jonbclark

You can't just pass your test in NSW depending on your age you may need to prove you've driven a certain amount of hours before you can progress from your L plates to your P plates and only when you get your P plates can you drive unsupervised. The fulls details are on the RMS website. If you are going to be central I wouldn't bother especially if there is only one of you its not the easiest process!

Well we must be lucky then, we moved on a 457 and live in the Hills district within the area of many good schools and currently rent a 4 bed house for around 600 a week. No pool or fancy garden but enough space to live in and in a nice area within reach of parks, schools, shops and commutable to parramatta as well. We paid school fees for 2 years albeit for only 2 kids then got pr and now have citizenship so it is possible. Yes you have to be aware of the negatives but also lets have some positives too! Sounds like the original poster has done her homework regarding school fees and catholic schools etc. my daughter goes to a local gymnastics club and yes it does cost just under 200 a term but that's for around ten weeks of lessons so around $20 a lesson or 10 pounds which I don't think is too bad. She doesn't compete so doesn't need team kit I buy it from Big W ? If you do a lot it can be expensive but there is also a lot that is cheaper or free and certainly within the hills district you can do as many different activities as you can afford to there are so many things on offer.

Hi josh, we're in Bella vista which is just next door. I (Sarah Jons wife) am a stay at home mum to twins who are 9 and Jon works full time for Woolworths. Happy to meet up for coffee if you fancy a chat, there are quite a few local English mums in the area. We moved from Bedfordshire in 2011. I also have a local friend who is English and married an Aussie and she has a son who is a similar age if your daughter needs a playmate

There is one pub next to woolies hq It's quite a decent one but not much nightlife near bella vista itself. The commute can be awful with woolies being part of the Norwest business park and all the work ongoing for the new rail line locally as well. We live in bella vista and I'd say the suggestion of parramatta is quite a good one then you can always use public transport to get to the city for more nightlife if you need. Good luck with the move its a nice part of the country to live in

Can't tell you about that specific school but most of the public schools in the hills area are pretty good. Has your wife joined the Facebook group Hills District Mums? There are lots of friendly helpful mums on there who can give local advice. Good luck. Sarah (Jons wife)

We are just down the road in Bella vista and as Ellie says all the schools are pretty good. Some people prefer some schools but your house will pretty much determine which school you go to as many don't accept out of area students generally. School catchment areas are normally on the school website. I have friends in Beaumont hills who's kids go to the local public primary and they are very happy with it. It s a lovely area, close to good shops at rouse hill and lots of local amenities. Any of the local districts would be good for children lots of parks, schools, activities, shops etc

I see I'm not allowed to post links, hmm! There is one group called mums away (sydney) and another called Over 40's In Hills Area, Sydney and we're not too far from Penrith. Some of us have kids at school but there are a few that have older kids as well so feel free to join the groups it might help. The first year is definitely the hardest and it is harder to meet people with older kids as well. Good luck :-)

Hi! Are you on facebook? There are quite a few groups on there that people use to meet up etc. Where abouts are you? There are quite a few expats in Sydney some with/without kids you dont mention any? (this is Sarah, Jon's wife)

Depending on where you end up many schools run cheaper clubs especially for things like chess & choir etc

We don't do any team sports currently but as the others have said there are registration fees as well as weekly fees for those. My daughter does gymnastics and we pay around $18 an hour weekly, this doesn't run in the holidays. My son goes to taekwondo and we pay $66 per fortnight but for this you can attend as many times a week as you like and they run classes 6 days a week. (we tend to go twice a week) Swimming lessons for us are $166 per month and this is once a week for two children.(so works out around $19 each for a 30 minute lesson) I have found sports/activities quite expensive here hence our kids do two things each and nothing else but ours were only 4 when we moved so we didn't have as much experience of uk costs to compare them too.

Congrats! We took our test at the end of November and are only just getting our ceremony later this month but that could just be our area of Sydney some take less time. I can't wait for my ceremony although I'm not looking forward to paying for 4 new passports for the family

Our surgery already has a sign up saying they won't be passing on any additional fees and bulk billing will still apply. We have online booking available and I never have a problem getting an appointment I may need to wait a day to see a specific gp but can always get an appointment the same day if I will see a non specific gp. Maybe we are lucky I don't know (we in suburban sydney)

Have you looked at the Hills District? Covers areas like Castle Hill, Beaumont Hills, Rouse Hill, Bella Vista, and a few other surrounding suburbs. We live in Bella Vista but don't commute to the city but many do via train/bus/car I've not heard a bad thing about any of the local schools either and the area is great for families with lots of parks and open spaces and still within an hour to the city/beach etc

No they didn't mention how come they could give me one I was just thankful at the time that they did

re the three month six month thing if you are on permanent visa you have to get a nsw licence within three months of moving here. If you are on a temp visa like a 457 you don't have to get one at all but if you choose to or need to for other reasons then you have to have lived here for six months continuously so if you leave for a holiday etc then you start that six months again and also your licence is only valid for 12 months at a time.

I was in the same situation last year had a trip back to the UK in July and my UK photo card expired end of October. I went to my local rta to ask their advice and they suggested I go back on the day my UK licence was due to expire and they gave me a nsw licence even though I hadn't been in the country for six months continuously. Might be worth a chat with your local office/manager. This was in Castle Hill.

I could be wrong but I thought rattan was fine to bring in, we brought in a few furniture items with rattan baskets etc and didn't need to declare. I think they get a bit more twitchy about wicker might be worth a check though

I'm sure someone with more knowledge will be along soon but it's something to do with being a resident and not a citizen all permanent residents have to do this after five years. I think the cost is minimal and the visa is a returning residents visa. It encourages people to become citizens or not travel overseas ;-)

This was about 2k from where we live :chatterbox: We watched most of the storm form home but then had to take the kids to their school disco, traffic lights out all over the place but thankfully not much damage, hope the poor man is ok!

We're always up for a meet up to meet old/new friends. Also can't do the 22nd. Sarah & Jon also with twins but ours are 7 ;-)

When I asked about renewing my uk one while I was living in sydney I was told that I couldn't renew it while living abroad (albeit temporarily) I now have a nsw licence and my uk has expired. If I go back then I guess I'll cross that bridge. I also had the problem while in the uk on holiday of trying to hire a car with a uk licence (it was still valid then) and an australian address, took a while in the rental office for them not to charge me a very large deposit.....

if you are on a temporary visa like a 457 you can only get a years licence at a time (and also can't get until you've been in the country 6 months well I speak for nsw as that's where we are) if you are on a permanent visa you have to get your licence within 3 months of arrival and it works out cheaper to get a 5 or a 3 year licence than a 1 year but the cost isn't massively different so it's up to you

I think I know what you mean, your licence has a date when it was issued but also on the back it has "from" and "to" columns. The from coloumn should be the date you first got your licence. The rta are quite used to reading uk licences and the lady serving me knew this when I didn't when I went to change mine over last month.

We are on the same side of sydney and about 20minutes from the park but a lot of local people don't want to pay the prices they are advertising $125 for a season ticket that only runs until April and no child prices even for those under the height of many rides (unless they are under three I think) so my 7yr old can pay 70-80 to get in for a day but only go on half the stuff there. Many people might go once to try it out but they need better offers and yes definitely local buses and/or buses from the city to encourage people to go. Fr us it is closer than the beach but a lot more costly.

Alan, Was I on the right track? regards jon