Abzlovell

Hi Laura, well I haven't majorly looked in2 schools yet as not got my head round the system! I only really know austinmer, thirroul, bulli and woonona and from what I gather they all have ok schools I think. ESP primary anyway. Any further south I wouldn't have a clue. I'm not sure what their ofstead equivalent website is to suss out the schools, but will let u know if I find out. My daughter is just 3 and we have really struggled to get her into a daycare/pre school. She is on the waiting list for about 4 but no joy as yet. I would try and get a nursery sorted ASAP if u are working as there seems to be a shortage of spaces. May not be the case further south of Wollongong but just don't know. We have settled really quickly, it's been a lot easier than I imagined but is still tough away from everything u know. I thought I'd b really homesick but I'm surprisingly ok! It certainly makes a difference when u make friends, I was pretty lucky and met some lovely people literally a few weeks into being here. Do u know any people from the area already? When r u moving over? Hope all the planning is goin ok - its so stressful!!!

Hey, where bout u living? U been in oz long? Hi to Zoe too but I'm guessing u are in central Sydney? We are at least an hours drive from there and that would be on a good run! How r u finding oz? We're u here over Xmas? That was pretty strange in the heat! Shouldn't complain tho!!

Hi there! we moved to woonona in october 2011. i've been pretty luck and met quite a few poms already, some ozzies too but its nice to have a familiar accent too! i'm 28 with a 3 year old and a stay at home mum! am happy to meet up if u fancy? where abouts in the gong are u? abz

We moved in oct and are living in woonona. we love it! of the north burbs of Wollongong id say concentrate on woonona, bulli, thirroul, austinmer. they are generally really nice (can be pricey tho), predominantly have a good reputation for schools from what i am aware. takes only about 15mins to get into wollongong from woonona, about 25 from austinmer at a guess. don't know much about areas south of the gong, but thats my info about the north of the gong! but its also my opinion and until you are here its hard to gauge an area. where are u staying when u first come over (area?). we were in a holiday let and doing what you are about to do 4 months ago, so if you would like any advice id be happy to help! abz

hi, we have just moved here in october and live in the northern suburbs in a place called woonona. we love it here, but when we first came i was a bit scared it was a bit behind the times and not much to do. but i have been proved wrong! don't get me wrong its certainly no manchester thats for sure!! shopping is rubbish but it doesn't take too long to get to some great malls and about 1,15hr to get into sydney on the train. u have the most beautiful beaches on your door step, lots of open space and parks with BBQ areas. the pace of life is so much slower than sydney but we love that about it! i wouldnt dare drive in sydney but i feel at home towards wollongong! housing if defo a mixed bag around here! depends what your looking for, but some are really old and dated, but you can also get some ultra modern places. we rent a 3 bed townhouse, which is surprisingly big for a townhouse - however we don't really have any outdoor space. we never imagined we wouldn't have outdoor space going to oz but to be honest, the parks and beach are so close it doesn't really matter. we rent our house for just under $500/week. is still pretty pricey, but less than being in sydney. the suburbs north of woonona are the most expensive (woonona, bulli, thirroul, austinmer etc) and are pretty nice! depends where you want to live and price. corrimal is quite nice, but have to be careful with certain streets. don't really know much about other places. there are cheaper places south of wollonong, but again don't really know much about them. i have no idea about schools i'm afraid, don't have a school age child! and also not sure about the work opportunities. we have only been here for 4 months but iv met so many poms, which i didn't think i would down here! when are you hoping to move? hope that was a little bit helpful?!!! abz

hi, u have prob already got somewhere sorted but here is a link if not: http://sabbaticalhomes.com/OfferedListings.aspx?searchtype=Offered&home_rental=1&home_exchange=&house_sitting=&house_share=&keywords=wollongong also have a look at this website: http://www.bevans.com.au/rent/rent_holiday.php we moved over in october and stayed in the holiday let called the top of thirroul which we booked through bevans. they are an estate agents and they were able to give us a reference when it came to renting a proper house! we had no previous rental history so it was pretty important. where are you hoping to live?? Abbie

we were so sad tonight - we drove round at about 7 coz it was quite dark (for that time of night anyway due to the rain!). i found a link on a websites about certain houses with xmas lights - however we were very disappointed!! 1 house in thirroul looked pretty good, but they hadn't switched their lights on yet! my daughter fell asleep in the car and the rain stopped so it got brighter - all in all it was a pretty rubbish trip out to see the lights! but my daughter wont stay up till it goes dark to be able to see the lights!! rubbish! still dont think they will be as good as back in the uk anyway!!

Is it tiny tots your kids go to? i've put my daughters name down there. they seem really good so i'm hoping in the new year a spot will come up there. oh my good god iv just seen the coke ad on tv, i didn't know they had it in oz! i now feel christmassy! sorry, small things.....!! ok now iv gone right off the point.....i had heard about the corrimal place, but i need somewhere close by really as me and my husband share a car at the mo and he drives into campbelltown a couple of days a week, but if im really struggling next year i might go for that and just put her in a few hours when i have the car. i go to the woonona/bulli fitness centre so she goes to the creche there which is doing us well at the mo, she socialises with other kids, and i have a break (if you can call it a break doing exercise!). i have been really lucky to meet some lovely people at a mothers group and iv met another pom through that who has invited us round to theirs for xmas (in bulli actually!!). was dreading having xmas here at first to be honest as thought id really miss home, but now that we are going to be with people i'm quite looking forward to it! how about you guys? if you ever fancy meeting at bulli park or anything while the kids have a play i'll be up for that!

So do you guys think you will settle here forever? I found that to have in mind that the move was going to be just a few years (between 3-6 years) made it much easier leaving friends and family. it makes it a very long extended holiday and with that in mind im gonna do my upmost to enjoy my experience as much as possible! nothing has to be forever, so if you don't like it your friends and family in the uk will still be there for you. but i've heard from so many people you need to give the move at least 18 months to gauge if you like it or not. there will be times when you want to go home (like xmas when its just plain strange having xmas in the summer - whats that all about!!!! however saying that its been peeing it down most of the day!!) but you really need to come with a positive attitude. i'm not a positive person really and always fear the worst, but i've had to change my thinking or else i would be dwelling on what i had left behind. please don't miss the oz summer too much, the weather has been pretty rubbish the past 9 weeks we have been here! literally the past month we have had as much rain as england in april! i kinda secretly like it tho as it makes it a bit darker outside so u can see the xmas lights!!! however once xmas is out of the way i would like a bit of sun please!! so we are based in woonona, at first when we came here we were looking anywhere from wollongong to austinmer. a few people told us to stick to suburbs north of woonona, but its personal preference, but between woonona and austinmer are really nice areas! thirroul is lovely but expensive and hardly any rentals! we stayed in an apartment called 'top of thirroul' which is 223 lawrence hargrave drive in thirroul when we first came over. was great with beautiful views but expensive! here is the website with some more holiday rentals on (our is there too!) http://www.discoversouthcoast.com.au/ybi?mod=site-res2&agent=BEVTH&type=Any+Type&town=Any+Location&Yes%21=Yes%21+Search+for+it... (if the link dosn't work its on the bevans (thirroul) website). its also worth looking into sabbatical homes http://sabbaticalhomes.com/Home_Rent_House_Rental_Wollongong_Australia_63358.htm this is a link to a house in bulli but dont know what the price is. but sometimes things like that could work out cheaper than hotel and things as not many people would want to rent a home for a very short amount of time. other option is looking on gumtree and see if any short term rentals are on there? if i come across any other useful websites ill let you know! any more help pls feel free to get in touch!

We are in woonona just along from u!! so are you pretty well settled here now? do the kids go to any daycare? i'm really struggling to get m 3 year old into a daycare place! she is on the waiting list for about 3/4 different places and i'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that a place come up at some point, not because i work, but more for my sanity!! iv met so many poms down this way, never thought i would!!

Hi there! So are you moving from the uk or somewhere else in oz? Have u visited the gong before? Well we have been here for about 8/9 weeks now and to be honest I have settled a lot better than I could have ever imagined! In about week 3 when we moved out here I went though a spell thinking we had moved to the wrong area as we had major issues trying to find a place to live and I was going a bit stir crazy staying in a 2 bed flat with my 2 year old when I was used to goin to work part time and seeing friends back at home with the kids! There seemed to be lots of mums going to parks that knew each other and I wondered how I would ever get any friends! However 8 weeks on I'm soooo glad we stayed here, it's such a beautiful place and to get to Sydney is pretty easy! I have been so lucky to get in with a really nice mums group with lots of poms in it too!! It Defo makes a difference meeting people quite similar and just really lovely. I may be in a totally different place right now if I hadn't been so lucky to meet so lovely people! When u guys come over I could introduce your wife to the group, we usually meet at a park or something every week. As most peeps r from overseas they are so welcoming as know what u are goin thru! Obviously depends where u decide to live? Have u looked into areas? Do u have to commute anywhere to work? Rentals are very hit and miss what is about, there seems to be a few in the northern suburbs at the mo (were we live) but it depends what price bracket u are looking in. Hav u been on real easte.com and domain? Real estate is prob better! i think it's pretty dated down here especially shop wise! But it has all the convenient stores u need and I have found a good shopping mall in Miranda which is about a 30 min drive. They do have malls here but they ain't brill! They have playgroups around but it's tough to find a good one! But I've found a few now and i have enrolled my daughter on art classes and swimming lessons for nxt term. If there are any particular questions u want to ask feel free to ask away. It's very daunting the whole move but we are pretty happy and feel settled now! But it's Defo tough to suss out a good area on the Internet! Much easier when your here (not with a 2 yr old in the back of the car tho!!!).