Hi all, we are moving back to Melbourne later this year and I'm looking for advice re best suburbs for families and schooling. We previously lived in Bundoora and my children, then 3 and 5 went to preschool and school in Greensborough. We liked the area but are also open to other suggestions. Our children are now almost 11 and 13 so access to good schools will be the deciding factor - along with the daily commute for my OH to work. I went back recently and was amazed at how many suburbs have changed and grown - Doreen, for example, was much much smaller than it is now!! We have looked online at rentals in Doreen and the surrounding area, but as OH will be working in the CBD, we're worried that the daily commute would be unrealistic. We are pretty familiar with Eltham, Greensborough, Diamond Creek and that general area and feel that being familiar would help us settle in again. But at the same time, we'd like to look at other possible areas in case we are missing out. We love Park Orchards but rentals seem to be few and far between!

Many thanks

Good luck, I did similar. I did similar after 10 years and hated it.

Greenborough was was a bit rough I thought, further in towards Ivanhoe is better. Or the South Eastern suburbs Glen Waverly, Caufield, Carnegie etc.

Hi, I would think somewhere along the Hurstbridge rail line would suit you as you are familiar with the area. You may need to look at school zones. I believe Eltham High School, St Helena College and Viewbank college are all good state schools but will have strict zones. There has been recent work upgrading the railway so hopefully more trains may be scheduled soon. It's a nice part of Melbourne to live, how long were you here before? It might be worth looking at the school zones then looking at rental prices within those zones to see what suits you. Viewbank isn't on the train line but is not far from Rosanna station (new station just built). Good luck with your move!

Yes, loved it first time, hated it second time. Going from being a single 20 something living in South Yarra, to late 30's with wife + kids, in dreary Melbourne suburbia after living in London for 10 years was just too much of a change for me. Found Melbourne to be incredible parochial, not pretty, hated the weather and flies, found it a bit grubby.

Are you in Wiltshire currently? What has prompted the move back to Aus? We lived in Chippenham and Trowbridge before we moved here.

Going to give it another go are you? Good luck! Hope you have better luck this time around, you didnt get the best of starts the last time with your deployment. Curse of the expat - uncomfortable feeling!!!!

We're in Heidelberg Heights. Rented in Ivanhoe for 3 years then bought here 10 years ago. Just on the edge of Rosanna, been very happy here.

I'm a reverse ping-ponger - lived in Scotland in my early 20s and loved it, spent over a decade moving all over the world whilst trying to navigate UK visas, and after 18 months "living the dream" in Scotland I'm about to return to Australia.

The irony is I'm too old for this dream. We're in the Highlands and we really needed to be have been back here 10 years ago to make this our home. Friendships etc are hard, and there are practical considerations - the career I've cultivated in Australia and internationally doesn't exist here, my daughter is now old enough for strong opinions about where "home" is (it's not Scotland), and I just really want a house, which is out of our reach here because everyone wants a 2nd home on Skye. Locals are living in single rooms, caravans, couches. It's unjust and I'm just too damn old for this shiz!

So when the pull factors were suddenly raised a notch - my family have a fantastic business in bushland, on a lake in Oz which is expanding and suddenly there's a role for me - it tipped us over the edge. Years ago I couldn't understand the "lifestyle" guff that was so appealing to British folk in Oz, but suddenly I do. So I figure it is finally time to go "home".

I hope things work out for you. It is an emotional time - I poured my heart and soul into moving back to Scotland. It's all I've thought about, talked about, for 14 years, and I'm a little afraid of the void the absence of this dream will leave.

It's the right decision for us, but I do feel I've cut myself adrift.