gparkes Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Hi Poms, Just looking for advise from anyone who has moved interstate. My husband has just been offered a job in Canberra and we currently live in Melbourne and have done for 10years now. Has anyone out there done it, if so what removal companies did you use? What was the cost as it looks sooo expensive!!! What are good family suburbs and schools? I have a 3 year old and a 8 year old. Any info would be lovely as I'd love to meet new friends and have the move go as smoothly as possible!! Sent using Poms in Oz mobile app Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collie Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Can't speak about Canberra too much, I normally drive through it but 2 hours from Canberra to the snow in winter. Best thing I think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 It's really quite a nice place to raise kids. The weather is going to be colder in winter and about the same in summer. Families live all over the place and seem to do quite nicely. Personally I would avoid the Tuggeranong Valley but that is because the schools were built in the era of open space team teaching etc and they don't have the best of reputations. The closer in to the town centres you go, the more expensive are the properties - I'm an Inner North gal and it's just great but we bought a small house on a 1/4 acre block over 30 years ago so we are sitting pretty. Nowadays the big homes with all the bells and whistles are usually on small blocks and further out of the town centres. Most people choose a place to live which gives them good accessibility to their place of work - check out the potential drive to work in the rush hour - the Tuggeranong Parkway can be a nightmare, as can the highways into town in the mornings and out of town in the evenings. Charnwood, Richardson and Narrabundah used to be the suburbs to avoid but Narrabundah is being gentrified, Charnie is still Charnie and probably best avoided as would be Richardson, Chisholm, Isabella Plains. You can get a feel for the schools from the my school.edu.au site - loads of private options if you don't like the public offering. The schools generally reflect the neighbourhood so if you can't see yourself living in a suburb you won't want to send your kids to school there. They're all incredibly PC!!! There are plenty of activities and excellent facilities in general. It's only a couple of hours to the beach or the snow. It's quite insular though with most families being two income just to meet the mortgage repayments and so there is a lot of garage door syndrome. There are little clusters of communities but not as a general rule - you can go for months without saying hello to a neighbour. It's also pretty itinerant so making friends for eternity is not likely, people move on with their careers and move out of town. Of my sons' mates from school, probably less than 50% have stayed in town, most have gone overseas or to the big smokes. The suburbs are deathly quiet during the day because everyone is out at work or school but there are playgroups and library activities you can use. There are some nice markets at Belconnen and Fyshwick but nothing like the Melbourne markets. It's basically got the best bits of a big city or a big town without the worst bits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Just to add, www.allhomes.com.au is the usual real estate website for Canberra properties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gill and chris Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Hey Did you end up moving? If so, how are you finding it? Would love to hear more about it.We also have the chance to move to Canberra from Melbourne. We have been in Melbourne for 8 years now so quite settled here. We have a 6 year old, 2 year old and a 3 month old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gparkes Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 My husband moved 3 weeks ago and I decided to stay here for 6 months with the kids to 1st see how the new job is and 2nd let my oldest finish her school year here. If all is well in Dec we will all move to Canberra. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gill and chris Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 Sounds like a plan - we would do the same with schooling but unfortunately for a number of work reasons it won't work out. Hope it is going well so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p182 Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 I moved to Canberra from the UK and lived there the last 8 years and had the best time of my life. The city has changed beyond imagination since I first arrived. in contrast to the Australian stereotypes of it being a quiet county town, there's a lot happening now. Great new bars and restaurants seem to be popping up everyone. Very high quality of life, I could recommend it more. Sadly though work has just taken me away to Melbourne, which I hope is at least half as good as Canberra. Good luck with the move. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gill and chris Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Hey Gail just thought I would touch base with you and let you know we moved at the weekend. First day of school went well apparently for my 6 year old today. She seemed happy enough at pick up which was a relief as she loved her school in Melbourne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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