Sydney Reccie
#16
Re: Sydney Reccie
Hi,
I've not logged on for a while but saw your question. We were out in Sydney in December last year for our reccie and learned a lot. My tips:
1. We stayed in different places to see what it was like to live / be in an area, using the local shops and transport etc. We did a week in the north west suburbs (Castle Hill), a week in Cronulla (South) and a week in Northern Beaches. From each we travelled round. Get self catering accomodation and cook - the supermarkets are so different to the UK.
2. I read loads before we went, learned about suburb property types, the geography and journey methods & times. Most was from internet links from this site forum or from google searches. My GoogleEarth was map pinned all over! The property market is (was) quite slow in December so we popped ito a few open houses (picked up weekly real estate magazine in each town) to see what our money would buy. The agents were happy to chat when they weren't busy with genuine buyers.
3. We mixed the reccie and a holiday. One day reccie exploring and the next something for the kids like the beach or a zoo.
4. Think about what you like to do, your sports, your cultural activities, your hobbies. I'm spoiled in London with museums and art galleries and there's much less of that type of thing in Sydney. But there are different things instead.
5. Certainly try rush hour journeys and commutes. Sydney is very car dependant and traffic jams are as bad as in the UK cities. The train services are far worse than UK, the rail network doesn't go everywhere - no service to the newer north west suburbs or the northern beaches. Express buses are the alternative.
6. If poss get your CV mailed to a recruitment agency or two a couple of weeks before your trip and ask if you can pop in for a chat. You'll learn alot about your job prospects and open doors you can use when you finally move.
Good luck!
I've not logged on for a while but saw your question. We were out in Sydney in December last year for our reccie and learned a lot. My tips:
1. We stayed in different places to see what it was like to live / be in an area, using the local shops and transport etc. We did a week in the north west suburbs (Castle Hill), a week in Cronulla (South) and a week in Northern Beaches. From each we travelled round. Get self catering accomodation and cook - the supermarkets are so different to the UK.
2. I read loads before we went, learned about suburb property types, the geography and journey methods & times. Most was from internet links from this site forum or from google searches. My GoogleEarth was map pinned all over! The property market is (was) quite slow in December so we popped ito a few open houses (picked up weekly real estate magazine in each town) to see what our money would buy. The agents were happy to chat when they weren't busy with genuine buyers.
3. We mixed the reccie and a holiday. One day reccie exploring and the next something for the kids like the beach or a zoo.
4. Think about what you like to do, your sports, your cultural activities, your hobbies. I'm spoiled in London with museums and art galleries and there's much less of that type of thing in Sydney. But there are different things instead.
5. Certainly try rush hour journeys and commutes. Sydney is very car dependant and traffic jams are as bad as in the UK cities. The train services are far worse than UK, the rail network doesn't go everywhere - no service to the newer north west suburbs or the northern beaches. Express buses are the alternative.
6. If poss get your CV mailed to a recruitment agency or two a couple of weeks before your trip and ask if you can pop in for a chat. You'll learn alot about your job prospects and open doors you can use when you finally move.
Good luck!
#17
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 12
Re: Sydney Reccie
Hiya
Would recommend doing what we did in June. Allocate time for sightseeing (after all it is a holiday!) as well as work (i.e recce)
Work
1. Look at jobs and real estate on the internet first to get an idea of whats out there. The Sydney Morning Herald website is a good start www.smh.com.au as it has both a jobs section and a real estate one
2. Find out the sort of area you would like to live in and go and visit some of those suburbs whilst you are there. Do things like visit local Real Estate agents and ask them for their latest Lettings listing or Properties for Sale. We went and saw
3. Travel on the different kinds of public transport both during the day and during peakhour to get a feel for how they operates. All types of services (Bus, Train etc) do not run as frequently and there are major infrastructure issues for Sydney to resolve (packed trains are not just a London phenomenon)
4. If you have kids organise a visit to the loca Childcare Centre or School again to get a feel of costs etc. We registered to go on the waiting list with 3 nurseries as they could not confirm a place until closer to the time we moved
5. If you can, rather than stay in a hotel for your visit, get a holiday letting of a flat in one of the suburbs you have found from your research (see point 1). That way you will live in proper suburbia and get a good feel for the area through doing things like a weekly shop
Fun
1. Manly day trip
Take the ferry over from Circular Quay
2. Dinner at a nice restaurant (we went to Quay restaurant in Circular Quay but were too tired to enjoy it!)
3. Walk around The Rocks and Circular Quay to the Opera House (you could even see a show if you wanted to)
4. Go to Bondi or Bronte Beach by bus and do part of the coastal walk
Would recommend doing what we did in June. Allocate time for sightseeing (after all it is a holiday!) as well as work (i.e recce)
Work
1. Look at jobs and real estate on the internet first to get an idea of whats out there. The Sydney Morning Herald website is a good start www.smh.com.au as it has both a jobs section and a real estate one
2. Find out the sort of area you would like to live in and go and visit some of those suburbs whilst you are there. Do things like visit local Real Estate agents and ask them for their latest Lettings listing or Properties for Sale. We went and saw
3. Travel on the different kinds of public transport both during the day and during peakhour to get a feel for how they operates. All types of services (Bus, Train etc) do not run as frequently and there are major infrastructure issues for Sydney to resolve (packed trains are not just a London phenomenon)
4. If you have kids organise a visit to the loca Childcare Centre or School again to get a feel of costs etc. We registered to go on the waiting list with 3 nurseries as they could not confirm a place until closer to the time we moved
5. If you can, rather than stay in a hotel for your visit, get a holiday letting of a flat in one of the suburbs you have found from your research (see point 1). That way you will live in proper suburbia and get a good feel for the area through doing things like a weekly shop
Fun
1. Manly day trip
Take the ferry over from Circular Quay
2. Dinner at a nice restaurant (we went to Quay restaurant in Circular Quay but were too tired to enjoy it!)
3. Walk around The Rocks and Circular Quay to the Opera House (you could even see a show if you wanted to)
4. Go to Bondi or Bronte Beach by bus and do part of the coastal walk