Calling those who have lived in Sydney for a few years

Dominiqueb · 07-01-2008, 10:38 AM

Hi all,
I am calling those of you who have lived in Sydney surrounds for a few years and can give me an idea of life now the honeymoon is over .............
I have lived in Perth with my Kiwi husband for 5 years and although the first 2 years were the hardest in terms of making friends and settling in, we were definately looking at life with rose coloured glasses. The things that niggled a little have now after 5 years started to really bug us and we are looking at moving to Sydney- (surrounds not city) or Melbourne (surrounds not city) so i was hoping to get some comments on general lifestyle from people in the same boat.
We are also interested to hear about the climate, Perth is very hot and is starting to get more humid. I hate humidity and have heard that in order to avoid it we should look at Woollongong and below, is that right?
I have also heard that Newcastle and surrounds ( which looked good on paper) is very damp.
We would prefer not to be more than 1.5 - 2 hours away from the city and i will need to find work so any guidance on nice suburbs would help. Something with a community spirit would be great and a good size shopping centre with coles/woollies plus all the usual chain stores and a good pub/bit of nightlife.
Also we have a big problem with flies in Perth and the increased humidity is bring more mosquito's does Sydney surrounds have any of these problems?
Is it fairly easy to integrate? We have no kids so even though i am pretty outgoing and friendly we struggled to make friends at first, it didn't help that we had an internet business so were not meeting people at work to start with, i will have to get a proper job in bought/sales ledger admin when i move.
Ok, i think that's all for now, i look forward to your replies.
Dominique :)

JRaj · 07-01-2008, 11:32 AM

Sydney is not perfect by all means. It's expensive, a rat race in a lot of ways and yes we have flies most of the time.

What are you main gripes regarding Perth?

Dominiqueb · 08-01-2008, 01:41 AM

Hi JRaj,
Main gripes with Perth are:
Too isolated
House prices have soared and unless you are in mining/resources wages haven't changed.
It's always been hot and we have always struggled with that but it has got hotter and whereas it used to be dry heat it's getting more humid which we hate, we are looking for a something closer to a temperate climate if poss. (i know we are asking a lot .............)
We find Perth boring, it's great if you love the beach or water but other than that entertainment is limited, once you've done everything been everywhere there's no reason to do it again or go back there, because it wasn't that great the first time.
There's no decent nightlife unless you are 18-25..............
The pubs here are nothing like in the UK, they are too big and impersonal, no sense of community and full of 18-25 year olds.
The Freemantle doctor (afternoon see breeze) is great it cools us down in the afternoon when it comes in but Perth is very windy i think the 3rd windiest city in the world, which does interfere with a lot of the outdoor lifestyle and is just a nuisance, my husband hates it because he has to vacuum up the leaves too much!!! I can understand that - i hate vacuuming to!!!
Shopping here is not great, everything is spread out so you could spend a lot of time travelling to different suburbs to get stuff, the fruit and veg is not great you buy fruit one day and it's off the next, apples are especially bad i think we export all the good stuff and the apples we get are what have been in storage for months and are all flowery. They do have some nice clothes but a lot of the shops carry the same stock and are more aimed to the younger market, i am 42 now and although i still want to dress nicely i don't need to follow fashion and try and squeeze myself into things that are inappropriate and i am a size 10/12 a lot of people i know who are my age and bigger have real problems finding clothes. Also shops are often out of stock of things and you have to wait for them to get them from the eastern states which can take weeks. They don't seem to have heard of stock control here. The general work attitude is a bit too laid back and couldn't care less, customer service is generally pretty poor.
In business things again happen too slowly, it used to drive me nuts when i first got here i would get really frustrated and felt i was surrounded by imbeciles but i have accepted it's just the Perth way and have adjusted it still frustrates me but i don't get so wound up about it now............
Well i think that's it, i don't want to sound like i am slagging Perth off there are a lot of Poms here who love it it's just not the right place or pace for us.

Stuju · 08-01-2008, 03:25 AM

Hi Dominique
Sydney is great - you could also consider the Central Coast,
we live in Terrigal its great here and have the biggest shopping center on the coast here only 6mins car drive away.
see Erina Fair

my hubby drives to Sydney most days for work and depending where he is going in Sydney takes hime 1.5 to 2 hours.

Hope yiou find somewhere that you enjoy,
best wishes
gizmo
p.s. my oldest daughter is a dominique - dont hear the name much do ya

mutikonka · 08-01-2008, 11:26 AM

Been in Sydney for seven years so the honeymoon is definitely over. Just come back from an overseas trip and Sydney at first sight seems impersonal and a bit of an ethnic melting pot [not to mention expensive]. Still, there's always plenty to do and lots of interesting shops, restaurants. If work allowed I would probably choose Melbourne over Sydney. I think the people in Melbourne are more "European" in outlook and can actually make real conversation and not just talk about house prices.

Dominiqueb · 09-01-2008, 10:45 AM

Hi Gizmo,
Terrigal looks good, we will check it out when we come over to have a look.
You are right about the name, there are a lot of male Dominics but i have yet to meet another Dominique.
Cheers

Dominiqueb · 09-01-2008, 10:49 AM

Hi,
thanks for the feedback, we will go and have a look round Sydney and Melbourne as soon as we can at this stage they are both level as i like and dislike things i have heard about both of them.
I said to my husband at the end of the day until you live and work somewhere fulltime you really don't know what it's like but it's great to get feedback from people who are doing just that to highlight potential problems/gripes.
Cheers

gymtastic · 10-01-2008, 03:15 AM

Hi To You My Name Is Debs And Emigrated Here Last Jan To Marry My Long Term Oz Partner ..having All Same Probs As You ..we Live In Cmpbelltown ..yep Wollongong Gd Nice Place ..if You Want To Be Nr City Strathfield Is Nice ..houses 545,and Bit Below ,thats 20 Mins To City Or Less Were We Are Is 40 Mins ..its Ok Not Nr Beach Thou Mmmmmmmmm Sad ..not Sure Ozzis Know Wot Nite Life Or Bars Are In Suberbs ..only Found Few In My Area And Couple Gd Pubs ..people Ok Here Joined Real Good Gym In Campbelltown So So Friendly And Has Made Me Feel Lots At Home ..as For Job Front Mmmm Still Looking Have Been Told City Is Best Place To Work ..but All That Travelling Mmm Na ..anyways Hope You Find Sum Where Soon ..ps Narellan Is Nice Round Here As Is Camden ..but Not Sure On Nite Life ..wooli Is Bout Hr An Bit From City ..take Care Debs In Campbelltown....nsw...ps The Shops Here Very Gd 2 Gd Shoppin Malls ..and Lots Choice On Woolies An Coles ..ps We Have No Children Either ..they All Grown Up ..we In Our Late 40,s Ye Ha

skippy · 10-01-2008, 01:33 PM

Wollongong is the main city in the Illawarra region, the farthest place to the beach in this area is 20 minutes, just over an hour to Sydney, so we are in a good position, this is a great area for young families and old farts like me, we have been here 38 years now & wouldn't move anywhere else, there are many clubs & a couple of night clubs in the Gong for people who don't want to stay home in the evenings.
Sydney never sleeps, so you have the choice of the beautiful coastline & environment of the Illawarra, or you can pay the big bucks to live in the Harbour city, I have posted pics of this area on the Sydney suburbs thread, from what I've heard, Melbourne is the place for nightlife & shopping, but that is only earsay.

koala12 · 06-02-2008, 04:56 AM

Hi Dominique
I've been living in Sydney now for 17 months so I guess the honeymoon period is over...but I'm still in love with it!!! It does get rather humid here sometimes and there are flies but I guess that's the price to pay for living in a hot country! On the good side, we live 10 minutes from the nearest beach, 15-20 minutes from the City so best of both worlds and I love the fact that there is always so much to see and do here. All of the suburbs have big shopping centres where you can get everything you need and there are also lots of other shops dotted around too. Plenty of parks and open spaces and fresh air.....
Hope this helps
Karen