Maruska

Hello, not in Coff`s Harbour but the advice would be pretty standard - to get a rental ( 6 months plus, as I am assuming you are moving here?), you would be better off if you can give references - if you are renting in the UK, get one from the real estate company that rents to you, if you own a house, get some pics and write sort of a cover letter about yourself and how well you maintain the house and how you pay your mortgage on time etc. We also had a bank statement (that showed our ability to pay rent ). Looking now for September 2015 seems a bit pointless, new rentals usually come up about a month before "move in" date - at least here in Sydney. Some are available straight away. Airbnb for short term accommodation - we had good experience with that, also in Sydney. Some of the rentals on Airbnb have a calendar that may stretch all the way to September but I would wait a little bit longer if I were you. Good luck.

Hi there, we moved to Sydney in June last year and this is what we found : IKEA - for furniture, kitchen items, bedding fantastic furniture - got living room and dining room furniture, have to say the quality of the dining chairs especially isn`t great but the rest of the items ( table, couch), are fine appliances - http://www.2ndsworld.com.au/ , these are items that are last year`s model, end of the line, in a damaged packaging etc which kicks the price down while you still get a well working appliance ( got fridge and washer) for small stuff like kitchen things etc there is IKEA again, Kmart, Big W, Target Got a nice set of cast iron pots from ALDI, they still work very well after 10 months use It`s going to be quite a chunk of money. If you don`t mind used furniture or appliances, there is always www.gumtree.com.au

Judging by my 7 years old and his class, it`s Skylanders, Minecraft, Pokémon cards, Woolworth`s collectible dominoes ( couple months ago they had animal cards). Kids especially love anything collectible like cards that they can swap with one another. Lego is quite popular too.

16-30 degrees Celsius - Sydney, Central coast, Newcastle and Hunter region dramatic scenery - north Queensland, Tasmania

We opened an account online before we arrived ( with NAB). Had an appointment 2 days after arrival, cards were waiting for us at the branch. It wasn`t a hassle at all.

some more info on www.bettereducation.com.au. This one might be quite subjective IMO. We narrowed down 5 schools by the NAPLAN results before we came, than took a tour and got the feeling about the school. We ended up in a school that wasn`t on our list. It just felt right. You can only do that after you move but there is no rush. My son started about 6 weeks after arrival - we came just before the school holidays in July. If it took you 2 months to find the right place, nobody will chase your children to go to school, especially because you have to secure a rental in the school`s catchment area and that might take some time.

I live in Australia and I`ve never been to New Zealand (yet :wink:) but I have friends who have been living in NZ for at least 10 years. From what I hear, NZ is very beautiful, green, people are friendly. Work wasn`t a problem ( my friends are all nurses, including the spouses lol so that`s something to be considered). They both have their own houses and are comfortable and very happy there. I`ve heard that in recent years the rents went up quite a bit and property prices increased as well and it`s not easy to get your foot in on the property ladder. I haven`t researched this myself. And now my experience in Australia :smile:. We came here 10 months ago. After moving from Texas, the rental prices are double the amount we paid for mortgage in the US. Sydney is very expensive, rentals and buying properties as well. Doubt we could ever afford anything here. That said, there are other places than Sydney that are cheaper to live. Had no problems finding work. People are lovely and the places we have seen so far have all been gorgeous. I guess it comes down to work opportunities after all - people do move from New Zealand to Australia for job/better pay. Not so much the other way. Both countries can offer an excellent lifestyle IMO.

If you have the option to go to the USA there are plenty of schools that offer Spanish. US has very large Hispanic population and the relative proximity of South America makes it an attractive choice. Wouldn`t be a problem to find a good school in the south especially - Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico. There is a choice of private and public schools. Very easy to get a chance to talk to native Spanish speakers as well.My son went to a daycare where the majority of teachers were hispanic and he did pick some bits - they taught them songs and played games mainly.

I hated the feeling of not being in control lol. Just hanging in the limbo, waiting and hoping, was driving me nuts. I tried to keep myself busy but I found that after we made the decision to move, I was disengaged from everything, just desperate to move already and start a new chapter. Hope you get the job you interviewed for!

I`ve only visited, it was lovely. If you like nature, it`s a gorgeous place. Do you have school aged children? I don`t know about the schools in the area but you could check on www.myschool.edu.au to find one that suits .

Agree with Marisa. The Central coast is within commutable distance, lots of people do this every day. There is a train from Central coast into the CBD so you don`t have to drive. We wanted to go to Brisbane as well but the job was in Sydney so here we are :rolleyes:. It`s very beautiful and we love it. That said, the property market is crazy expensive and we might need to move in the future because of that.

Bag full of electronics - laptop, desktop, phone, tablet, you name it. Our laptop is about to die and I`ve discovered that the price is twice here than in the USA . Can`t order on Amazon because these items are not eligible for international shipping. Going to Europe in winter/summer lol and have a big shopping list for my BIL who is coming from the USA to meet us there. Children`s shoes would be another one. They always wore Stride Rite and here it`s about 30 $ more per pair. Just paid 220 $ for 2 pairs of sneakers and 1 pair of mary janes. In the US this would have cost me 110 $.

Hi there, I believe our application was processed as "high risk" although they will never tell you, obviously. We moved from the USA but we did live, work and travel in "high risk" countries in the past 10 years. We lodged our visa application in June 2012 and were granted visa in November 2013. If you are granted a visa quickly, then yes, the entry will be 1 year from the date of your police checks. If it doesn`t happen within the year, they will ask you to provide a new one. We made a mistake and frontloaded medicals ( because we thought that the visa grant would come much sooner, compared to other applications from USA and UK - yes I was stalking PIO and others lol). Had to pay for medicals again, 1200 USD. Not fun. Good luck with your application.

That one, and also www.bettereducation.com.au

Kindy is a part of primary school. Forgot to mention local private schools - there are loads, most of them religiously affiliated. There is Montessori school at Gymea which isn`t far. I am a big fan of Montessori education but I found the cost prohibitive as we would be sending 2 children. I am very happy with the local public school after having son there for 8 months now.

We had to have a lease agreement, temporary rental address wasn`t enough. Might be different in other schools but not sure. You don`t have to wait for the next term to start, as Quoll said, you can show up with your lease agreement and start straight away.

Hi, are you looking for a primary school or a preschool? My daughter is 4 and a half and she starts Kindy next year. Cronulla preschool is supposed to be good but runs at the same time like regular school - 9 am till 3 PM, no child care before or after ( I looked into that last year but haven`t heard of any changes). You have a choice of 2 primary schools - Cronulla and Cronulla South. Teeny bit further away is another good school - Burraneer Bay. You can take a look at their NAPLAN results online. We are spoiled for choice with playgrounds. There is Gunnamatta park with playground next to the beach, Shelly park also at the beach. They both have free and well maintained grills . Another playground at Cronulla beach and a bigger one at Dunningham park. I found that kids are quite happy just climbing on the rocks on the beach, looking for stuff in the rock pools. There are several other playgrounds within easy driving distance. Royal National park is 25 min. drive away, there is no playground but a large space to run around and lots of water based activities.

Happy birthday :wubclub:.

I am aware that most people get bitten when trying to catch a snake, kill a snake, step on it.... but if it ALREADY bit my child, I would do anything I can to get that snake identified . I am no snake expert and apparently the same snake looks different whether male/female, juvenile or adult. I wouldn`t go chasing after a snake that`s just slithering around, minding his own business :wink: lol

Venom ID kits are not reliable, work about 5-10 % of the time ( source being an MD who worked in the ED for 30 years).

I work in the ED, been there for 7 months, haven`t had a case of snake bite yet ( central Sydney). We keep the antivenom of course. I`ve recently attended a lecture related to ED cases and decided that if a snake bit my child, I would try to kill it and bring it in for identification. The antivenom has/could have some quite serious side effects and for adults, we actually wouldn`t give it at first, unless the person was very, very sick.

I did research the surrounding suburbs too because we really like it in the Shire and have to say that I haven`t found a significant difference in prices. House in Cronulla - 1200000 +. House in Caringbah - same. House in Engadine - 800000 + which is still more than what we are comfortable to spend. I really don`t know how people do it. We do have significant down payment and I still wouldn`t spend 800 K on a house but then we would like to travel every year and be able to afford activities for kids such as swimming, soccer etc and go out for a meal. We used to have a mortgage of 1100 USD a month to pay for our 170 K condo in a good area. I realize that it`s not going to happen here and for what you get ( the cleanliness, open spaces, loads of places to go, beatyof the nature), fair enough. I`m stalking on realestate.com.au often in case something comes up :wink:

We have never been to Sydney before we moved and had no plans moving here because of the living expenses. My husband got a good job offer at Sutherland and that`s how we ended up here :smile:. Cronulla is lovely and I really like it a lot. There is a lot to do ( if you are into spending time outdoors), plus the Royal National Park is only 20 - 25 min. away which is a big plus for us. Don`t know about clubs but there are lots of people coming to Cronulla on Saturday night from other suburbs to have some fun so I guess it isn`t bad. My favorite things would have to be the friendliness of the local people ( I made a good friend on the first day my son went to school ), the nature around is gorgeous and the proximity to interesting places to send a day/weekend. The negatives - the cost and that`s a big one. We are renting a 2bed/2 bath for 550/week, soon to be 570/week. That`s actually not too bad compared to other popular Sydney spots. If we wanted to buy a property, however, we would be looking for at least 600 K + for an apartment, 1200 K + for a house. Even though we both have a good job, this isn`t doable for us as we really don`t want to sacrifice our vacations/leisure time/lifestyle to try and pay off a giant mortgage. I would be happy to stay in Cronulla but for the high cost of living, we might move to a more affordable area in the future.

Hi, I live in Cronulla and work at Martin place in the City. The commute is about 1 hour. The train is, so far, very reliable. There are some nice restaurants and live music on the weekends. I could tell you more about the primary school and children`s playgrounds than pubs and bars I am afraid :wink:

Congratulations and good luck with job hunting :wubclub: