summerhill

I lived in the inner west for 16 years before moving back to UK 2 years ago I am out of the loop with regard rental costs but I know from friends who still live there that almost any state school in these areas will be good. You might not want to live in Balmain or Drummoyne as it will be harder to get to Burwood by public transport. Living close to parramatta rd might be better. Also consider suburbs like five dock and Haberfield which are lovely places to live.

We moved to UK 2 years ago with a 1 year old. We sold everything on eBay or at babies and kids markets in Sydney and ordered everything we needed from either John Lewis or ikea and it was all waiting for us when we got here . Good quality baby equipment and toys and baby/children's clothes get good prices second hand in Australia , in some cases we got our money back so think twice before you pay for shipping. Also remember that most of the toys are only appropriate for a short length of time when they are that little, and can be quite large, so don't spend a fortune shipping them.

If I was in your situation I would start to take control of what needs to be done to get to Australia. Contact shipping companies, look at flight costs , etc. Your husband will see that you are serious if you take control. However remember that once you are there if you feel like you want to go home and your husband does't it will become a very difficult situation , so think carefully before you commit.

When I was in my twenties I was in UK and OH was in Oz due to visa issues. When he left UK to go back to Oz we made no promises to each other about staying together whilst we were so far apart as we were both so young and felt that we should just wait and see what happened. (Though at time felt that we did love each other but didn't want to make a big commitment being so young) We ended up together 18 months later and now have 3 children. My OH brother meet his wive in Oz just before she was due to leave and start a really good job in UK , she went and enjoyed her time away, they kept in touch and got back together when she came back and now have 2 kids. What I am trying to say is that it is possible for you both to have a bit of fun and follow your dreams and if it is meant to be you will end up together . Probably stronger for it as you will both have gotten the dreams that you don't share out of your system.

You are perhaps a little over anxious about the jet lag , which is understandable considering you have a history of insomnia . It will help if you try to put it in perspective though .What you are currently experiencing is just jets lag and not an acute increase in you insomnia for no unknown reason. Your normal sleep patterns will gradually return , but it can take up to 10 days, so try not to stress (some people say expect it to take a day for every hour change in time zone) in the mean time try to eat a healthy diet at correct times for time zone you are currently in , get out and about in daylight as much as you can as being exposed to sunlight will help reset your body clock . If you are awake overnight do not be tempted to get to active and start doing stuff , but I would say get up if you are awake around 6am and start your day . Aussies get out and about early so depending on where you are in Oz you should be able to go for a walk to your local cafe by 7am. if you see other people out and about you may not feel so bad. If you feel you really need some help to sleep get some dozile or restavit Over the counter from chemist and take for a few nights, these have knocked me out in the past. They do cause you to have a dry mouth though so drink plenty. Try to avoid prescription sedatives though , it is with good reason that GPs are reluctant to prescribe benzodiazepines , they are highly addictive.

When we moved back to the UK our kids also skipped a grade and have managed fine with lots of support from their school. My now 7 year old needed a lot of support but is now doing really well . Unfortunately because of the council application system even if you move into the catchment area of a good school you may not get a place in your preferred school because the year groups may be full. This seems particularly true in highly populated areas where the number of school places hasn't kept up with the birth rate. It would be best to try to move to an area where there is more than one good school. You will find that ofsted does address the issues of pastoral care and safety in schools if you read through the reports well. I have found that the biggest problem we have had is not the academic side of school but is the children missing their friends and feeling really homesick.(I should say my OH is Aussie so the kids really miss his family) If I was to do it again I would try harder to get them into group activities like scouts/brownies , team sports etc in the first year . I would also advise lots of play dates .

I have only worked in healthcare in NSW but I think if you had gone to emergency your consultation and any x rays done at that time would have been free. If any fracture was detected you would have been referred to the fracture clinic at that hospital and all further in hospital treatment would have been free. However it sounds as though your GP has referred you to a specialist privately and they have charged you their regular fee for seeing you, you will be able to claim some of this back from medicare. The fee he has quoted you sounds reasonable for an arthroscopy done privately as day surgery. When my OH needed his knees sorted (he managed to damage both of them!) he had them done privately as we were told there was basically no chance of having them done in a public hospital due to waiting times and the fact that he could still manage to walk around put him at low priority. Medicare did pay for one MRI on each knee , which was bulk billed, to check if the surgery was required. (we were told they would pay for one MRI per year on each knee) . Any time I have worked in orthopaedics I have nursed people, often elderly, who have waited a long time for hip /knee replacements etc which they have required for conditions such as arthritis. These people are often disabled by pain and taking lots of pain relief but as this is elective surgery and can wait, they wait. So when my OH required elective knee surgery I knew he just had to have it done privately or put up with the pain. Same happened to a friend who hurt both knees doing martial arts. You could ask for a referral to a specialist at your local public hospital and ask them what their waiting times and criteria are for this type of surgery, you might be pleasantly surprised. I suggest you bring all of your receipts into medicare and see what they will give you. I am almost sure you will get nothing for physio but you should get some back for any doctors visits and medical imaging . Good luck.

So sorry to hear that you are worrying about this kind of thing when you have been so unwell. I think perhaps you have been admitted to the public hospital as a private patient . Ask to see the admission paper work, either you , or your next ok kin if you were too unwell, should have signed something to release your bupa details to the hospital . This would not have been discussed with a nurse but with a member of staff from admissions . They should not assume that because you have been transferred from a private hospital that you will remain a private patient . However I recall many patients being visited a by private doctors in public hospitals . As long as the doc has been given visiting rights by the hospital they can see patients and bill them as far as I know . What I am not sure about is if it is possible to have a mixture of public and private care whilst in a public hospital ,you may have to choose one or the other in which case you would have been billed for the surgery. Perhaps the assumption was made that you were a private patient because you had private doctors visiting you . Ask the hospital to clarify these issues for you . Also talk to the secretary of your admitting doctor and bupa see if they can make things clearer for you . As a last resort if you end up with a huge bill try to come to some kind of arrangement to pay in instalments . I am sorry that I am unable to explain this more clearly but I hope I have managed to give you some ideas that may help.

http://sportsacademy.maribsc.vic.edu.au/ http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/parents/secondary/Pages/types.aspx just did a google search and found these have never lived in Victoria though so can't give any advice. Also maybe look at Myschools.gov.au as will give you some more info on schools you find

I am almost sure that charities do not give money or food to families when they know that there is money coming into the household . A friend of mine approached some charities as she had no money due to her partners drinking problem and they refused to give her anything as there was an adult working in the family. They did however offer support with counselling and financial management. There are so many people genuinely doing it tough at the moment that charities need to reserve their funds for people with the greatest need and not fund people's lifestyle choices , regardless of whether these choices are potentially positive for our futures , such as migration to Oz. If we want to make big changes in our lives we need to plan and save for them , we cannot expect the rest of the community to fund them for us.

I had my three children in an inner city Sydney hospital and though all of my pregnancies were complicated with gestational diabetes and all three were born after long a IOL, all three were delivered by midwives in a wonderful midwife lead unit. I could not fault the professionalism or knowledge and support that I received during my pregnancies , delivery and post natal period . I do not believe that direct entry midwifery is a step forward in midwifery , on the contrary I believe that it is endangering the community but both the NMC and the NHS have moved so far forward with this type of training that they can't go back. I am an RN and my sister a midwife who works in a busy north London Hospital, she tells me that she is seeing more and more women with chronic medical conditions that the direct entry midwives know nothing about. In fact though she has not done a shift as a nurse for 20 years she has kept her RN registration as the NMC agrees that she is seeing so many women with numerous and varied medical conditions that she can remain on the register as a nurse. She tells me many horrifying stories of women deteriorating from medical problems that the direct entry midwives know nothing about. She has seen women with active TB be nursed on open wards as the direct entry midwives did not know they should be isolated .She has worked with midwives who do not know how to take blood pressure using a sphig as they were not taught how to do this in the direct entry training and when a dyna map can't be found they don't know what to do! I really hope that people can see this is not a step forward.

As you will likely be working shorter hours? I would try to live closer to your job so that you're not under too much pressure doing the school run. So get the job first , then start looking for a house but before signing lease check what school's catchment area the house is in. Then have a good look good look at the schools before you decide which one .

Agree with Mel. I have done this flight from UK to Oz numerous times with young children and find the more tat the better! It is never as bad as you think. Also find at that age they like walking around the plane as it changes the scenery for them. Remember an 18 month old will sleep for a good portion of both flights . Try not to get stressed at people making faces when your baby cries, just ignore and focus on your family. Also bring familiar items that your baby associates with sleep like a doll or blanket. I also bring favourite foods but nothing too sugary . We are going to Sydney from London next week with 3 kids , youngest being 2 1/2 and I have bought heaps of peppa pig stickers that she can stick all over the place and lots of Mr tumble magazines that I have been collecting .Remember it is only one day so though it may feel bad at the time it will be over before you know it!

I had gestational diabetes and became a temporary member of diabetes Australia. Some chemists are approved by diabetes Australia so i would just buy testing strips needles etc form these chemists , just need to bring your card to get them at the subsidised price. Also when your doctor prescribes the insulin the chemists dispense a lot of insulin (if the one you're using is available on the PBS) for example I would be dispensed about 6 boxes of novo rapid with 6 pens in each box which I found wasteful as I was not going to use it all but the pharmacist said that was the amount that had to be dispensed under PBS rules. To my memory not all insulins are available on the PBS , Lantus comes to mind, I think my friend who is an aussie who has type 1 had to pay for it, this may have changed though cause drugs get added and removed all the time. But just google australian prescription benefits scheme and search what insulins are available. Also worth going to the same pharmacy all the time as can claim some money that you have spent on health care back at tax time(not much but better than nothing) and this will make easier to get your receipts. Also when you register with Medicare register the whole family under the same safety net and being diabetic you will reach it quickly which will reduce the cost of prescription medication and visits to specialists for the rest of the year. My friend who has type one (lives in NSW) has always used a private endo ,she finds she can get better care this way , the one she uses has a specialist nurse and dietician also in the practice. Don't know anything about health care in QLD but might be worth talking to your gp about what is best thing for you to do. Mi

I miss..... Seeing my beautiful daughter happy ...she has been miserable since we moved My friends My godson My house .....I still can't believe I sold it! Carmen's' fruit free muesli Sushi Thai food My hairdresser Good cafes.... We lived in Sydney's inner west and went to cafes almost daily Seeing my children run around barefoot Enjoy lots of what UK has to offer but miss lots about my old life.

As Manch says it is best to contact the schools and ask for their catchment maps as it not always defined by postcodes. In NSW a postcode is allocated to a whole suburb not a street , for example Leichhardt's post code is 2040 ,but there are 2 state primary schools in Leichhardt so you would definitely need a map to work out which school you are in the catchment for. Because of the Baby boom in the Inner West in recent years schools are sticking to their catchment areas more so it is becoming more important to live in the right street! Have a look at this site http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/enrolment/index.php.

I would look along the train line in the Inner West to begin . Summerhill public school has a great reputation and it is a lovely suburb but i think rentals there can be expensive. You need to check the school's catchment are as it is a popular school so they stick to it when admitting students. On the other side of Paramatta road there is Annandale , your wife could walk to work from there . Both Annandale and Annandale North public schools have a great reputation as does the Catholic school there. Leichhardt and Haberfield public schools are also good though I would avoid the Catholic schools in both of these suburbs and I am speaking from personal experience. I would also not be keen on the public schools in Glebe and Newtown.(some people would say that I am being a snob) On the other side of Newtown Alexandria is a great place to live for young families but I would try to be in the catchment for Erskinville public school.Your wife could walk to work from here. If you are thinking private IGS on Broadway has a great reputation and is probably easier to get into than some of the more traditional boys private schools like Trinity Grammer in Summerhill . The my schools website will give you some info but there is not as much transparency as there is in the UK.

I think Surjits is good it you're a chicken tikka masala eater! My in laws live in Homebush and it has gone from being almost totally white Australian when my husband was a kid, to having such a large Sri Lankan community that the majotity of the kids in the school are Sri Lankan. The Sri Lankan community tend live in the many blocks of flats in the streets around the station. One block back from the station there are some good restaurants. The Fijian Indians I worked with also recommend Harris park particularly for vegetarian , I think ther is a big Hindu temple there and the business have sprung up around it

The one in Annandale is called Surjits and is more like an Anglo Indian restaurant , a bit expensive but good. Lots of the Indian and Nepalese girls I worked with in Sydney recommended going to Harris Park near Paramatta for 'authentic ' Indian food . there is also lots of good places in Homebush which has a big Sri Lankan community.

You should be really proud of yourself for speaking out and saying what you want even though you knew that it would cause controversy. I honestly wish I had done that but once it started I felt like I couldn't stop the roller coaster. Now feel stuck in the UK. My husband , who is Australian, feels we need to stay here for another few years as he has a great job and is getting experience that will be invaluable when we return to Oz. Like Kerry Pollard I have suggested that I go back with the kids and he stays in UK , would mean living with my MIL but would be worth the sacrifice! Will be in Sydney soon for 3 week holiday so am hoping that makes him home sick and he will want to go back. Again , we'll done!

As I qualified as registered nurse in the UK in the early 90's I have a diploma , never quite got around to doing a degree . I worked in NSW until 2 years ago and never had any problems with registration (though when I first registered APHRA didn't exist) or jobs . Don't think you should have a problem as there are many nurses working who do not have degrees .

The cancer council invisible zinc was recommended to me by the allergy clinic at royal prince Alfred and my girls did not react to it. Also have a look at products by La Roche Possay not sure if they are available in oz as I discovered them after I left. They are wonderful and have cleared up my daughters skin, the lipikar range is recommended by many dermatologists in uk and Ireland to treat excema. It was recommended to me by a friend who's daughter has severe excema. They also do a kids sunscreen range.

Google Juju Sundin she is a physio in one of the private hospitals in North Sydney . I couldn't get on one of her courses but had great success using some of the techniques outlined in her book , in what was a very prolonged induction. I was just sorry that I didn't find her untill my 3rd and last pregnancy. The UK edition of her book was cheapest , I bought it from the book depository

I have read that people with auto immune diseases like lupus have increased symptoms when exposed to prolonged hot sunlight . Some people find that they have a flare up in autumn after a long , hot summer . So perhaps fibromyalgia is similar . You might find that if you stay out of the sun as much as possible and be very diligent in wearing sun screen , a hat and long sleeves that you will find your symptoms more manageable .

When I lived in Sydney's inner west I witnessed a neighbour chasing her child out of the house with a stick and tell him never to come back. The child constantly tried to re enter the house and every time he did the mother chased him away. I called the police who came promptly and for good measure I also called DOCS . The person who took the information at DOCS said that the police would file a report about the incident that day but asked me many questions about what I observed as a neighbour , they assured me that the family would not know who had reported them . The family had not lived in the house very long and we had just sold our house and our children were different ages so we had not had play dates with them . As we moved not long after I often wonder what happened to those kids