Hiya Ange
It will all be garden toys that your Josh will want once he gets to Oz!! And of course he will be busy at the beach and swimming!! What a lovely life for him!
The reason we are prob going to choose Brisbane is that I have family there too, also it is the place my two boys want to live they are 13 and 15, they fell in love with Brisbane and obviously at there age (particularly the one thats nearly 16), I am happy if they are happy it's a big thing at 16 to move so if he fancies Brisbane then were all happy too! Also he wants to be a Marine Biologist or a Reptile Vet (whatever that called as I've forgotten) and we feel that possibly the opportunities for him will be better in Queensland area. The list is endless really as they have the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, the Gold Coast way they have the theme parks (which the boys love) and the Sunshine Coast is where I can see myself.
It's strange isn't it, you just get the feel for a place and ours was Brisbane and Adelaide. But in all fairness we was only in Melbourne for a couple of weeks so it probably has loads that we did not get an opportunity to see.
I hope you can find all the answers you are looking for.
Regards
p.s. if you want a good school (junior) my aunt works in a very good school that gets lots of funding it's a public school not private. Ile find out the name of the school and pm it to you, so at least you have something to look at
Hi Kdal,
thanks for all your help I really appreciate it! Your very lucky having visited Oz before at least you know what to expect. My OH has a friend living in Melbourne who is coming over to the UK in september so hopefully he will also be able to give us lots of help and advice. thanks again Ange
We live in the Eastern suburbs, a very family orientated area with good schools, shops, sporting facilities etc, about 40mins drive to the city but you would have to drive to get to a train which also takes about 30-40mins. It would be important to have a car in Oz, they are very car orientated and you may find it difficult without one, also you will not experience some of the most beautiful countryside that is just a bit inland and not on public transport links.
I wasn't very keen on Frankston when I went there. There are lots of lovely places nearby like Mornington and Mount Eliza but I don't know how you would get on without a car.
We chose the eastern suburbs for a number of reasons. We wanted to be close to the sea but not on it - we felt that we would get bored of going to the sea and we didn't want this to be the case. Also the beach towns have a lovely feel when it is warm and sunny, but like every town by the sea when it is grey and raining then it can become a bit depressing.
Houses by the sea but closer to the city are quite crammed in and very expensive so I guess it depends on your budget.
They are opening a new stretch of freeway which will link the Eastern suburbs with Frankston so it will only take us about 30mins to get to the beach instead of the hour it currently takes. 30 mins away is enough for us, we are about 1hr from Mount Baw Baw which is a small ski area and so we are happy with this area as you are within about 30-40mins drive of most things. Have you had a look at the report Where to Live in Melbourne. We found it very useful. If you want any help on areas I can let you know what I think, but the best thing is to have a good look around when you get here.
Hi Jo
OH does drive but it will be me taking Josh to school. Did have a few driving lessons a couple of years ago but I was a nervous wreck behind the wheel, I think I should consider taking them up again. Do you know anything about Balarat (don't know if that is the correct spelling) have read some good reports on the area. We don't want to live anywhere to crowded and don't mind not being right by the beach but we wouldn't want to be to isolated. It all depends really on where OH gets a job.
Just been reading this thread and finally I've found someone who has settled in the eastern suburbs.
Hubby and I are coming out for our reccie in a couple of weeks and are planning to take in many of the eastern suburbs: Ferny Creek, Upwey, Olinda etc and a few heading towards Mornington Pen.
Really like the look of most places through Dandenong ranges.
Where abouts have you settled and do you have any info/thoughts on these suburbs - would love to hear from you as everyone seems to be heading west and mornington.
Ang, Don't really know Ballarat (I think that's where you are on about), its to the west of the city and probably about an hour away. Have been twice, to the Soveriegn Hill Gold museum and stopped briefly in the town, which looked pretty and seemed quite large. Don't know about publlic transport there or anything else really. There was an article about a family which had settled in Ballarat in the Australian & New Zealand magazine which they sell in WHSmiths quite some time back, it might be worth trying to find that if you are considering it.
Carol, We are currently living in Doncaster East but will move out shortly in Park Orchards, which is an acreage area (in other words all properties have to have a minimum of an acre in certain parts and you cannot sell it off for other houses). We are still in quite a built up area though.
Olinda is beautiful, a bit touristy perhaps but a really lovely place and one of my favourite places to visit. It is quite small though so it depends on what you want and need. We needed to be close to good sporting facilities so we had to be closer to the city. Sassafrass is also lovely, just a short distance from Olinda, don't really know Ferney Creek and Upwey - sorry.
The one thing you have to be aware of in these areas though is the risk of bushfire, the locals would be able to advise you more on this. When we arrived there were lots of fires, something I wasn't aware of and although the fires were a three hour drive from the city you could smell the smoke, see it, have the ash on your car etc... There was a fire in Sassafrass, but this was arson rather than natural and seemed to be quite unusual. You will be visiting in the winter so you'll wonder what on earth I am talking about! but you might see some charred trees etc... I am not sure how much this area is at risk, but as it is something completely alien to Brits it's not the first question on our lips!
Mornington town itself is lovely and another one of my favourites. Mount Eliza is nice, as is Sorento - although that's very expensive. We didn't want to settle there but I am aware that quite a few Brits have. depends if you like seaside towns. I get the impression that a large part of Mornington Pennisula is holiday homes.
Carol, By the way when I talk about arson, I mean the fire was not natural ie lit by lightning, it was probably from a campfire or BBQ - don't worry, I don't think there are people going round deliberatly lighting fires like in the UK!
Hi
Had a look at your cousins house it looks lovely, do you know anymore about Pearcedale?
What did you think of the weather when you was there, does it really rain all the time?
.......
Hi Ange
Sorry so long in replying for some reason an email did not come in to say that you had put the post on!!!
Parcedale seemed really quite and the houses there generally had alot of land because of its location. I think it took about 20 mins to drive into Frankston, where you can pick the train up to go into Melbourne CBD also the shopping in Frankston is quite good.
No it doesn't rain all the time in Melbourne infact just before we arrived it was soooo hot there that they had bush fires and took ages to get under control, by the time we arrived it was still fairly smokey! We was only there for 2 weeks and the weather was really hot one day and then the next day it was quite mild, but as I say they had already had this heatwave.
Gd luck on your choice!!!!!
p.s. sorry just read the other posts on here and hammfam says alot of fires started by BBq's - I was under impression it was the heat, so looks like I was wrong - but anyway no it doesn't rain all the time
Last edited by kdal; 29-05-2007 at 05:53 PM.
Reason: added p.s.
Carol, We are currently living in Doncaster East but will move out shortly in Park Orchards, which is an acreage area (in other words all properties have to have a minimum of an acre in certain parts and you cannot sell it off for other houses). We are still in quite a built up area though.
hi Jo,
Thanks for info - have also been looking at Park Orchards and Warrandtye as we too would like some space, but don't necessarily want isolation as we have two kids 8 and 6 - horse riding, quad biking and a pool being their top priorities !! who can blame them ! So will be checking out there too.
We arrive on Sunday and have looked at recent weather reports - is it still quite warm - gosh what to pack??
Have you got schools sorted for your brood, is the process of chosing/catchment etc pretty much the same as here - do you know if the state schools produce league tables as they do here - can't seem to find that on the education sites - sorry sooooo many questions.
Getting a bit nervous about our trip - so much to do so little time.
I have travelled extensively across Australia, including Perth and Melb.
Perth does feel very isolated (they refer to me as the 'Man from the East') when I visit!
However, from my experiences Melb is very simialr to the UK. Pretty hectic city style life. Anything you'd get anywhere else really (lots of top food outlets mind!)
If it was me I'd choose Perth. Feels much more 'Australian'. Melb would be too much like living back home for me and my family.
