French family moving to Oz - August 2012

[littlesarah]

Hello Calista

I live on the Central Coast, which is about 90 min north of Sydney.

Personally, I love living up here, but I'm lucky that I don't have to commute to work - although I originally intended to look for work in Newcastle (which is just over an hour north) or Sydney. If you're used to living in a large city (like Paris), I guess where I live might be a bit too quiet, though there are lots of great beaches and some suburbs have more going on than others. Terrigal is popular with people who have moved up here from Sydney, and it's got lots of bars, restaurants and cafes. I prefer living in a quieter area - all we have is the beach and a few small shops!

As far as work goes, I work in health care, and my profession is in very short supply, so I signed up with a couple of agencies before I left the UK. They found a few possible positions, but in the end I applied for several jobs via the internet, so I had several interviews lined up before I got here. I heard there might be some work at a university, so I contacted them, and ended up starting work for my current employer 13 days after we arrived!

Hope this helps.

[Calista]

Geoff: how much do you enjoy Melbourne? Do you have kids?
My husband is an IT consultant in the financial sector. Our first choice of place to live is Sydney because we love this City, but especially because we feel it's probably the place with more job opportunities for both of us.
Perth would be great with kids, but I fear it's going to be more difficult to find a job for both of us.

Marie Rose: thanks a lot for the search. I'll look into it tonight as I have to go to work :-) ..... Wish I could just stay in and plan the move.
Commuting is a big issue that we would like to avoid as much as possible, but it Will depend on job opportunities.

Sarah: yes, thanks, it helps a lot.

It's true that we are used to big cities, but we would lové to settle down somme where quieter. The only reason we did not do that in France is that the only place my husband could have a job was Paris. So, because we are leaving with no job for any of us and with two children ( and a cat), we are just trying to see where we can get jobs asap.

Crimson:what attracts us to Australia is the quality of life which we feel we could get there and the diversity of the country. Paris is a wonderful city, beautiful, with good professionnal opportunities for qualified people with experience.. But just very difficult to live with children. Commuting, housing is expensive etc...
So we are taking à chance and Know it Will not be easy.... As Sydney is also expensive. I'll start looking on the websites and see where we could get job offers.....
Quieter areas are ok... Especially next to the beach, of there is job for us....
Scottish stacey: hello to you too!

Thanks again for your answers, it helps a lot!

[Xtonite]

Hi Calista,

We have two girls aged 13 and 12 and we all love Mekbiurne, there is so much to do and EVERYONE is very friendly. We are easily an hours drive from the city centre, beaches and wonderful rich countryside and wildlife.

I'm an IT consultant (at least that's what I told the tax office) and we initially looked at Sydney as it does have the most jobs but we ruled it out as the housing was too expensive. Melbourne was the next best place for us and where we live has a very British (and Northern France) feel about the countryside!

I'm sure you're husband will have no problems finding some in the financial district.

Best wishes,
Geoff

[frostie]

Thanks for your messages and the nice welcome!

)
Mandy: at the moment the plan is to go to Sydney. We've been to Australia a couple of times already (included a three months vacations where we drove around the place.... 20 000 km) and we would love to settle in Sydney. Obviously we are ready to settle anywhere in Australia if we can get a job. I like Kalgoorlie but my husband says I'm mad!
I love Manly.... but that will be above budget + we heard that it's not the best place for schools and we intend to put the children in Australian public school.
So, at the moment I'm looking into Killarney heights or French forests? But I've never een there...
Not too sure... will depend on accomodation vs budget....
If you have any advice regarding nice places to leave with children in Sydney (ideally we would like a house/flat with 3 bedrooms and not too far from public transport... budget is 600 AUD per week). Criterias are.... close to public transports, not too far away from either the beach or the bay, shops and schools close by....
I know that Sydney is expensive so.... I'm afraid we will have to go away from the city....

I'll go and look into the car seat thread.

Where are you based at the moment: Sarah, Geoff, Marie-Rose, Mandy?

Thanks again for your answers and speak to you soon with questions...

Hi Calista, My husbands work will be in North Sydney so was looking around the Northern Beaches but the housing costs are also out of our budget.
Wiith 3 kids i am not willing to compromise on the house size we rent. We need a minimum of 3 Bedrooms and a decent sized yard and have a budget of $650-$750 max per week.
So we have moved our search to the Hills (Kellyville & Rouse Hill areas) but more than likely we will be heading for the shire. In particular Caringbah , Gymea or Miranda areas. The rail journey into Sydney is approx 45 mins and it is close to beaches and national parks. For our budget we can get a nice looking property and maybe a pool in any of those areas.
We are currently living in Sussex about 20 minutes from Brighton ( looking forward to sand rather than pebbles )
Keep in touch
Mandy

[liana]

Bonjour Calista....
Bon courage pour le déménagement!! nous aussi nous somme une famille de 4 qui (croise les doigts) part cette année pour OZ depuis la France.
Ca fait plaisir de savoir que nous somme pas tout seule...
Bye Liana