Russ_Sarah

hello,
i have spent so many months addicitivly checking this website reading the barbie and update tabs and now i have the great pleasure of posting our update!!
we fly out of heathrow on monday 22nd at 10pm with singapore airlines..the flight was fab, loads and loads of new movies, lovley food and comfy seats. we went on the airbus a380..massive plane.
we have a 3 yr old boy who is hyper at the best of times and we were really worried about what he would be like on the flight..they had so many kids movies and cartoons that he didnt murmurr a word..infact i would recomend a night time flight to anyone with kids as once the lights were dimmed after about an hour into the flight he actually went to sleep and didnt wake up for almost the entire flight.
its 12 hours to singapore and it was 5pm local time when we arrived..you would defo need to bring a change of clothes to freshen up if like us you were flying on later that evening..singapore airport is lovely..very clean and modern.
the flight from singapore to sydney was 7.5hrs, we took off at 9pm local time and again the lights were dimmed after take off..and our little lad fell asleep again..he woke up about 4 hours into the flight and was contented with the inflight kids movies.
we arrived in sydney at 6.45 local time to glorious sunshine.
we have been here since wednesday morning and are staying in manly, its gorgeous here along the beach and the weather has been roasting hot for tha past few days..our container doest arrive for another 4 weeks and we dont have enough summer clothes with us.
so all in all everything is going great at the moment.
we are in an apartment near the beach..we have done some grocery shopping and to be honest there is not much in it between here and the uk..i read on here a while pack that someone had paid something stupid for 3 tomoates..well i have just bought a carton of cherry tomatoes for 99c ..
the only thing i have though pricey is bread..a load of bread in the shops here cost anything from $3.50-$5.50 and that isnt organic, just normal slcied bread.
we have eaten lunch out nearly every day and i think its probably cheaper to eat out than buy and cook from scrath.the portions are big too!!
6 bottles of becks cost me $16.99 here last night in a shop. a bit more than the uk, but not that much..jacobs creek cardonnay cost me $14.50 though..i was surprised at that as i though australian wine would be cheap as chips..
one mistake i made though was not to get my mobile phone unlocked by vodafone in the uk..i had to pay $40 to have it done and was quoted in one shop $75 to basically just unlock it from vodafone uk so i could put a vodafone aus pay as you go sim card into it..its free to get done in the uk...
all in all i have to say i feel like we are on holiday..i dont start work until tuesday week..i had a few panic attacks in the last week before we left thinking what the hell am i doing taking my family all the way over here..but i have to say, for the past couple of morning when my 3 yr old boy has been running excitedly in and out of the crashing waves along the beach i have been thinking "wow...this place is amasing..."
i had never been to australia before..i had heard that this place was nice..and now i know that it really is.
good luck to anyone out there trying to get here.

Laura and Tom

Glad that you are enjoying it.
We have booked the 10pm flight with Singapore out of Heathrow with our lively 3 year old so it was nice to read that you got on OK, have to say thats one of the bits I am dreading!!
Be nice to read you next update.
Laura XX

Hutch

Glad you're settling in. As to the booze - I think the reason for the price is that Jacobs Creek is primarily produced for the export market.

Kooky.

Welcome to Sydney.

CEM

That was great to read. We're coming to Sydney in January - a bit scared, but excited too. Hope you carry on loving it.
C x

Big Ears

Congratulations on your move, glad to hear you are enjoying yourselves.

Manly is wonderful, as is Sydney, just a shame we could never afford to buy in Manly.

Have a great time

Big Ears

Kooky.

We're the same where we're living, but whilst we're renting we're going to enjoy it.

DrWho

Might not have to wait too long for that to change...

Nat12

Great post Sarah, helps me feel a bit better as we are also taking our nearly 3 yr old who is also 'hyper' lol but we could only get on a lunchtime flight so hoping he will stay awake till night time.
Glad you are enjoying yourselves and it sounds lovely

Big Ears

Are you expecting the prices to go down ???

Big Ears

Big Ears

We were concerned how our then 4 year old headstrong Daughter would cope with a lunchtime flight but she was amazingly good all the way to Sydney and again on the return journey.

Thought we had got away with it.... that was until the jetlag set-in then she went beserk for a couple of days.

Big Ears.

Nat12

LOL Kids are usually suprise us dont they, I think its just me in panic mode again!!!

DrWho

I don't think Australia is going to be immune from what's happening elsewhere in the world...We've seen a 5.7% decrease in values in Mona Vale over the last year according to RP Data... A friend is a property valuer and is so convinced prices will drop substantially he's told his mother not to sell for at least another 3 years... Price to earnings ratio here is unreal... personally I just can't see it staying that way...

Big Ears

Thanks for the info, certainly very interesting. Obviously I wouldn't want to see people suffer in the way the UK market is now going but if ours dips too much and the Australian market stays stable or increases it's going to be difficult for people to buy properties when they migrate.

Although we would initially be looking to rent it would be nice to think that one day we may be able to afford to buy.

We loved the lower north shore areas when we visited Sydney, as I am sure most people do, which obviously explains the high prices.

Big Ears

Ryem78

What a fantastic post Russ_Sarah! We'll be heading towards Sydney in September next year so it's great to hear about your experience. Are you renting a furnished place in Manly? We'd be looking to rent a furnished place in Manly for up to 3 months while we get settled, but they're few and far between! Good luck and please keep us updated!