Guest Sian.612 Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Hey Guys. We dont know where we are moving to atm. My Mum says it will be Canberra, Melbourne Or Sydney. She also says we are only in the 'early stages'. Has anyone been to any of these places before? Or does anyone live there now? I would be interested to know what these places are like. We've never been to Australia before? We might be moving, mainly because my Dad's work. He's doing his skills assesment atm. I would love to move, because its warmer, lots of beaches and I LOVE the Australian accent. But, on the other hand, I dont want to move, because: I would miss my friends lots and lots, especially Chloe, Sophie and Demi, My best mates. They know about Autralia and they would be so upset if i went. I would miss my family, lots and lots, especially my Nan and my older Sister Natalie. She isnt coming becuase she doesnt want to leave her Dad. Calli, our labradoodle, is coming with us if we move, if she wasnt coming, then to be honest i wouldnt go. I couldnt imagine life without her. Please write back. Love, Sian x :wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Hi Sian I live in Canberra and think it is one of the nicest places but it doesnt have beaches unfortunately - they are about a 90 min drive away. But we do have some lovely lakes and lots of bush and mountains around us. Canberra is the national capital and so it has all the main government buildings and a lot of people here actually work for the government. We have excellent facilities for all sorts of sports and lots of other opportunities for kids - music, drama, science etc. There are lots of schools both government and private so you have lots of choice about where to go to. The houses are all new by UK standards as everything here was built after 1901! There are lots of new suburbs with brand new houses but also some older suburbs with "old" houses (about 50 yrs old). We are one of the places which still has 4 seasons of the year - it can be quite chilly in the winter overnight with frosts down to -7C but the days are bright and sunny and not that cold. In summer it can get up to 40C but usually our hottest days are mid 30Cs. I hope your mum and dad decide that Canberra is a good place to come to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sian.612 Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Hi Sian I live in Canberra and think it is one of the nicest places but it doesnt have beaches unfortunately - they are about a 90 min drive away. But we do have some lovely lakes and lots of bush and mountains around us. Canberra is the national capital and so it has all the main government buildings and a lot of people here actually work for the government. We have excellent facilities for all sorts of sports and lots of other opportunities for kids - music, drama, science etc. There are lots of schools both government and private so you have lots of choice about where to go to. The houses are all new by UK standards as everything here was built after 1901! There are lots of new suburbs with brand new houses but also some older suburbs with "old" houses (about 50 yrs old). We are one of the places which still has 4 seasons of the year - it can be quite chilly in the winter overnight with frosts down to -7C but the days are bright and sunny and not that cold. In summer it can get up to 40C but usually our hottest days are mid 30Cs. I hope your mum and dad decide that Canberra is a good place to come to! Hi Oh well, if it's nice, I can live with driving 90 mins for a beach! I always thought Sydney was the capital, until my friend told me last year... odd. I find goverment people quite scary... lol. I absolutely adore drama, so thats good! I dont really mind which type of school I go too, as long as Sophie and Scott come too, i dont really want to be on my own the first day, but i'm sure my mum will send us all to the same school anyway. I also dont mind which type of house... but it has to be nice lol. Which parts of Oz dont have 4 seasons ... that sounds strange, how can you not have 4 seasons ? My dad has actually signed up to a recruitment agency in Canberra so we are likely to go there. Our friends have just moved to Canberra - 2 weeks ago. My mum would like to know how many people live in the Canberra area - roughly Anyway, thanks for your reply. Speak Soon. Love, Sian x :wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 There are just over 335,000 people here at the moment but it is getting bigger and bigger! The tropics dont have 4 seasons like the more temperate climates they basically just have the wet season and the dry season and dont have very much temperature variability! So the further north you go, the less you have distinct seasons. I wouldnt worry about the government people - they dont bite:biglaugh: And the rest of us are pretty nice too!!! Sometimes the government provides better job opportunities for some people so they are useful for something!!! The other good thing is that even if you do have to drive 90 minutes to a beach, in the winter if you drive 2 hours you get to some really good snow fields where you can ski or snowboard. Best of both worlds really! PS, love your labradoodle - he will have a great time here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lfc_rhys23395 Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 hey sian, remember me? rhys i think you 3 would luv it over here. lol, obviously we live here in canberra and it is a nice place HOPE to see you soon lol x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sian.612 Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 There are just over 335,000 people here at the moment but it is getting bigger and bigger! The tropics dont have 4 seasons like the more temperate climates they basically just have the wet season and the dry season and dont have very much temperature variability! So the further north you go, the less you have distinct seasons. I wouldnt worry about the government people - they dont bite:biglaugh: And the rest of us are pretty nice too!!! Sometimes the government provides better job opportunities for some people so they are useful for something!!! The other good thing is that even if you do have to drive 90 minutes to a beach, in the winter if you drive 2 hours you get to some really good snow fields where you can ski or snowboard. Best of both worlds really! PS, love your labradoodle - he will have a great time here! Hii! WOW! Thats A Lot Of People!!! Oh, well, i could drive that long! It sounds GREAT FUN! Lol, thats good news!! :biglaugh: Ooh, well, i kinda understand... not fully but, oh well. My labradoodle looks like a labrador now!! She doesnt look anything like it!! She has been shaved!! She still looks cute! Only, DIFFERENT! Sian x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 LOL tell your mum that it is a bit bigger than Coventry but a bit smaller than Leicester but it stretches for about 50km from top to bottom and about 25 km from side to side at its widest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbie2302 Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Hi Quoll This is Sian's mum, thanks for getting back to us. My OH is very interested in Canberra, we hadnt even considered it until he went to an Expo at Australia House last month. He spoke with someone from the government and a recruitment agency, both painted a lovely picture of the area. He was given brochures which I have since looked at it it does look really nice. We are put off Sydney, being too big and expensive, but then saying that if OH got offered a job there would consider it. What does appeal to us is the fact that there is no conjestion and everything seems to be within an approx 30 min drive of the centre. Is this the case? Friends of mine of PIO moved out to Canberra nearly 3 weeks ago and are loving it. Do you mind me asking you a couple of questions: What are the house prices in comparison to other parts of Australia? If we were to come over on a temporary visa would I have to pay for school fees? What would you say is the hottest and coldest temperatures there, I know you have the four seasons. Thank you for taking the time to respond to Sian's questions and mine. Hopefully speak again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Hi Quoll This is Sian's mum, thanks for getting back to us. My OH is very interested in Canberra, we hadnt even considered it until he went to an Expo at Australia House last month. He spoke with someone from the government and a recruitment agency, both painted a lovely picture of the area. He was given brochures which I have since looked at it it does look really nice. We are put off Sydney, being too big and expensive, but then saying that if OH got offered a job there would consider it. What does appeal to us is the fact that there is no conjestion and everything seems to be within an approx 30 min drive of the centre. Is this the case? Friends of mine of PIO moved out to Canberra nearly 3 weeks ago and are loving it. Do you mind me asking you a couple of questions: What are the house prices in comparison to other parts of Australia? If we were to come over on a temporary visa would I have to pay for school fees? What would you say is the hottest and coldest temperatures there, I know you have the four seasons. Thank you for taking the time to respond to Sian's questions and mine. Hopefully speak again We do have congestion - at rush hour you can get a tail back of oh, at least 30 cars:biglaugh: Seriously, there are some spots to avoid at rush hour but if you can master roundabouts (and most Poms can) then Canberra driving is a doddle. You can definitely get into the city centre within 30 minutes from pretty much anywhere. House prices - cheaper than Sydney or Melbourne but not cheap. You can get a feel for what is on offer at allhomes.com.au & allclassifieds.com.au Generally the further out you go the cheaper the houses also more modern but the smaller the blocks. You can get a nice house for $500K. In the winter we do get frosts which can go as low as -7C but the days warm up to usually over 10C with the sun shining and the sky blue. You dont need a raincoat - and if you do happen to need a raincoat you are usually dancing around in the rain because we are somewhat drought affected at the moment (dams just below 50% capacity which is an improvement but not nearly enough!). In the summer we usually have a few weeks of temps in the high 30s and it has gone over 40C but not for long, mostly it hovers around the high 20s low 30s and it is quite dry so you dont have to contend with the humidity that you do further north on the coast. The weather is quite variable really - t shirts and shorts from September to April then a jumper from April to September with the occasional fleece jacket! My boys always wore shorts all year round and so does DH but, then, he cycles everywhere. Good bike paths too BTW. School fees - hmmm. Well the policy documents state that international fees (ouch) are charged for temporary visa holders but talking with international students it appears that they do waive the fees for MODL occupations (dont hold me to that and who knows if someone will ever enforce the policy documents!). Non government schools (and we have a thriving Catholic system which accommodates over 40% of kids these days) would charge only the standard fees applicable to all students. NSW - across the border - charge for all 457 students regardless. We are about a 3 hour drive to Sydney and people do pop up for the day - now there is an excellent road to get there, it is easy to do. Melbourne is about a 7 - 8 hour drive and if you have the option, flying down is the best way to go:yes: Many Canberrans have places at the beach - either second homes or caravans - and there is a bit of a weekend exodus. Basically we are more like a big country town than anything else - the Sydney/Melbourne mob say that it is "dead" but I think it is livening up a bit and we do have good restaurants with decent coffee! At the last count we had more Olympic size swimming pools than in the whole of UK but you may have built some more since I last counted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sian.612 Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 hey sian, remember me? rhysi think you 3 would luv it over here. lol, obviously we live here in canberra and it is a nice place HOPE to see you soon lol x Hey Rhys. Yeah I Remember Yhoo! How have u settled? Sian x :wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lfc_rhys23395 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 its fine thx. im in a school now how is every one? rhys x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sian.612 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 its fine thx.im in a school now how is every one? rhys x Hey Rhys Is your school nice? Have you made many mates? We're all great over here. :jiggy: Sian x :wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sian.612 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 Hey Rhys,,, I Wont Talk Very Much Until You Get Online (On Laptop) Then I Will Talk To Ya Loads,, Lol Sian x :wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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