The Hunter Valley - Singleton area

[the_zings]

Hello again! Well it's all change - looks like we are now heading to The Hunter Valley and not Canberra after all! So, can anyone give me any info on the region. DH will be working in Singleton so we will be looking to live somewhere commutable to there. What is the climate like in that area? Warmer than Canberra in winter I expect....?? Where are the nicer towns/areas? We have two small children so any advice on schools would be handy too.

Soooo excited as our permanent residence visa was approved today!!!!!

Any info gratefully received

[Jaynie]

Congratulations on getting your Visa, glad you chose Hunter Valley over Canberra, (we were in ACT the other week and it is so dry and barren) the Hunter is famous for it's vineyards, beautiful area, nearest big city will be Newcastle, nice beach areas will be Port Stephens, it depends on how long you wish to commute to work for, I would suggest renting first, check out the area really well before buying anything. It gets quite cold in Winter, but the days are lovely. (having said that we have had rain for the last 2 weeks and it's driving me NUTS!).

I Live on Central Coast and frequently visit rellies in Nelson Bay, it is a lovely part of the world to come to, have been here for 15yrs and would not go back to UK to live. Sorry I can't help you on schools, a lot of people pay to have their children educated in Catholic Schools, although we sent our Daughter to State school and she came out alright!

I think you will be pleased you decided to migrate, my only advice would be to make lots of friends and don't just stick to the English people, all our mates are Aussies and we have a great relationship with them.

Any other questions you would like to ask just ask them I will see if I can help.

Good Luck

Jaynie

[Mark and Ginny]

Congratulations on the visa Guys!
We too are looking to hopefully move to the Newcastle/Hunter area but are only just submitting our visa app so will probably be quite some time yet. Have also considered Lake Macquarie area i.e Belmont/Swansea. We have a five yr old girl so also need somewhere family friendly and as you say any help on these areas would be greatly appreciated. By the way what is your oh's occupation?
Thanks to Jaynie also for above post have read a couple of your other posts and you always seem very positive about the big moves for everyone so thanks for the encouragement.
Mark and Ginny

[the_zings]

Thanks guys! OH is military. Been looking at some real estate sites in HV and so far it seems very affordable. Been in talks with the Embassy today and we fly out on 29 Aug!!!!