Moving to Oz, but where?? VOTE

[shaza]

Hi guys. This is my first time on PinOz and really need advice. We've just decided to take our 3 children (ages 8yrs, 5yrs and 11 months) and live in Oz but as we have never even been there, crazy I know, so have no idea where's the best place to settle with kids. Friends of ours who are from oz say queensland but I thought i'd ask for a vote from you guys. I want to find a place fairly near the sea so my kids can enjoy the outdoor life, somewhere safe with low crime rate, Is there such a place? please let me know your thoughts and any advice will be much appreciated. Thankyou.xSharon...

[Australia]

:)Hey it depends what your jobs are, do you have any skills?

We have been to Sydney, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast all were nice.

We are thinking of Newcastle NSW, Hubbie is an Engineer(Fitter) going on subclass 175 just put application in.

Newcastle seems to have plenty of jobs also has nice beaches and is about 2 hrs away from Sydney, we have never been but done a bit of research. It seems to be quite cultural and has plenty of things to do. Also has ocean baths which are safe to swim in.

Just google different places and do a bit of research maybe?

here is a site: www.visitnewcastle.com.au
www.visitnewcastle.com.au

[julie2g1b]

sharon to pio

were heading to perth never been just done lots of research looking at port kennedy/secret harbour we have 3 children 13,11,8 and wanted some place that is family based near to the coast and just feel in love with the place our neighbours go to oz every yr traveling and told us perth is the best place if you have kids, they have none and said of all the places in oz perth is the best.

everyone is diff i know but that is my opinion will just wait and see once we are out there

good luck where ever you go

julie

[Jo&Rich]

Hi, we're finding the Gold Coast great; the kids love it here (4, 3 and 15 months). Plenty of lovely beaches, public playparks everywhere, and of course all the themeparks (Dreamworld, Movie World, Whitewater World, Wet n Wild), with a hour to an hour and a half drive to Brisbane and the airport.
Jo

[Bobcat]

Originally Posted by shaza

Hi guys. This is my first time on PinOz and really need advice. We've just decided to take our 3 children (ages 8yrs, 5yrs and 11 months) and live in Oz but as we have never even been there, crazy I know, so have no idea where's the best place to settle with kids. Friends of ours who are from oz say queensland but I thought i'd ask for a vote from you guys. I want to find a place fairly near the sea so my kids can enjoy the outdoor life, somewhere safe with low crime rate, Is there such a place? please let me know your thoughts and any advice will be much appreciated. Thankyou.xSharon.

Welcome to PIO.

I have lived in Sydney, Darwin, the Gold Coast and also Brisbane ................ all magic places; for the last 18 years I have been lucky enough to live in Perth which IMHO is a far better place to bring up a family than any of the other cities.............. bearing in mind there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of the afore mentioned places except maybe for the loutish behaviour down the Gold Coast.................... but a sad fact of life is that such behaviour is becoming the norm everywhere these days.

Qld is a fantastic state..................... but on a personal note I much rather prefer WA. We live north of the river in a suburb named Carramar which houses a very popular golf course................. and is 10 minutes from the beach (not that we ever go there other than for exercise down the cycle track to Iluka).............. and 10 minutes from the train station and the City of Joondalup.

When we arrived in Perth as a family in February 1990................. we had 3 boys aged 4 years, 3 years, and 10 months respectively. We bought a 'lemon' of a house in Wanneroo ................ we ran around in an old rust bucket of a Mitsiubishi L300 falling to bits van................. and i was on the Dole (not by choice) for almost 4 years. It was very hard to take.................. we hardly knew anyone................... I was a plumber but couldn't get a job for love nor money apart from the odd shut-down which at most lasted 3 weeks .................. and we desperately wanted to get back to England because we were failures with a capital F.

I'm very glad we didn't return to the UK................... because after a long hard struggle we came up trumps. Which just goes to show that if you are prepared to get off your bum and work........................ opportunities are plentiful here down-under.............. granted it's not always plain sailing but with perseverance being the keyword when the going gets tough...................... it is possible to survive and succeed here.

Good luck with whichever state you decide to settle in?

[ali]

I vote for Perth as I live here so am pretty biased. Got two children 12 and 8 and we love it

[Billabong]

I would vote for Melbourne... Perth for young children and the over eighties and Melbourne for in-between. Perth provides for families with young kids… it has the weather.. and has natural beauty. It has archaic shopping hours, terrible public transport and entertainment districts that seem to be a gamble between having a good time and being assaulted. There's a couple of good places such as Subiaco and Freo. Education is ok for younger kids but most of the brightest will leave for more vibrant cities in Australia or overseas. Perth was a very boring place when I was in my twenties… still is one of the most boring cities on the planet and needs prodding to get people out of their comfy zones to create some vibrancy and creativity... what's happening to all the money being made from the mining, oil and gas industry? The city is bland and if your not into sport or the beach or mining then Perth offers very little. I think back to when Melbourne was pretty much a dullsville city some ten or fifteen years ago and compare it to now where your head spins because there is so much happening day and night.

[ali]

I guess that's what makes the world great - that we all see things differently and want different things. My children aren't very young - and I'm not in my 80's but I don't find Perth dull. Yes it does need to consider it's shopping hours, etc., but the Burswood entertainmnet complex is great and we've found there's alot to do and I really havne't found it boring it all.

[restfamily]

Well I vote Canberra. I initially crossed it of my list as it was not near the sea as you mention, but as I did more research it started to appeal. Having lived here for 10 months I am very happy with our decision. Due to the type of work we do, we probably would have had jobs in CBDs of the capitals or similar meaning we would just be replicating our horrible UK commutes and mad evenings with the children getting in tired and us in late, so we choose Canberra where could get good jobs and lave for work at 8am and be home by 6pm on a bad day! There is so much to do in Canberra for the children, besides all the amazing natural spots which all have free bbqs and clean replenished toilets, the government put on loads of free activites. Here is just some of the stuff there has been in the last month. FREE - Party in the park for the whole family every sunday afternoon, kids concert by ABC tv (inc. postman pat etc), pinics in the park with music, teenager concert, music concerts and tomorrow we are off to one of the multicultural events which are on for the next two weeks. You add to that all the great museums for which you can get annual passes and never get the kids out of (bear in mind I have a 2yo and a 6mo and they had such a great time with activites for their own age in the science museum last week it was untrue, especially for a baby). Canberra is also not too far from anywhere (which is why I personally ruled out Perth) and you are the beach / skiing in 2hours (which people do for the day), you get snow in winter in the hills, but the days are crisp with amazing blue skies and much warmer than an English winter. Check out the Live in Canberra programme, just in case I have not sold it enough - Live in Canberra

That said I have not lived, only visited other cities.