thebounds

Hi this is my first post. We have a job offer in Sydney on a 457 visa.
Husband will be working in North Sydney a couple of days a week and rest of the time working from home or travelling...
We have 3 kids aged 9, 7 and nearly 3. Looking at the rental costs we have narrowed our search down to the Shire or the Hills.
Kids want the hills as we can afford a pool there, but i feel like I would like to experience a more costal life.
We are not used to the quite life coming from a large town and living close to London which has ruled out woy woy and the central coast.
Our budget is $700 week max.
What id like advice on is what each area has to offer in terms of sporty kids, family life etc.
My biggest concern is finding Friends as we will have nobody we know over there. Do these two areas have quite alot of expat pom familys that meet up at all?
We are planning to arrive at the end of Jan. Kids are exited as are we. I am just hoping ill be able to find some friends
Any help at all would be much appreciated

LittleKittyCat

We live in Sutherland Shire and like living here. We have two small children (5 and 3) and have found the area to be very family friendly. The rental costs were okay (we own now), there are plenty of facilities in the area, the schools are good etc. We are at the western side of Sutherland Shire (so away from the beaches in Cronulla) which suits us because it is quiet and we far prefer the beaches in Bundeena and the Royal National Park.

Not sure about expats. We have met a few Poms, we went to a meet up in Gymea a couple of years ago (a Christmas in July thing arranged via BE), but to be honest that isn't why we moved here. The only British lady that I know and see regularly is the mum of a child in my daughters kinder class, but she has been here for about ten years so isn't a recent migrant. All of our friends are Aussies. I had trouble making friends to start with and found some of the playgroups I went to quite unfriendly, but have since moved to a different area of The Shire which seems to be a bit more 'down to earth' and friendly. I am sure that there will be plenty of expat families around though.

We didn't look round the Hills so I don't know about that area.

JustBecause

The Shire is very good for family life but it is very quiet, almost a separate part of Sydney cos it's southernmost & separated by a river. Do you mean you are not used to a quiet life as in a quiet family life or yourselves as adults? If you want easy access to cultural adult activities I would not recommend the Shire, but it can offer a busy family life, ie kids activities/entertainment constantly after school & at weekends. Or if you as adults like outdoors stuff, cycling, sailing, adult sports club then it can provide all that. You can access decent restaurants, night life, theatre, arts etc but would have to travel 30-45mins to get in/nearer the centre of Sydney - it is not on the doorstep. Personally I find this a major drawback of the Shire, but do not know the other areas mentioned so cannot comment on those in comparison. There are not as many expat families here as in other areas of Sydney but anywhere there will always be some!

Oh, the Shire has loads of churches so if you are religious it will be ideal. Many people I know socialise entirely based around their church & are always busy with church activities.

thebounds

Thanks for the responses. I hate to say it but we are not to good with our own social lifes at the moment. The kids social circle seems to have taken over to be honest.
We are after a down to earth area too and its the 2nd time the west side of sutherland has been mentioned to us so will definaately be looking at that. People have mentioned before about pom meet ups as we are all in the same boat so to speak which makes it easier to make friends. I am very keen to make aussie friends just wasnt too sure how hard it will be to fit in to be honest. We are a nice family, kids are friendly and happy kind kids and we are sociable happy people so hopefully it wont be too hard ??
When i mean we are used to a busy life we are used to having a shopping mall 10 mins walk away, 2 huge superstores withing 5 mins walk and a leisure complex 10 mins walk with bowling, cinema and lots of restraunts etc. And then we have Brighton 25 mins drive away. I know we wont have all off that on our doorstep in oz but feel i am going to need shopping places close by!
Thanks again for your responses they have been much apreciated....

spottydog

Try checking out Miranda in the Shire for that, big Westfield shopping mall, short drive to the beach (Cronulla) or only a bit further to greenery (Royal National Park) yet on what is probably Sydneys most reliable train line.

LittleKittyCat

As I say, we are right over in the west of Sutherland Shire, Engadine is good for food shopping, post office, schools etc, and there is a reliable train service from either Engadine station or Sutherland (more frequent trains). Miranda is about 20 mins drive away for shopping centre, cinema etc. There is a bowling alley in Sylvania which is about 20 minutes drive. We rarely go to the beaches in Cronulla, it takes us about 40 mins to there. We much prefer the beaches in the RNP, at Bundeena for example, which is only about 25-30 mins drive through beautiful national park. The beach is always quieter, and on occasions we have had it to ourselves. The airport is about 45 mins drive and we get only occasional plane noise, and the centre of Sydney is only about 50 mins drive. The Illawara region is also on our doorstep, which is absolutely beautiful.

JustBecause

Engadine is one of the better suburbs in the Shire for groceries cos it has 4 supermarkets all in the centre (which is actually good when you get used to Aussie supermarkets!). Also it is on the outer edges so you don't have to travel out too much from within the Shire to get out onto major roads taking you to the City, the West or down South. The traffic in the centre of the Shire can be cloggy at busy times, but nothing compared to any more inner suburbs of Sydney.

Red_V_Roger

Shire is great!

There is a group of expat ladies that met every Wednesday night but don't post it on here....you can PM me if you want details and I will pass on to my wife.

Defo found that there are two type of people when we have tried to arrange meet ups - those that want to meet up on say a Friday or Saturday night and those that are looking for something during the day with pre-school kids or kids in the school holidays.

thebounds

Thanks again for all the replies. Its all been really helpful.
If we decide the shire is for us I will definately be intrested in the Wednesday meet up.
Thanks Mandy