Moving to Canberra in 2015 thread

Hi there, the ACT board is pretty inactive at the moment, so I thought I would see if I could get a few posts on the go for people like us who are moving to Canberra in 2015 who have ACT-specific questions about their upcoming move, and for those already in Canberra interested in providing guidance, advice and support.

INTRO:

We're a family of four, with two twin 18-month-olds, who are moving sometime in May 2015 from Edinburgh. My wife (who is English) has got a job with a uni in town, and I (American/Brit) am going to be watching the kids full time at first before hopefully finding some political/third sector work in policy/comms 2 days a week, which is the arrangement I've got now.

MOVING WHERE?:

Right now looking at Inner North/South - Belconnen, Ainsle, Dickson, Red Hill. Primarily interested in places close to wife's work, with decent restaurants, coffee shops, places for little ones to play - both a house with a yard and public playgrounds/indoor softplays. From research, inner north seems a bit more colourful, inner south a bit older. Have no idea if that's a fair assessment.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

Best record stores?

Places to see local bands?

Where to watch Scottish footie?

Where to watch American football?

Anyone know of a fiddle society?

Any 'new to town/expats social groups?

Good softplays?

First 'wow, we're not in the UK anymore' experience?

Anyway, hopefully this will generate a few responses and a few new people posting!

Cheers

Mike

I've been waiting for local Canberrans to answer....I'm surprised no one has stopped by yet. Hopefully this will bump your posting up.

However, I am wondering what you mean by "Scottish footie" - do you mean Association football, usually called "soccer" here?

Hi there, the ACT board is pretty inactive at the moment, so I thought I would see if I could get a few posts on the go for people like us who are moving to Canberra in 2015 who have ACT-specific questions about their upcoming move, and for those already in Canberra interested in providing guidance, advice and support.

 

INTRO:

We're a family of four, with two twin 18-month-olds, who are moving sometime in May 2015 from Edinburgh. My wife (who is English) has got a job with a uni in town, and I (American/Brit) am going to be watching the kids full time at first before hopefully finding some political/third sector work in policy/comms 2 days a week, which is the arrangement I've got now.

 

MOVING WHERE?:

Right now looking at Inner North/South - Belconnen, Ainsle, Dickson, Red Hill. Primarily interested in places close to wife's work, with decent restaurants, coffee shops, places for little ones to play - both a house with a yard and public playgrounds/indoor softplays. From research, inner north seems a bit more colourful, inner south a bit older. Have no idea if that's a fair assessment.

 

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

Best record stores?

Places to see local bands?

Where to watch Scottish footie?

Where to watch American football?

Anyone know of a fiddle society?

Any 'new to town/expats social groups?

Good softplays?

First 'wow, we're not in the UK anymore' experience?

 

Anyway, hopefully this will generate a few responses and a few new people posting!

Cheers

Mike

Best record stores? I like JB Hi Fi

Places to see local bands? ANU Union Bar and Trinity Bar in Dickson

Where to watch Scottish footie? if you mean soccer you can watch local games at most ovals in winter - google ACT Soccer for info

Where to watch American football? if you mean Gridiron there are two local teams I think - google ACT Gridiron for info

Anyone know of a fiddle society? There is one called the Canberra Scottish Fiddlers (might be others but doubt it)

Any 'new to town/expats social groups? There are some Poms on here who get together now and then but you could also google Canberra Connect to find general social event for people wanting to meet new people and what's going on around town.

Good softplays? I don't have small children but have seen them at most shopping centres - google soft plays in Canberra. I can see the attraction if you want to break up a shopping trip for the kids but even in winter the days in Canberra are usually sunny and perfect for kids to play outside in the extensive network of parks and playgrounds throughout Canberra.

First 'wow, we're not in the UK anymore' experience? I'm an Aussie

Best record stores? Have to agree about JB Hi-Fi, if you're looking for vinyl I'm not too sure.

Places to see local bands? Not sure if I'm honest

Where to watch Scottish footie? Most clubs (no pubs round here!) will show football and many will happily change channels. Whilst I've never been in the Burns club (Scottish orientated club) near Tuggeranong may be a good bet.

Where to watch American football? Again, clubs will show games if you ask them, all games happen in the morning here due to time differences. Some games are on Free-to-Air TV on 7Mate I think whilst others are on ESPN on FoxTel/FetchTV

Anyone know of a fiddle society? No, sorry

Any 'new to town/expats social groups? Not that I know of but feel free to touch base with me when you land we can meet up

Good softplays? My daughter isn't quite at that age yet but some Malls have kiddie areas

First 'wow, we're not in the UK anymore' experience? When it hit 40+ for three days straight in the summer.

Best record stores? No idea since Abels closed down - is Landspeed records in Civic still there?

Places to see local bands? All over the place. I know that the Iron Bar at the old Goolabri resort is trying to get a rep for hosting local bands but, honestly, all over the place!

Where to watch Scottish footie? No idea, never watched it but there are pubs and sports bars with big screens

Where to watch American football? Ditto

Anyone know of a fiddle society? No but there are plenty of fiddlers in local bands. If you trot off to the Canberra Folk Festival at Easter you will get to participate in some excellent jam sessions and make new local connections.

Any 'new to town/expats social groups? No idea, never sought them out, I just played with the natives. Heck, I almost was a native!

Good soft-plays? They weren't around when my kids were little but I vaguely remember one down in Tuggeranong which looked OK. Google is probably your friend here.

First 'wow, we're not in the UK anymore' experience? It was a very very long time ago so I've got no recollection beyond my utter astonishment that you didn't need to keep pumping coins into the phone box - 20c did it all! But that was a very long time ago before mobile phones ruled the world! Oh yes and a WTH is that? When I saw the Black Mountain Tower (it hadn't been there when I'd been there before!)

The place to go to get a feel for Canberra before you arrive is http://the-riotact.com. You will find all sorts of snippets of information there and someone will know the answer to where you might find Scottish football. BTW Footie in Canberra doesn't mean soccer!

i can thoroughly recommend Ainslie - it pretty much ticks all your boxes for place to live except for indoor soft play but you'll probably find you won't need that. From North Ainslie it's only a 30-40 minute walk into town, 10 mins to Dickson. It's all good but the houses may be crap or highly expensive.

I've just come back from Canberra after a short stay. I considered moving there before settling on Brisbane so wondered how I would like it. Initial impressions:

1) Affluence - where are the poor people? Just stayed around the CBD and not at weekend but restaurants were jam packed - even on a Tuesday night

2) Friendliness - from the impromptu tour in the cab from the airport to chatting at the bus stop - people seemed so friendly

3) Weather - where wouldn't be better than Brisbane at this time of year? Hot during the day and lovely and cool at night!

4) Space. Everywhere - no crowds at major attractions. Whole rooms at National Gallery to myself - the only time I've been in a quieter airport was catching a plane from Lands End to Isles of Scilly

5) Size - seemed a tidy city but pretty small. Low rise buildings give a pleasant feel to the city

6) Traffic. No traffic jams......

7) Food - Yum - Only ate out at a few restaurants (including Jamie's Italian) - I'd happily return for the eating alone!

So lucky people, headed for Canberra!

I've just come back from Canberra after a short stay. I considered moving there before settling on Brisbane so wondered how I would like it. Initial impressions:

1) Affluence - where are the poor people? Just stayed around the CBD and not at weekend but restaurants were jam packed - even on a Tuesday night

2) Friendliness - from the impromptu tour in the cab from the airport to chatting at the bus stop - people seemed so friendly

3) Weather - where wouldn't be better than Brisbane at this time of year? Hot during the day and lovely and cool at night!

4) Space. Everywhere - no crowds at major attractions. Whole rooms at National Gallery to myself - the only time I've been in a quieter airport was catching a plane from Lands End to Isles of Scilly

5) Size - seemed a tidy city but pretty small. Low rise buildings give a pleasant feel to the city

6) Traffic. No traffic jams......

7) Food - Yum - Only ate out at a few restaurants (including Jamie's Italian) - I'd happily return for the eating alone!

 

So lucky people, headed for Canberra!

Glad you liked it!

The poor people hide - lots of Housing Commission flats just on the edge of Civic in Braddon - can be pretty rough. Check out the Early Morning Centre in Northborne Ave every morning, they tend to emerge for the free nosh.

Traffic - yeah well, obviously you didn't hit the right places at the right time! There can be some frustrating jams in the rush hours and get a bingle on the Tuggeranong Parkway and you could be there for hours.

Food definitely good but Jamie's Italian wouldn't be in my top ten!

The space is impressive isn't it? Next time you go, do a diversion up Mt Ainslie and check out what Canberra actually looks like!

If you have to live anywhere in Aus you could do much worse than Canberra!

Hi Mike,

I'm afraid I know nothing about football (of any sort) or much about local bands as I don't get out much these days. However, I do know a fair bit about twins as I have a set myself!

I highly recommend connecting with Canberra and Region Multiple Birth Association, who have quite an active social group. It's a good way to meet people and there are always people moving to and from Canberra. I'll PM you with some details. Alternatively MeetUp is another good way to find groups of people with similar interests.

Playgrounds:

Lots of playgrounds in most of the local and district parks, but be aware that nearly all Canberra playgrounds are not fenced and in the case of the district parks, tend to be near large bodies of water. The newest playground however is fully fenced and is called Boundless http://www.boundlesscanberra.org.au/. I haven't been myself yet but it is very popular from what I've heard and has been a great community project. It is near the Carillion, opposite Russell, parking is limited but you can park at Russell and walk across the bridge to the park.

Google will give you articles and reviews about Canberra playgrounds, for example

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/playgrounds-lure-little-superheroes-20130714-2pyez.html

Softplay:

I'd probably recommend Lollipops at Majura Park for the indoor softplay, solely because they offer a discount to multiple birth families so you will find it cost effective. There is also....

Kid City at Mitchell

Lets Play at Nicholls

Monkey Mania at DFO

I highly rate "Play Up", which is the permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Democracy...you can enter for a gold coin donation pretty much. Suitable for children your age as plenty of building blocks and drawing etc. It's excellent!

http://moadoph.gov.au/exhibitions/play-up/

Canberra is a great place for young families and small children.

Cheers

Janet

 

 

 

 

Best record stores? I like JB Hi Fi

 

Places to see local bands? ANU Union Bar and Trinity Bar in Dickson

 

Where to watch Scottish footie? if you mean soccer you can watch local games at most ovals in winter - google ACT Soccer for info

 

Where to watch American football? if you mean Gridiron there are two local teams I think - google ACT Gridiron for info

 

Anyone know of a fiddle society? There is one called the Canberra Scottish Fiddlers (might be others but doubt it)

 

Any 'new to town/expats social groups? There are some Poms on here who get together now and then but you could also google Canberra Connect to find general social event for people wanting to meet new people and what's going on around town.

 

Good softplays? I don't have small children but have seen them at most shopping centres - google soft plays in Canberra. I can see the attraction if you want to break up a shopping trip for the kids but even in winter the days in Canberra are usually sunny and perfect for kids to play outside in the extensive network of parks and playgrounds throughout Canberra.

 

First 'wow, we're not in the UK anymore' experience? I'm an Aussie

Thanks Freckleface, appreciate the response. Of course, footie would be Aussie rules wouldn't it. Wife will have a look at Scottish fiddlers club as well.

Best record stores? Have to agree about JB Hi-Fi, if you're looking for vinyl I'm not too sure.

Places to see local bands? Not sure if I'm honest

Where to watch Scottish footie? Most clubs (no pubs round here!) will show football and many will happily change channels. Whilst I've never been in the Burns club (Scottish orientated club) near Tuggeranong may be a good bet.

Where to watch American football? Again, clubs will show games if you ask them, all games happen in the morning here due to time differences. Some games are on Free-to-Air TV on 7Mate I think whilst others are on ESPN on FoxTel/FetchTV

Anyone know of a fiddle society? No, sorry

Any 'new to town/expats social groups? Not that I know of but feel free to touch base with me when you land we can meet up

Good softplays? My daughter isn't quite at that age yet but some Malls have kiddie areas

First 'wow, we're not in the UK anymore' experience? When it hit 40+ for three days straight in the summer.

Thanks pntaylor for for the tips. 40+ days sounds good right about now.

Thanks Quoll and Jurls as well. Appreciate the children-related ideas especially and thoughts on ainsle!

Where to watch Scottish footie? if you mean soccer you can watch local games at most ovals in winter - google ACT Soccer for info

He doesn't want anything that good....

BeinSports, previously Setanta, show Scottish football including live matches via Foxtel (Sky). It's subscription though, $20 a month.

NFL is part of the Fox Sports package, lots of American sport on there and all the EPL matches overnight are live.

It's a bit weird watching the Sunday NFL game on a Monday morning though...at this time of year we're 16 hours ahead of the East Coast USA.

First 'wow, we're not in the UK anymore' experience?

 

Wait til you get in a car and observe the driving....

I bet it is, though an improvement in terms of all other usa sports in terms of 7pm kickoffs, tipoffs, first pitches. Thanks for heads up on sports package. Hard to decide if it's worth it due to a) middle of night games b) rubbish team I support (hibs)

You can book that channel on a monthly basis and cancel if you don't want to continue, so no minimum term.

The Foxtel package itself is a 1 yr contract initially, but the sport coverage would be very good for Americans, a lot of Aussies play over there so more basketball coverage than you got in the UK.

Local rugby is worth watching, quick and a very high standard if you go to the Brumbies. Lots of expats go, even those who didn't follow the more risk-averse Northern hemisphere style game.

I bet it is, though an improvement in terms of all other usa sports in terms of 7pm kickoffs, tipoffs, first pitches. Thanks for heads up on sports package. Hard to decide if it's worth it due to a) middle of night games b) rubbish team I support (hibs)

Most of the boxes you'll get will have PVR capabilities so you could record them, I back Morton myself North of the border so Hibees are not quite that rubbish

Sounds like a good plan. Is it right that UK-bought TVs don't work in Oz due to different format, so aren't worth bringing and getting a converter?

Why Morton? (for me Hibs was the first Scottish game I was brought to).

Random other questions (for you or anyone), is it possible/wise to open an oz bank acct before arriving.

And how does it take between signing a lease on a rental property and moving in. We'll want to look/find places on arrival, but can't move in until container full of stuff arrives. (Any recommendations/advice on removals and companies to use/avoid appreciated as well)

Sounds like a good plan. Is it right that UK-bought TVs don't work in Oz due to different format, so aren't worth bringing and getting a converter?

 

Why Morton? (for me Hibs was the first Scottish game I was brought to).

 

Random other questions (for you or anyone), is it possible/wise to open an oz bank acct before arriving.

 

And how does it take between signing a lease on a rental property and moving in. We'll want to look/find places on arrival, but can't move in until container full of stuff arrives. (Any recommendations/advice on removals and companies to use/avoid appreciated as well)

Hi, yes you can open an oz account before you arrive in Australia but you can only collect your cards in Australia. This shouldn't take too long to sort out

Thanks NeelD. Did you do this or just know that you can do it?

Thanks NeelD. Did you do this or just know that you can do it?

I'd buy a TV over here unless yours is pretty much new. TV's are not expensive here, so sell your own in the UK, use the money towards a new one. Your UK TV should still work in some format, but just have a search of the threads on here and see some of the questions and issues. We brought ours, it was OK for a few years but i'd avoid the hassle if i had to do it again. Plus it's good to switch on a TV once you get here and not have to wait a few months, helps you get settled in and integrated with local channels and news etc.

There's a NAB thread on this forum, have a read of that. You can open and deposit money into it, but the account isn't activated til you arrive in a branch over here and get your cards issued.

NAB in Canberra were excellent, well-practiced and they're also one of the better ones for online banking too.

Regarding leasing, (and it's a little different now that so many rentals are available http://www.allhomes.com.au ), you can pretty much move in as soon as you've signed the lease and paid the rental bond. We did that with no furniture because short-term accommodation was so expensive a few years ago. You can go to a camping shop and grab an airbed, camp chairs, cheap kettle, couple of saucepans...then they'll come in use for camping holidays later on. Gumtree is also pretty good for Canberra, lots of people moving in and out all the time.

Sounds like a good plan. Is it right that UK-bought TVs don't work in Oz due to different format, so aren't worth bringing and getting a converter?

 

Why Morton? (for me Hibs was the first Scottish game I was brought to).

 

Random other questions (for you or anyone), is it possible/wise to open an oz bank acct before arriving.

 

And how does it take between signing a lease on a rental property and moving in. We'll want to look/find places on arrival, but can't move in until container full of stuff arrives. (Any recommendations/advice on removals and companies to use/avoid appreciated as well)

Family live in Greenock and I was taken to a couple games when I was a wee lad so same reason as you really. TV should work just fine here, we brought ours over and it using the box we got for our TV provider had no issues though if I remember right if you plug the aerial straight in you may need to select German as the TV's audio language as Australia re-use the same code or something and that will make the audio work if it doesn't straight away. However, buying one over here is probably the best bet and saves you worrying about the TV getting damaged.

We opened an ANZ account a couple years before we moved out here so it's definitely possible with some banks specialising in migrant banking. When we moved here we just got some basic furniture from Freecycle/Gumtree/Savlos just to get by till our container arrived. We used Doree Bonner and couldn't have been happier with their service, all the best with the move

I'd buy a TV over here unless yours is pretty much new. TV's are not expensive here, so sell your own in the UK, use the money towards a new one. Your UK TV should still work in some format, but just have a search of the threads on here and see some of the questions and issues. We brought ours, it was OK for a few years but i'd avoid the hassle if i had to do it again. Plus it's good to switch on a TV once you get here and not have to wait a few months, helps you get settled in and integrated with local channels and news etc.

 

There's a NAB thread on this forum, have a read of that. You can open and deposit money into it, but the account isn't activated til you arrive in a branch over here and get your cards issued.

NAB in Canberra were excellent, well-practiced and they're also one of the better ones for online banking too.

 

Regarding leasing, (and it's a little different now that so many rentals are available www.allhomes.com.au ), you can pretty much move in as soon as you've signed the lease and paid the rental bond. We did that with no furniture because short-term accommodation was so expensive a few years ago. You can go to a camping shop and grab an airbed, camp chairs, cheap kettle, couple of saucepans...then they'll come in use for camping holidays later on. Gumtree is also pretty good for Canberra, lots of people moving in and out all the time.

Thanks for getting back with the advice Slean, very useful every one.

Family live in Greenock and I was taken to a couple games when I was a wee lad so same reason as you really. TV should work just fine here, we brought ours over and it using the box we got for our TV provider had no issues though if I remember right if you plug the aerial straight in you may need to select German as the TV's audio language as Australia re-use the same code or something and that will make the audio work if it doesn't straight away. However, buying one over here is probably the best bet and saves you worrying about the TV getting damaged.

 

We opened an ANZ account a couple years before we moved out here so it's definitely possible with some banks specialising in migrant banking. When we moved here we just got some basic furniture from Freecycle/Gumtree/Savlos just to get by till our container arrived. We used Doree Bonner and couldn't have been happier with their service, all the best with the move

Thanks, appreciate the advice, ended up applying with Westpac (less ethical issues than the others)- assume the big four all have plenty of ATMs in town.

Will have a look at Doree Bonner as well

Cheers!

Mike

One more for you....How long did it take to ship your household stuff, UK door to Canberra door, and did you ship it shared container or a full one? I hear 6-9 weeks for sole container and 8-12 for shared, but don't know if that is door to door in Canberra, or just time on the ship excluding customs/admin in Sydney.

Cheers!

That should be door to door, but it's an estimate. They can't control what customs do or if your container gets pulled for an inspection. This should only add on a few days though really.

Ours took 18 weeks in a shared. That's a long time, and it turned out that we'd left the UK before our container although we'd sent it off 4 weeks early to avoid that. This was with Allied Pickfords, who have a Sydney and Canberra branch so the same company can see it through from start to finish.

It was the UK end that held onto it, never did get an explanation, but generally a sole container will go on a schedule, a shared container has to wait until it's full so is variable. 18 weeks was taking the piss though.

What we found was that the shipping companies are a lot more attentive before they've secured your business, so it's worth doing the research and testing out the salesperson fully before you agree to anything; once they hand it to the administration side it's a whole different bunch of people you deal with.