Sibella

Are you set on living in Point Cook? You can check out schools and their results on the myschools website http://www.myschool.edu.au where you can type in Point Cook and see what comes up. When we first moved we had a look at Point Cook / Sanctuary Lakes and although it is quite new and rentals are cheap I could not find one school I liked. We settled in Outer Eastern Melbourne which is not that expensive yet and here there are loads of good public and private schools to choose from as well as childcare centers by the dozen as it is a more established, older area. But if you have decided on Point Cook maybe someone else can assist you.

We live in Wonga Park which is beautiful and 10 mins from Ringwood. You can also look at North Ringwood, Croydon North, Croydon Hills, Warranwood or Chirnside Park. Good schools as well. Also not all rentals around here are basic, we live in a beautiful modern double story house - check on http://www.realestate.com.au as suggested.

We live in Outer Eastern Melbourne which is 40 mins on the train, 30 mins drive (not in peak time) from CBD. We rent a spacious 4 bedroomed plus study house for $630 a week. Lots of great schools in surrounding areas. Look in Warranwood, Warrandyte, North Croydon, Croydon Hills, North Ringwood, Wonga Park etc. Good luck - you sound like us, we have 3 kids and we ended up going for the house first and the area second as we really struggled to find a 4 bedroomed house. But we did get the second one we looked at though. This area is good as the houses are more spacious than ones closer to the city.

Good suggestions above. Also try your local library as they also run story times for babies and toddlers. If you can't join a mothers group ask the nurse if there are any other groups you can join. At the clinic there are always notices about groups you can join - breastfeeding groups, mums under 25, etc. I'm going to attend a free sleep clinic tomorrow so lots of facilities for mums. I had my baby here but as she was my third I wasn't supposed to get a Mothers Group but asked the nurse and she included me in one which has been a lifesaver. I also take my baby to a playgroup and a music class. Also check out Essential Baby for local forums and discussions which also helps to get into the Ozzie groove a bit!! With regards to areas to live in we live in Outer Eastern Melbourne - areas around here are North Ringwood, Warranwood, North Croydon etc. but I see it's about an hour from Broadmeadows. So you might be better off looking at areas in the West like Point Cook, Sanctuary Lakes etc. - lots of poms live there. Good luck!

I had the opposite experience. In the UK my kids were in a supposedly excellent state school with great results (but no homework and a bit new age). My eldest enjoyed it very much and did really well and was in the top groups for most things. My youngest suffered in Reception as she was obviously not ready for school at age four and the teacher said she wasn't interested in reading. Fast forward to Australia, my eldest joined a state primary school in Grade 4 and is now in Grade 5/6 (Grade 5 of 5/6 composite class). Her confidence has taken a bit of a knock because she isn't in the top groups anymore, she gets more homework than in the UK (but still only a few spelling words and a spelling sheet a week) and discovered her learning lacked in quite a few areas, especially grammar and punctuation. In the UK the kids were encouraged to write freely but their work weren't corrected and they also didn't learn any grammar rules and things like digraphs etc. So she has quite a bit of catching up to do. Also they use IT a lot more here - each child has access to a notebook where in the UK they usually had to share so I think my daughter always ended up watching instead of doing. They also use ipads in class. She recently had to do a project on Powerpoint and it was a big learning curve for her. My six year old on the other hand is much more confident and doing much better in Prep here because she is older and the way they are taught to read is more structured than her old school so she is flying through her books with confidence. So for us the schools here are better, it depends on what the UK school is like compared to the new one in Australia. And like opinions it can vary a lot.

I am just acting on instructions given to me, but personally I feel applicants have nothing to lose by applying.

The consulting company ensured me that Permanent Residents can and should feel free to apply.

Thanks for bumping Petals because I haven't had any replies so far!:sad:

Agree Starlight7, we live in Wonga Park, also check out Croydon North, Ringwood North, Warranwood, Croydon Hills, and even East Ringwood, Heathmont etc. Good variety of both public and private schools, close to the Yarra Valley wineries, close to the river at Warrandyte for quaint shopping, coffee shops and long river walks, near the Dandenong Ranges with it's forest and villages and 30 mins to the city or the beach. We pay $630 per week for a huge 4 bed house plus study. You also might get one with a pool because many in this area have one and the properties are larger than inner city ones. Good luck!

We live in Melbourne and haven't been to Canberra, so can't really compare. But the way you describe your life in the UK I think you will enjoy Melbourne more. You can live about 30 mins drive / 40 mins on the train from the city and feel like you are living in the countryside. We live 20 mins from the Yarra Valley Wineries and 15 minutes from Mount Dandenong which has beautiful spots for walking and quaint villages for shopping. But then it's still a quick drive to Melbourne where there are a million things to do. Also lots of nice shopping centers in the suburbs if you need something closer.And then there are the beaches - city beaches like Brighton & Mordialloc for a quick swim and lunch at one of their lovely cafes, or if you want to make the day out of it drive up to the Mornington Peninsula or the other way down the Great Ocean Road.Also Canberra gets really cold in winter. Melbourne is also cold but more in a rainy kind of way, not totally freezing. And in summer you'll have a few hot hot days followed by a thunderstorm and some lovely cooler days.I just think Melbourne has more to offer.

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Why does it have to be a new house? The reason I ask is that established suburbs normally have better infrastructure and variety of schooling options. We live in the Outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne near North Croydon / North Ringwood area and there are lots of great primary schools in this area without catchments. Chirnside Park has some new developments as well and is just a bit further North. There are some new developments but mostly established housing, the house we live in is about 10 years old but stunning, we'd never be able to afford to buy such a house though. You can also look at the Bayside areas if you want to live close to the beach, friends of ours live there - Aspendale Gardens, etc. There are lots of new developments it seems. They say Altona is nice though, best thing is to come and look for yourself. We thought at first we'd like to be near the beach but it's too flat for us. We like it here in the hills!! Also don't limit yourself to one area, we liked Eltham as well but couldn't find a 4 bedroomed house there, I listed about 10 suburbs on realestate.com.au where I was searching for a rental property. Only after we found the house we liked did we investigate the area and the schools and it all worked out well. So I'd say take a few weeks and just drive drive drive, stop at schools, go into shopping centers, check the schools' results on the myschool website and get a feel of the suburbs. Good luck!

We live in Wonga Park which is next Croydon North which is a nice area. Also Croydon Hills, Ringwood North, Warranwood, Park Orchards. All good schools in these areas as well. Basically when you drive on the Maroondah Highway from Melbourne the suburbs on your left are nicer (that is my perception only). But there are hidden pockets in Croydon, Heathmont, Ringwoood East etc. on the other side of the highway which is also good. Let me know if you need more info.

We live near Park Orchards (as suggested above) and most of the primary schools in this area are very good and there are no catchment areas so you can pick and choose the school you like. The good areas around here are Ringwood North, Croydon North, Warranwood, Wonga Park, Croydon Hills and the schools in these areas get very good results on the Myschool website. Also loads of private schools - Good Shepherd Lutheran Primary, Luther College (Secondary), Holy Spirit Catholic Primary, Yarra Valley Grammar, Oxley College. Close to the Eastlink so 30 mins to the beach at Mordialloc (which we visit often) and 30 mins drive to Melbourne. Close to Eastland, Knox City and Westfield Doncaster shopping centers. Train link from Croydon or Ringwood - 40 mins to Melbourne. Close to the Yarra Valley Wineries for drives and lunch on a Sunday or Dandenong Ranges with the villages of Sassafras and Olinda to visit. And the river, the Bakery and play area at Warrandyte is one of our regular hangouts. It's beautiful here - hilly with lots of trees which we personally love. Properties are also larger than those closer to the city and the beach and 4 bed houses are easier to find (which is what we needed). Lots also have swimming pools which is nice (my kids swim with 2 sets of neighbours!) Negatives are that it's not close to the beach, the Maroondah Highway which goes straight from Melbourne right through all the suburbs to the wineries although useful with the variety of shops it provides is not very attractive. Also this is suburbia at its best, we like it but not everyone's cup of tea.

Parking is nothing like London don't worry. My husband drives to the station every day and parking is free and plentiful although this probably depends on where you live. Parking at beaches are also fine, just check out the signs - if it says 2P you can park for free for two hours, 4P means 4 hours. If it says 2P - pay at meter or something similar you need to pay for parking. For instance yesterday we went to Mordialloc and drove into the parking lot at the beach and saw that it was $3 an hour parking (which is a lot) so instead we drove just up the road and parked for free in the road across the beach. Even Melbourne city itself isn't too bad - traffic much better than London and if look around you'll find cheap parking. The other day we drove into a parking garage and then saw they charged something like $4 an hour so we drove out and a block away found another parking garage which charged $4 for the whole day. Also in the suburbs at shopping centres parking is normally free, lots of open and undercover parkings and the parking bays are much bigger than in the UK which is great!! I also particularly like the bigger parkings for parents with prams (which I am).:smile:

I pay $120 per time and they come forthnightly. It's very expensive but I just had a baby and I have 2 other kids as well so can't cope without it. Unfortunately our rental house is big (4 bedrooms plus study) so it takes 2 cleaners 2,5 hours to clean it. As I didn't know anyone I went through a cleaning company, and just as well I did cause last week the cleaner broke a huge glass window in our rental!! Luckily they had insurance...

With regards to natural parenting and Steiner schools - we're in Melbourne (Wonga Park) and I know that there is a natural parenting group at the community centre, also a popular Steiner school in nearby Warranwood. Another natural type school nearby is the Village School. Also plenty of good public schools. It's really beautiful here - lots of trees, hills and farmland, but also close to Eastland (10 mins), Knox City (15 mins) and Westfield Doncaster (20 mins). The Yarra Ranges & wineries are both only about 15 - 20 mins away - we spend many Sundays exploring those. It's 40 mins to the city though from Croydon station and the beaches are also about 40 mins away, but we only go on weekends anyway. Also with regards to the weather - I love it!! Much hotter than the UK (about 25 degrees every day now) and if it gets too hot a nice thunderstorm to cool it down for a day or two. Everything is lovely and green - stunning!!

We flew when I was 28 weeks pregnant & my kids are older 9 and 5, but we stopped over in Singapore for 3 nights which was the best thing we could have done. I hate flying on a good day, so being pregnant I was dreading it as I couldn't take any medication. Don't bother taking a blanket and pillow as these are provided on the flight. Remember your flight socks and doctors letter that you're able to fly - I had to have one at 28 weeks. Ring the airline before to organise your seats - we tried to book seats online but there was a problem with their website and they helped us over the phone. Then go to the airport EARLY and sort out seats together. Also Singapore Airlines let people with kids go on the plane first (after first / business class) and I liked this because we could then settle the kids and have enough space in the overhead lockers. My kids are TV addicts and each seat has their own so they just watched movie after movie and then eventually fell asleep on top of each other with the arm rests up. I didn't even let them sleep without their seat belts nevermind on the floor as the turbulence was quite bad and I wasn't going to take a chance. I can't sleep on a plane so I walked on the spot a lot and drank lots of water and went to the loo often - which is the best thing to do when you're pregnant. Don't sit still for too long and rather let your little one lie on your husband's lap otherwise you might end up sitting still for too long. I also sucked a lot of ginger sweets. Also if you are hungry between meals ask - they will bring you some sandwiches & fruit. I found this helpful as the meals were not really filling enough for pregnant me!! Also when you get to Perth make sure you get plenty of rest. Even with our stopover it felt like I was moving for about 2 weeks afterwards! I even went to the dr but she just said plenty of rest and water and eventually it went away. Good luck!!!

I would buy appliances in Australia - when I looked at appliances the prices seemed much the same (we recently paid around $600 for a 40" Sony Bravio flatscreen TV) and we've taken out extended warranties with all our appliances. Also my new Whirlpool washing machine didn't work when I plugged it in, so I returned it and got a new one. If you shop around and haggle and you're buying a few things at a time you will get a good price. There is also Ikea here if you just want basic furniture. But also lovely quality wooden furniture which you don't get that much of in the UK, not sure about Ireland though!

Yup my kids were sooo happy to have their toys and books and stuff!! And the best thing of all is that they have a lot more space here to play with them.

I'm pregnant as well, the care depends on the area you are in but on Medicare it's mostly covered, except some blood tests. Where I first lived I was sent to a private ob who saw me as a public patient but I had to pay to see him every time ($75 but got half back, also had to pay another $450 pregnancy management fee and first visit fee, also got half back from Medicare). Then we moved and it was too far for me to travel so I changed to another hospital. Now I see both a midwife and an ob for free? So I'm confused as well. But the birth will be free as a public patient on Medicare. Good luck!!

The childcare rebate is not means tested but both parents need to qualify for it by the work / study test - which means you have to work a minimum amount of hours a week to qualify.

We just recently moved to Melbourne with 2 older girls aged 9 and 5 and I'm pregnant with my third girl. We live in Wonga Park which is in the outer eastern areas of Melbourne - nearly in the bush!! 1) Quality of life - what is it really like when compared with the UK? We have a good standard of life here and would hope to improve on that. Where do you live in the UK? We lived in the Southeast where property is very expensive both to rent and own. Our rent and eventually mortgage in the UK for a tiny little house was slightly less than what we pay here for a huge 4 bedroomed, 2 bathroomed house. For us this is a huge change in lifestyle. We arrived in winter (personally I prefer arriving at the worst time cause then things can only get better). Although it rained for days on end, it wasn't too cold although the houses aren't insulated so you feel it more when you are inside. But now we are having beautiful weather - today we worked in the garden and the kids played in the little park next to our house. Yesterday we went to the beach and then went for lunch at a cute little cafe right on the beach. So I would say we have a better quality of life but you need to work hard to find the right area, job, house, school etc. to make it better. 2) Finances - with the exchange rate against us, are house prices out of our reach? We would like a 4+ bedroom family home in a good suburb with good free school. Any ideas on guide prices? We are only renting at the moment as we couldn't sell our house in the UK. We pay $600 per week but the house we rent is great and there are loads of great schools in the surrounding areas so I feel it's worth it. It will be difficult to buy due to the exchange rate but we are happy renting for now. 3) Suburbs - we've been to Melbourne once but are not sure on what are the decent, family friendly suburbs. My husband will likely be working in Dandenong but we don't want to live there - so something commutable from there would be good. You've had some great suggestions already with regarding to suburbs, you just need to drive around and see what suits you when you get here. Although I do think the West would be too far from Dandenong so I would stick to the East and South East. 4) Schools - are the free schools any good? I know some friends who all recommend fee paying schools but I presume this is quite expensive. This depends on the area you are living in. The free schools around here all seem good - Ringwood North, Croydon Hills, Warranwood, Wonga Park is where we are. I looked at four schools and they all seemed good. The school I chose in the end has great facilities - netbooks and ipads in classes, dedicated teachers for Japanese, Art, Performing Art and Sport and my daughter is happy so far. The schools seem to have more money to spend than the UK schools. 5) Childcare - can anyone give me an idea on childcare costs - ie nursery/childminders/nannies etc? My husband and I will both be working and finding someone trustworthy in a country where we know no one would be paramount! Childcare is expensive but if you earn less than a certain amount you can claim up to half of it back from Centrelink if you have Permanent Residency. As I have older kids I only know about school and kinder (preschool) which are very affordable. Nursery fees as far as I can see are between $60 and $85 per day but like I said you can claim some of this back. 6) Renting a house - I presume we will initially rent a house - any ideas on prices for this? Also, how much should we budget for groceries/utilities/phones/broadband etc? As above. Groceries - we spend about $200 a week but don't eat a lot of red meat, also don't drink (well not at the moment cause I'm pregnant!!) and hubbie has a glass of red wine each night. Broadband and phone about $100 per month. Haven't received my first utility bill yet. 7) Visas - Are there any benefits on arriving with a PR as opposed to a 457 visa? Any ideas on timescales for both? With a family I would only do PR (as pointed out previously). This means you can claim from Medicare, school is free and you can claim certain family benefits. On a 457 you might have to pay even for free schooling and you would have to have expensive private health insurance. Time scales depend on which PR visa you apply for, what DIAC is up to at that moment, and that's a whole different and very long conversation... 8) Healthcare - do you have to pay to see a doctor there? Is the standard comparable to the UK? Well answered previously. Only thing even with Medicare is that you still end up paying for a lot of things depending on the service provider etc. I'm pregnant and was referred to an obstetrician who saw me as a public patient but I still had to pay $230 for the first visit, $230 pregnancy management fee and $75 for each subsequent visit. I also had to pay for blood tests which I wasn't expecting otherwise I wouldn't have had them done. He ordered a scan at 32 weeks but this was free. For the things I did have to pay for I mostly got half back from Medicare. I then moved and decided to change hospitals, now I see a midwife and a obstetrician for free? Still a bit confusing. The standard seems good - I only have experience of pregnancy care and I seem to be having loads more midwife / ob visits here compared to the UK. They also test for things like Vitamin D (mine is low) which is interesting. 9) Family oriented - generally how do you spend the weekends/free time with your family? I am quite limited here in the UK and it would be great to have more things to do with my children. Also depends on where you lived in the UK - we always had lots to do there and places aren't far apart so daytrips were easy but somehow disappointing in bad weather. And winter was dreadful so sometimes you wouldn't get me out the house even if you paid me. We only arrived recently so obviously there are lots of things for us to explore, so far we've been to the beach (twice), the park (lots), Melbourne Museum (great for kids!), the drive in cinema (which reminded us of our childhood in South Africa), Healesville Animal Sanctuary (great for kids of all ages) and Victoria market (didn't really enjoy this much). We also spend a lot of time at cafes - I realize what they mean by Melbourne's cafe culture - there is one on each corner and most of them do excellent food and yummy coffees and babychinos! And they are really child/babyfriendly. We also bought an Entertainment Book for Melbourne which is a really thick book filled with discount vouchers for restaurants/shops/ days out. I'ts great especially for newcomers as it gives you ideas for new places to visit. 10) Any tips/advice etc for moving over? How long did it take before Melbourne felt like 'home'? I would say come in winter so it gets better and every beautiful day is a lovely surprise. Also to me it is nothing at all like the UK? It's more like South Africa with wide open spaces, larger properties and blue skies! I'm probably still in the honeymoon period but it feels like home already after 2,5 months - although I hated the first few weeks before our stuff arrived and we could move into a permanent rental. Although I still haven't really met that many people and I think it's easier to make friends in the UK. The shopping is not great compared to the UK - so stock up on all your favourites especially clothes. Sorry for the loooongg post - I suffer from pregnancy induced insomnia (well that's what I think anyway) and I don't have anything better to do...:cute:

My husband is a management consultant so I never know how long and where he'll be working. We recently moved to Melbourne and he's been to Singapore for a week, then Sydney for a week and it looks like he's going to be spending most of his time in Sydney. The company pays for his flights and accommodation. We've got two kids and I'm 7,5 months pregnant with my third. I'm not saying it's easy, but I don't find it that bad at all. He gets home late in the evenings normally anyway, and most of the times he returns on Friday morning so we get to spend some time together on Fridays. In the UK he worked in London most of the time so we saw him more, but even so we have a much better quality of life here. Bigger house, nicer weather, more space.:biggrin: And I don't know a soul here in Melbourne - at least you'll have family around!