Anywhere like Surrey near Sydney?

Hi all I'm new here :smile:

my husband got an opportunity to work for a company in Sydney however the work will be remote except for a few times a month where he may need to go into the office for meetings otherwise he can work from home.

We currently live in Reigate, Surrey and love it. Will be renting out our house for the few years we are away. I have a 2 year old daughter so school districts are not urgent but good daycares and preschools as I think we will be there for a couple of years.

I'm not super keen to live in Sydney considering property prices are crazy and it's so crazy busy. Is there a town like Reigate in an area like Surrey which would be within commuting distance of Sydney so my husband can commute when needed? Well not really commute he would only need to go for a day. We are currently 20miles from London so it works out well when we need to go in for something.

Thank you! This forum is amazing. So much good info :ssign19:

Different style of thing really. There are country towns in the sort of travelling time where you can go in occasionally.

Would be tempted to say look at places in the Blue Mountains, places in Wolondilly shire like Picton and Camden, or down in the Southern Highlands like Bowral. Coastal options also possible in the Illawarra (around Wollongong) or Central Coast north of the Hawkesbury river, although that's a tad suburban

All of these places cheaper than Sydney proper and really quite nice. All of them also 2 hours or so to the city, which makes them out of reach for a daily commute but OK on an infrequent basis

Different style of thing really. There are country towns in the sort of travelling time where you can go in occasionally.

 

Would be tempted to say look at places in the Blue Mountains, places in Wolondilly shire like Picton and Camden, or down in the Southern Highlands like Bowral. Coastal options also possible in the Illawarra (around Wollongong) or Central Coast north of the Hawkesbury river, although that's a tad suburban

 

All of these places cheaper than Sydney proper and really quite nice. All of them also 2 hours or so to the city, which makes them out of reach for a daily commute but OK on an infrequent basis

Thank you so much! What a shame there is nothing like it. I'm seeing Australia is more under developed than England and I will miss the convenience and beautiful country side.

Well, things are just.....different

We're actually not that badly served around Sydney having some places that feel like proper towns within distance. It's probably a product of being one of the longest settled areas of the continent. Some places that look like country towns on the map feel more like suburbs in the bush than "proper" towns, if you see what I mean, although the latter definitely do exist.

As ever around Sydney, budget is the largest driver. I just did a quick search on Domain.com.au for some of the areas I dashed off earlier. Nice looking 3 or 4 bed fairly simple houses in good repair look to be in the region of $500-$600pw in Picton, Camden, Springwood (a Blue Mountains town). Coastal places are more expensive, add $100-$150 to that.

There is loads of beautiful countryside here though, don't worry about that.

Blue mountains near Springwood

Razorback hills near Camden/Picton in Macarthur country

Southern Highlands near Bowral

Coast near Austinmer, Illawarra

Different style of thing really. There are country towns in the sort of travelling time where you can go in occasionally.

 

Would be tempted to say look at places in the Blue Mountains, places in Wolondilly shire like Picton and Camden, or down in the Southern Highlands like Bowral. Coastal options also possible in the Illawarra (around Wollongong) or Central Coast north of the Hawkesbury river, although that's a tad suburban

 

All of these places cheaper than Sydney proper and really quite nice. All of them also 2 hours or so to the city, which makes them out of reach for a daily commute but OK on an infrequent basis

Sydney? Underdeveloped? That's a new one. I think most of the places people live ( i.e. the coastal fringes ) are way over- developed and getting a heap worse.

Thank you so much! What a shame there is nothing like it. I'm seeing Australia is more under developed than England and I will miss the convenience and beautiful country side.

Not sure what you mean by this statement but you are moving to a foreign country, in many ways as foreign to England as France or Greece or somewhere, you are going to find a lot of things very different. If you are looking for things to be the same as England then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Thank you so much! What a shame there is nothing like it. I'm seeing Australia is more under developed than England and I will miss the convenience and beautiful country side.

I think you are in for a nice surprise. Sydney is one of the most up to date and modern looking Cities in the World. No shortage of massive National Parks close by and the added advantage of good weather, a glorious coastline and beaches galore.

I would give serious thought to Manly.

Thank you so much! What a shame there is nothing like it. I'm seeing Australia is more under developed than England and I will miss the convenience and beautiful country side.

This made me chuckle. The climate in NSW is very different to the climate in SE England, as such going to provide very different landscapes. There are many parts of NSW which are will take your breath away, like some parts of SE England.

Tasmania or parts of Victoria, cannot comment on ACT maybe provide that English country side. More so NZ.

Your hubby has a good opportunity which many people do not get. If he works from home and only goes into the office rarely, then that is a real bonus. You can find a nice location as long as he is prepared for the long commute the odd day he has to go in.

My best advice work out or estimate how many of the month he has or potentially has to go in, ask him how long he would be prepared to commute. Then look at areas that has reasonable access to a train and take it from there.

4 hours commute for a few days a month, is not that bad if you can find a nice location to live in and probably as a bonus the rental costs will be far cheaper and you can get a bigger property.

PS Northshorepom, awesome pictures

Attaching my map of Sydney & surrounds areas (it helps to try and orient yourself to where people are talking about I think). Everything on here that's in green is essentially forest wilderness - you can see how much of that there is. Everything inside the thick red line would generally be considered as part of "Sydney". If you want to stay out of the city conurbation then that's what you need to be outside. Parts of the Central Coast are as built up, suburban and busy as the city though to be honest.

Even in Sydney, though, there is bush all over the place and many parks. It's MUCH greener than people think it will be, and it sprawls a lot. Doesn't feel like London at all. There are plenty of pockets inside that red line that feel really pretty rural. Obviously the most built up areas are the ones closest to the CBD, which sits where the word "Sydney" is on this map. Outer parts of the Shire, the Hills and so on are pretty country-ish although there are no small/country towns here

Agree with poster above that being able to commute into the city a handful of times a month would be luxury. If I had that luxury, I'd like to live up the northern end of the Northern beaches if I had the money, or possibly the Illawarra coast if I didn't. But then I like the sea, and the only reason I don't live near it now is because a short and easy commute with rail lines is more important to me. If I went to live "country" I'd be looking Blue Mountains probably - high enough to avoid the hottest summer weather whereas down on the plains inland it gets pretty hot

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NSWareas.pdf

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Thank you so much! What a shame there is nothing like it. I'm seeing Australia is more under developed than England and I will miss the convenience and beautiful country side.

LOL London has about 8 million people living in around 1500 sq Km. Sydney had 5 million in an area of 12300 sq km. Sydney is about 9 times bigger. I'm sure the motorways are just as clogged as the M25 and house prices are just as high as London if not higher.

Hardly undeveloped.

Thank you for the gorgeous pictures. I don't mean Sydney is underdeveloped obviously , I actually did live there when I was in my 20's on a work visa for a few years. It was great. I remember going to Newcastle and not thinking much of it but I'm sure things have changed in ten years. I was just saying that places outside of the city are more under developed than they are in England. Like you could easily live in Surrey and commute to London but I'm not seeing much of that in Sydney and I remember public transport being shocking although I'm sure it has improved.

LOL London has about 8 million people living in around 1500 sq Km. Sydney had 5 million in an area of 12300 sq km. Sydney is about 9 times bigger. I'm sure the motorways are just as clogged as the M25 and house prices are just as high as London if not higher.

 

Hardly undeveloped.

i wasn't talking about Sydney city or surrounds but rather cities or towns out of Sydney like Newcastle or Wollongong which from what my husbands colleagues say would be a hard commute from Sydney.

From what I see property prices in Sydney even 40kms out are more than London. But it's different as a lot of my new neighbours have come to Surrey from London and can still do their jobs

PS Northshorepom, awesome pictures

Not my pics, I'm just ripping them from Google to give a feel

Closest thing I've seen to English countryside round these parts (more so than NZ IMO) is down round Kiama/Berry in the Shoalhaven area - far south end of my map

Thank you for the gorgeous pictures. I don't mean Sydney is underdeveloped obviously , I actually did live there when I was in my 20's on a work visa for a few years. It was great. I remember going to Newcastle and not thinking much of it but I'm sure things have changed in ten years. I was just saying that places outside of the city are more under developed than they are in England. Like you could easily live in Surrey and commute to London but I'm not seeing much of that in Sydney and I remember public transport being shocking although I'm sure it has improved.

PT has got better but it has a way to go. Railways are fine if you're on them or they are convenient. Ref my map, there are railways through the Blue Mountains to Lithgow, through Macarthur and the Southern Highlands towards Canberra, to the Central Coast and to Illawarra. But they're all pretty slow, in the region of 2 hours. Which makes them occasional commute territory

Agree that places outside the city are much less developed than in the UK. Function of geography (lots more steep, forested terrain here), history (not been settled for centuries) and population density. That's just NSW for you. But as I said, there are some "real town" feeling places that are within reach of this city. Probably nothing like Surrey but plenty of good options

Not my pics, I'm just ripping them from Google to give a feel

 

Closest thing I've seen to English countryside round these parts (more so than NZ IMO) is down round Kiama/Berry in the Shoalhaven area - far south end of my map

 

 

Not bothered where you got them from, still very awesome pictures. After not traveling out to the country side here for a while, really reminds you of how many beautiful places can be found in such a short distance.

i wasn't talking about Sydney city or surrounds but rather cities or towns out of Sydney like Newcastle or Wollongong which from what my husbands colleagues say would be a hard commute from Sydney.

From what I see property prices in Sydney even 40kms out are more than London. But it's different as a lot of my new neighbours have come to Surrey from London and can still do their jobs

Agreed, but if your hubby is only commuting a few days a month, then the commute negates the overall benefits. Sydney has become one of the main immigration cities in Australia, pushed up house prices. Developers going mad to build new apartments. The key thing that has not happened is investment in infrastructure and the city is busting at the seems. The same I think can be said for Melbourne and probably a lot of other cities across the planet.

I personally find some of the outer suburbs, in Melbourne that is, bland. I could be in some part of out back NA as it is very Americanised. But some of the countryside can be so beautiful, same with any country, if you are prepared to take the time over the weekend for short trips.

Are you coming on a view to emigrate or just stay for a certain period of time for the work commitments. If the latter, come and enjoy the new lifestyle. If the former, well I cannot answer that.

Another thing while I remember, PT is awesome in SE England, London and I think the train network in the UK is great. You will hard pushed to find anything similar in Australia. Parts are good but because of the size of the country compared to the UK, it cannot compete. Too costly I imagine.

Thank you so much! What a shame there is nothing like it. I'm seeing Australia is more under developed than England and I will miss the convenience and beautiful country side.

It isn't a shame and Australia is not under developed! There are of course huge swathes of Australia not populated, but the populated areas are as developed as anywhere in the UK.

Sydney CBD is very small as cities go and that is the only bit of Sydney that will feel like a city. Outside the CBD is just sprawls and sprawls, suburbs roll into one. Many of them are green and quiet, others have a bustling beach cafe culture. If you go further afield you can certainly save on housing costs, but I think you need to be a good 1.5-2 hours outside the CBD before you will see a notable drop in prices.

I am perplexed by the comment that you will miss the convenience and beautiful countryside tbh. Correct Aistralia is not the same as UK, but isn't travel and living overseas about new experiences.

We currently live in Reigate, Surrey and love it.

I am unfamiliar with this area. Well never actually heard of Reigate.

Why do you love it so much?

I have lived in many different Sydney suburbs. So if you can tell me what Reigate is like, I may be able to advise further.

But depending on your income and circumstances, and given your husband can work from home, I would suggest some lovely suitable commuting areas like:

Leura - Blue Mountains

Church Point - Upper Northern Beaches

Macmasters Beach - Central Coast

Kangaroo Valley – Southern Highlands

Scotland Island - Upper Northern Beaches (boat access only)

Berowra Waters - Upper North Shore (boat access only)

All these places are commutable. But they also have a good community, who are welcoming to newcomers. And all of them are utterly lovely places to live in or near Sydney.

I will miss the beautiful country side.

All of the places I suggested are stunningly beautiful.

The Blue Mountains are beautiful. Especially Leura township and surrounds. Bushwalking, valleys and waterfalls on your doorstep.

Church Point is situated surround by National Park on the edge of Pittwater, and the views are breathtaking. Paddleboarding at sunrise with dolphins jumping all around - is a great way to start your day before driving into the office.

Macmasters Beach is lovely.

Kangaroo Valley has gorgeous countryside, the views are stunning. And the Southern Highlands area is very much quaintly British. If you miss the British countryside, then you will feel at home around Bowral.

Scotland Island and Berowra Waters are delightful. Not as convenient as the other places sure, but lovely places to live just the same.

I am unfamiliar with this area. Well never actually heard of Reigate.

 

Why do you love it so much?

 

I have lived in many different Sydney suburbs. So if you can tell me what Reigate is like, I may be able to advise further.

 

But depending on your income and circumstances, and given your husband can work from home, I would suggest some lovely suitable commuting areas like:

 

Leura - Blue Mountains

 

Church Point - Upper Northern Beaches

 

Macmasters Beach - Central Coast

 

Kangaroo Valley – Southern Highlands

 

Scotland Island - Upper Northern Beaches (boat access only)

 

Berowra Waters - Upper North Shore (boat access only)

 

All these places are commutable. But they also have a good community, who are welcoming to newcomers. And all of them are utterly lovely places to live in or near Sydney.