EmilyVio

thanks for all the responses. really helpful and also going to look into the virtual sim! E

Very specific question but hoping someone on here has an answer! I want to keep my UK mobile number so thinking of getting a UK pay as you go phone and just using occasionally while in Aus to pick up messages etc. Does anyone have a recommended provider as I'm searching online and not having much luck thanks E

ok, so this is the first I have heard of this car timeframe! We don't arrive until late August so I might see if we can buy one now from London and collect on arrival, do you think this would work?

We are coming on a permanent visa and I am pretty relaxed about them having a bit of time out of school until we find a house. Think they'll have enough upheaval as it is so wouldn't want they to be starting a school and then having to move to another. This Sydney school system seems nicer than the London one as here, the catchment changes year on year depending on the number of applicants and if you are just outside the catchment of your closest school, you can end up in another school miles away

yes, i think the staggered arrival is making more and more sense, the more i think about it. Now we just need to debate who will be flying solo with our 18 month old!!! and thanks for this renter's agent link. will check it out

this is really funny as didn't realise we were such a cliché! Yes, our plan so far has been to find something close to beach and close to work to minimise the commute! thanks for the tip on Oatley, I will look it up for sure.

thanks, really helpful. We would really want one for 2 years, do you think that would give us the edge when bidding on properties or would landlords prefer to stick to the 6-12 month term?

Hi there, Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to me. That is totally mental and also pretty stressful. Helpful though as has managed my expectations (!) and now think it might make sense to stagger our arrival. My husband will have a job but think I'm not going to get one until we have house and school sorted. Not really sure how we could both have jobs with no school and househunting which is sounding like a full time job in itself! Another question from me ... what is the standard lease length over there? Thanks

My husband and I are planning a move from London to Sydney with our three young children and will arrive in early Sept. Our plan is to move into an Airbnb for a couple of weeks which I am hoping will give us time to find a house to rent, and then we will put our children into the local school, based on catchment. They'll probably start mid term. Has anyone done this recently and if so, would you be happy to share your experience? And how long it took to find a rental/get into schools etc. We are also planning on shipping our stuff over which I am told will take up to 5 months ... has anyone had shorter/longer timeframes?! Many thanks in advance!