clk

I'm moving to Sutherland, Sydney end of 2008. Working in Kirrawee to be exact.

Got 2 kids, 5 & 8 yrs old.

Appreciate recommendations on schools, homes etc. from those around the region.

Thanks

arkon

Menai and Bangor are peacful places to live without the congested ciry feel. Best school in the area is supposed to be innaburra school in Bangor.

Robbie_Paula

Hi, hope you don't mind me jumping in on your thread , I have been offered a job in Sydney and was also looking at the Sutherland area to live, purely by looking at the Sydney suburbs using Google Maps and we have the same questions as you. We have 2 kids (Boy 9 and Girl nearly 11) that like Football (Sorry Soccer) and Gymnastics so we would also like to know what facilities they have in this area for these activities.

I would need to commute into the Sydney CBD so also need to know how long it would take to commute to Sydney via car or Train, does anyone on BE commute from the Sutherland area regularly?

Robbie

spottydog

I live in Bonnet Bay (a short drive from Sutherland). We catch the train each day from Jannali to the CBD. The fast 8.07 train will get you into work for 9 in the CBD, the 8.11 is a slower train so for Martin Place end you will probably be at your desk a couple of minutes past. I try and get the 5.46 back from Martin Place which gets me into Jannali at 6.23pm. Outside of rush hour trains to Jannali & Sutherland depart every 15 minutes.

Sutherland has a few faster trains as the Wollongong intercities stop there although some only go as far as central. Jannali has plenty of on street parking but where we are we are close enough to walk for those nights out in town.

Today I drove home from Rockdale in rush hour as the car had to go to the garage, it took me longer to drive from Rockdale (half way between Sydney & Jannali) in rush hour than it did for my other halfs train journey from the CBD.

Closer to the sea you get Kirrawee, Miranda and Cronulla, from a train point of view the trains are less frequent than Jannali/Sutherland as you are on a branch so only get ever other one on your branch.

Shopping wise both Jannali & Sutherland are pretty poor, there is however a huge mall at Miranda that has everything you could need.

Sorry can't help about schools as I don't have kids. The youngsters in our area all go to Bonnet Bay School for Junior then senior depends on skills, Jannali for local general, Endeavour for sports are the 2 I know of. There is what appears to be a soccer field in Jannali and I know there is a baseball pitch at the end of Bonnet Bay.

Possible areas for housing I would certainly look at Bonnet Bay, Como, Oyster Bay, Kareela, Gymea but avoid Sutherland & Jannali.

The only reason I go to Sutherland is for a good steak dinner. I totally recommend Stapletons in Sutherland, looks a bit rough but the food is amazing and it is often difficult to gat a table there.

HTH

arkon

Crikey I must drive past your house everytime I take the boy to creche!

spottydog

Probably not as we live in a cul-de-sac but if you drive up/down chicken hill then you won't be far from it.

Red_V_Roger

Can't help you with schools, but started off in Kirrawee when we first came and now rent in Gymea (the next suburb to the East of Kirrawee).

Its a great area!

JenJen

Hubby is renting a very nice house in Illawong til the end of the year, Illawong seems a nice area and a short drive from Menai, Sutherland and Kirrawee, house prices for rent and to buy aren't too bad there from what I have seen, the particular house hubby is renting has some gorgeous windows a garden front and back a pool and spa, 4 bedrooms.

It's about 30 minutes from Cronulla which is quite pretty, there is a surf school there if the kids are insterested as well as several play areas right near the beach.
Menai has several shops and takeaways and an ANZ and NAB bank.
Illawong has a Coles ANZ bank and a few other little shops and the shops are right near the school, I can't remember the website but you can view the school website online perhaps google Illawong Schools it'll prob bring it up.
Sutherland has a centrelink and several more shops but as previous person posted the better malls are up the road a little way to Miranda.

Hope this helps

clk

Thanks for the tips so far.

For homes, I'm thinking of Cronulla due to a nearby primary school. But Gymea, Miranda or Kirrawee seems ok. Any other things I should know?

rabsody

Isn't there a lot of racial tension/violence in the Cronulla area?

You might want to google the riots that were there not so long ago. I don't know first hand but a guy at uni lived there (before the riots). He said it was awful, himself and his girlfriend got started on at the train station by a gang of Lebs (he's the most non-racist, pacifist, gentle kind of guy) and he could understand why the riots kicked off like they did.

Obviously this is just hearsay, others on here might have first hand experience.

Red_V_Roger

[QUOTE=rabsody;6508135]Isn't there a lot of racial tension/violence in the Cronulla area?[QUOTE]

I think that there was a few years ago, but we have never noticed anything now and never even thought about it.

Red_V_Roger

Yes...I won last week's meat raffle in the Gymea Hotel.

If you like pubs...

The two in Sutherland are just licenced betting shops..dire

Kirrawee does not have a pub

Gymea has the Gymea Hotel, which is really good...Pokkies and TAB are in a different area, so you can enjoy the pub and the bistro area without it being in your face, they also play some good music and have some good events on. Even crab races on a Saturday afternoon at the moment!

Gymea has a realy good 'village' feel with a great little shopping area on teh main street that also has cafes, posher eating places, coffee shops, clothes shops, harware, etc.

Oh yes, then there is 'The Vinyl Rooms' in Gymea. I did not beleive that places like this could still exist. Remember back to the early 1990's sticky nightclub carpets, strange clothes, tacky decor...http://www.thevinylroom.com.au/home.html

Lets just say if you were single and could not pull in the Vinyl Rooms, you might as well jump off the Harbour Bridge

spottydog

We were on our emigration flight when the Cronulla riots took place, 2 days later we enjoyed a day on Wanda beach (one of the Cronulla beaches). The friends that we stayed with commented that if it had happened in the UK it would probably have only gotten a column inch and there was no visible signs of damage within 48 hours. I can't say I've noticed the racism in the Shire to be any worse than the rest of Sydney suburbia, but the shire folk are fiercly proud of the Shire.

The "Lebs" your friends were describing probably came from Brighton-Le-Sands which is the next big beach community closer in towards Sydney (not in the Shire but an easy drive away). From what I understand there was some tension between the youth which caused the fights but they were very much along the lines of gangs from Brighton purposefully winding up the Cronulla gangs (for the Brighton boys I guess the fight with Cronulla was going to be a better choice than messing with the Bra boys who cover the beach to the north of them...).

The only thing with Cronulla is if you are going to work in the city bear in mind the train ride to Town Hall takes an hour which is a really long commute for Sydneysiders

Wigan Warrior

Where are the main shopping areas in Sutherland shire?

Red_V_Roger

Westfield in Miranda is one of the biggest shopping centres in Sydney.

Sylvania / Tarren Point has Harvey Norman, Domayn, Bunnings, Rays Oudoors Good Guys and loads of other stuff.

Gymea has a really coffee cafe atmosphere...my wife says like being on holiday in Spain!

Southgate Shopping Centre Sylvania has Coles, Woolies and a K-Mart plus other shops.

Bit further out at Menai you have got a good Aldi (but also Aldi at Miranda), Super Cheap Auto and Dan Murphys bottle shop (good for those English beers).

A few good fruit barns also.

But sorry no Pooles Pies