be job opportunities there from time to time. Your husband would probably earn more money in Sydney, but that looks like a very long commute and with a new baby it would be better to have him closer to hand, especially in a new country with no family support. You wouldn't want to commute far, either - 5-10 mins would be good.

Other BE members live in that area or are accountants, so I'm sure you will get more responses tomorrow.

harrip

It may be surprising but people and businesses on the Central Coast also use accountants OK, the firms may not be as big there are a lot of independent accountants and book keepers, but would certainly be preferable to me than the commute to Sydney.

The trains from Gosford to the Sydney Central station take 1.5 hours - roughly the same amount of time it would take to drive at non-peek hours as they are no bullet train.

Gosford is the largest town on the coast, but generally not that highly regarded. The other larger places are mostly beach side such as The Entrance, Terrigal, Woy Woy. They are not that big so you'll probably need to explore and maybe rent for a time in one of these spots to see how you go out of the big smoke.

Bermudashorts

We recently were toying around with options and considered whether we could move to the Central Coast and commute to Sydney. We concluded that it just could not be done, the train might 'only' be 90 minutes but there is getting to station, parking up, walk from train station to office. So it could be up to 5 hours travel a day. My job (I am an accountant) is not 9 to 5 work either and I decided this would be no quality of life.

I have just had a quick look for accounting jobs in the Gosford area but there are hardly any and most are very lowly paid, more clerical really. Perhaps your husband could look to join a local practice, maybe that is how most accounting services are provided in the region. I cannot see myself as a practice accountant, I have always worked for corporates and I would find that a drastic change in direction. He might feel the same, or it might be right up his street. What type of accoutancy work does he do at the moment? What type of organisation does he work for? Is he relatively senior?

Living on central coast and travelling to Newcastle might be the most promising avenue to explore. There are a lot more jobs going up there and if you move somewhere to the north on the coast, then he might be able to get the commute down to little over an hour.

Hino

I agree, I often have to take the train from Newcastle to Sydney. The Newcastle / Gosford section is a dream compared with the Gosford / Sydney leg.

The former is usually a pretty laid back, read the paper for an hour and you're home experience and the latter is a fight for seats or standing space and often prolonged exposure to anti-social behavior. Drinking alcohol, smoking and quite often, aggressive behavior.

The road commute is also much easier Gosford to Newcastle rather than Newcastle to Sydney.

The best of luck with your move

Boobops

We've lived on the Central Coast for over four years. It is a beautiful place but very very quiet. If you don't think you would cope living in a small village/town then I wouldn't think this is the place for you. Saying that, you may find you think differently when the baby comes along.

Toukley is known for being a bit rough/bogan and it's not a place I would like to live as IMO it's not as pretty as places closer to Gosford. You can generally tell a lot about the area by the property prices.

We are heading back to the UK this year for a while and when/if we return, we wouldn't return to the coast as a bit too quiet for us. An aussie I met in England called this place the stairway to heaven and I can understand why.

I think the place is excellent for people with young families and the commute isn't too bad if you live near or around Gosford but nowhere on the coast is comparable to a big town.

Good luck with the move.

Ravvers

I'm British and currently living in London, and married to an Aussie who is from Terrigal. I agree with the posts above that if you're looking for a largish town then you won't find that on the Coast and Gosford isn't the prettiest place. Saying that, my sister-in-law lives in Gosford and commutes into Sydney by train. She has a long day, up at 5am and normally home around 7pm.

We visit the Coast every year, but we're planning to move across to Oz in October and my husband would like to be on the Coast, but since we have a 1 year old baby, I wouldn't be happy to have my husband spending 4 hours of his day commuting if his job ends up in Sydney as he could be spending that time at home with us, so we've agreed we'll live closer to the job and less than an hour commute each way. I've also said I need to be somewhere largish as Terrigal is fine for a holiday as it is gorgeous and its great to have the beach on your doorstep, but if you're use to city living like me, then I couldn't live there fulltime.

I've not been to Newcastle, but from what I've been told it is fairly large and might be the best option for your husband to look for jobs rather than Sydney.

Good luck with the move.

nyarie99

hi Harrip - thanks for the info.
terrigal and woy woy were our first choices - but when we looked at the size woy woy - we felt it was probably too small. terrigal looks very nice - and we like it there - but the commute to sydney again is a problem. my husband is a financial accountan adn works for a pretty big firm here in the UK so working for a smaller firm may not be an option. and as we will have a small child - my commute has also to be reasonable. of course we are exploring all our options, and compromises will ave to be made. although we have visited australia, we never went to central coast - so have no diea what the place is like - we might feel differently once we get there. a forum like this is always good to get views from people who ave come from the UK who can give us an opinion/comparison. my husband looked into wahrronga int he past - but the commute to toukley is too far for me - especially with a baby under 12 months...i think that will prove very difficult.

but thansk for your advice!

HelenTD

Are you absolutely tied in to this job at Toukley, or would it be possible to find another job in a location that more meets your needs?

Bermudashorts

That is pretty much what I was thinking. A large company accountant (and I am one) is going to find vast majority of opportunities are in Sydney and further the hours are unlikely to be 9 to 5. That commute will be hellish day in day out, as I said we seriously looked into it a couple of weeks ago, we did house viewings but we have had to rule it out. We think it isn't feasible.

HelenTD

NSW Govt Area of Need program: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/aon/positions/gp_other.asp

Some of the vacancies are much further away from Sydney (way outback), but a few are not too far and might have better transport links.

Other states have similar programs, eg Western Australia needs doctors in metro areas of Perth and quoll has written previously about Canberra:
WA Govt Unmet Area of Need: http://www.overseasdoctors.health.wa...ea_of_need.cfm

nyarie99

hi helen

unfortunately i am tied into the job because i have signed a contract, and my visa is going through based on the job in toukley. so finding another job in another area wouldnt really be feasible.

Sea Of Love

To be completely honest this post is like a puzzle where the pieces don't really fit together. I grew up on the Central Coast and could not wait to get out of there as quickly as possible.

The Central Coast is in no way cosmopolitain, you may get nice pockets of beachy suburbs around Terrigal/Avoca etc way but for the most part it is very suburban and not at all scenic enough to be sustainable in the long run especially for expats.

Gosford is a town you would only want to go to to get to the train station, I wouldn't stop there for more than two minutes. For someone that is used to working in London, you might find on his first day of work your husband gets on a train and legs it back to the airport. Gosford is full of junkies, ferals and 23 year olds with 5 kids to 5 different men - even the bogans don't want to stop in Gosford.

I feel you may have a similar type of dissatisfaction with Toukley and a number of other places on the Central Coast and in Newcastle. I am sure there are plenty of accountants with loads of work on the Central Coast because it is quite a big place, however I am not sure as an expat it is a place that you would want to work.

I have lived on the Central Coast for my whole life and whilst I may be a bit negative and jaded about the whole place I have seen it all. It is definitly somewhere that I would not choose to live and as a result I moved away for good last year. Ultimately I think you might find that moving to the Central Coast would only be a fleeting moment before you found a nicer place to live.


PM me if you need any more advice.

Bermudashorts

It is a real tricky one this. You are about to start a job you have been sponsored for, but will almost immediately start maternity leave. Your husband does not have a job and as a large company accountant is probably facing five hours of commuting every day as you also won't consider living anywhere other than near your work. I don't get this plan. I just don't see it how it is going to work for you.