DBC

We flew our 2 labs down from Sydney to Melbourne 18 months ago - we did look into driving but by the time we had weighed up fuel costs/stopovers etc there wasn't much difference in the price. The flight was an hour or so and we felt it was fairer on the dogs to get it over and done with quickly rather than having them in the car for that length of time. If you have 4 then it might work out far more expensive though - have you had some quotes?

I have a little girl who is almost 2 and a 16 week old boy who we've had to start on solids as he looks like a rugby player. I've never seen a banana disappear as quickly as the one we gave him two nights ago. Our daughter was 6 months old when we came over and our little boy was born here in Melbourne. We also have our two furry babies (chocolate labs) who we brought over from the UK with us. Madam's favourite phrase of the day today, "Mummy, I'm not listening".

We're in Melbourne now but when we lived in Macclesfield we were close to Prestbury where lots of Man Utd/City players lived so you'd see them driving their Bentleys and Range Rovers about. I took my little girl to a music class (for babies under 1) in the village hall and Abby Clancey (Peter Crouch's wife/girlfriend whatever) joined. She seemed quite nice but was the LAST person any of us wanted to sit next to when we were trying to shift 9 months of over-eating!

Getting the birth certificate for our little boy (born 12 weeks ago) actually took longer than the passport! I seem to remember it being around 2/3 weeks to get it, then we took it along to the Post Office, along with the other bots we needed and got the passport back less than a fortnight later. I'm sure this varies though depending on demand.

I had my second baby here in Melbourne 11 weeks ago and found the system fine - it was the same in terms of scans as we used the public system. I paid for the initial doctors appointment to be referred to the hospital but nothing after that. We have PR but not citizenship, however our baby is a citizen. We have just received his British passport but he was entitled to an Aussie one (and Irish as hubby is Irish!) We currently receive the baby bonus as my hubby's wages fall below the threshold (as far as I know you can't earn more than $75000 in the 6 months following the birth, so less than $150,000 in most cases). This is paid fortnightly over 6 months and totals $5000. Can't help with maternity pay as I don't work but the Human Services website is pretty helpful and has online calculators to help you determine what you can apply for. One difference is that in the UK I saw the same 2 midwives the whole way through my pregnancy but saw a different one most times here in Australia. To be honest this wasn't a problem as I found most of them to be lovely. If you have private health cover I believe you can select a doctor/midwife etc but I may be wrong. Overall it was a positive experience so hopefully you'll find the same.

The Cornerstore next to the station does great coffee and breakfast and is open late for drinks. There is a lovely Thai opposite Blockbuster - good to eat in or take away. If you like the beach then the coastal path is great - you can go to Moridalloc in one direction that has lots of cafes etc or head the other way to Rickett's Point where there is a lovely cafe to grab some food. It takes us about 30-40 minutes to walk to but we have an 8 week old and a 21 month old to drag along with us! Gorgeous views and worth the walk. Beaumaris is nearby which has some nice places to eat and drink. Of course, the train goes into the city so if you like a drink you can always head in. If you need a shopping fix then you have Southland (the big Westfield shopping centre) down the road in Cheltenham. Enjoy! I love Mentone, been here around 15 months or so now and have no plans to go anywhere else.

We moved here (Melbourne) in December 2011 with a 6 month old and love it. I too am very close to my mum but we wanted to give it a try and whilst I miss her she's been over once already and is coming next Friday as we've now got an 8 week old little boy too. As soon as I arrived I joined a playgroup, swimming lessons and various baby classes and have met some great friends. As people have said, having kids makes it easier to meet people as long as you're willing to put yourself out there. My hubby and I don't go out that much on our own but that doesn't bother us too much as that's what you sign up for when you have kids and don't have family about - but, the friends I have here are all happy to babysit the odd night and we all help each other out if we need little ones looked after during the day etc for various reasons. Only you can decide what to do but from my own experience I love it here and don't want to return (despite loving the UK too). Lots of luck to you, hope you reach a decision you are happy with.

We live in the Kingston area (Mentone) and it's a lovely place to be, we have a 21 month old and a 6 week old. We're renting but would struggle to buy here as it is very expensive. Having said that, if we were to consider buying the other side of the Nepean Highway (still Mentone) we could probably get a 3 bed house with 2 bathrooms for aorund $600k. Aspendale Gardens would be the place to go if you want to buy something immediately as you can get a nice house for your budget. However, you'd need a car to get to the train station, or have a bit of a walk which would eat into your 40 minutes commute time. Personally, I would rent somewhere first to get a feel for the area and then think about buying later on. Opinions on the state of the housing market vary wildly here but I'm not convinced that the prices will stay has high as they are forever so hubby and I are going to wait a couple of years before selling our place in the UK and buying here. Take a look at www.realestate.com.au to get an idea of the prices.

Bring them - the poor girls will be shattered from the flight and Aussie chocolate will definitely not cheer them up!!! As has been said, it doesn't taste very nice, although Lindt is the same as in the UK so if I want some I'll buy that. Once you're here and settled then you'll probably find shops that sell chocolate (and various other bits) from the UK.

Reasonably priced ready meals. May sound stupid seeing as there is plenty of lovely fresh stuff about and I do love to cook but..... we've got a 5 week old and a 21 month old. When the first little one arrived in the UK we lived on them for a couple of weeks until we started to feel human again but we had our little boy here in Oz and you can't get them without spending a fortune. The times when I have a screaming baby who wants feeding and a "helpful" little girl who has learned how to turn all of the buttons on the oven on, I wish I could just bung something in the microwave!!! Apart from that though, not too much - so many different things to see and do here.

We've been in Melbourne for 14 months and have spent a few days in Gippsland in a cabin, been to Auckland in NZ, a week in Fiji and have booked 10 days up in Palm Cove for July. Hubby and I are also going horseriding and camping in the High Country in October when my mum is here (she's offered to have the kids for a couple of days, bless her!) Like the UK, it can be much cheaper to go abroad (Bali being the obvious example) but we moved here to see Oz so that's the priority for the next couple of years. Australia is so diverse, I don't think we'll ever see everything that we want to (doubt we could afford to either!) Victoria is the smallest state and we've done plenty of day trips but still haven't seen most of it.

Ooh, might pop into my local one tomorrow!

I agree with the above, Mothercare is soooo expensive over here! We're in Melbourne so can't help in terms of car seats, but will echo what others have said - Big W etc will have good ones at a reasonable cost. When it comes to clothes I do lots of shopping for my children online from the UK - the winter/Jan sales were great for getting cheap winter clothes from places like John Lewis and Debenhams, as well as M&S. The seasons work out well too as you get the cheap stuff as you need it here! Over here I have found Cotton On Kids to be great - cheap as chips and the stuff lasts and washes well. I hate paying lots of money for kids clothes as they're in things for 5 minutes and then outgrow them so really do recommend Cotton On - I get the occasional bits and bobs for myself there too.

6 weeks from job offer to arriving. Make lots of lists! It very much depends on what you have to do when you get here. We had accomodation provided for 2 weeks and you can't rent anything until you arrive so that helped. We did look at suburbs to live in though on the internet so we had an idea of where to drive to and look round once we arrived. Ask the company what they will provide you with - we asked for a hire car too and got that for 2 weeks which was one less thing to do when we arrived. Do you have to ship things over? Do you need to find tenants for your house? Get a bank account set up too, saves hassle once you arrive. It is possible, we did it with a 6 month old baby and 2 dogs. Good luck!

Wow! I am often down at Mentone beach in the morning with my dogs and have never seen horses - my little girl would love that!

Thanks for that - I was wondering what Cairns had for small ones so that gives us a great option.

Thanks, we had thought about perhaps hiring a car so that drive sounds good. I gather Palm Cove is pretty small but as you say, it seems to be easy to get to plenty of places from there. We can't wait, we've only been to Brisbane in Queensland so it'll be interesting to see some more of the state.

Hi everyone, Myself and hubby have just booked to go up to Palm Cove in July to escape the Melbourne winter for 10 days. We got a good deal that includes a full day reef tour but I'm wondering what else we should see and do whilst up there. Our little girl would have just turned 2 and our new baby will be 5 months so anything involving jumping out of planes etc is off limits! I've looked into the Skyrail and we would like to do that, as well as day trips to Cairns and Port Douglas but if anyone lives up that way or has been on holiday there I'd love to hear your ideas so that we get to see as much as possible. The internet is useful but I always find first hand experience and recommendations more helpful, especially when travelling with kids. Thanks in advance!

It's also worth mentioning that many houses here have built in robes - we had to look at our wardrobes stacked up against a wall for weeks before we eventually gave them to someone!

Stuff tends to hold its value more here than in the UK. That goes for furniture, clothes etc as well as cars. If you are definitely going home then it might be worth buying things here and selling them once you leave as you will probably get more back then you'd expect. To give you an example - we've just had to buy a double buggy, we got a mountain buggy duo which cost us just under £1000. If we had bought one in good condition from Ebay then we would paid somewhere between $500-600. It is quite different from the UK in that respect. We also sold the fridge freezer that we initially bought with us from the UK when we got a bigger one and got $220 for it - probably more than we paid for it to start with!

I've found it really easy to meet people and have a lovely network of friends now. I joined a playgroup (the council websites have lists of them) and met other friends through swimming and the classes that my little gril went to. We've also been very lucky in that everyone on our street is great - we couldn't ask for better neighbours. Our neighbours (and landlords) are brilliant and looked after my little girl when I had my baby. The friends I've met since being here all also offered to have here so we were spoilt for choice! It's also worth popping a post on this site when you do move to see if anyone has kids of a similar age and wants to meet up - I've met some really nice people that way. The other thing that I like about Mentone is that I have 2 dogs and walk them on the beach each day - you bump into the same people most mornings and strike up conversations. I had a baby 3 weeks ago and walked down to the local shops yesterday with him and my little girl and we were stopped twice by doggy people that we know who wanted to meet the baby and ask how we all were.

Nice area with a lovely beach and playground. Plenty of shops and a direct train into the city so a good place to live. Can't comment on the schools as my two are 20 months and 2 weeks so I have a while before having to think about that! If you're considering Mordialloc because of the trainline then also take a look at Parkdale and Mentone. I've lived in Mentone for 14 months now and love it - a bonus for my hubby is that express train stops there in the morning making the journey to work quicker. They are similar in that they both have lovely beaches and plenty of shopping.

As has been said, it is VERY expensive! But, being close to both the city and the beach that isn't a surprise. Anywhere on the Sandringham train line is lovely, but if the prices make your eyes water look down the Frankston line. I'm in Mentone and it's close to the beach and the express trains run into the city during peak hours. We moved here with a 6 month old just over a year ago and I've found all sorts to do - we go to playgroup in Beaumaris, Gymabaroo in Cheltenham, swimming lessons etc and once our new baby arrives and I'm in some sort of routine I'm getting her started with dancing and football lessons. There are so many things for your wife to do with your little one. On top of that we are regularly in the various parks in the area with friends so you'll never be bored! If you look at both the Bayside and Kingston Council websites then you'll be able to see the sorts of things that each area offers, and again take a look metrotrains.com.au which will show you the travelling times from each town.

Wrap up new toys for your little one - we did this recently and it adds to the excitement of the new things (plus unwrapping takes some time too!) I've flown when heavily pregnant and have always found the air crew to be brilliant - they will take your little one off for a wander from time to time and come over with extra snacks, bits and bobs to play with etc. We flew to Fiji from Melbourne about 4 months ago when our daughter was 15 months and the most exciting thing for her on the return leg was the plastic cutlery! Good luck!

Wrap up small little toys that are new - we did this on a recent flight and our little girl loved the fact she had new bits and bobs to unwrap and then play with. You don't need to spend a fortune - we got her little plastic animals, puzzles and books, mostly from places like Big W and the party aisle in Woolworths.