hogand Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Hi all, I am moving to Oz shortly on a 457 visa and looking to live in the northern beaches area. From looking at schools, there is one in Dee Why which may suit us. What is dee why like to live in, would you recommend it, any pros and cons of the area and is it easy commute to teh city via public transport? also, some of the houses up Avalon way look amazing quality compared to what you get down Manly way for the same price. Is Avalon a realistic option if Im working in the city? hope some one can advise and help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon t Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 dear hogand - as you can see i don't post here much, but i was in dee why this afternoon and live up the road towards chatswood so thought i would off load some impressions for you after 4 months in the area. Dee why (DW) is a nice enough area though nothing special in my book. it has a great beach front and one one of the livliest club/bar scenes in the northern beaches area but that's not actually saying a great deal, as most of the areas like collaroy and narrabeen are very quiet. it'sa bit like weston-super-mare with BBQs and a surf scene - so if that's your kind of thing, great. Avalon is much further away, and MUCH quieter - though there are still commuters from here to CBD. it will drive you bonkers to do the drive daily, but say if one had to do it three days a week then you just might keep your sanity. Leave at 6.30, not after 7.30 - that sort of thing. there are express buses to CBD taking an hour or so full of sleeping commuters - again, if that' your thing and you are used to say commuting from Brighton to london then it would be recognisable. but then brighton is lively, relatively cheap and close to france - none of which applies to avalon. If you work in CBD try to be on a train line and remember that the beaches are never far from hand - one doesn't have to live on them to enjoy them. i lie in roseville and we get to the beaches in 20 mins. but we also get everywhere else quickly and painlessly because of te train line which the northern beaches don't have. If one really HAS to be near a beach live closer to Manly which is Fab (or seaforth, Balgolah, Brookvale) and catch the ferry to CBD. there are pretty good schools there too. hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MOLLOYS5 Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Hi Me again! Dee why is not very nice to be honest, a bit rough! We lived in Avalon when we first arrived it is a HUGE commute and you drive around "the Bends' Windey road which can get very congested, a beautiful little town but an hr and 10 to the City and those extra 15 mins plus the windey rds are a pain! The suburbs I mentioned are ok for commuting but also Balgowlah,Curl Curl,Freshwater, any of the Beach Suburbs are nice but Dee Why is not very nice. Let me know if you need advice on Schools, what age are your kids? We have our boys at the Catholic School in Mona Vale and have been very happy with it. x Bridget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MOLLOYS5 Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Just saw the above post, all true, but if you want to be by the beach, i'd say stick to the Northern Beaches, I have a friend who moved here and lives in Roseville, it takes me 30 mins in traffic to get to her and she doesn't like it, just thought i'd pass info on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up4answers Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 we live in Manly, not too bad to commute, 45mins by car if we leave around 7.45am. I wouldn't live anywhere past warringah or allambie heights if i was hoping to commute daily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave 'n' Sam Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I lived in Harbord for a little while, which is between Manly and Dee Why really, so spent a fair amount in Dee Why, and would disagree about it not being a 'nice place'. Its lovely, the beach is great, fantastic play area for kids and the restaurants and bars are very good. Nice houses and lovely roads to live in as well. There is an express bus that runs in rush hour to the CBD (Wynard) and takes between 45 mins and an 1hour depending on what time you leave. I would thoroughly recommend it and I have a very good friend who has lived there for years and wouldn't live anywhere else. Avalon, although lovely is a bit too far out IMO to commute everyday. Its very much a holiday retreat where a lot of (wealthy) Sydney siders have 2nd homes there which they use at weekends. Really laid back feel to it which is great, but the commute would be a pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoeburrell Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Hi Hogand I moved out here with my 2 children (15 & 13) in January and we are living in Mona Vale (10 minutes closer to the city than Avalon). I have to commute into the city twice a week and it takes between an hour and 1 hour 10minutes depending on which bus I catch. Personally - only 3 weeks into doing this - I think it's too far. Mona Vale is great for me though - my children go to the Catholic school in Warriewood (next suburb along) and alot of their friends are in Mona/Newport/Avalon/Warriewood/Eleanora Heights/North Narrabeen. From talking to people here the general concensus seems to be that if you have to commute to the city you don't go over the bridge at Narrabeen (all of the suburbs mentioned previously are North - sorry!) When we first arrived we were in Collaroy - right on the beach, on the L90 bus route (40 minutes into the city) and I think Collaroy is much nicer than Dee Why if you've a young family (just my opinion though). Dee Why, I would say, is great if you're a young 20 something that didn't want the noise (and expense) of Manly but still wanted a bit of a night life - not so neccessary when you're a parent of young kids! Do you know which school the children are going to go to? Wishing you all the best, Zoe xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogand Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 hi zoe, thanks for the reply, very useful indeed. The reason I am looking into Dee why is because of the school. My son has down syndrome and the only school in the northern beaches which would be suitable at this stage is on Fisher Road, so living in Dee Why would make it easier to get him to school. Have seen some amazing house in Avalon though so wanted to know a bit more about it, but i guessed it would be too much of a commute. I have spent alot of time in Manly area over the last few years when I have been over there, and love it, but you pay the price to live there too compared to what you can get a little up the coast I think. Never actually made it up to Dee Why when ive been over there. Have been looking at Collaroy, Balgowlah areas also, and seen some nice spots in Warriewood too mind. Id be happy enough to commute an hour if it means living in a better place/house. Hope your enjoying it out there and thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoeburrell Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 No worries Hogand, it wasn't so long ago it was me on here asking about all the same things so I'm more than happy to help in any way. We are all so happy living here - the children both settled much quicker and easier than I could have hoped for and the school they're at is just brilliant for them. Moving to Australia ws definitely the best thing for us and I'd certainly recommend it to anyone with children or thinking about having children. If you need any other info I'd be happy to advise where I can (bearing in mind I've only been here 5 months!) and when you do arrive don't hesitate to let us know if you need to see a friendly face - I know that was one of the first things I missed - noone I could just call up to have a coffee and a chat with. It takes time to make new friends and having someone to talk to who's also been through the whole immigration process was a real help for me. Good luck with everything Zoe xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prescotts Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Hi Hogand I just read your post re Fisher Road school and thought I'd add my comment, my friend Ruth, is the assistant principal at the school (she's a pom too) and from what I can gather it's an excellent school with a very nurturing environment. We have been on the Northern beaches for almost 6 years now and live in Belrose, so slightly inland from DY and the beaches (only about 15 mins) and I would agree with the comments made about the commute to the city from Avalon - I wouldn't do it, it adds too much time onto your working day. And I would also agree that DY is fantastic for restaurants but I wouldn't live there (I'm too far over the age of 21!) As Zoe said, if you need any more info or help now or when you arrive give us a shout Regards Jenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogand Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 zoe/prescotts, thank you both for the replies and offers of help. Great to hear the positive response about fisher road school. It is one we have been in contact with, and if visas get granted we will follow up on further with them. I guess the main reason we are considering DY and close by is to make it easier to get to school during our initial settling in period. We are limited on school selections and fisher road is the only real option in the northern beaches area. Whether we stay there indefinately or not is a different question as the areas of northern beaches I know best are from Curl Curl down to manly, which i love. As for avalon, just seeing some of the houses we could get up there it looked amazing, but not sure i could do a 3 hour commute each day to be honest on top of long working days. thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.