Lawtons in OZ

Hello all,

I'm Amanda, myself and family emigrated to Sydney nearly 2 months ago. We are living in North Sydney CBD near to husbands office and daughter's school.

I gave my job up on leaving the UK and now find myself after 4 years a housewife again. Meeting anyone is proving difficult and after having had such a hectic work, home and social life in the UK, l am feeling somewhat despondent and homesickness etc has begun to creep in

Looking forward to hearing from others who may have found themselves in a similar situation, or just reassurance that I am not on my own.

Grateful for any advise

Many thanks

Amanda xx

Jerseygirl

Hi Amanda...welcome to BE.

You are certainly not on your own...not now you've found us. We have many members who post in our Australia Forums who live in the Sydney area...some get together for a meet-up from time to time. There's plenty of opportunity for you to make new friends on here...cyber as well as real life friends.

The link I have given you will take you to the main index page of the Australia Forum...at the top of the page you will see a list of sub forums. The top forum is the Immigration Forum...the Main forum is for topics relating to Australia and The Barbie is for general chit chat. You will notice there is also a Meet-Ups forum...take a look through the threads to see who lives in Sydney or start a thread of your own. I'm sure you'll enjoy being part of our community...take a wander over to the Australia forums and say hello.

Before you begin posting please take time to read through the Site Rules and any stickied threads or announcements that may be posted at the top of each forum's index page.

Kelli28 is the concierge for the Australia forums...so if you have any problems finding your way around our many forums please contact Kelli.

For all other concerns or problems please contact a moderator or admin. Every BE forum has at least one moderator dedicated to that forum...Australia has 4...Cresta57, Monneypenny20,, Sonlymewalter and Alfresco.

I hope you enjoy your time with us and don't forget to shout out should you require any help.

Sue

Hi Amanda,

Welcome to BE, I'm sure you will make lots of friends here. As JG mentioned, quite a few people arrange meet-ups in our meet-up forum so check that out.

Do you have any school age kids? That's how I ended up making my first friends here. I went and volunteered at the school and made a few friends that way. I also volunteered two mornings a week at a local non-profit while my son was at school. It helped me feel productive and was something I could do that wasn't kid orientated, it was also a great way to get to know some local people.

So don't fret many of us know how you feel. It's daunting enough moving half way across the world and I do believe it is harder to make friends when you are a "domestic engineer"

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary

Gen8810

Hello,
Hope things start getting easier soon as I guess it's still early days.
We are moving to Sydney in Sept & currently feeling a bit overwhelmed by all it involves. We are narrowing our search for schools, we've 2 girls aged 11 & 13, and rental property to the Northern Beaches area, so any advice would be gratefully received!!!
Gen

Lawtons in OZ

Hi there,

Def early days but know in time it will all get better

We originally wanted to move to the Northern beaches too, we were advised that it would take an hour each way for my husband to commute to the city. We decided to look nearer to the city and for now living in North Sydney CBD, we have placed our daughter in a great school here in North Sydney and live a few mins walk away from school and my husbands office.

We are getting to know the areas a little better and hope to move somewhere larger in a few months. We are presently living in a gorgeous but fairly small apartment, we were not prepared for the cut throat rental market out here !!

You need to have your wits about you and know the areas well before embarking on the rental rat race.

I am more than willing to share any advise I can give you, please let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

I have to tell you my 7 year old loves it here, and is learning so much already at school. Mandarin Chinese is one of the subjects she now learns too

Great to hear from you

Good luck and keep in touch

Amanda

Gen8810

Hi Amanda,
Thanks for the info. It's really difficult to pick up the length of time commuting will take from the reams of Internet info out there, we had thought that we would look for a school that suits the girls first & find somewhere commutable from near there.

Glad to hear your experience of school has been so positive, because of the school year running from January, we've decided to look at private schools with junior & middle or senior schools to try & minimise any changes..We are looking at a number but would be interested to hear how you narrowed it down !

Not looking forward to the cut throat rental business!!

Bank holiday here today & has not stopped raining all day
Gen

dreadsoc

Hi Amanda

Welcome to BE.
Hopefully getting stuck into the Australia forum will help yopu settle in and make friends. It is always difficult making a move to a new place, but a good Brit fix with expats who understand exactly what you are feeling will be a godsend

Good luck

Dread - x

Lawtons in OZ

You are more than welcome

To be completely honest the school Matilda is now was the only one we enquired about, everything about is seemed perfect for her requirements and its location was perfect. Its a public school although we have still had to pay some hefty fees due to the 457 visa we hold. We also have to pay a substantial sum each term too, the uniforms are expensive and no deviation from the attire. I miss good old M&S and John Lewis for grey pleated skirts and white polo tops.............anyhow she looks cute in her checked dress and royal blue hat for sure.

With regards the the rental market - when going to a viewing if its a property you think you will love, print off the Agents application form and have it filled in before you go. If you really want it hand this over after the viewing and get in there as quick as you can, this was our downfall and wont happen next time.

Have you visited Sydney before, we hadn't and think its a fabulous place for our little girl and us of course ?

BH are all about the rain in England, its been raining here for the last couple of days. Sydney has experienced some flash flooding too ! But hey its nearly Winter after all.

Take care and good look with the planning, here if you need anything else

Amanda x

Lawtons in OZ

Cheers Dread I appreciate your support

A Brit fix is probably like a good cup of tea, solves everything !!!

Ta

Amanda x

Gen8810

Hi Amanda,
Trying to arrange a quick visit to check out the schools in the next few weeks. Will really be a flying visit as we think we will only have 3 days to see the 5 or 6 schools that look good.

Aussies do seem fond of school uniform don't they? Lots of hats around too, think my girls are going to struggle a bit!

Thanks for the tip about completing forms before you go to see a property. Did you have any issues with references? We've got a mortgage here & thought we might contact the bank to see if they would provide one.

Are you thinking of looking for work? At the moment I'm planning on having a bit of time off to get things settled but guess that's when things start to feel v quiet.

Gen