Ali B

PS Ive been told Berwick area also has a decent ex-pat Brit population for support. try this link tho the pics are a bit naff! http://berwick.harcourts.com.au/Home/Renting/Local-Info/13035

PS berwick area also has a decent ex-pat Brit population for support.

Cool, without any hesitation I would recommend Berwick area. South Eastern suburbs. Old Berwick is a village with a pretty Botanical Gardens and the high street has tiny shops and cafes rather than the mega stores. When you drive through the old part of Berwick you don't feel as though you are in a massive city. Surrounding Berwick are new build estates but also older property too so you have a broad pick. There are motorway links from Berwick to the City (about 30-40 mins ish depending on time of day) so you'd have all the advantages of living in metropolitan Melb but not "in your face". The bay to the south is easy reach from Berwick too. And the mountains up the road to the east. Vineyards to the north of Berwick. It's VERY pretty. Secondary schools in Berwick are solid (I'm a teacher) and there are private as well as public (state). Good luck 

Whats your subject area (they call it "method" here) and what age range? Do a bit of a swot up on VCE (A level) and AusVels / Australian Curriculum. it'll help to learn the jargon a bit Good luck!

Yep. Heathmont is absolutely fine. We live in the neighbouring burb Mitcham. Arrows is right, Heathmont is ripe for development. Not quite boomed yet, its about to skyrocket so IF you can buy, do so. the local mall is being developed, lots of potential work, local schools growing. Lots of housing being developed. All good indicators. Plus its well situated for city, beach, mountains all 20 mins away. its fab!

Melbourne is a real melting pot. You'll find masses of support here. We lived in Brighton in UK and had lots of gay and lesbian friends. In my school here in Eastern Suburbs (im a teacher) we have an active LGBTI student group. I have a female friend in a gay relationship with two kids. I believe she would say its probably maybe easier in the city centre than out here in the burbs, but you know you'll find good people everywhere. Theres just a greater concentration of people and places in the city. Out in the sticks and upstate would inevitably be harder to settle for someone like yourself from Glasgow for all sorts of reasons.

Did OP go back?

Where do you live in UK?

wh

Hi BlueCJ Im a teacher in Melbourne - a couple of thoughts. 16 is a difficult age, my own daughter is 16 and we've been here 15 yrs and she is having friend issues at school. its nothing to do with migrating! It's just the nature of the beast. But your daughter has of course got the migration on top and is struggling. It is a possiblility she may never settle and want to go back one day. Connect her to her school wellbeing coordinator, they will help with ideas to connect to the school community. keep her off FaceBook/Instagram etc because keep connecting to home is bitter-sweet. It'll make her sad seeing old friends and grieving what shes missing at home. Quoll's idea of doing A levels at home could be a plan (and not a daft one) but you need to decide quickly and get her back for September. You also run the risk she may want to stay. You are keeping the communication open and this is really good. Try to listen to what is making her feel so disconnected from the students. Maybe consider a change of school? All schools are different and she might simply not click with her current one. what were her interests at home - any chance of connecting to groups locally in QLD? (Tho im sure youve probably tried this) good luck with it all. Teen years arent easy. Ali

Spangley - I'd say it's a mixture. It's not Melbourne. if you are going to live anywhere, it's about the best place to be. May not be as hot a Sydney (tho 44C is Feb/Mar is pretty insane) but the four seasons are great and Melbourne has easily as vibrant a life as Sydney for less cost. Isolation from european/uk familiarity and lack of culture feature high. Definitely many europeans get quite bored here, after the novelty of going to the beach again and again and again and again wears off.

My husband keeps putting doomsday programmes on telly, doesn't help. Saw a report that said we are all in the poo if it mutates to airborne. At some stage just as it mutated from bushmeat to humans, it'll mutate from fluids to airborne. The more people who get the virus the bigger the biological/genetic probability that it will. So we don't want figure to triple anytime before they find an anti-viral antidote.

Utilities are dearer. Especially electricity.

Chipvan - We are on high alert here. Im a teacher and we have had to read out directives to the kids. Most Australians live in metropolitan areas and there are suburbs that contain pockets of fundamentalists, just like say London, Birmingham, Leeds. These nutters are neither religious nor are they normal. As i said on another thread, Islamic State ( aka ISIL aka ISIS) are as un-moslem, as KKK are un-christian. They masquerade as believers but the reality is that they are brutal power-hungry thugs operating all over the western world. I dont think you'd be any more or less safe in Oz or UK. Plus Tony Abbott is truly a mouthy clueless idiot who is likely to drop Oz in even more poo by the things he says and does in the global arena, trying to get voters here to see him as "strong".

Pumpkin I think you're right. It isn't awful here but a lot of potential emigrants from UK/Europe think this is dreamland. They talk about weather and beaches as if you'll be on permanent holiday. The reality is that you get up at 6.45 for work, sit at the computer or contact clients just like you did at home, go round supermarket, cook dinner, watch telly - just like at home. People who work outdoors tell me the heat from sat Dec till April is a real major problem. I see workers on sites burnt red and sweating. A lot of people find getting a DECENT job is hard, if you take anything, yes there's work. But you don't want to build up a solid career at home then come here to do something you'd not have looked at at home. It's easier to come here in 20-30s as you can build a life here. After that you just have too much to leave behind. We often feel caught in two lives: the real one in UK up to the age of 41. And the "bubble" here for 14 yrs. Blackbetty - we didn't want to stay longer than two years. We sold our Uk house and couldn't afford to move back from Oz two years later. We could now but our girls are mid 20s, settled and we don't want to leave them. At the moment they say we should go home if we are unhappy and say they'd be fine. I don't know if they would be fine with it if we actually got on the plane.