Captain Roberto

ha ha! well the bay run is always there so easy loops if you are in that area. Many runners run all around the harbour. I am a little bit on and off myself> when I was full time employed it was quite easy to run around Pyrmont or Mrs Maquaries chair at lunchtime, but now I am self-employed it's harder to get as many opportunities to train often enough. Normally the six-foot track marathon is on on March, but as it's in the Blue Mountains it might happen this year as it's just too dangerous and smoky and the parks are often closed now - https://www.sixfoot.com/

https://enfieldscott.wixsite.com/trailblazers-sydney https://www.sydneytrailseries.com.au/sydneytrailseries/index I reckon you'll find plenty out here. The only small drawback for me personally is that a lot of stuff starts a bit early, like meeting at 5;30 aam - I like to be asleep then!

There's lots of running routes around Sydney. Maybe follow some of the runners on Strava and see where they run? Try these lot: Look for Sydney Striders (running team) Sydney Harbour Runners and maybe runners Like Thomas do Canto, Ben St Lawrence, People always run around the 'bay run' and all around the harbour, there's lots of trails in the north in the bush and also in the blue mountains. Lots of options

You could look somewhere like Forestville or Frenchs forest or Surrounds (Allambie Heights, Beacon Hill, Narraweena, Cromer) if you want to be nearer to work and also close enough to beaches. There's buses that go along Warringah Road towards Chatswood then loads of trains into North Syd. Have a look o Google Maps - you can track the kind of places and get an idea. Once you cross the Roseville bridge (between Forestville and Roseville) it's not too far a drive to North Sydney or the harbour bridge (although there's a lot of traffic). And there's a lot of transport options on buses and trains from Chatswood. Sydney is zoned up by the landscape, so you will find things like the harbour and areas of bush/national parks tend to carve up the landscape a bit. So there's not many eas ways to get east to west, and that can slow down the commute. Vibes wise, there's quite a bit of difference between different areas, and there's a different feel nearer the beaches compared to the upper North Shore. It depends what you like, but you can't really be told by other people what will suit you. We lived on the upper north shore for 1 year when we first moved out, but found that we spent every weekend travelling to the beaches. So, after the 1st 12 months was up we just moved to the beaches! In hindsight it would have been better to just move to the beaches so it would be less disruptive for the kids. But hindsight is useful like that hey... Further up the beaches (maybe from Collaroy onwards, and especially north of Mona vale) is a bit more of a hassle to commute to and out of most places and it's a little bit easier lower down. Lots of people love Freshwater but it's maybe a bit more expensive, but it does have a lot of good stuff going for it. It's more expensive by the beach, and a bit cheaper a little inland (Allambie Heights, Beacon Hill, Narraweena, Brookvale, Cromer etc) if that helps.

Places like Marrickville are very handy for Darlington - or anywhere in the inner west. Or if you go out further south if you like more of an out door beach life, like Cronulla or the shire you can jump on a train that will go to Central Station. Darlington is not too far from there. Depends what you like. I know of people who live out lower than the Royal National Park and commute in from places like Thirroul.

it's when i try to log in form this part - which is a link about 3 further in from the one you sent @vickyplum - https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/become-a-citizen/permanent-resident it's not working. maybe it's just today. I'll try again tomorrow!

Hi all We are eligible to become citizens here now, and we need to proceed so my kids can apply for student loans - my eldest is currently coming towards the end of year 11, so we need to get on. Is it just me, or does the page/site never work? I get permanent sever errors here: if anyone has any sinight here on when is a good time to look, please let me know! Thanks in advance Matt

If you do look at the summer hill / inner west area, do a search for the ‘bay run’. It’s basically by the harbour and there’s lots of water about. It’s not the beach but it’s open spaces and there’s lots of parkland. Good coffee and cafes lots of benefits https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/explore/parks-sport-and-recreation/walking-and-cycling/walking-and-cycling-routes I’m not suggesting this is ‘the’ solution but I know a lot of people who live out that way. They run, cycle and it’s in between SOP and the CBD. Beach wise you could probably get to the eastern beaches or down to Cronulla from there. It’s always hard to tick every box really. So pick what important to you. Our mix has its pros and cons but overall for the whole family I feel like we are in the right location. I’m the only one in the family who has a long ish commute to work but I can handle it. Kids are happy. Gotta look at the big picture!

I have friends in Petersham, summer hill - and Lewis Hamilton and marrackville are nearby. It’s inner west - but further out. A sweeter spot between the more in demand places and spots like Ashfield which are maybe a litre less suitable. Maybe look intp those? My mate has a dog and says it’s good for dog walks.

also - regarding dogs. From our experience, being 'further out' doesn't necessarily equate to being dog friendly. In my experience the opposite is true. Some places are just more dog friendly as they have plenty of places to take dogs and they are more tolerant of dogs. We did initially live in the upper north shore, which is a kinda 'upmarket'-but-tedious part of Sydney, and they really hated dogs there. There was hardly anywhere to take ours. there might be loads of national parks etc, but you can't take the dog there! so, what's really needed is a place with 'user friendly' infrastructure. I know people who live in more 'urban' areas who say there are loads of good places to take dogs. It's pretty hard to discern what's what from asking people on the internet and googling unfortunately. You only really know what suits you when you try and find out for yourself. I'd focus on finding a nice place to live once you get over here. We ended up on the northern beaches, which is very dog friendly and pretty nice all 'round, but it's a bit of a trek to SOP from there.

anywhere in the inner west? Marrackville?

Indeed. We know well as we only moved from Newport (on the road up to the plateau, Cheryl Crescent) to MV just before Xmas. My teen daughters go to school at freshwater senior campus (older one) and Pittwater HS (younger one), so we took the opportunity to make it easier for them. All in all, you can't go wrong around there. Lovely part of the world! Newport public is a good school. My boy goes there and we like it.

Sydney traffic is quite bad and commuting isn't great. Buses and trains a but batter as you can read, mediate, listen to audiobooks an podcasts etc - but most of the public transport is designed to get you in and out the CBD. So you will probably end up driving. Not the end of the world, but it could be up to 3 to 4 hours a day. Most people i know who do this leave really early, work from 7am til 3 or 4pm and avoid traffic jams this way. I can see what you mean about wanting to live near the beach as it's a nice lifestyle, so it's hard to make it work immediately. But maybe you could live near the beach and just get another job with a better commute later? If you know where you ideally want to be in 2 or 3 years time, I'm sure you can make it work. You might just need to take a couple of different steps to get there.

Hey These are both lovely suburbs. We lived in Newport for about 2.5 years and liked it very much - but recently we moved to Mona Vale as it was better suited for us, better transport for work and for the kids to go to school, with B Line bus service etc and little nearer to the CBD. It's about an hour to Wynyard in the morning on the bus depending on whether you get stuck in traffic between Mosman and York St (which you often to, but this can't be helped...) When we were at Newport, they changed the bus service and brought in the B line, and I ended up driving from Newport down to Narrabeen every day and it took maybe an extra 15 mins each way. All 1st world problems, but in general, the higher up the peninsula you go, the more hassle it is getting around on public transport and the more conservative it gets with resident groups trying to stop any and all changes to ways of life. It was these lot that blocked the b line bus going to Newport. Not really a major problem if you are older, richer and don't use public transport, but less useful for our teenage kids and for CBD workers.

That may well be possible, but in general you might find you need to up your rental budget, as everyone does here. But also - in most cases you get paid a bit more and can afford the extra rent. It just balances out somehow around Sydney. Other than that I'd be a little bit flexible, maybe make peace with the idea of maybe moving after a while if you don't quite like the suburb you have picked first time. we've been here over 3.5 years and have lived in 3 different suburbs, although the latest suburb is the next one along from the one we were living in previously. What I really mean by this is only you can know what's right for you, and it's hard to know until you spend spend time over here. Research on the web only gets you so far. Different suburbs differ greatly as far as i an tell, and everyone has their own needs. For us we like a balance of good lifestyle and lot of things to do locally, balanced with good transport options for work and schools. We also like the beach i summer as it's really hot and we need to keep cool to keep sane Most schools here are pretty decent I think. We've just always use state/public schools and our kids are doing just fine. Good luck!

Hey! No, we didn't. we wanted to buy around here but it was just a little out of our reach for a 4 bedroom place. So we bought an investment property in Brisbane instead. We also realised, that for us, the Island wouldn't work, as our kids are at an age where they need their independence to some extent, and we are actually moving to Mona Vale soon so they can just just get on the bus and won't need lists etc. it's all very specific to what your own needs might bee. for us, we knew it wouldn't work well.

Hey all Does anyone know much about Gosford? We are buying an investment property and some people reckon Gosford is a good place to buy one. But people also say that there are ‘nice parts’ and ‘not so nice’ suburbs. Does anyone want on here have much local/doesn’t hand knowledge? Thanks in advance Matt

Hi All It's been quite some time since I've been on here. We have been in Australia now for nearly 3 years, and have sold our UK home. The sales completes in a few days, and we don't really know the best way to move our money over here. Obviously it would be good to not pay any more taxes and charges than necessary! We do have a financial adviser in Sydney, but we feel they are always trying to sell us in to some kind of thing that profits them. We can understand why this might be, but we'd feel more comfortable knowing how this all works before making decisions. I'm pretty sure this kind of thing will have been asked before on here. We currently don't know much about this, as we have never sold a house and moved the money to Australia before. Any advoce and tips would be gratefully received. Many thanks Matthew

It is hard from a distance. Been there! also what’s right for you is subjective. Most areas around greater Sydney vary quite a bit. I know people living in many different places and they all like where they are. If you have the flexibility to not commit to an area too soon that might help. Then you can try looking for yourselves. Beach wise, northern beaches or Cronulla area both seem good for families. Eastern suburbs a bit pricey for families coming into the area as buying cost mega millions.

Hey! we’re no experts in all this as there are many options. We we don’t really have spare money to send x 3 kids to private school. Life isn’t cheap here so we had to work within the public school system. I think most public primary schools are good. High schools are ‘maybe’ a mixed bag. But if you’re kids want to work they can pass the HSC wherever they go. We we live higher up the beaches at Newport and our kids go to Newport public school (the younger two) and our eldest goes to Pittwater High School. They are good enough for us. I think you can find out for yourselves when you get here what you like. Depends what you want and can afford. We like living in this area as the lifestyle is good. The schools are better on the north shore but we didnt feel it was a good fit for us there so we moved over here. Sorry its not more specific! You can view league tables of schools based on HSC results which shows where the ‘best’ ones are.

Yeah. I still don't understand the ins and outs of it. But having a property here seems like a better investment than having one in north Wales. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It does sound lovely. For us the thing is we don't want to move the kids to different schools again as they did it twice in 2 years. Plus I work right by Wynyard now. And the commute would be too long. So we need to either by a place we can afford and live it it (which is most likely Scotland island) or buy a place to rent out as an investment. Which could be anywhere I think. And then keep renting around here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks@collie Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tips. Especially the '101' We did look into this kind of thing when we arrived. But in the initial stages other things seemed to take priority. And here in sydney there was never spare money as it all goes on rent! It's just changed as I have moved from freelance to salary. And my wife has a better paid job now. Our combined wages are over $200k so it seems we'd pay a higher levy. But I'm now 46 and my wife is 42 so we might pay a lot of extra charges. I can get Bupa with 5% off through my work (not huge but better than nothing) Our kids will all need some orthodontic work. Our eldest has been getting this for the last 1 months and it's $10k paid in instalments. All money isnt it! It seems you pay one way or the other. And our other 2 will Need work too. Our kids all get here get the standard dental work through Medicare here and it's a good service. I think that's available to all under 16s kids with PR or citizenship. I don't think this is widely advertised but it's free with Medicare. Sounds like we'll need to ask a financial advisor or something to work out what's the money cost effective way to do it. I have seen articles on this that say that private health cover isn't great value. I guess it depends on level of cover. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey all We've been out here 2 years now and so far haven't had health cover. (We are permanent residents) I guess we are just old school and my wife used to work for the NHS, so we are set in our ways. We both now have pretty decent jobs and we get these Medicare levys. My wife gets. 1.5% levy and I think I'll get a 2% levy next year. So - it seems like it would make sense if we got cover. I don't think we need it for our 3 kids too as Medicare provides more free stuff for them. So - if anyone has any tips, please let me know. I literally know nothing here and want to understand what's what. Thanks in advance! Matthew Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk