ABL275

Hi all - we're thinking of finally taking the plunge and buying in Canberra, possibly something rural in Wallaroo or around Hall. Has anyone any experience of living somewhere rural like this? Any pros, cons, hints or tips would be appreciated.

We sent our daughter private after she'd spent a year in a a state school. The education had been good but the teachers all left at 3.20pm sharp and there were no sports teams, no after school activities, no sense of community. She also had 6 months in a (semi private) Catholic school were the education was probably poorer and her teacher only worked 4 days a week (which meant that the kids got a different supply teacher every Friday and didn't seem to learn much) but there was some sense of community. When she was offered a place at a leading private school we jumped at it (in the ACT as foreigners we had to pay $10,400 a year to put our child through any state school, good or bad; the leading private school cost $9,500 in comparison which probably says something about the effectiveness of funding services through state or private providers!). The new school had great facilities and good standards of education but more importantly there was much more of a sense of community and taking a pride in belonging to the school - by comparison her first state school just seemed like such a huge waste of potential.

Too true, shout your own country down and it just encourages everyone else to do it too

Ditto - been in Canberra three and a half years and have generally felt very smug about it. As Australia's model capital pretty much everything is maintained spick and span; we get to enjoy it and the rest of Australia gets to pay for it :-) Love the climate, countryside and the ease of getting around, the only irritants are the lack of decent pubs and local villages....with decent pubs.

Yep - Northborne Avenue has the full range of business and budget motels from Formula 1 on Anthill St as you first come into Canberra (from Sydney) down to some very upmarket ones on London Circuit. Ibis, Novotel, QT, Quality Hotels etc. are all there together with the YHA, backpackers and self-catering apartments are all there. Things to see and do; around the centre of town (i.e. either side of the lake) are all the 'national' museums, the parliamentary triangle, the old and new parliament buildings and the main shopping centre but it's all very functional (really easy to get around and use) so you'd probably take a way a poor view of the town if that was all you saw. Try and get a taxi to the shops/cafe's at Manuka or to the new Kingston Foreshore development, it's still under construction but gives an idea of where the city is heading. If it's a Sunday you could also peruse the bus depot market behind the Foreshore and grab a burger at Brodt's (ask anyone for directions). The heart of Canberra is not in the centre but buried away in the suburbs or the local countryside.

Too true although we halved our winter quarter bill this year by the judicious application of insulating tape around the doors and buying flannel pyjamas and thick dressing gowns from the UK!

Hi - I went through to same route myself, came over on a 457 visa, got fired out of hand and transferred to an 820 as my wife was born here - and here are my thoughts: 1. Your employer can't cancel you visa, only the Dept if Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) can do that so the visa remains open, it's merely that you no longer meet the visa requirements as you don't have a sponsor. If you can find a sponsor within 90 days (or longer as outlined next) you're fine. 2. As soon as you applied for the 820 visa you would automatically have been granted a bridging visa. There's no certificate or PDF provided but the bridging visa has the effect of extending the conditions of your existing visa until a decision is made on whether to grant you the 820 visa i.e. you can stay under the conditions of your 457 until you get a decision on the 820 (not just the 90 days as would be the case if you'd not applied for the 820) but as you say, getting money coming in will be dependent on getting someone willing to sponsor you under the 457 conditions. 3. It may not take a year to get an 820 visa. I know that's what it says on the DIAC website but that seems mainly to apply to foreign language applications and complex cases. As many posts on this will testify, if you have a straight-forward marriage to an Australian citizen, and all your documents are in English it seems to go through a lot more quickly. Everyone's situation is different but in my case it took me about 4-5 weeks collect the data (the police checks took 3 weeks and were the longest delay), but from the day of submission to receiving my 820 visa was just 10 (TEN) days. Try searching through some of the previous posts on transferring from a 457 to an 820 for further info and good luck!

Yes, all of the above so trying to just repeat everything, here's a few personal snapshots: THINGS I LIKE ABOUT LIVING IN CANBERRA: 1. Really, really easy to get around. I've forgotten what a traffic jam is. 2. Everything is new and well maintained - and the rest of Australia pays to keep it that way. 3. Great schools. 4. Easy access to all the National museums, galleries, memorials etc. 5. It's the national capital so all the really important things do happen here e.g. Royal and presidential visits, political controversies etc. 6. It's still got a country town feel to it; being a 'long and thin' town if you head east or west you can be in the bush in 10 minutes 7. The hills. It's surrounded by stunning hills and mountains and you can see them from anywhere in the city. 8. The sky. Odd thing to say I know but with a dry climate we generally have clear skies and incredible views of the stars at night. 9. Spring and autumn; cool nights, warm days. 10. Being able to get to coast in 2-3 hrs (I go via Cooma and Bega) or the ski fields in 2.5 hrs (or Sydney in 3 hrs) 11. Driving to Sydney is boring but at least it's stress-free. There are very few cars on the road and even fewer heavy lorries. 12. Very little crime or drugs (or potential terrorists); Canberra is safe. 13. Very family-friendly with very few opportunities for even teenagers to get into trouble. A great place to bring up kids. 14. No-one has even been eaten by a shark or crocodile in Canberra. 15. Being the national capital it does have much more than its fair share of schools, libraries and hospitals. 16. The population is predominantly white, middle-class so no racial/cultural frictions. 17. Some great markets at Fyshwick, Hall and the bus-depot. 18. There is an increasing recognition of the need for more cafe culture such as the Kingston Foreshore development. 19. Plenty of riding stables around town. It was for my daughter but now even I ride! 20. Clean fresh air all the time and easy access to some great bush walks and climbs. 21. Occasionally having to slow down for kangaroos bouncing through the streets or across the field in front of my horse. 22. The birds; cockatoos, kookaburras and rosellas abound. 23. Good neighbours once you get to know them. 24. Free council-provided barbecue cookers in every park, camp site or outdoor attraction. 25. Favourite hang-outs: breakfast at the deep-space tracking centre cafe, Tidbindilla or coffee at the museum overlooking the lake. 26. Balloon festivals and seeing them inevitably come down in the lake! 27. Being able to walk over the top of the parliament building and rolling the kids from the top all the way to the bottom. THINGS I DONT LIKE ABOUT LIVING IN CANBERRA: 1. Winter: Its cold and the houses aren't designed to cope so it can be freezing. Bring lots of insulating tape and dressing gowns. 2. Lack of decent pubs. For some historic/legal reason entertainment is dominated by clubs (but membership is only $5-10 per year) 3. Too few local villages to escape to for Sunday lunch or a mooch around. 4. Lack of jobs as you need to be citizen to work for the Public Service. I frequently end up travelling to Sydney on jobs. 5. It can be insular, you have to work to establish a social circle but it can be great once you're established. 6. The population is predominantly white, middle-class so if you want a bit of diversity you have to go to an embassy open-day. 7. Yes it can feel a bit like living in Stepford at times. No murders, no riots, no drugs busts. There was a spy scandal once. 8. Everyone obeying the speed limit so cars frequently drive side by side for miles 'blocking' the dual-carriageways. 9. Higher rental prices and petrol prices (but we still pay under $1.50 a litre for petrol). 10. No international flights, you always have to go via Sydney or Melbourne. THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO ADAPT TO IN CANBERRA: 1. There's definitely less entertainment in bars/restaurants/cafes and more of making your own fun by visiting friends etc. 2. Make use of all the local outdoor facilities such as Cotter Dam, Tidbinbilla, Namadgi Park or just the local reserves. 3. Get into camping with friends on the coast. 4. Get the kids into sports teams as that's a good way to make friends too. 5. Very low-level street lighting at night - it's dark! (Apparently to help the observatory at Mount Stromlo) 6. Low-speed limits rigorously enforced by the police (they really don't have much else to do). 7. Fewer high-end shops, you'll need to arrange a shopping weekend in Sydney for designer brands. 8. Many of the best restaurants are hidden away in the 'burbs in the little 1960s style local shopping areas. 9. Book tables well in advance of going out for any holidays. You may need to book a table even to eat in a bar. Overall probably many more likes than dislikes.

Only one choice really, the most liveable city on earth (according to the OECD): Canberra. Best schools, highest earnings, negligible crime and unemployment, best quality of life as well as the highest standard of living and you can be in the countryside bushwalking in 10 minutes or Sydney in 3 hours of very relaxed motoring. It has all the national museums, galleries, memorials and institutions and yet there's never a traffic jam* and you can generally get anywhere you need to go in about 30 minutes or less. You can drive 60 minutes south to Cooma and then turn left and be at the coast in 90 minutes or turn right and be in the ski resorts within 60 minutes - consequently most of the shops stock both snowboards and surfboards. Canberra also boasts the worlds quietest international airport (mainly because we're still awaiting an international flight, but we're an optimistic lot and so are sure we'll get something soon). ...and the alternatives? Sydney: Hot, sticky, run-down, dirty and smelly with a murder every 3 days. Melbourne: Foggy, wet and graffiti-strewn. It's main 'attraction' is a railway station. Brisbane: Hotter and stickier with no discernible centre or soul. Floods a lot. Adelaide: Lots of churches, great for religious types. Some nice beaches. Perth: Yep, we're pretty sure it's still out there somewhere if only because of the regular reports of people being eaten by sharks. Darwin: Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot and crocodiles. Hobart: Might as well just move to Wales, same scenery and it's much cheaper. Hope this helps :-) *OK - when we had both Obama and the Queen visiting in successive weeks it got a bit busy but most people just pulled off the roads and carried on along the grass.

Hi NeeID, You'll need to look at a map and get a feel for the Canberra suburbs/satellite towns but as a very broad rule of thumb the further north or South you are (I.e. Further away from the centre), the cheaper rentals generally are, so your best bet will probably be to look at Tuggeranong in the South or Gunghalin in the North. Tuggeranong was built about 20-30 years ago and doesn't have a great reputation because the centre is just so soulless but developers seem to be trying to rectify this in building Gunghalin (still in the process of being built). The down side of Gunghalin is the very high density smaller houses and lack of dual carriageway roads - but nonetheless it's probably still the best place for newcomers or new starters. Even with the road congestion you could probably be in the City Centre in 30 mins even on a Monday morning which is long by Canberra standards but great if you've ever been used to commuting in Sydney or London! Option 3 might be to look at Queanbeyan or Jerrabombera; it's potentially a longer commute and there's a bit of snobbery involved as Queanbeyan is an old NSW rural town and not seen as being as sophisticated as Canberra but you can get good properties at much less than the cost in Canberra.

You'll pay the same standard rates of tax as pretty much everyone else.

Well here's £20 to keep them going for the next 12 years, God bless her!

As a general rule bridging visas just extend the terms of your existing visa until a determination is made on whether or not to grant a subsequent visa for which you've applied. if you didn't have work rights under the old visa it's unlikely you'll acquire them through your bridging visa.

My daughter used to ride there but we changed to Gooroman Park as she had been kicked and bitten several times in as many weeks at Kerabee. For insurance reasons parents weren't allowed to assist, the few instructors were always busy instructing and quite often she was allocated horses that were so big she couldn't reach up to saddle them. As she was only seven at the time we thought it was all getting a bit too chaotic and dangerous. Up at Gooroman Park my daughter still does all the horse care activities but there's almost always instructors around to supervise and keep it safe. They have quite a good Facebook page if you want to take a look.

Ouch, did you fall straight off the mountainside too? That's an awful lot of hurt.

Too true, according to academics (Frank Stenton's 1948 History of the Anglo-Saxons if anyone's interested in a really boring read), the last Britons or original inhabitants of the 'British Mainland' were wiped out in the mid-8th century (by genocidal Irish raiders) so since then we've all been immigrants.

Same - we've rented for 3 years as I came over on a 457 visa

Commonwealth Bank, none of the UK banks have a yellow logo and I thought new life, new bank (colours)! never had cause to regret it; they have a branch in London and when I arrived at my branch in Canberra all my accounts were already set up and my credit cards were handed over there and then - great service.

Ta!

Correct! You must have a visa or a passport (and you can't have both).

There used to be financial advantages to being on a 457 visa if you maintained a house elsewhere as you received significant tax breaks but those all disappeared about 2 years ago so now you'd be taxed like a permanent resident. The biggest difference is security; if you lose your job on a 457 (it happened to me after 18 months) you would have 28 days to find a new job and an employer that was willing to take on your sponsorship - or leave the country effectively (I gather the 28 day period has now been extended to 6 months). Australia has a very protectionist culture (the working class worker is king and it's Australian jobs for Australian workers first) and a backlash against 457 visa holders can brew up very quickly whenever a politician wants to be seen to be a man of the people. Just before the last election there was a lot of scaremongering about 457s being used by nasty big business to import thousands of (often Indian IT) workers to undercut hard working Australians - it all felt very xenophobic for a while and I suspect it call all blow up just as quickly again before the next election. The Australian government and Australian companies can treat those on 457s as disposable commodities so I did eventually go for the permanent resident visa. You also get better access to Medicare (their NHS) although you may end up paying a little more for it than on a 457 but personally I value the additional peace of mind.

If you think it's cold on the Gold Coast, you should try Canberra; nearly 2,000ft up, three hours from any warming body of land and all the houses are built for summer only. We had quarterly energy bills of $2,700 last year mainly due to the reverse air conditioning. Consequently we just heat the rooms we are using with plug-in convection heaters. When we need to heat the main living/dining room we use the electric fire and make sure every other door is closed. Thinking about curtains to reduce the space to be heated in the evenings but with rented accommodation we can only change so much. Failing that, we're also just learning to wrap up!

We flew UK - New Zealand when our daughter was 5 month old; we stopped over in Los Angeles which just made life much, much easier. Not sure we'd have survived the direct flight :-)

Hi Kelly, We live in the Woden Valley (Mawson and the Farrer) and initially had our daughter in the local state school (Mawson Primary - she was nearly 6 when we arrived 3 years ago). Mawson provided surprisingly good education given that it's located in Swinger Hill, a land of maisonettes and small starter homes (it was in the top 3 of Canberra's NAPLAN results in a couple of subjects) but it felt very rough and ready and our daughter wasn't happy there so we moved her to St Peter & Paul's Catholic School in Garran. The school and local area was much nicer but with poorer teaching (teachers only working 4 days a week with a supply teacher covering the fifth day amongst other things) so I probably wouldn't recommend it. If you are thinking of settling in Woden then Farrer Primary is a state school but one of the top rated across Canberra so you could always try that - although you'd need to live close by as it's probably over-subscribed.

Thanks for this - just into my fourth year now and been a permanent resident for well over a year already so hopefully looking good.