Guest Panic Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 :emoticon-signxmas:All, my second post, looking for more adivce. Basically i have been ofered a post in Sydney but it means draging the Wife and five year old from all that they know and love to somewhere 11 hours outside of reality. There are a number of burning quuesting. 1.. Is Sydney a nice place to live for adults and five year olds alike? 2.. How costly is it to live and work in Sydney? 3.. What is the work life balance like? Not that i have much of that now mind you.. 4.. How different is it culturally to live and work in Aus? 5.. How expensive is it to rent (somewhere reasonable 4 beds/garden etc) So, like you pro's that have done this and started afresh you must have been through these kinds of thoughts before yourself, so hopefully you have some answers? Any input is most weclome, i have a few weeks before i make the decision, the reason for leaving the UK are obvious in some ways but is it better the devil you know?? Only some of you know this and i am hoping to get your help with this? Many thanks, Panic...:notworthy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tomatohead Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 hello panic i lived in a suburb of sydney called earlwood which is a 25 min train (15 min drive )journey to sydney cbd i paid $ 350 pw rent + bills for a 2 bed house with a huge garden placfes like balmain or coogee in fact sydney itself is full of expats the best thing to do is join a football or rugby club you will instantly meet other people in the same boat as you , im a construction manager and my wages were well up on the uk and the standard of living is excellent , the aussies are good they love there sport and they love there beer just like us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Panic Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Thanks, i appreciate the input. Cheers, Panic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoeburrell Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I think Sydney is a great place for families, however its so big so prices on rentals vary massively depending on whereabouts you head for, I think Sydney has everything you need though, nice city, beautiful beaches, outback bushland, so just depends what you are looking for! Maybe I am just biased as we are moving there in January adn just cannot wait! Zoe xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Sydney is generally acknowledged to be one of the most expensive places to live in in Australia. You wont be getting a 4 bed with a pool and sea views for $300 a week that's for sure so you may find yourself, say, in the Hills district which is quite a commute from the city centre. You will need to factor the commute into your working day and generally Australians do work longer hours but that depends on your industry. The average male wage is about $63k pa these days but I dont know how people manage on that - not in the nicer areas of Sydney anyway! I dont know about Sydney being full of expats - not expat Poms anyway - it has a very high Asian population and you would need to check out which areas to avoid (Cabramatta, Auburn etc). A good place to start with real estate is Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au that will give you a feel for what is available. Then do Google map searches for street views of the areas you fancy. Then you can do Australian travel maps, street directory, driving directions & aerial photographs - Whereis.com distance estimates to see how long it will take you to commute. Sydney is a very big city which sprawls over hundreds of square miles. It has a big city feel to it and if you like city or suburb living then you will be fine. If you are more of a small town family then you could find it overwhelming. However, if at the end of the day your wife doesnt want to move then dont move. She has to be behind this 100% - if her family and support network are important to her then she probably wont enjoy the isolation. If OTOH she thinks it will be a grand adventure then go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Panic Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Hi i'm panic's better half and at the mo we live in a very small village surrounded by fields in the uk last week he came home saying he was offered a good job and now we have to think about this very hard. our little one has just started school at the age of 5 and as i understand it she would not be in school in oz. i would like more info as to areas to live, schools and i know this sounds silly but ballet and swimming too. the family here are behind us in matter what we choose so it is time to get the infromation as to the nice areas,schools and what to expect thanks you your help panics wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tomatohead Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 hi panics o/h , ive lived in sydney for 8 yrs on and off and yes it does have a large asian community but if that is something that is going to put you off then dont bother with australia as all the major and even the not so major place do it is in asia after all , i started life as a dryliner and earned $ 40 ph + gst most recently i worked as a site manager and earned $ 50 ph + gst as i said i paid $ 350 pw for a 2 bed with huge garden in earlwood 20 mins from the city and twenty mins from coogee and bondi beaches and about the same to cronulla beach which is about 40 mins on the train to sydney where a typical 3/4 bed hse with pool is around the $ 600 mark ,but somewhere like balmain which is a 10 min bus ride to the city but is a " trendy " suburb a two bed house is more like $ 750-$ 1000 pw in fact i have a friend who has a 3 bed hse a bit further out than balmain ( cant remember the name of the suburb for the life of me ) and he pays $ 650 pw , to be honest i think you need to forget the 3/4 bed hse with pool as they are few and far between and they are very expensive , as for schools and ballet and swimming it is no different to the uk in fact the inferstructure in sydney is in my opinion is far superior to the uk , what do you both do for work ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozboy Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Sydney is a very large place, there are some very nice parts and some pity dreadful parts to live in. The Blue mountains is suposed to be great with some very nice towns or villages great for kids , a rural or semi-rural environment, but it might be too far to travel to work from there. l think it snows in winter sometimes up there and in summer it does'nt get as hot as the rest of Sydney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tomatohead Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 yeah the blue mountains is stunning , an to be honest ive only gone on about sydney cos thats where ive been based most of the time so on that point i do know two scouse lads who moved from sydney to brisbane and both bought $ 250`000 houses four beds with pool and they are both plumbers , i do think though australia in general is no-where near as bad as the uk and indeed most of europe when it comes to crime and ****ty places to live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Hi i'm panic's better half and at the mo we live in a very small village surrounded by fields in the uk last week he came home saying he was offered a good job and now we have to think about this very hard. our little one has just started school at the age of 5 and as i understand it she would not be in school in oz. i would like more info as to areas to live, schools and i know this sounds silly but ballet and swimming too. the family here are behind us in matter what we choose so it is time to get the infromation as to the nice areas,schools and what to expect thanks you your help panics wife. If your little one is 5 already then, no worries, she would be in kindergarten in NSW - that is the first year of full time school. If she turned 5 before 31 July this year then she could actually be in year 1 (which is the second year of full time school - go figure!) in 2009. There is a strong private system alongside the government system - so you do have quite a choice with a Catholic system offering quite a cheap alternative. Swimming and ballet - again, no worries, there will be swim schools and ballet lessons readily available pretty much anywhere you go within a short travel at least. I think the niceness of the area you can live in really depends on the income you will have from the job. For example, my choice would be Mosman but unless you have a very large income you wouldnt be able to afford a decent place to live in and even then it is more likely to be an apartment than a detatched house with garden. I am also very partial to Glebe but that is more inner city living rather than suburbia. The Blue Mountains are stunning and it is quite possible to live out there and commute - there is a train line into the city but it takes about an hour each way. In general, the western suburbs dont have a good reputation (Bankstown, Auburn, Granville etc) - they tend to be rougher and there are some "no go" areas. The North Shore (Mosman etc) is the high end of town. One thing to watch out for is whether this will be a temporary or permanent visa. If it is a temporary 457 visa then being NSW you will have to pay for schooling - about $4500 pa in a govt school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozboy Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Yes advoid the western suburbs, you always hear on the news about Lebanese gangs with machine guns shooting people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tomatohead Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 ha ha ha no-where near as bad as that if you go to punchbowl in the western suburbs its predominantly leb but there are some of the most amazing restaurants there ,cabramatta which is vietnemese and has a lot of heroin going through it but again some of the best food markets and restaurants in sydney ,you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time but you can in london birmingham manchester glasgow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest koala12 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 I've been in Sydney now for just over 2 years and live on the edge of the eastern suburbs - it's about a 15 minute drive into the City and 7 minutes to the nearest beach so best of both worlds. Coming from London we find prices comparable housing wise but other prices are much cheaper. Obviously there are areas you wouldn't want to live and it depends where you are going to be based jobwise and how long a commute to work you are prepared to put up wiith. I don't have young children but from what I've seen here it's a great place to bring up children and I wish I had come here years ago when mine were young and so they could have grown up with this lifestyle. I think Sydney is more expensive to live that some other Cities but it's a great place, very diverse and always lots to do...I can honestly say I have never been bored here as there is so much going on. Good luck with your decision K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Panic Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 hi thank you all for your help. hub and i are flying out to sydney in jan to take a look around. hubs offices will be in Macquarie Park NSW. What were your best experances about moving, did you find making friend easy and how did you go about it.do you think you would have done things differently if you had more local knowledge? hubs company hire's relocation people to do vises ect so we have to say were we would like to be and what our price range will be. this is a lot to ask so thank you again for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tomatohead Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 hi panic , seriously you will have no problems making friends and fitting in , the best thing you can do is join a sports club cricket , rugby , football even if you dont play go down and watch take the kids , you will get to know so many soccer mums and dads and kids and you have to understand that all the people you do meet were once in the same boat as you and you will find they will welcome you with open arms sydneys no australia is a cool and welcoming place things have moved on from the ten pound pom days , enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SAINTHURLOCK Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 :emoticon-signxmas:All, my second post, looking for more adivce. Basically i have been ofered a post in Sydney but it means draging the Wife and five year old from all that they know and love to somewhere 11 hours outside of reality. There are a number of burning quuesting. 1.. Is Sydney a nice place to live for adults and five year olds alike? 2.. How costly is it to live and work in Sydney? 3.. What is the work life balance like? Not that i have much of that now mind you.. 4.. How different is it culturally to live and work in Aus? 5.. How expensive is it to rent (somewhere reasonable 4 beds/garden etc) So, like you pro's that have done this and started afresh you must have been through these kinds of thoughts before yourself, so hopefully you have some answers? Any input is most weclome, i have a few weeks before i make the decision, the reason for leaving the UK are obvious in some ways but is it better the devil you know?? Only some of you know this and i am hoping to get your help with this? Many thanks, Panic...:notworthy: 1.. Deffo yes. 2.. You'll manage...everyone else here does 3.. Work hard ,play hard 4.. Same same but diffrent 5.. Forget 4 bedrooms unless your on the big bucks.....2/3 bed Bungalow with garden on the northern beaches (best place by far for families) $500-600 pw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tomatohead Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 hi panic , only me again i just wanted to say if you download google earth you can put in macquarie pk nsw and it will take you there if you have the number of the house you can straight to the door , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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