AllyKev

Hi

We (my OH & 2 kids - aged 2.5 & 5) are coming out for a visit in March 08 to try and make up our mind re:emigrating to Oz and to also try & decide on an area to settle in.

I would appreciate it if those of you who live in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne & Brisbane could recommend the nice suburbs in those areas for us to rent a house in during our stay. We want to try and get a feel of the suburbs instead of staying in a hotel etc...

Any information appreciated.

Many thanks

Al

Issie

We have just come back from Perth and rented a lovely house in Carine (3x2 with a pool ).....goegeous suburb. 15 minutes from the city. 30 minutes from Freemantle and minutes away from all the coastal beaches. Has a local shopping Mall for general amenities and a beautiful park for the kiddies.

www.pomsinperth.com

Please take a look and if you like it be quick to book as it get booked up very quickly

AllyKev

Thanks Issie, sounds perfect and exactly what we want - will get onto it ASAP. Did you rent for a week or can you do 5 nights etc..?

Al

AllyKev

Sorry - forgot to include Sydney too!! How can you forget Sydney - can't go all that way and not visit Sydney!!

Issie

We rented for 16 nights..... it was very reasonable IMO. Just email Mark and he will let you know.

You wont be disappointed .....

Issie

Will you be renting a car to get yourself around. Those distances i mentioned were by car.

Issie

We stayed in the Travellodge in Sydney for 6 nights...very central for everything. We had a massive room, kitchen and sofa bed for the kiddies...oh and a TV. Room was cleaned daily with fresh linen and the hotel was just perfect. It cost £375 for all of us which i thought was very reasonable for Sydney.

AllyKev

That is very reasonable - I have budgeted for at least double that in Sydney! But if i can save money!

Yes we will be renting a car - in most areas we stay in i would have thought.

How long was your stay in Oz? Was it your first visit? Did you find 6 nights long enough for Sydney?

Issie

I was knackered after 6 nights and couldn't wait to get to Perth to relax. We did lots from the bridge climb ( you must do it ) to the tour of the Opera house, Sydney aquaruim , Blue Mountains trip ( excellent) and Mainly Beach ( gorgeous)

It was our first visit but defiantley not our last....

AllyKev

Sounds great i can't wait. Do you think we could cram it all into 5 nights? You wouldn't get me up that bridge i'm afraid - I'm useless as i have a major fear of heights! My OH would definitely do it though. Did you stay in the Blue Mountains or was it just a day visit?

Did you do just Sydney & Perth? Has that trip helped you make up your mind into definitely moving to Oz? Sorry if you have a thread elsewhere explaining your situation - i'm a newbie.

Al

Issie

Yes i think you could manage it all ....although your kiddies are a little bit younger than mine so it depends how they are .....ours where just dragged along ha ha
I am afraid of heights and i did the climb....but it really wasn't scary ( honestly) we had to do the bridge climb seperatley though as we had no child care but still it was find. It cost £ 75 each with a phot and cert included. The blue mountains was a organised day trip.

We always had Perth as our choice to live but we thought if we are going all the way to Australia then we wanted to do Sydney aswell. We have already got our visa so the trip was to validate the visa. We have made up our minds but you still get wobbles and i think that is only natural......life changing decisions don't come easy.

Have you started your visa process yet or are you still researching it all through

AllyKev

We are still researching it all. My husbands IT skills are on the wanted list, so hopefully we could get a visa based on that. But because we have a lot to leave behind as does everyone, we didn't want to go through the expense of Meds, Visa etc... without visiting Oz first. We would have gone out this year but our youngest is a bit too young i think. An extra year will hopefully make a big difference in him enjoying it a bit more, in case it becomes just a holiday rather than a view to living out there.

Congratulations on getting your visa, i bet you are very excited, but nervous too. When are you hoping to be moving out there for good? What was the attraction of Perth? Or is it based on jobs?

Issie

We researched it for years and Perth ( for us ) ticked all the right boxes. I am a nurse and have already been offered a job whilst i was there

AllyKev

Well done - you don't hear of many of those situations. At least that's one less thing to worry about! When are you going?

Issie

We are aiming for January ( middle ) as the kiddies will start the new term at the end of january. its hard i must admit and family have been less supportive than friends most of the time.

Are you swayed to any particular state or will you just take it all in and decide when you are back home?