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Originally posted by DevMountain We haven't Visited Vic before but the idea of beach in summer and skiing in winter is very appealing. I found that the Vic gov website was not very informative regs schools and how good (or not they are). My mum is hopefully putting us in touch with her friend in the Dandengongs. My Mum thinks we will like it here and she obviously knows me well. The only down side about this region is the bush fires. I am not sure what the risk is. Have you any idea as to which area you are looking in, east or west Melb? I would be interested hearing from people already out there? The biggest danger to property is not the bush fire front but rather burning leaves, sticks and embers from more distant fires. These land on your property and start small fires that are very easy to put out if you stay with your home and have an efficient means of putting them out. |
We arrived here last June, and after much internet research I had already decided on living out on the Mornington Peninsula.
Although I would be working in Melbourne and flying to other cities a lot we decided that we wanted a good area to live in, near the beach and well away from the city - anyway we couldn't afford a decent house in St Kilda, Brighton etc. We now live in Mt Eliza and most of the towns down here past Frankston are great. I commute using the train from Frankston, which is the end of the line. Trains are frequent, clean, run on time and way ahead of the experience of the London and South East commuting Our children were 6 & 8, and would have been finishing years 2 and 3 in the UK. At first the school we found wanted to put them in with children in their age group(Grade 1 & 2) but looking at the work that was being done it was clear that the kids were ahead of that. Luckily we brought some examples of the work they had done during their enforced holiday(Singapore/Brisbane on the way) and the school immediately put them in Grade 2 & 3. Now they are in a new school year and in Grades 3 & 4. Both have children from their own age up to 2 years older in their classes. The starting age here is not as prescriptive as in the UK it seems. The schooling here is excellent - there are at least two excellent(public) primary schools within 5 minutes. It was however something we took into account when deciding where to live as some areas are not that lucky. It is however different. They receive a much more balanced education here. They have dedicated teachers for Art, Music, French, IT and PE. Homework is restricted to the week only - no weekend homework, which we used to hate in the UK. They seem to appreciate theres more to life here!!! There is also much more flexibility - we are planning to take them out for 6 months to travel around Aus within the next two years and this is not seen as a problem. I'm happy to answer any questions directly - just drop me an email - I know how important (and worrying) the kids education can be!!! Dawn PS - Dandenong is 20 minutes away - on living there, I'd say it depends what you're after!!!! [email protected]:rolleyes: |
Originally posted by wombat at the moment we have no idea which area we are looking in :confused: that is why i started this thread, hoping to get some info about the different areas!we also like the idea beach in the summer, snow in the winter, but the thought of bush fires is really scary :scared: where abouts is dandengongs? Geelong is nice if you want to be near the sea but you pay for the property. Otherwise a bit further out and to the other side of the harbour Heidelburg and Rosanna are very pleasant - and so are the inhabitants. While there make sure you swim with the dolphins the Melbourne Harbour - fantastic day:cool: |
Re: Victoria
Womb...
I'm just between Nottingham and Derby - so not that far!! House for sale, first viewing Saturday, but there hasn't been the mad rush that I expected, perhaps things are slowing down after all... Obviously it's only 1 day since the board went up but I'm an impatient gal :) Mash... Originally posted by wombat Hello mash, We live near Loughborough, where in the east midlands are you? |
Originally posted by DevMountain My mum is hopefully putting us in touch with her friend in the Dandengongs. My Mum thinks we will like it here and she obviously knows me well. The only down side about this region is the bush fires. I am not sure what the risk is. I would be interested hearing from people already out there? My parents live at the bottom of the Dandenongs (Kilsyth) and I've just got back from a 3 week holiday there. If you want to live near the hills, why not try the surrounding suburbs like Boronia, Lilydale, Mooroolbark, Montrose, Kilsyth, Ferntree Gully, The Basin. They are still very rural and quiet, but are very close to the hills, about 2 1/2 hours from the ski fields and an hours drive from the beach. Can't decide if I want to move back to this area again (it's where I grew up) or whether to move out a bit more towards town.....decisions, decisions :confused: |
Originally posted by Jeannie1 Hi there, We are off the Melbourne in about a month and have been doing alot of looking on the net at various places. We too, don't want to be too far out from the CBD, but don't want total sububia either. We have been looking at Berwick, Narre Warren, Rowville, Endeavour Hills, and lots of other places between 20-40kms out from the city. Jeannie Don't want to put a downer on you, but the places you name are probably as close to suburbia as you will get, especially Rowville. There is so much housing going up there that it's a bit scary. I used to live in Rowville when it was mainly fields and cows and I was staggered when I visited friends there a couple of weeks ago to see how much it has grown. And it looks like it will continue for some time. Saying that, some of the houses being built are absolutely gorgeous but the blocks of land are getting smaller and smaller. When I bought my block in 1981 the average size was about 900sqm, whereas nowadays they are down to about 600sqm or less, and they're putting these huge houses on them as well, so there is not much garden in front or back:( But saying that, it is close to the freeway, so getting into town shouldn't be too much of a problem, although there is no local train line. Closest would probably be Ferntree Gully which is about a 5-10 minute drive away, but it is at the end of the line, so train travel to CBD would be about an hour or so. Hope this has been of some help to you:) |
Hi Jaykay,
Thanks alot for your input. Any info is helpful. Hadn't even thought about train line etc. Maybe we will have to have a re-think. We want lots of house for our money, but schools have to be first priority. Can we have it all, or is that being greedy? Guess we will just have to wait and see. |
Dawnie
You mentioned that you had done a lot of your research on schools via the web ,we have been looking for schools in tha Adelaide area but have only come up with private school sites ,do the public schools have sites and do you know where i can find them.? our two are similar in age to your children .how did they settle ,did they have any problems in fitting in and making friends? Making sure our two are happy is our biggest worry they are the main reason that we are going and the main reason that we worry if we are doing the right thing by going. |
Originally posted by Ruffy Dawnie You mentioned that you had done a lot of your research on schools via the web ,we have been looking for schools in tha Adelaide area but have only come up with private school sites ,do the public schools have sites and do you know where i can find them.? our two are similar in age to your children .how did they settle ,did they have any problems in fitting in and making friends? Making sure our two are happy is our biggest worry they are the main reason that we are going and the main reason that we worry if we are doing the right thing by going. |
Also try
http://www.australianschools.com.au/region.php? Mash.. state=sa®ion=20 Originally posted by Ruffy Dawnie You mentioned that you had done a lot of your research on schools via the web ,we have been looking for schools in tha Adelaide area but have only come up with private school sites ,do the public schools have sites and do you know where i can find them.? our two are similar in age to your children .how did they settle ,did they have any problems in fitting in and making friends? Making sure our two are happy is our biggest worry they are the main reason that we are going and the main reason that we worry if we are doing the right thing by going. |
Originally posted by Jeannie1 Hi Jaykay, Thanks alot for your input. Any info is helpful. Hadn't even thought about train line etc. Maybe we will have to have a re-think. We want lots of house for our money, but schools have to be first priority. Can we have it all, or is that being greedy? Guess we will just have to wait and see. You are definitely not being greedy. My other half is so looking forward to living in a much bigger house than we have here, and also giving our daughter some space to play in. We live in a small 2 up, 2 down back to back house, so for us moving to Oz, house size is definitely a priority. Most houses in Oz are generally bigger in size than your average house here anyway, so you will definitely get more for your money over there than you will here. Our daughter will be 5 in January, so she will be going to school in Feb next year. As we haven't decided on what area to live yet, I can't really start looking at schools yet, but my Sister in Law is a teacher who tells it like it is, so I can at least get some advice from her once we get there. |
Originally posted by Dawnie We arrived here last June, and after much internet research I had already decided on living out on the Mornington Peninsula. Although I would be working in Melbourne and flying to other cities a lot we decided that we wanted a good area to live in, near the beach and well away from the city - anyway we couldn't afford a decent house in St Kilda, Brighton etc. We now live in Mt Eliza and most of the towns down here past Frankston are great. I commute using the train from Frankston, which is the end of the line. Trains are frequent, clean, run on time and way ahead of the experience of the London and South East commuting Joe |
:D
Hi There I was born in Melbourne many eons ago and My husband and I have decided that Melbourne is the place to settle in especially for my 8 year old daughter. I have found a useful site www.heraldsun.news.com/au This site contains jobs,cars,real estate including new homes and land, classifieds and news reports,finance etc. Melbourne, I think has a certain classiness about it and is surrounded by beautiful and diverse conutryside and national parks. There are many books on Melbourne which contain muchj info and stunning photography. Cheers BooBoo |
Re: Victoria
It's probably worthwhile trying to spend a few hours at the Migrate 2003 expo this weekend at Sandown Park (Esher) - there will be people from Victoria there and I'm sure they'll be happy to tell you what a super State VIC is!
Best regards. Originally posted by wombat Hello, thanks for the reply, unfortunatly we cant afford to visit australia before we make a decision, so i am just trying to research as much as i can. We are looking for somewhere nice to live thats a bit more interesting than where we are now! |
Originally posted by Dawnie We arrived here last June, and after much internet research I had already decided on living out on the Mornington Peninsula. Although I would be working in Melbourne and flying to other cities a lot we decided that we wanted a good area to live in, near the beach and well away from the city - anyway we couldn't afford a decent house in St Kilda, Brighton etc. We now live in Mt Eliza and most of the towns down here past Frankston are great. I commute using the train from Frankston, which is the end of the line. Trains are frequent, clean, run on time and way ahead of the experience of the London and South East commuting Our children were 6 & 8, and would have been finishing years 2 and 3 in the UK. At first the school we found wanted to put them in with children in their age group(Grade 1 & 2) but looking at the work that was being done it was clear that the kids were ahead of that. Luckily we brought some examples of the work they had done during their enforced holiday(Singapore/Brisbane on the way) and the school immediately put them in Grade 2 & 3. Now they are in a new school year and in Grades 3 & 4. Both have children from their own age up to 2 years older in their classes. The starting age here is not as prescriptive as in the UK it seems. The schooling here is excellent - there are at least two excellent(public) primary schools within 5 minutes. It was however something we took into account when deciding where to live as some areas are not that lucky. It is however different. They receive a much more balanced education here. They have dedicated teachers for Art, Music, French, IT and PE. Homework is restricted to the week only - no weekend homework, which we used to hate in the UK. They seem to appreciate theres more to life here!!! There is also much more flexibility - we are planning to take them out for 6 months to travel around Aus within the next two years and this is not seen as a problem. I'm happy to answer any questions directly - just drop me an email - I know how important (and worrying) the kids education can be!!! Dawn PS - Dandenong is 20 minutes away - on living there, I'd say it depends what you're after!!!! [email protected]:rolleyes: I have to agree on our visit to Melbourne we stayed with friends on the Mornington Peninsula and you can't beat it. The beaches, scenery, restaurants, pubs and the people were great. This is where we plan on settling when we get our visa accepted. We are looking on the bay side somewhere around Rosebud or Mornington. We liked Flinders but think it is perhaps a little too far for the commute into the city. Lets hope the visa comes through soon Jo :p :p |
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