Hi guys, i am heading over to Sydney area in new year with work, my place of work will be in st marys, any ideas where best to rent in surrounding areas say no more than 40 minute drive from st marys, i have been over and had a 3 week stay to suss out bits and bobs, i stayed in parramatta, but im not overly keen staying there long term, ps are there any local soccer/footy teams in the area that would be looking for new players for next season. cheers drummo

No idea mate...

Thought you were looking for a dead cert on the 3.30 at Newmarket this arvo...

I could have helped you with that....

I'd suggest Penrith as your best bet- nicer than St Marys and is the main centre for this area in the western suburbs of Sydney.
Best of luck!

St Marys? Sitting here with Mr BS and neither of us have heard of it. Sorry not very helpful.

I had to google it. Yikes, between a rock and a hard place! My neighbour is a policewoman and told me many hair raising stories about her time working in Mount Druitt. Sorry, cant offer any solutions.

For finding a football team, check out the football NSW site - www.footballnsw.com.au I think (or Google it) which has links to all the leagues OR check out the local papers for whichever area you are moving to. They usually start to carry adverts for players in the New Year.

If your workplace is close to a rail line you could consider living closer to the city or in the inner city which might be nicer if you are on your own. With most of traffic heading into the city in the rush hour, you could also consider living further east for driving.

I used to have the usual prejudices towards 'Westies' until I had a friend who lived near Rooty Hill - Oakhurst I think - and I got used to the area. I could handle living in St Marys, Mt Druitt etc and personally, as I HATE commuting, I'd live as close to work as I could.

That was the reason I moved to Surry Hills in the first place, so I could walk to work at Garden Island Dockyard. If my job had been out west, I'd have moved there.

PS Make sure you buy an E Tag for your car for the Tollways & Harbour Bridge.