Gungahlin is where the new houses are being built. Amaroo and Gold Ck schools serve the area you mentioned. Amaroo is a K - 10 school and Gold Ck is a K - 10 on a split campus but the primary school K -5 shares facilities with a catholic school on the same site.
All depends on where you will be working and what you want from a home as to where you will want to live. Generally you get more bang for your buck the further out from the town centres you move. A grotty little 3 bed weatherboard on 1/4 acre block in Ainslie like mine will buy you a 4 bed ensuite with family room on a block half the size out in Harrison or Banks. Mind you, you will also likely be travelling half an hour to get to work from the outer suburbs. There are some suburbs to be avoided at all costs - will happily pm you with them if you want.
A good resource for real estate is
allhomes.com.au & allclassifieds.com.au - they also do rentals. Have a look then on Google earth to see what the place looks like on the ground.
As for short term rentals - have a look at
Australian Holiday Accommodation, All states, All regions otherwise, hotels get a bit costly for a few weeks' stay.
