dorsetemma

Thanks everyone. I love arty farty as long as its not taken too seriously but the snakes might need some thinking about!

Hi Everyone After 4 years of talking about it, I think we are about ready to make the move from the lovely (but expensive, crowded and busy) Northern Beaches to somewhere with some space and countryside and affordable housing. Both my husband and I can work from home and we have 2 boys at primary school and an energetic dog. We are thinking of Berry - good shopping and coffee for my husband and I, a small local school for the boys and a nearby dog friendly beach. It is not the cheapest area down south but it looks a bargain compared to the Northern Beaches and so beautiful. We are looking for a slower pace of life where the boys are not racing around doing after school activities and sports every night of the week (with me sat in traffic driving them everywhere), where we can go out for walks with the dog as a family (rather than standing in an off leash fenced area) and where we can have a large garden so the boys can be out pottering and making stuff rather than being in front of the tv. Other than a few weekends away though, I know nothing about Berry and this could all be a pipe dream! It might be that it is a town full of unwelcoming high achievers whose children are also in multiple after school classes, where dogs are not welcome and where there are far too many snakes around (as seen on Village Vets!). Any info or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Thanks Pinpot. Unfortunately I'm looking to give up work so we want really affordable and I don't think that the Shires can offer a nice 3 bed rental for $350 a week like Mittagong can! That's the trouble with anywhere which has an easy commute to Sydney :sad: Many thanks for replying though.

Hi I've just seen your message and I wondered how you are getting on in the Southern Highlands. We are thinking of moving to Mittagong from Sydney's Northern Beaches and I wondered how you are finding it down there? Any info would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

Hi Everyone We have been over here for 2 years now, living on the Northern beaches, but we are thinking of relocating out to a more affordable area of NSW. We have 2 young children (6 and 4) so need to think about good schools and my husband will still be working in Bondi Junction so need to think about commuting time also. The Southern Highlands and Central Coast have both come up as possibilities and I'd love to hear from anyone who can let us know what these areas are like to live in, how friendly the locals are, how much there is going on (for us and the kids) and if you can still get good coffee outside of Sydney :biggrin: Many thanks.

Hi We shipped our car as RORO rather than in a container and paid just over £1000 for the shipping plus another 750 dollars or so this end for customs & AQIS. However it was a returning Australian car which meant that we didn't need to pay any import tax on it. If it wasn't for that, I don't think we would have considered it as I think they can hit you quite hard with tax if you are importing a UK car. Hope that helps Emma

Hi both of you Feel free to give a shout when you get over here and we can organize and meet up. The worse bit of the move is definitely leaving all of your friends behind but you do meet new friends quickly over here. Hope the move goes well. Emma

Hi Everyone We moved over to Sydney's northern beaches last October with our 2 children. Being on a very tight budget, one of the first things we needed to do was ditch the rental car and get ourselves a cheap run around. The best value for money seemed to be a 1991 Toyota Corolla being sold by an Irish backpacker. Some rust on the bodywork and not the prettiest thing in the world but it seemed mechanically sound and the guy seemed honest enough. You never know with these things though and kept expecting to find we had bought a complete lemon - it didn't happen. The car has been great, getting us around to house viewings, getting the kids to swimming classes & preschool and now getting me to work. Other than the battery warning light coming on at random times (we assume a loose connection as the battery seems and it starts first time every time) it hasn't let us down at all and it passed its safety inspection in November with no problem. Our car has now finally arrived from the UK and so we are regretfully selling our little white bomb. (I have to admit to looking forward to having power steering again but will miss driving a car that I don't mind other Sydneysiders dinging in the carpark!) Its up for sale on gumtree (with pictures if you want a look) but I thought I would offer it on here in case there are other new arrivals in a similar situation. It has rego and CTP until May and we are looking for $2000. We are based in Forestville if anyone wants to take a look. Thanks Emma

Thanks for that but it doesn't cover anything about arranging your own clearance once the car arrives in port. I'm just wondering if its worth paying an agent to do it for you or if its easy enough to do yourself. Would love to hear if anyone has done their own clearance... Thanks Emma

Hi Everyone Sorry if this has been covered before but I just wondered if anyone had handled their own clearance when importing a car? I know when our furniture arrived, we were advised by customs that it would have been easier & cheaper to have just sorted out the clearance oursevles, rather than paying an agent $450 to do it for us. I'm not sure if the same applies for a car though, or whether its more complicated and it would be better for us to use an agent. Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks Emma

Hi Everyone I'm hoping that someone from Wollongong can give some suggestions of a good garage in the area. Our car is arriving in a few weeks and we will need to get the rego done as soon as it comes off the boat. The closest town is Wollongong but we have not yet been down there. Can anyone suggest a good garage for us to book the car into? Many thanks Emma

Hi Jo Sorry for the late response - I haven't been on this site over christmas. Yes, it would be lovely to meet up. Do you want to pm me when you are here and are free to meet and we can arrange something then? Hope the move is going OK. Cheers Emma

Hi Everyone Merry Christmas! Can anyone tell me where I might be able to find chipolata sausages and streaky bacon before tomorrow night? I'm in Sydney and our coles and local butcher don't have either. I'm not sure my husband can survive christmas without them...! Thanks Emma

Hi We moved back to the UK 4 years ago because I too was getting physical pains in my chest when watching some UK tv programs (Heartbeat of all things!). I just missed the UK countryside, the weather, the seasons all so much. Whenever the UK had snow or my friends were sat in a sunny beer garden in the UK, I would just feel as though I was missing out and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus we started house hunting in Sydney and it was just too depressing seeing what we could get for our money. So after being away from the UK for 6 years (and having just got PR in Oz) we decided to go home and see whether the UK really was the place we wanted to settle. We got home, bought a house, had another baby and I settled perfectly and never wanted to leave again. My OH never settled and always wanted to come back. With our 5 yr PR visa about to expire, we had to make a decision whether to give up on Oz for good or to come back and get citizenship. Having worked so hard to get PR in the first place, it was just too much to give up and I love the idea of giving my children dual citizenship. I think its a wonderful thing for them to have. So we have just arrived back again. My hubby is very pleased and the children are settling in well. Although there are many things I love about Oz, I do feel completely uprooted and I still don't know if this is the country I'm going to settle in for the rest of my life. I'm going to give it a damn good shot though and this time, I'm refusing to watch any UK tv programs! What I wished I had done last time is to stay here until we had got citizenship. Also, I wish we had looked around different parts of the country before deciding to go home. That's what we are going to do this time. We are in Sydney for now but we know we will never be able to buy here and so in a few years we will look to move somewhere else and put down some roots. Emma

Hi Alison Yes, definitely give me a shout when you come over and we can meet up. :smile: Good luck with the move. Emma