Sydney Reccie Report
Sep 12th 2007, 1:58 pm
#1
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Sydney Reccie Report
Firstly, sorry for the delay in posting our reccie report. We have been quite ill since we got back and are only just feeling human enough to do anything.
We had a fantastic two weeks in Sydney. We didn't bother "doing" the city, there was no point with APEC going on. The only time we were anywhere near was when we arrived by ferry from Parramatta and then got on a ferry to Manly. We even decided to put off our bridge walk until we make the final move.
We met some great people whilst we were there...not least the lovely iPom and her children
...can't believe that was only two weeks ago. Anita attended a baby shower on her first day & I attended the meeting of the local wood turning guild. Everyone we met were so friendly and supportive. Every person at the wood turning meeting made the effort to introduce themselves to me. I also attended a karate class with my cousin and her kids. It was bloody hard work and I could hardly walk for two days, but again, everyone was really friendly. Anita came to watch and every time I looked round she was chatting to someone.
Our main worries about moving to Sydney was work and housing. We took a day out to visit some job agencies in Parramatta. One was, to be kind, un-helpful. They basically told us to contact their branch in London. The second one we went to was a lot more helpful. We told her what type of jobs we would be looking for and told her where we didn't want to work....CBD basically. She said that there would be plenty of work in our fields in the Parramatta & Liverpool areas, which is exactly where we were looking to work. She hadn't asked what our current salaries were, but the salaries that she suggested would be available were the same as my UK salary and Anita's possibly more than her UK salary. We were expecting a significant drop. Particularly for Anita she seemed to think that there would be demand for her occupation. We registered with them and our photos were taken for their records. We just need to contact them when we know when we are moving.
In addition, my cousin has a contact in IT recruitment who now has my CV and will keep her eye out when we are ready to move.
Whilst we know there are no guarantees until we get there, we are a lot happier that work will be available and we will be able to earn a reasonable salary.
Armed with possible salaries, we did a mortgage calculation on one of the property web sites to see what mortgage could be available. We then lobbed a big chunk off and came up with a budget for a home. Makes it a lot easier when you have an idea of what you can spend. It also meant that we could afford to live in the same suburb as my family, which is a big bonus.
The first "open house" that we went to look at was a new build. Well, we fell in love with the house and, if we were in a position to do so, would have signed there and then! We then went to look at a few houses from the car and immediately ruled out one of the suburbs that was previously high on our list. One house we looked at at night and thought it was really nice, but on the off chance we went back and had a look in daylight the following day and was very disappointed with it.
On the Saturday we went to some open house viewings. We waited for 15 minutes outside one property before we realised that under the words "open house" was the word "cancelled". We did look round three further properties...but I have to say, it makes you wonder if these people want their house to sell...we are talking undies hanging in the laundry, rabid dogs and the occupants laying on the sofa watching the TV. Perhaps they were tenants, I don't know, but you'd think they would make the effort for the half an hour the house was open for. The only one we really liked was empty.
The other thing we did was go to a place where builders have their show houses, so you can walk from one to the other and decide what you want. We worked out that we could afford to have a new build if we could find a plot of land for the right price. Looking on the web, there are a few plots available within budget....whether they are any good of course, we don't know.
One thing that we didn't do was compare the cost of shopping. Although we didn't specifically compare, we did buy a few things and we weren't struck by how expensive things were. Anita was a bit concerned that she wouldn't be able to buy larger sized clothes, but found they were more readily available than in the UK. I think we are going to have trouble working out what the Aussie equivalent of the products we use here. The home store products seemed popular everywhere we went and we thought the quality was better than we expected. Cakes & donuts are everywhere and fantastic! No wonder I put on 12lb whilst I was there....
We found that one of the furniture stores did great deals on furniture, so we are currently considering whether to take our sofa or not. We have been told that the store in question isn't necessarily the best quality furniture, but to be honest, our sofa has pretty much had it now, so we wont be any worse off.
Petrol was, of course, cheap. What we thought was funny was that it was actually cheaper on Mondays and Tuesdays. When my uncle told me this, I thought he was pulling my leg, but he was right....on the Wednesday the petrol was 11c more expensive than on the Tuesday. We didn't bother about what day we filled up, because to us it was still cheap. You also get vouchers from the supermarkets that give something like 4c per litre off.
Driving wasn't too bad once I'd got used to the car and where the controls were. Overtaking on both sides wasn't too much of a problem, just a bit hairy sometimes when you are overtaken on both sides by huge lorries. We had an E tag for the motorway tolls, which made life a lot easier, you just coast through the gantry and the tag bleeps to confirm that you have paid.
Satnav was a bonus. The only time we had trouble was when we were near the city where there are a lot of tunnels. I obviously took a couple of wrong turns and we ended up going over the bridge and back again, but we shouldn't have been anywhere near. But at all other times it served us very well.
Generally speaking we found the kids in Sydney polite and confident. The first place we heard a teenager kicking off was back at Heathrow and when we went to Chatham on Sunday we heard several mothers yelling at their kids in the high street....Perhaps we were just lucky that we only met nice kids whilst we were there....
Anyway....that's all we can think of at the moment.... Like I said at the beginning, our minds haven't really been on it since we got sick on Sunday night and it all seems so long ago now. If we think of anything else, we'll add it to this post. Overall, the trip put our minds at rest that we could really do this!
If you want to look at our holiday pics they're here
We had a fantastic two weeks in Sydney. We didn't bother "doing" the city, there was no point with APEC going on. The only time we were anywhere near was when we arrived by ferry from Parramatta and then got on a ferry to Manly. We even decided to put off our bridge walk until we make the final move.
We met some great people whilst we were there...not least the lovely iPom and her children
...can't believe that was only two weeks ago. Anita attended a baby shower on her first day & I attended the meeting of the local wood turning guild. Everyone we met were so friendly and supportive. Every person at the wood turning meeting made the effort to introduce themselves to me. I also attended a karate class with my cousin and her kids. It was bloody hard work and I could hardly walk for two days, but again, everyone was really friendly. Anita came to watch and every time I looked round she was chatting to someone.Our main worries about moving to Sydney was work and housing. We took a day out to visit some job agencies in Parramatta. One was, to be kind, un-helpful. They basically told us to contact their branch in London. The second one we went to was a lot more helpful. We told her what type of jobs we would be looking for and told her where we didn't want to work....CBD basically. She said that there would be plenty of work in our fields in the Parramatta & Liverpool areas, which is exactly where we were looking to work. She hadn't asked what our current salaries were, but the salaries that she suggested would be available were the same as my UK salary and Anita's possibly more than her UK salary. We were expecting a significant drop. Particularly for Anita she seemed to think that there would be demand for her occupation. We registered with them and our photos were taken for their records. We just need to contact them when we know when we are moving.
In addition, my cousin has a contact in IT recruitment who now has my CV and will keep her eye out when we are ready to move.
Whilst we know there are no guarantees until we get there, we are a lot happier that work will be available and we will be able to earn a reasonable salary.
Armed with possible salaries, we did a mortgage calculation on one of the property web sites to see what mortgage could be available. We then lobbed a big chunk off and came up with a budget for a home. Makes it a lot easier when you have an idea of what you can spend. It also meant that we could afford to live in the same suburb as my family, which is a big bonus.
The first "open house" that we went to look at was a new build. Well, we fell in love with the house and, if we were in a position to do so, would have signed there and then! We then went to look at a few houses from the car and immediately ruled out one of the suburbs that was previously high on our list. One house we looked at at night and thought it was really nice, but on the off chance we went back and had a look in daylight the following day and was very disappointed with it.
On the Saturday we went to some open house viewings. We waited for 15 minutes outside one property before we realised that under the words "open house" was the word "cancelled". We did look round three further properties...but I have to say, it makes you wonder if these people want their house to sell...we are talking undies hanging in the laundry, rabid dogs and the occupants laying on the sofa watching the TV. Perhaps they were tenants, I don't know, but you'd think they would make the effort for the half an hour the house was open for. The only one we really liked was empty.
The other thing we did was go to a place where builders have their show houses, so you can walk from one to the other and decide what you want. We worked out that we could afford to have a new build if we could find a plot of land for the right price. Looking on the web, there are a few plots available within budget....whether they are any good of course, we don't know.
One thing that we didn't do was compare the cost of shopping. Although we didn't specifically compare, we did buy a few things and we weren't struck by how expensive things were. Anita was a bit concerned that she wouldn't be able to buy larger sized clothes, but found they were more readily available than in the UK. I think we are going to have trouble working out what the Aussie equivalent of the products we use here. The home store products seemed popular everywhere we went and we thought the quality was better than we expected. Cakes & donuts are everywhere and fantastic! No wonder I put on 12lb whilst I was there....
We found that one of the furniture stores did great deals on furniture, so we are currently considering whether to take our sofa or not. We have been told that the store in question isn't necessarily the best quality furniture, but to be honest, our sofa has pretty much had it now, so we wont be any worse off.
Petrol was, of course, cheap. What we thought was funny was that it was actually cheaper on Mondays and Tuesdays. When my uncle told me this, I thought he was pulling my leg, but he was right....on the Wednesday the petrol was 11c more expensive than on the Tuesday. We didn't bother about what day we filled up, because to us it was still cheap. You also get vouchers from the supermarkets that give something like 4c per litre off.
Driving wasn't too bad once I'd got used to the car and where the controls were. Overtaking on both sides wasn't too much of a problem, just a bit hairy sometimes when you are overtaken on both sides by huge lorries. We had an E tag for the motorway tolls, which made life a lot easier, you just coast through the gantry and the tag bleeps to confirm that you have paid.
Satnav was a bonus. The only time we had trouble was when we were near the city where there are a lot of tunnels. I obviously took a couple of wrong turns and we ended up going over the bridge and back again, but we shouldn't have been anywhere near. But at all other times it served us very well.
Generally speaking we found the kids in Sydney polite and confident. The first place we heard a teenager kicking off was back at Heathrow and when we went to Chatham on Sunday we heard several mothers yelling at their kids in the high street....Perhaps we were just lucky that we only met nice kids whilst we were there....
Anyway....that's all we can think of at the moment.... Like I said at the beginning, our minds haven't really been on it since we got sick on Sunday night and it all seems so long ago now. If we think of anything else, we'll add it to this post. Overall, the trip put our minds at rest that we could really do this!
If you want to look at our holiday pics they're here
Sep 12th 2007, 2:05 pm
#2
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Joined: Apr 2007
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Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Wow, cool photos, thanks! You look like you had a good time.
Sep 12th 2007, 2:38 pm
#3
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Sep 12th 2007, 3:11 pm
#4
Joined: May 2006
Location: in the Sydney asylum
Posts: 20,690
Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Mark it looks as though you are sold
the photos are great, glad you had a good time, does Anita feel happier now?
the photos are great, glad you had a good time, does Anita feel happier now?
Sep 12th 2007, 3:19 pm
#5
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Sounds like a successful trip,now get down the gym lardy arse
Best of luck matey and thanks for your help in the past,keep us updated,Bernie and Sara
Best of luck matey and thanks for your help in the past,keep us updated,Bernie and Sara
Sep 12th 2007, 5:10 pm
#6
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Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Been really ill since Sunday night....lost half a stone so far this week!We ran & I went to karate whilst we were there....
Will be around for a while yet...not putting the house on the market until January
Sep 12th 2007, 5:13 pm
#7
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Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Been sold on it for years.... Definitely looked at it with different eyes this time, thinking what it would be like day to day....It really didn't feel like it had been 5 years since we had been there and it seemed like we had been there for ever by the time we had to come home.... Spent a lot more time with the family on this trip too which was nice
I'll let Anita tell you whether she is sold on it now...
Sep 12th 2007, 5:27 pm
#8
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Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 165
Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Hi, how are things going with you?
yeh, Im really glad we went to check stuff out. I still say 'yeh but, what if' but on the whole things are really looking positive... especially job wise, which is good
looking at houses out there was exciting... can't wait for house buying time!
Mark's family have all been very supportive and it's great to know that we won't be totally on our own... although I don't think I could live with relations for a long time!.. we would have to find somewhere to rent if we couldn't buy.
yeh, Im really glad we went to check stuff out. I still say 'yeh but, what if' but on the whole things are really looking positive... especially job wise, which is good
looking at houses out there was exciting... can't wait for house buying time!
Mark's family have all been very supportive and it's great to know that we won't be totally on our own... although I don't think I could live with relations for a long time!.. we would have to find somewhere to rent if we couldn't buy.
Sep 12th 2007, 5:31 pm
#9
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Re: Sydney Reccie Report
That pulled on a fair few heart strings!
All my family are in NSW. They went out as £10 poms and settled in Parramatta. As a child I stayed there with them and now all the kids are grown and have families of their own. We visit every 5 years or so. They have moved North to Windsor and we were over in March visiting. We went to so many of the same places and our photos are almost the same as yours. LOL.
As we are now over 40 we can't get into Oz unless we get a SIR sponsored by SA so we will be a long way from our family. You must take the chance to go now - we've dilly dallied for years until it was almost too late.
Good luck with your visa application!
All my family are in NSW. They went out as £10 poms and settled in Parramatta. As a child I stayed there with them and now all the kids are grown and have families of their own. We visit every 5 years or so. They have moved North to Windsor and we were over in March visiting. We went to so many of the same places and our photos are almost the same as yours. LOL.
As we are now over 40 we can't get into Oz unless we get a SIR sponsored by SA so we will be a long way from our family. You must take the chance to go now - we've dilly dallied for years until it was almost too late.
Good luck with your visa application!
Sep 12th 2007, 5:47 pm
#10
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Re: Sydney Reccie Report
That pulled on a fair few heart strings!
All my family are in NSW. They went out as £10 poms and settled in Parramatta. As a child I stayed there with them and now all the kids are grown and have families of their own. We visit every 5 years or so. They have moved North to Windsor and we were over in March visiting. We went to so many of the same places and our photos are almost the same as yours. LOL.
As we are now over 40 we can't get into Oz unless we get a SIR sponsored by SA so we will be a long way from our family. You must take the chance to go now - we've dilly dallied for years until it was almost too late.
Good luck with your visa application!
All my family are in NSW. They went out as £10 poms and settled in Parramatta. As a child I stayed there with them and now all the kids are grown and have families of their own. We visit every 5 years or so. They have moved North to Windsor and we were over in March visiting. We went to so many of the same places and our photos are almost the same as yours. LOL.
As we are now over 40 we can't get into Oz unless we get a SIR sponsored by SA so we will be a long way from our family. You must take the chance to go now - we've dilly dallied for years until it was almost too late.
Good luck with your visa application!
Visa has already been granted, but thanks for the good luck....still need good luck
Hope your application goes OK. You'll be a bit closer to the family than you are now, so you should be able to see them a bit more often eh....
Sep 12th 2007, 7:08 pm
#11
Happy migrant
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: Newcastle , NSW
Posts: 6,756
Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Loved the pictures Mark and Anita
I really loved Sydney when I was there but have never considered it as a place to live because of the cost.
The Blue Mountains look amazing - it's definitely on my list for a visit when we get to Australia.
I really loved Sydney when I was there but have never considered it as a place to live because of the cost.
The Blue Mountains look amazing - it's definitely on my list for a visit when we get to Australia.
Sep 12th 2007, 7:13 pm
#12
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Posts: 353
Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Beautiful part of the world eh. My parents were £10 poms and ended up at Blacktown. They came back to the UK when I was 4
Visa has already been granted, but thanks for the good luck....still need good luck
Hope your application goes OK. You'll be a bit closer to the family than you are now, so you should be able to see them a bit more often eh....
Visa has already been granted, but thanks for the good luck....still need good luck
Hope your application goes OK. You'll be a bit closer to the family than you are now, so you should be able to see them a bit more often eh....
Glad you've got your visa - I didn't read your sig! At least they can't take it off you. Yes, we'll be able to spend a lot more time with my family, even if we're in SA.
Obviously, we will also have the chance to move to NSW at a later date, if we want to, once we get PR. Hope your OH decides to give it a go. It sounds like she is willing to try. Then as you and I both know, the bug bites and you can't get Australia out of your system! My OH took 20 years to come around to the idea that moving over there was a good idea - even though he loved visiting over there. I think it was having our daughter which tipped the balance. He could see what a good life her cousins had in comparison - how free they were and how much more fun they had.
Thanks again for the great reckie write up and hope you are now fully recovered from your mystery illness!!
Sep 12th 2007, 9:54 pm
#13
Up Around the Bend
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Serenity
Posts: 5,292
Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Hi
great piccies you guys, sounds like you got lots done and had a great time as well
great piccies you guys, sounds like you got lots done and had a great time as well
Sep 17th 2007, 12:29 pm
#14
Brisbane's friendly cop
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 1,766
Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Nice one mate, glad you both had a good time. Great photos too.
Hope you're feeling better now x
Hope you're feeling better now x
Sep 17th 2007, 12:42 pm
#15
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,918
Re: Sydney Reccie Report
Firstly, sorry for the delay in posting our reccie report. We have been quite ill since we got back and are only just feeling human enough to do anything.
We had a fantastic two weeks in Sydney. We didn't bother "doing" the city, there was no point with APEC going on. The only time we were anywhere near was when we arrived by ferry from Parramatta and then got on a ferry to Manly. We even decided to put off our bridge walk until we make the final move.
We met some great people whilst we were there...not least the lovely iPom and her children...can't believe that was only two weeks ago. Anita attended a baby shower on her first day & I attended the meeting of the local wood turning guild. Everyone we met were so friendly and supportive. Every person at the wood turning meeting made the effort to introduce themselves to me. I also attended a karate class with my cousin and her kids. It was bloody hard work and I could hardly walk for two days, but again, everyone was really friendly. Anita came to watch and every time I looked round she was chatting to someone.
Our main worries about moving to Sydney was work and housing. We took a day out to visit some job agencies in Parramatta. One was, to be kind, un-helpful. They basically told us to contact their branch in London. The second one we went to was a lot more helpful. We told her what type of jobs we would be looking for and told her where we didn't want to work....CBD basically. She said that there would be plenty of work in our fields in the Parramatta & Liverpool areas, which is exactly where we were looking to work. She hadn't asked what our current salaries were, but the salaries that she suggested would be available were the same as my UK salary and Anita's possibly more than her UK salary. We were expecting a significant drop. Particularly for Anita she seemed to think that there would be demand for her occupation. We registered with them and our photos were taken for their records. We just need to contact them when we know when we are moving.
In addition, my cousin has a contact in IT recruitment who now has my CV and will keep her eye out when we are ready to move.
Whilst we know there are no guarantees until we get there, we are a lot happier that work will be available and we will be able to earn a reasonable salary.
Armed with possible salaries, we did a mortgage calculation on one of the property web sites to see what mortgage could be available. We then lobbed a big chunk off and came up with a budget for a home. Makes it a lot easier when you have an idea of what you can spend. It also meant that we could afford to live in the same suburb as my family, which is a big bonus.
The first "open house" that we went to look at was a new build. Well, we fell in love with the house and, if we were in a position to do so, would have signed there and then! We then went to look at a few houses from the car and immediately ruled out one of the suburbs that was previously high on our list. One house we looked at at night and thought it was really nice, but on the off chance we went back and had a look in daylight the following day and was very disappointed with it.
On the Saturday we went to some open house viewings. We waited for 15 minutes outside one property before we realised that under the words "open house" was the word "cancelled". We did look round three further properties...but I have to say, it makes you wonder if these people want their house to sell...we are talking undies hanging in the laundry, rabid dogs and the occupants laying on the sofa watching the TV. Perhaps they were tenants, I don't know, but you'd think they would make the effort for the half an hour the house was open for. The only one we really liked was empty.
The other thing we did was go to a place where builders have their show houses, so you can walk from one to the other and decide what you want. We worked out that we could afford to have a new build if we could find a plot of land for the right price. Looking on the web, there are a few plots available within budget....whether they are any good of course, we don't know.
One thing that we didn't do was compare the cost of shopping. Although we didn't specifically compare, we did buy a few things and we weren't struck by how expensive things were. Anita was a bit concerned that she wouldn't be able to buy larger sized clothes, but found they were more readily available than in the UK. I think we are going to have trouble working out what the Aussie equivalent of the products we use here. The home store products seemed popular everywhere we went and we thought the quality was better than we expected. Cakes & donuts are everywhere and fantastic! No wonder I put on 12lb whilst I was there....
We found that one of the furniture stores did great deals on furniture, so we are currently considering whether to take our sofa or not. We have been told that the store in question isn't necessarily the best quality furniture, but to be honest, our sofa has pretty much had it now, so we wont be any worse off.
Petrol was, of course, cheap. What we thought was funny was that it was actually cheaper on Mondays and Tuesdays. When my uncle told me this, I thought he was pulling my leg, but he was right....on the Wednesday the petrol was 11c more expensive than on the Tuesday. We didn't bother about what day we filled up, because to us it was still cheap. You also get vouchers from the supermarkets that give something like 4c per litre off.
Driving wasn't too bad once I'd got used to the car and where the controls were. Overtaking on both sides wasn't too much of a problem, just a bit hairy sometimes when you are overtaken on both sides by huge lorries. We had an E tag for the motorway tolls, which made life a lot easier, you just coast through the gantry and the tag bleeps to confirm that you have paid.
Satnav was a bonus. The only time we had trouble was when we were near the city where there are a lot of tunnels. I obviously took a couple of wrong turns and we ended up going over the bridge and back again, but we shouldn't have been anywhere near. But at all other times it served us very well.
Generally speaking we found the kids in Sydney polite and confident. The first place we heard a teenager kicking off was back at Heathrow and when we went to Chatham on Sunday we heard several mothers yelling at their kids in the high street....Perhaps we were just lucky that we only met nice kids whilst we were there....
Anyway....that's all we can think of at the moment.... Like I said at the beginning, our minds haven't really been on it since we got sick on Sunday night and it all seems so long ago now. If we think of anything else, we'll add it to this post. Overall, the trip put our minds at rest that we could really do this!
If you want to look at our holiday pics they're here
We had a fantastic two weeks in Sydney. We didn't bother "doing" the city, there was no point with APEC going on. The only time we were anywhere near was when we arrived by ferry from Parramatta and then got on a ferry to Manly. We even decided to put off our bridge walk until we make the final move.
We met some great people whilst we were there...not least the lovely iPom and her children
...can't believe that was only two weeks ago. Anita attended a baby shower on her first day & I attended the meeting of the local wood turning guild. Everyone we met were so friendly and supportive. Every person at the wood turning meeting made the effort to introduce themselves to me. I also attended a karate class with my cousin and her kids. It was bloody hard work and I could hardly walk for two days, but again, everyone was really friendly. Anita came to watch and every time I looked round she was chatting to someone.Our main worries about moving to Sydney was work and housing. We took a day out to visit some job agencies in Parramatta. One was, to be kind, un-helpful. They basically told us to contact their branch in London. The second one we went to was a lot more helpful. We told her what type of jobs we would be looking for and told her where we didn't want to work....CBD basically. She said that there would be plenty of work in our fields in the Parramatta & Liverpool areas, which is exactly where we were looking to work. She hadn't asked what our current salaries were, but the salaries that she suggested would be available were the same as my UK salary and Anita's possibly more than her UK salary. We were expecting a significant drop. Particularly for Anita she seemed to think that there would be demand for her occupation. We registered with them and our photos were taken for their records. We just need to contact them when we know when we are moving.
In addition, my cousin has a contact in IT recruitment who now has my CV and will keep her eye out when we are ready to move.
Whilst we know there are no guarantees until we get there, we are a lot happier that work will be available and we will be able to earn a reasonable salary.
Armed with possible salaries, we did a mortgage calculation on one of the property web sites to see what mortgage could be available. We then lobbed a big chunk off and came up with a budget for a home. Makes it a lot easier when you have an idea of what you can spend. It also meant that we could afford to live in the same suburb as my family, which is a big bonus.
The first "open house" that we went to look at was a new build. Well, we fell in love with the house and, if we were in a position to do so, would have signed there and then! We then went to look at a few houses from the car and immediately ruled out one of the suburbs that was previously high on our list. One house we looked at at night and thought it was really nice, but on the off chance we went back and had a look in daylight the following day and was very disappointed with it.
On the Saturday we went to some open house viewings. We waited for 15 minutes outside one property before we realised that under the words "open house" was the word "cancelled". We did look round three further properties...but I have to say, it makes you wonder if these people want their house to sell...we are talking undies hanging in the laundry, rabid dogs and the occupants laying on the sofa watching the TV. Perhaps they were tenants, I don't know, but you'd think they would make the effort for the half an hour the house was open for. The only one we really liked was empty.
The other thing we did was go to a place where builders have their show houses, so you can walk from one to the other and decide what you want. We worked out that we could afford to have a new build if we could find a plot of land for the right price. Looking on the web, there are a few plots available within budget....whether they are any good of course, we don't know.
One thing that we didn't do was compare the cost of shopping. Although we didn't specifically compare, we did buy a few things and we weren't struck by how expensive things were. Anita was a bit concerned that she wouldn't be able to buy larger sized clothes, but found they were more readily available than in the UK. I think we are going to have trouble working out what the Aussie equivalent of the products we use here. The home store products seemed popular everywhere we went and we thought the quality was better than we expected. Cakes & donuts are everywhere and fantastic! No wonder I put on 12lb whilst I was there....
We found that one of the furniture stores did great deals on furniture, so we are currently considering whether to take our sofa or not. We have been told that the store in question isn't necessarily the best quality furniture, but to be honest, our sofa has pretty much had it now, so we wont be any worse off.
Petrol was, of course, cheap. What we thought was funny was that it was actually cheaper on Mondays and Tuesdays. When my uncle told me this, I thought he was pulling my leg, but he was right....on the Wednesday the petrol was 11c more expensive than on the Tuesday. We didn't bother about what day we filled up, because to us it was still cheap. You also get vouchers from the supermarkets that give something like 4c per litre off.
Driving wasn't too bad once I'd got used to the car and where the controls were. Overtaking on both sides wasn't too much of a problem, just a bit hairy sometimes when you are overtaken on both sides by huge lorries. We had an E tag for the motorway tolls, which made life a lot easier, you just coast through the gantry and the tag bleeps to confirm that you have paid.
Satnav was a bonus. The only time we had trouble was when we were near the city where there are a lot of tunnels. I obviously took a couple of wrong turns and we ended up going over the bridge and back again, but we shouldn't have been anywhere near. But at all other times it served us very well.
Generally speaking we found the kids in Sydney polite and confident. The first place we heard a teenager kicking off was back at Heathrow and when we went to Chatham on Sunday we heard several mothers yelling at their kids in the high street....Perhaps we were just lucky that we only met nice kids whilst we were there....
Anyway....that's all we can think of at the moment.... Like I said at the beginning, our minds haven't really been on it since we got sick on Sunday night and it all seems so long ago now. If we think of anything else, we'll add it to this post. Overall, the trip put our minds at rest that we could really do this!
If you want to look at our holiday pics they're here
We stood in the exact same spot at Echo Point when we were there. Wish we had arranged a meet with Ipom too.......agree she is a lovely lady.
PS i am glad i only when up in the steepest Train and not down
