Maruska

I paid for both kids dental care. I think there is a scheme that allows for free dental care for children but we weren`t eligible, the dental office checked at first visit.

Just to give you a price idea. I went last week, had checkup, 2 X rays and cleaning. My insurance paid 145$, I paid 250 $ out of pocket. Not cheap but fortunately I don`t need to have anything done. We have a pretty basic insurance, you can get a higher level ( higher fee per month) based on what you are expecting you`ll need.

Congratulations :wubclub:. Beautiful baby girl !

Hi there, if you`re about to move in now or during the winter ( June, July, August), it`s a great timing.There are more properties available at this time of year. I don`t think you will need to offer higher amount for rent or 3 months upfront. We moved into the Sutherland shire almost 2 years ago and the only thing required was our bank statement ( as a proof that we could pay the rent) and some form of reference - we had a bank statement of paying our mortgage on time back in the US. The only thing that I would suggest is that once you find a place you really like, sign a lease of 1 year duration. We weren`t sure so we signed up for 6 months every time, after that period our rent was increased. It shouldn`t increase from the initial amount for the duration of the contract ( as the rental agent informed me).

Figure 8 pool isn`t really such a great swimming spot but it`s a great hiking destination. The pool is only accessible at low tide. It`s in RNP, walking from Garrawarra farm to Burning palms beach. My favorite swimming spots are : Wattamola in RNP Darook Park in south Cronulla Shelly beach in Manly Bonnie Vale, Hordens, Jibbon - all in Bundeena nice swimming and kayaing spot is between Bundeena and Maianbar on the walking track Winnifred falls, RNP It`s fairly obvious that I live in the south :wink:

I think he referred you for a Holter monitor - it`s a 24 hour ECG monitor that they hook up at outpatient cardiology, you go home with it and come back within 24 hours. It records your heart rhythm over 24 hours. A&E doesn`t provide this test. If he wants just a regular ECG, that can surely be done in a GP`s office ( and free). Try not to panic, if your GP had suspicion of anything serious, you would have been admitted. Good luck .

You should be able to rent a nice house for less than 1000/week around Sutherland. Can`t comment on other areas but here are some examples: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-caringbah+south-415756875 Caringbah South, a sought after area, very nice, on the river http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-caringbah+south-415584127 or, if you wanted to be on the ocean: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-cronulla-415511339

Hi there, and welcome to PIO! ad 1) 100 000 is just about doable for family of 3, in my opinion , if you don`t go out to eat much, don`t have to pay babysitter/daycare ad 2) Get an offer in writing, stating that the PR includes whole family ( you and daughter) ad 3) rent - we rent a 2 bed/2 bath in a nice area right by the ocean for 570/week. You could rent a house in a decent area for about 700$ a week but more realistic would be 900$ a week just paid electricity bill and it was 350 $ per 3 months I think so not too bad rentals don`t include appliances like washer , dryer, fridge, you have to get your own with a 2 year old, there is a lot to do and a lot of social opportunities for both of you - moms playgroups etc I have no idea about what the life is like in Mumbai, I`ve never been to India ( but it`s on my bucket list :wink:). Do you think life is going to be better here for you or you just want to try it for the adventure and see how it goes? Do you have any family in Australia or would you be on your own? Sydney real estate has reached beyond crazy in my opinion. Have a look at www. realestate.com.au to get idea about house prices ( and rentals in the area you want to be in). Good luck with everything, whether you decide to move or not :wubclub:

I have to say that even though the winter here isn`t really a winter, I am not looking forward to it a lot. The best part as I remember from last year is that everything looks fresh, green, and a lot of flowers are in bloom at that time. I already pulled the electric blanket out of the cupboard and wear a jacket almost every day. Don`t mind me though, I am a freak of nature and I get cold when it`s less than 25 degrees :cry:. The rest of my family are running around in T shirts enjoying the sun :rolleyes:

We went to Cairns/Daintree in July 2 years ago ( roughly at the time of NSW school hols). It was still warm enough. Great for kids. There are many things you can do with a family - diving/snorkeling the Great barrier reef, crocodile spotting, nature trails, Cape tribulation, exotic fruit farms and home-made ice creams .... Would recommend staying here: http://www.daintreecrocodylus.com.au/crocodylusvillage/Welcome.html they have large tents on platforms ( with bathroom ) and you feel like you are in the forest by yourself, can hear all the sounds, it was wonderful. It wasn`t expensive 2 y ago. option 2 - if you can`t fly due to the expense, mid-north coast is within driving distance from Sydney. Area around Coff`s harbor is very nice and there is a lot to do for kids.

I`ve rented mine. It was nicer than whatever I could afford if I bought one. Buying a dress never even crossed my mind but I am not a sentimental girl I guess :wink:. I don`t know what I would do with a wedding dress afterwards - have it hanging in the closet? With us moving around the world I don`t see me towing a wedding dress around.

Both of those ( but wouldn`t take 1 year old on a canoe if it was just you and him lol) plus : Taronga zoo - can easily spend the day and still not see everything, nice playground/fort at the children`s zoo, feeding farm animals Royal botanical gardens - take some bread and you can feed the eels in the big pond recently they had a fairy trail in there as well Wildlife Sydney zoo - in Darling Harbour Darling Harbour playground - massive, something for everyone, the water playground is brilliant Ferry ride to anywhere take him to the beach to get his hands dirty with sand, shells..... there are excellent playgrounds pretty much everywhere entertaining a 1 year old is soooo easy ( as seen now in comparison to older children)

Didn`t go to Easter show because we were out of town, camping. Got coffee from Hyde Park Barracks café today, nice coffee and lovely staff. Just steps away from my workplace and open on Sunday. I didn`t make it to the museum yet but it looks interesting and I am planning to go one day.

I brought records from our doctor in the US. After giving them to the nurse, they were added within a week. She didn`t tell me, however, that in Australia they require 4 doses of hepatitis b vaccine ( meaning that the dose at birth doesn`t count as the first dose, as it does in the US). I found out after I didn`t get child care rebate for 3 weeks .

There is a chain called "Guzman y Gomez" and another, Mad Mex. GYG isn`t bad at all, although it doesn`t really compare to the "real" thing :wink:. I still miss my Mexican but I switched to Asian cuisine here - definitely better than anything I found in Houston. Laksa, for one, is to die for :rolleyes:. Curries - very nice too. Started eating quite a bit more lamb meat than in the US - I get it from a butcher so it`s fresh and so delicious!

@doctdavis, if you like Mexican/texmex, you might want to bring spices like chipotle chilli powder and some salsas in jars ( haven`t seen green tomatillo salsa anywhere :cry:).

13000 is ridiculous IMO. You should be able to get it for much less than that. We wanted to take the Ubox and were quoted 2500 USD. The Ubox actually seems to fit quite a lot, I think they had an ad where they put the contents of a 2 bedroom apartment in there. This was from Texas but really, 10000$ difference between US and Canada??

I don`t think that the washer and dryer would work in here ( or fit anywhere) unless you were prepared to pay someone to rewire it for you - I have looked into it just a little and it seems like asking to be electrocuted. I didn`t find the washers too expensive. Our rental came with a dryer that fits 5 kg, not great but still better than nothing. Definitely bring shoes, not only sport shoes, all kinds. Children`s clothes and shoes. The Children`s place have sales at the most convenient times ( bought lots online in March because they had winter sale) and from time to time, free shipping too . Stride Rite, however, charge so much for shipping that I got them here for double the US price and was sure they would fit. In time, you will find places that don`t charge a fortune but the sticker shock is a real thing :wink:. Especially compared to Texas. Guess I wouldn`t be that surprised moving from the Northeast.

When we moved ( from Texas) we planned to use upakweship.com. We didn`t plan on bringing a furniture though and it seemed like it`s not worth it to spend money on just a couple of boxes. We started fresh . You mention that you aren`t bringing electronics, I would strongly suggest that you reconsider. Not a TV or kitchen items as such BUT a laptop, desktop, camera, IPad, Kindle, cell phone etc are double the price here.

New York is great! Went there when we still didn`t have kids and it was awesome, really exciting place. I`ve met some aussies here who did a road trip from coast to coast and they liked it.

I have to say that I was still a bit surprised by how expensive everything was when we came over, even after doing an extensive research. 1) traffic - doesn`t bother me, I take the train to work as we are on the train line. Adding some lanes might be beneficial ( here in the Sutherland Shire) but I am not missing the monstrous Houston highways with 8 lanes at all:smile:. I remember driving from Houston to Pasadena to pick up my husband on his last day and for 20 minutes, at a speed of 70 miles/hour, you see ( and smell) ugly refineries. 2) cost of car rego - painful, definitely painful. We have only one car here as we don`t need another one due to good public transport but still more expensive than US 3) cost of petrol - more expensive here, ends up being even for us as we don`t drive long distances during the week and mainly use the car to do daycare and school drop offs/pick ups 4) rent - my personal pet peeve :chatterbox:. We used to pay 1100 a month mortgage, now we pay 2280/month for rent of a place which is by far not as nice as the one we used to have. We chose to move to this ( more expensive compared to some other areas) place due to good school zone , ability to walk to facilities and entertainment and proximity to places we like - national park 20 min. away, peaceful beautiful surroundings. Pretty sure we`ll have to move out if we ever want to buy though. 5) eating out - found some places that aren`t horribly expensive. I am finding especially Asian food much better here than in Houston, on the other side, there is no comparison to Houston`s Mexican/Tex mex! Still missing that. 6) drinks - we don`t go to bars and I am OK with spending the occasional 8$ on a glass of wine 7) family stuff to do - here we come to the main difference I think. We do a whole lot more water based activities here than we did in Houston. We have a choice of beaches we can go to even for a quick dip after work/school. Love camping and went to some pretty amazing places here , in fact going again for a week over Easter. School and day care have plenty of activities for the kids and the whole family is encouraged to get involved, I find that really nice. In Houston, we basically run out of things to do after being there for 8 years. Texas Hill country is nice enough, been there several times, and Austin. The ocean at Galveston is polluted, brown colored muck. The beach (especially on the weekend) crowded and dirty. People in Texas were generally very nice and friendly and so are Australians so far . I do somehow agree with the "I will never be in a position to buy a nice house in a nice suburb", we are looking into more regional areas at the moment to see if anything would suit. We moved here for the change and so far, it`s been great for our family as an experience. The thing is, if we moved back to the US, we wouldn`t be going back to Texas and the places we`ve considered before moving to AUS were California and Washington state, not known for their cheap lifestyles lol. I just miss my Tex Mex, yes with free chips and salsa. BTW any chance you could be going to Chuy`s???? Snap a photo of the steak burrito pleeeease :laugh:

Wish I had a green thumb :cry:. We have a south-facing balcony so can`t really grow fruits or veggies. I`ve got a little palm, Cordyline and peace lily. I know a lot of people who grow citruses in a pot - lemons, oranges, limes. There are shops in Sydney that sell plants and would be able to advise you depending on what kind of place ( sunny, shaded) and soil are you going to be planting in. Flower Power is one of them, but there are many more.

US isn`t the only country borrowing money. Although I agree that huge amounts have been borrowed and spent( for questionable purposes), I think that right now, they are trying to do something about it and help the economy recover. It will take a long time, I guess we will see in the next several years if they are able to sustain the stability that the country achieved in the last 2 years or so. I do wish them well and I do hope they will make it.

Do you mean the interest rates? We had a loan in the US with the interest rate of 2.75 %. I think that right now, the US economy isn`t doing that bad, surely? The unemployment is low at this point too.

I thought his evaluation was pretty accurate. There is no way I would be willing to spend 65-70% of a combined family income on a mortgage for the first year of a loan, especially since you can`t lock in the rates for the life of the loan ( as you can in the US). If the interest goes up, what percentage would it be then? 75 - 80 %. Doesn`t make any sense to buy at this point.