lmtaylor

Hi Melanie Only just seen this although I see you wrote it a couple of months ago. I am also new to Wahroonga and have 2 girls a similar age to yours - 8 and 5. Originally from London/SE but been in Sydney since 2011 (Wahroonga since last Nov). Will PM you!

Yep, another vote for Surry Hills. I don't live there (and I'm not in my 20s anymore!) but I work there and I love it, loads of good bars and shops and pretty tree lined streets. Also have a look at Balmain in the Inner West. Not crazy busy but good bars and restaurants and a lovely feel to it.

Hi RobbieOZ Our timeline was as follows (186 direct entry stream, previously here on NZ citizen and 461 NZ family member temporary visas): November 2013: completed medicals, police checks, all paperwork sorted. 23 December 2013: application submitted 1 April 2014: employer nomination approval 2 May 2014: permanent residence approved You should hear any day now, fingers crossed. Waiting to hear is so frustrating. Anyway, good luck!

Hi there Simon, I don't know much about Perth but having been in Sydney 4 months now on a similar income 'swap' to yours (£46k to $150k), I would say you will have a better standard of living than you currently have. Obviously I can only speak from our situation, others may be different, but so far we are finding life here more comfortable than life was in the UK....and we live in Sydney! We are shelling out quite a bit on rent each month,but for that we are in a 4 bed place in a good suburb only 30 mins from the CBD (in the UK we were in a small 3 bed house miles from a decent town). Cost of living wise, some things are cheaper (coffees, petrol, shoes), some things not (clothes, branded goods in the supermarkets - cereals etc). One problem you might find here though is if you want to buy a house in the future....our money left over from our house sale in the UK last year is still in the UK and with the exchange rate will not be as much in AUD as we need for a deposit here on a family sized house. Anyway, hope that helps!

Hi pintpot! We are arriving in Sydney in October and have 2 girls 18 months and nearly 5. We are thinking of Lane Cove however its difficult to say for sure until we get there, but we know we want to be on the North Shore somewhere. What are you doing about schools? Our daughter is also 4 and would have started school here in September. We didn't think it was worth settling her in for only five weeks so she is waiting til January to start in Oz. Will be feeling a bit bad though when all the other kids go off to school here and she isn't!

hahaha lol at your granny taking all the stuff away (although not at having alzheimers). That is a good idea though, might ask my mum if she can keep my dress and a few other bits. They have so much crap anyway at their place, doubt they would notice a bit more!

oh yes, I forgot I also have a big pile of artwork from dd1's nursery and preschool - it won't all fit in the memory box!! Neither will my wedding dress which I still have in a box in the loft - do I take that!?? Not like I'm going to wear it again (wouldn't fit now anyway after 2 kids lol). And the veil and shoes, still got the lot!!! Thought I was being really organised with one small memory box but forgot about all this stuff!

Like this thread! I am sorting out all our stuff for shipping in 2 weeks and am putting together a 'memory box' too. In it so far I have: an old school photo our wedding invitation scan pictures of our 2 daughters some congratulations cards from wedding and daughters births a handmade shell bracelet I got on our honeymoon an old tankard belonging to OHs grandad a prefect badge from school (to remind myself that once I was responsible!) daughter's first pair of shoes a photo album of my boyfriend when i was 17 (OH hasn't spotted this yet) sure there will be more to add as I go through more of our (junk) precious belongings!

Hi Robert, Don't really have any advice but wanted to wish you the best of luck with following your dreams. We are off to Sydney in 10 weeks and after a rollercoaster 18 months of planning we seriously can't wait. We are lucky though as I have dual nationality UK/NZ so the visa process for us was easy. although we will still have to sort out permanent residence through work sponsorship once we are there. Also have 2 kids under 5 and are emigrating for their benefit as well as ours (dreading the flight though!!!). I like your work hard attitude as we feel the same - the more you put in the more you get out. That is why I am here on a Sat eve applying for jobs instead of down the pub! If you want something enough you can make it happen so sounds like you are half way there already. Adelaide is a lovely place, my OHs cousins live there so have visited before. Spent NYE one year on a paddleboat on the Murray River looking at the stars and watching the wildlife - amazing! With your attitude you will be there before you know it! Wishing you the best of luck.

Thanks guys! Avalon sounds idyllic but I think a bit far out for us as OHs job is likely to be in western Sydney, maybe we will go there for weekend visits though :-). Northern beaches the same, lovely but a bit too far if you are having to commute out west - he is fed up of his 3 hour round trip to work here so doubt he would want to continue doing it in Oz! Frenchs forest does look nice too, maybe an option we were also thinking of Beecroft as it's on the trainline and looks nice but don't know much about it so I think those two and Lane Cove will be our shortlist, schools in those suburbs look good from that myschool website too. Feel so much better reading that someone else went over and got jobs on arrival and was fine, thanks for that!!

Yes we have been to Sydney twice before, loved it and didn't want to go home! We thought about moving ages ago, then I fell pregnant in 2006 and we decided to stay in the UK for a while, moved out of London and I stopped work. 5 years and 2 kids later we are taking the plunge - I have a NZ passport so OH and the girls are going on 461 visas, hoping to get permanent residence at some point through employer nomination. I am (or was!) a market research manager and OH is a supply chain/logistics manager - how geeky do we sound!!!! If you did have any contacts in those fields we would be hugely grateful, thankyou. I am planning to work but not sure when or how many days a week - the plan is at the moment to both job hunt full on and whoever gets a decent job offer first (hopefully OH not me ;-)) takes it. Fingers crossed we will be ok and not end up doing shift work at McD's or fruit picking along with 18 year olds!!! Don't worry about the routine, I'm sure he will adapt quickly and you will be fine. I had (still have!) mine on a schedule too and it works for us because you know when they are hungry/tired etc, and it is nice to have the evenings to ourselves! So is this your second/third move over? Where did you live before? Are you planning to stay for good this time?

We are near Banbury, but moving out end of the month then down to OH's parents on the south coast for 6 weeks before we fly. Where are you? We don't have jobs but we are on the case with recruitment consultants etc, and there is potential with OHs company for a transfer, he is meeting with the Australian CEO in a few weeks as he is over here - the only problem is that the last couple of people they transferred down under mucked the company around so they are a little hesitant now - fingers crossed though. It must be great going over to a job for peace of mind, I think we are perhaps a bit mad!?! are you going on the 457 visa? Are you going to be putting your little one in nursery? You'll have to let me know which ones are good if you look around. I am not even thinking about the flight with 2 under 5's - will have to keep saying to myself if its awful it's only a day of your life and will soon be over! Is your little one on the move yet? Try and discourage it as the flight will be much easier when they stay still and can't move!!

We will be staying all over the place for the first 3 weeks, then with friends in Ryde until we find a rental, looking at north shore in particular Lane Cove area as have heard it's nice and the schools are good. All depends on what salaries we manage to get though! Whereabouts are you - any suburbs you can particularly recommend?

Hello and congrats to Sarah on impending arrival! It's exhausting but fun having two! We are also heading your way in the not too distant future, moving over to Sydney mid October, will be staying initially with friends in Ryde and hoping to find a rental in the Artarmon/Lane Cove area in time for our daughter to start school in January. I am 35 my OH 36 and our girls are 4 and nearly 18 months. I am always up for meeting for coffee and/or wine and some playmates for the little ones!

Hi I have just joined this forum as we are moving to Sydney in October so wanted to say hello in case there is anyone else doing the same! We are going on my NZ passport and hoping to eventually get permanent residence through the employer nomination scheme (both mine and my husbands occupations are on the list). Need to find work first though - we have started looking but the general response is your CVs are great, see you when you get here:eek:. Would really like to get jobs lined up before we go but not sure how feasible that is? Anyway, me, my husband (both in our thirties) and our two little girls aged 1 and 4 are off in October, house under offer about to exchange, very excited to be moving to my favourite city in the world!