Jurls Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hi Claire ,I have two boys , youngest born the 12 th of feb this year he must be the same age as your little one and my other boy is 18 months , yeah it's great fun ! ! Loads of play groups , activities in local libraries , great swimming lessons for the young ones , google aquatots . You could do something nearly every day ! Are in Canberra do you hope to live ? We are in Nicholls . Hi Bart10, we're in Giralang, not far from you as well. Our little ones will be 20 months at the end of June. Judith started a thread for families with young children if you're interested http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/nt-tassie-act-suburbs/116960-canberra-familes-young-children.html and anyone else who wants to meet up with their little ones. :smile: Do you go to aquatots? I've been meaning to look into swimming for my two but haven't got round to it. Hoping it won't be too expensive, we're on a bit of a budget while I'm not working. :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bart10 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hi Bart10, we're in Giralang, not far from you as well. Our little ones will be 20 months at the end of June. Judith started a thread for families with young children if you're interested http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/nt-tassie-act-suburbs/116960-canberra-familes-young-children.html and anyone else who wants to meet up with their little ones. :smile: Do you go to aquatots? I've been meaning to look into swimming for my two but haven't got round to it. Hoping it won't be too expensive, we're on a bit of a budget while I'm not working. :wacko: Hi Jurls, I see you are only here since May , how are you finding it ? Aquatots is 600 dollars for the year but there so many different ways to pay , monthly , termly , I enjoy the lessons. I only bring my toddler and they mind my baby by the side of the pool. With you having twins you would need two of you there. Have you had any meet ups yet with others with young children ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ClaireBrown Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hi Claire Sure you are only across the road from us. If you fancy a meetup let me know - we would love it! I left for work at 6.45 this morning and got there at 7.30 - maybe I should take the monaro highway instead of drakeford drive. I dont know why its taking me so long. We are on a 176 so we dont have to pay school fees for government schools but decided to go private as they arent too expensive. We dont have a doc yet so if you could recommend one that would be fantastic! Suzanne We'd love to meet up too, let me know when you're free and would like to. If you're on Facebook you can add me as a friend http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=588121370 Where are you working? My husband goes along the Manaro to Barton, but he can go both ways in about the same time... I didn't realise there was so much traffic about at that time...LOL Apparently both houses of parliament are sitting at the moment which has increased the traffic at present, for example hotels are all booked out etc and cost of them increased too! So that hopeful to you anyway :jiggy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurls Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hi Jurls, I see you are only here since May , how are you finding it ? Aquatots is 600 dollars for the year but there so many different ways to pay , monthly , termly , I enjoy the lessons. I only bring my toddler and they mind my baby by the side of the pool. With you having twins you would need two of you there. Have you had any meet ups yet with others with young children ? Only on Poms in Oz since May. I've actually been in Canberra since March 2010, my husband is a born and bred Canberran. :biggrin: I haven't actually met up with anyone from here yet, although Claire (Brown) and I are going to meet up. We only recently got a second car, so in between having very young twins and no transport, I've been fairly housebound for the past year. Didn't fancy trying to deal with the buses and a double buggy. I did go to a local playgroup for a while but found it a bit of a handful with the twins at the time. They're probably at a better age to go now, but I probably won't go back to that one as there is a sandpit and my boy gets eczema so I've been advised to keep him away from sand. I'll have to watch him with swimming as well. All DHs family are here though so we see them a fair bit and I've recently started meeting up with some other ladies with twins. Canberra so far is OK. I find I'm homesick for New Zealand (which is where I was living prior). I can't say I'm a fan of the planned layout or shopping malls though. Undecided if I really want to settle here. Hubby wouldn't be sad to leave, he prefer Melbourne. :biglaugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surhythms Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 We'd love to meet up too, let me know when you're free and would like to. If you're on Facebook you can add me as a friend http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=588121370 Where are you working? My husband goes along the Manaro to Barton, but he can go both ways in about the same time... I didn't realise there was so much traffic about at that time...LOL Apparently both houses of parliament are sitting at the moment which has increased the traffic at present, for example hotels are all booked out etc and cost of them increased too! So that hopeful to you anyway :jiggy: Added you Claire !! traffic isnt so bad in the morning so I must be doing something a bit mental - maybe sticking to the speed limit??? Bart10 - sent you a PM! Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireg Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hi Claire ,I have two boys , youngest born the 12 th of feb this year he must be the same age as your little one and my other boy is 18 months , yeah it's great fun ! ! Loads of play groups , activities in local libraries , great swimming lessons for the young ones , google aquatots . You could do something nearly every day ! Are in Canberra do you hope to live ? We are in Nicholls . Our daughter was born 29th January, actually she is not far off 5 months now. I'm glad there is plenty to do, need to get stuck in and meet other mums and for Jaime and Maisie to make friends. I like the fact that at Aquatots they mind the baby whilst you are with your toddler. I used to take Jaime swimming loads before Maisie came along but now it is hard to get someone to look after Maisie regularly so we can go swimming in the week. From our online research so far we like Belconnen, Weston creek, Woden and some parts of Gungahlin. I like the look of the newer homes but the back gardens are so small, so if we can find a decent rental in one of the older suburbs with a bit of garden space we will prob go for that. all depends on what's available come October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABL275 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Hi Claire, Thanks for confirming that the whole year of school fees needs to be paid up front. I've just arrived and have been trying to enrol my daughter and it was a bit of a shocker to find out they wanted the $9,500 up front, this isn't something that seems to be particularly well advertised! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surhythms Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 Hi Claire, Thanks for confirming that the whole year of school fees needs to be paid up front. I've just arrived and have been trying to enrol my daughter and it was a bit of a shocker to find out they wanted the $9,500 up front, this isn't something that seems to be particularly well advertised! I dont know how old your daughter is but the Catholic Schools will cost you about 4-5k which is alot cheaper than the government schools international fees so it might be worth a try. We have our daughter in a Private Catholic - we looked at government schools aswell but decided to go down the private route! Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryceandClaire Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Thanks for post, very helpful read. We arrive in Canberra October 11th so any advise on short term furnished rentals would be appreciated. also could you recommend the name of the hotel in Darling Harbour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surhythms Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 Thanks for post, very helpful read. We arrive in Canberra October 11th so any advise on short term furnished rentals would be appreciated. also could you recommend the name of the hotel in Darling Harbour. Hi guys We stayed in a short term rental in Calwell - Tuggeranong called Langley Heights - very reasonably price and really comfortable and its a very nice suburb - the name of the hotel was the Novotel. Hope this helps Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezer Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Well guys ...........................................................We have been here 2 weeks now so just to give you all an update on how we are doing. We arrived in Sydney and stayed in a hotel for 3 days in Darling Harbour and it was really nice. Sydney is a really nice place to visit and we needed the break before we got to Canberra because it has been HECTIC!! We drove down from Sydney in our rental car which was somewhat underpowered for the size of it!! Luckily enough we have managed to buy two cars now which is great. The journey took 3 hours and we drove right into Tuggeranong (Calwell) to our short term accommodation. The drive down was not very exciting so I slept in the car while the OH drove! Our short term accommodation (Langley Heights) in Calwell is really nice – it has European heating which we are spoilt with at the moment. The accomodation has everything you will need even down to an ironing board and hairdryer which really impressed me! Most of the houses don’t have heating like we do in Ireland and it is quite cold at the moment so bring your winter clothes if you are arriving soon. The first week we sorted out our TFN, Medicare, got mobile phones, mobile broadband and drove around every inch of Canberra searching for houses and schools (government secondary schools). We also met Quoll (Angela) for coffee and she gave us lots of really useful information and in my opinion has been spot on with pretty much everything she says. Thanks Angela J Last week we went to the Catholic Private Schools and searched more houses. We have now found a house, a school, I started work today and the OH is looking for work at the moment in IT. Our first impressions of Canberra were “ Well this is different” but isn’t that why we came? For something different and new. We didn’t come with any expectations of what it would be like really and I have to say 2 weeks in I don’t regret doing it one bit – I am so glad we haven’t spent more time thinking WHAT IF!! It has been a good move so far! We haven’t done one bit of sightseeing or any touristy type things but we have LOADS of time for that so Im not too worried that the last two weeks have been a hard slog. Tip: Bring EVERYTHING you possibly can !!!!! Some of the stuff is expensive so if you have it already don’t bother buying it again if you can manage it. You can get great deals at the moment because of the half yearly sales on at the moment and there is really no point converting everything because it just doesn’t match up. Grocery shopping is costing us about AUD 200 per week for the 3 of us and we aren’t overly spending or anything of the sort Cars Visited a few dogdy dealers that I didnt like the sound of! One of them even questioned why we wanted the VIN number of the car which I thought sounded slightly fish so we ended up buying our cars from Pickles Car Auctions in Fyshwick. We got 2 good deals – one at a fixed price sale and another at the auction. The auction was an experience and a bit of fun and nerverecking aswell as I have never put a bid on anything of the sort before.You need to register your car which will cost about 900 dollars - registration needs to be done every year and you need to get a cert from a garage to make sure it is roadworthy Pay stamp duty which is 3% of the sale price get your own private insurance which is about 3-400 dollars. You will definitely need 2 cars in this city- we thought we would get away with one but there is no chance of that happening! Schools: We visited 4 government schools and 4 privates. . If you have teenage kids I would say to go to public and privates just to look at the options and make up your own mind on the schools. Not every school will suit everyone but we have enrolled the daughter into a Co-ed Catholic Private. The fees are ok but we feel the fees are worth it and if it doesn’t work out for her sure we can always change! In some of the schools the classroom doors are locked for "security reasons" - the kids can get out of the classrooms but if you want to get in the door has to be unlocked with a key. I found this really off putting. Not all schools do this and I did raise the question as to why this happens. Because we are doing the private school thing we did have to look at our finances from a renting perspective which has tightened our budget a little aswell. Suburbs: Gunghalin – This is not really for us. Ok the blocks are new, modern, have ducted gas heating but we could find somewhere like this in Ireland. We want to live in a more ozzie type house. If new, modern and brand spanking new is up your street you may want to consider this option. Belconnen- really liked Belcoone and my favourite areas are: McKellar, Aranda, Hawker, Weetangera – The rents are quite high in these suburbs for a nice house and there were only a few around. We realised that our 4 bed, swimming pool dream was shot down in a flash. Some of the houses are pretty big and unless you plan to clean your way through the weekend maybe think again – plus there is the thoughts of heating the place in winter. Inner North – Ainslie, O'Connor and Hackett were my favourites here but a little pricey for us although there seemed to be some good deals around if you search for them and are flexible with your needs Inner South - they have some really nice houses here but to be honest I didn’t even consider inner south and it was way too expensive for us anyway! Weston Creek - too far out - no bus service and very little facilities for kids getting to and from school outside the Creek Woden - We liked Lyons, Curtin, Mawson the best – we put an application in for a house in Curtin but we decided not to go for it in the end. Tuggeranong - this is where we are staying and the views of the mountains are just fab. Our favourite suburbs are Calwell and Fadden. Anything further than Calwell is just too far for us. It took me an hour to get to work this morning from door to door. Something that I am not used to (it took me 5 mins in Ireland). This is the sacrifice I am willing to make though to live on a hill. We are just about to sign our lease for a 4 bed house in Calwell – its not overly expensive either which is a bonus Dont be fooled by the pictures of houses on the internet - they look about 20% worse in real life plus until you get to the actual street you wont know what it is really like. The house may look ok but then you see the real street and may change your mind!! Quolls advice on “check out the neighbours” really springs to mind and we were told by someone else to drive around the area at night which we did. Houses You can get really big houses if you like and some of them are just amazing!! None of the houses have real insulation so I have been told so bring oiled filled radiators, blow heaters, electric blankets - whatever you can for winter! The people here are really lovely and everyone so far has been so helpful and nice to us. I was quite shocked by people generosity overall. As I said already we haven’t really explored much over the past couple of weeks because the aim was to find a school, car and house and we have found them all. We went out walking up the road from where we are staying last Sunday to be met by about 30 kangaroos - it was really amazing!! A kangaroo also jumped out at us when we were driving aswell which was funny and a shock aswell. Lucky we were going slow or the poor kangaroo would not be bouncing around anymore. I think they are amazing so if wildlife is your thing you will love it here. There is loads of bushland around aswell which I love and the views are spectacular. All I would say to people is don’t rule anything out before you get here. We were dead set on living in Belconnen and I guess if a house came up that we liked and suited us we would be living in Belconnen or Inner North but it hasn’t panned out that way so I guess all I would say is be realistic in your expectations, be willing to compromise on your ideals and don’t be too shocked about the price of duvet covers J Suzanne Hi Suzanne and family, A great thread. Thank you for the information. My family and I (my wife, 1 x 5yrs old and 1 x 9 weeks old) have been awarded SS by ACT :biggrin:and our 176 visa was submitted on Monday this week. Hopefully if we are granted 176 we will move to Canberra in March next year. I had various reports on ACT in particular the cost of living, eating, household goods, housing (renting and buying) and purchasing a car are very expensive in ACT. I am planning on importing my Honda Fireblade we when come over but the process sounds a total nightmare. Great info. on the schools. I have been in touch with St. Matthew's Catholic PS and depending on the area we live in this is one consideration. Im Irish and my wife is Scottish, currently living in Scotland. If there is any other info on living in Canberra especially the areas and employment opportunities I look forward to reading them.:smile: Breezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Hi Suzanne and family,A great thread. Thank you for the information. My family and I (my wife, 1 x 5yrs old and 1 x 9 weeks old) have been awarded SS by ACT :biggrin:and our 176 visa was submitted on Monday this week. Hopefully if we are granted 176 we will move to Canberra in March next year. I had various reports on ACT in particular the cost of living, eating, household goods, housing (renting and buying) and purchasing a car are very expensive in ACT. I am planning on importing my Honda Fireblade we when come over but the process sounds a total nightmare. Great info. on the schools. I have been in touch with St. Matthew's Catholic PS and depending on the area we live in this is one consideration. Im Irish and my wife is Scottish, currently living in Scotland. If there is any other info on living in Canberra especially the areas and employment opportunities I look forward to reading them.:smile: Breezer I honestly wouldn't bother getting the car over. There are some fantastic deals privately and I regularly see cars for sale at the side of the road, some really cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABL275 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Hi Breezer, I got copied into your mail and having just moved over myself I thought I could help while it's still fresh in my memory. Many apologies if this covers any old ground or seems as if you being taught to suck eggs! Cost of living – yes it’s expensive! The pound has depreciated from being worth AU$ 2.40 about two years ago to AU$ 1.50 today so everything seems more expensive than it was. Even so a recent TV report suggested that Australians pay a lot more than in the UK, US and NZ for their basic weekly shopping due to the high level of their minimum wage and high food safety standards. Food: Have just been shopping so here’s some typical prices 4 Skinless chicken breasts - $12 (although they did weigh 1.2kg! Standard loaf of ordinary white bread - $3.79 Family sized bag of ordinary crisps - $3 750ml bottle of fruit squash - $4 Jar of cook in sauces - $3.15 Bottle of red wine: $16 and up To be fair, the quality is often better than at home and they often have loads of BOGOF offers which makes it a cheaper. I’ve also been staying in central Canberra so it’s probably a little cheaper out in the suburbs. Online grocery shopping is apparently quite big here so you could probably check prices online. Big grocery store chains include: Coles, Aldis, Woolworths, IGA. Household goods: some electrical goods are much more expensive; our £225 Dyson vacuum is about$700 here but then a Nintendo DS3 is $300 against £200 at home (i.e. exactly the same). I think it depends more on what brands you buy and where it comes from. Also bought a good mattress for $500 when you’d probably pay £300 for the same thing at home so not much difference – it seems to be more swings and roundabouts with the household good. You can check online for individual items with shops like Bing Lee (electrical) Harvey Norman (household, furniture and electrical), Myers (clothes) and David Jones (household). There is also a huge (really huge) retail park at Fishwyck near the airport and they have sales at various times of the year (just been through the ‘financial year end sale) where they’ll frequently start with 20% discounts and entertain you haggling over another 10% or so. You can also see what sort of shops they have in the three main shopping centres in Canberra and check prices on their websites: http://www.canberracentre.com.au/ http://www.hyperdome.com.au/home http://westfield.com.au/belconnen Housing (renting and buying): I’m just renting so have no idea about buying but the houses appear expensive for what they are. As you’ve probably realised the prices quoted on allhomes.com.au are per week (not per month!) and demand probably outstrips supply as Canberra is home to thousands of diplomatic, federal government and military staff on 2-3 year postings with their expenses usually paid for by their tax payers. I’ve heard that demand is highest between Sept and Jan when a lot of federal government and military staff rotate but can’t vouch for it myself. Main differences to the UK; rental houses are let without white goods (except dishwashers) so there is an incremental expense of $2,000-3,000+ depending on your taste/wallet. On the plus side the landlord is responsible for all rent and rates so the advertised rental price is pretty much what you pay to live there – you just have to pay for utility bills. Note that there is a company called ConnectNow which will do all this for you – I got my gas, electricity, telephone, cable TV and internet arranged in a single 5 minute call. Another factor, depending on your visa type is that you may be eligible for a Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) which is a scheme that allows foreign workers (or Australians living overseas) to pay their rent out of their gross pay – which means it’s not taxed or put another way it means it actually costs about a third less than it should which also makes renting a little cheaper than it first appears. Note that you might also be able to get LAFHA towards food costs and schooling costs. As noted by others, all the houses don’t look half as good close up as in the photographs so be prepared to downgrade expectations. With regards the cost of white goods, I bought a load in the sales from Harvey Norman and seemed to get quite a reasonable deal, no more expensive than at home. I also looked on e-bay figuring there must be quite a secondary market in the stuff but there were only about 5 refrigerators listed for sale in the Canberra area. I’m now told that the locals are big into garage sales and having looked at the Canberra Times there seems to be dozens of house clearance garage sales each weekend so that’s where I’m off to tomorrow to look for garden furniture. Purchasing a car: Yep these are expensive too. I bought a 10 year old Astra 1.8L with 90k miles for $5,000 dollars (having bought a similar 7 year old Astra 1.6L with 90k miles privately for £1,800 a couple of years ago in the UK). However it was through a dealer and is immaculate and touch-wood it’s trouble free so far. Could probably have got a cheaper and poorer deal elsewhere but this dealer was recommended by an associate as being of good quality. As with everything Australian there is always a hefty surcharge associated with Government regulation so it cost me a further $200+ in taxes and fees. I also had to register the vehicle but couldn’t do that without an ACT license. Getting this was done at one of the many ACT Government services offices (‘shop fronts’) around town, took about 10 mins and just required me to present my UK licence....oh, and $70 of course. This then allowed me to register the car – which was another form, done in 5 mins....oh and a fee of $188. This is not as bad as it looks as this also pays for your third party injury insurance (for 3 months – expect to pay $750 for the year for an Astra). If you’re looking for a car then the whole of the suburb of Phillips seems to be given over to dealerships or try Fishwyck auctions as Suzanne noted. Buying something more substantial looks more expensive but then I’ve also noticed ads for the Holden SV6 Ute, new at $33,000 (£22,000) which for a 3.6L V6 engine monster doesn’t seem too bad. As with other things Australian cars are relatively expensive but on average they also seem to be much bigger and more powerful. I guess it depends what you want but if you’re happy to go with a ‘local’ brand (Holden, Ford or Japanese) there seem to be some reasonable deals. Shipping a car: I’m also trying to ship my Jaguar XF over and although the paperwork looks onerous I think in most cases it’s not as bad as it looks. I guess the secret is to get a good shipping agent who can handle Australian customs and also tell you what you do and don’t need to worry about. Again, all the shipping costs for my car will probably be about £1,800, Australian customs will add about $750 in fees (just to inspect and to the register it) and then charge about $7,000 ‘luxury import tax’. However, it’s probably worth $40k in the UK and $70k here so when I flog it in three years time...:-) Schools: I gather the Australians have the same sort of debates about their state schools as we do and as with ours I’m not sure that most are as bad as they might be made out to be. I looked at a couple of private schools (full and with waiting lists) and a couple of local state schools (not full and seemingly very keen to have us). Difficult to get a feel for them to any great degree but both private and public seemed to have comparable classroom facilities (laptops, interactive whiteboards, garden areas, play areas etc.) although the private schools probably had better sports facilities for the older kids and seemed to be in better condition – although to be fair I looked at schools in Woden Valley and this is apparently the oldest residential part of Canberra so the schools may be in better condition in the newer parts. The big kicker as ever was cost. Unless you have an exemption it will cost $9,320 for your five-year old (my daughter is also five) and this has to be paid in full, up front (no exceptions – I’ve tried!) before the Dept of Education and Training International Unit will grant approval for her to apply to a school. Note that the Australian Government works as a profit centre not a cost centre so it will also cost you $225 for them just to look at your application form. With those sort of costs it is actually cheaper to send your children to a private school – if you can find one that has places. Areas: For our sins we are going to live in Mawson which looks fine. The big determinant is that my office is south of Lake Burley Griffin and the school where we would eventually like to send our daughter is also south of the lake. From my experiences so far I can get from anywhere on the south side to the lake in around 25mins max (in an Astra!) even at peak times but coming across the lake first thing in the morning looks as if it might be a bit time consuming. Apart from that, the scenery is beautiful, the weather bright and sunny even in mid-winter (so far) and the city is organised to make life easy and stress free so I’m looking forward to living here. 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nik_kershaw Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 If you are looking to buy a car, i worked at the car auction house in fyshwick and I may be able to help like i did with Suzanne. I might be able to save you a few thousand $, just shoot me a PM and I'll see what I can do for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireg Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 If you are looking to buy a car, i worked at the car auction house in fyshwick and I may be able to help like i did with Suzanne. I might be able to save you a few thousand $, just shoot me a PM and I'll see what I can do for you Hi nik, we may take you up on that offer when we arrive in October. Cheers Claire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezer Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Hi Paul1Perth Thanks for your reply. I note your comment regarding purchasing cars which we will need to do as we have 2 young children. My Fireblade is a motorbike and from looking on the web at some of the prices at dealers it looks on the surface to be cheaper to import my motor bike rather than buy one in ACT. Does/has anyone experience of importing a motor bike into ACT? Cheers Breezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik_kershaw Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 i looked into doing it myself but the cost of doing it was going to be about the same cost as selling it in the UK then buying one in Aus, there are going to be so much paperwork and hassle for doing it I decided to get one over here. Put a post on the transport thread as I think there might be people who have done it. I bought my bike from a private person in QLD and did a road trip back to Canberra, never had a problem with it yet. I looked at a blade here in canberra and the guy wanted about $8k for it, I got a firestorm instead for $5500. By the way, some really good roads around here for a ride Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezer Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Hi Breezer,I got copied into your mail and having just moved over myself I thought I could help while it's still fresh in my memory. Many apologies if this covers any old ground or seems as if you being taught to suck eggs! Cost of living – yes it’s expensive! The pound has depreciated from being worth AU$ 2.40 about two years ago to AU$ 1.50 today so everything seems more expensive than it was. Even so a recent TV report suggested that Australians pay a lot more than in the UK, US and NZ for their basic weekly shopping due to the high level of their minimum wage and high food safety standards. Food: Have just been shopping so here’s some typical prices 4 Skinless chicken breasts - $12 (although they did weigh 1.2kg! Standard loaf of ordinary white bread - $3.79 Family sized bag of ordinary crisps - $3 750ml bottle of fruit squash - $4 Jar of cook in sauces - $3.15 Bottle of red wine: $16 and up To be fair, the quality is often better than at home and they often have loads of BOGOF offers which makes it a cheaper. I’ve also been staying in central Canberra so it’s probably a little cheaper out in the suburbs. Online grocery shopping is apparently quite big here so you could probably check prices online. Big grocery store chains include: Coles, Aldis, Woolworths, IGA. Household goods: some electrical goods are much more expensive; our £225 Dyson vacuum is about$700 here but then a Nintendo DS3 is $300 against £200 at home (i.e. exactly the same). I think it depends more on what brands you buy and where it comes from. Also bought a good mattress for $500 when you’d probably pay £300 for the same thing at home so not much difference – it seems to be more swings and roundabouts with the household good. You can check online for individual items with shops like Bing Lee (electrical) Harvey Norman (household, furniture and electrical), Myers (clothes) and David Jones (household). There is also a huge (really huge) retail park at Fishwyck near the airport and they have sales at various times of the year (just been through the ‘financial year end sale) where they’ll frequently start with 20% discounts and entertain you haggling over another 10% or so. You can also see what sort of shops they have in the three main shopping centres in Canberra and check prices on their websites: http://www.canberracentre.com.au/ http://www.hyperdome.com.au/home http://westfield.com.au/belconnen Housing (renting and buying): I’m just renting so have no idea about buying but the houses appear expensive for what they are. As you’ve probably realised the prices quoted on allhomes.com.au are per week (not per month!) and demand probably outstrips supply as Canberra is home to thousands of diplomatic, federal government and military staff on 2-3 year postings with their expenses usually paid for by their tax payers. I’ve heard that demand is highest between Sept and Jan when a lot of federal government and military staff rotate but can’t vouch for it myself. Main differences to the UK; rental houses are let without white goods (except dishwashers) so there is an incremental expense of $2,000-3,000+ depending on your taste/wallet. On the plus side the landlord is responsible for all rent and rates so the advertised rental price is pretty much what you pay to live there – you just have to pay for utility bills. Note that there is a company called ConnectNow which will do all this for you – I got my gas, electricity, telephone, cable TV and internet arranged in a single 5 minute call. Another factor, depending on your visa type is that you may be eligible for a Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) which is a scheme that allows foreign workers (or Australians living overseas) to pay their rent out of their gross pay – which means it’s not taxed or put another way it means it actually costs about a third less than it should which also makes renting a little cheaper than it first appears. Note that you might also be able to get LAFHA towards food costs and schooling costs. As noted by others, all the houses don’t look half as good close up as in the photographs so be prepared to downgrade expectations. With regards the cost of white goods, I bought a load in the sales from Harvey Norman and seemed to get quite a reasonable deal, no more expensive than at home. I also looked on e-bay figuring there must be quite a secondary market in the stuff but there were only about 5 refrigerators listed for sale in the Canberra area. I’m now told that the locals are big into garage sales and having looked at the Canberra Times there seems to be dozens of house clearance garage sales each weekend so that’s where I’m off to tomorrow to look for garden furniture. Purchasing a car: Yep these are expensive too. I bought a 10 year old Astra 1.8L with 90k miles for $5,000 dollars (having bought a similar 7 year old Astra 1.6L with 90k miles privately for £1,800 a couple of years ago in the UK). However it was through a dealer and is immaculate and touch-wood it’s trouble free so far. Could probably have got a cheaper and poorer deal elsewhere but this dealer was recommended by an associate as being of good quality. As with everything Australian there is always a hefty surcharge associated with Government regulation so it cost me a further $200+ in taxes and fees. I also had to register the vehicle but couldn’t do that without an ACT license. Getting this was done at one of the many ACT Government services offices (‘shop fronts’) around town, took about 10 mins and just required me to present my UK licence....oh, and $70 of course. This then allowed me to register the car – which was another form, done in 5 mins....oh and a fee of $188. This is not as bad as it looks as this also pays for your third party injury insurance (for 3 months – expect to pay $750 for the year for an Astra). If you’re looking for a car then the whole of the suburb of Phillips seems to be given over to dealerships or try Fishwyck auctions as Suzanne noted. Buying something more substantial looks more expensive but then I’ve also noticed ads for the Holden SV6 Ute, new at $33,000 (£22,000) which for a 3.6L V6 engine monster doesn’t seem too bad. As with other things Australian cars are relatively expensive but on average they also seem to be much bigger and more powerful. I guess it depends what you want but if you’re happy to go with a ‘local’ brand (Holden, Ford or Japanese) there seem to be some reasonable deals. Shipping a car: I’m also trying to ship my Jaguar XF over and although the paperwork looks onerous I think in most cases it’s not as bad as it looks. I guess the secret is to get a good shipping agent who can handle Australian customs and also tell you what you do and don’t need to worry about. Again, all the shipping costs for my car will probably be about £1,800, Australian customs will add about $750 in fees (just to inspect and to the register it) and then charge about $7,000 ‘luxury import tax’. However, it’s probably worth $40k in the UK and $70k here so when I flog it in three years time...:-) Schools: I gather the Australians have the same sort of debates about their state schools as we do and as with ours I’m not sure that most are as bad as they might be made out to be. I looked at a couple of private schools (full and with waiting lists) and a couple of local state schools (not full and seemingly very keen to have us). Difficult to get a feel for them to any great degree but both private and public seemed to have comparable classroom facilities (laptops, interactive whiteboards, garden areas, play areas etc.) although the private schools probably had better sports facilities for the older kids and seemed to be in better condition – although to be fair I looked at schools in Woden Valley and this is apparently the oldest residential part of Canberra so the schools may be in better condition in the newer parts. The big kicker as ever was cost. Unless you have an exemption it will cost $9,320 for your five-year old (my daughter is also five) and this has to be paid in full, up front (no exceptions – I’ve tried!) before the Dept of Education and Training International Unit will grant approval for her to apply to a school. Note that the Australian Government works as a profit centre not a cost centre so it will also cost you $225 for them just to look at your application form. With those sort of costs it is actually cheaper to send your children to a private school – if you can find one that has places. Areas: For our sins we are going to live in Mawson which looks fine. The big determinant is that my office is south of Lake Burley Griffin and the school where we would eventually like to send our daughter is also south of the lake. From my experiences so far I can get from anywhere on the south side to the lake in around 25mins max (in an Astra!) even at peak times but coming across the lake first thing in the morning looks as if it might be a bit time consuming. Apart from that, the scenery is beautiful, the weather bright and sunny even in mid-winter (so far) and the city is organised to make life easy and stress free so I’m looking forward to living here. Hi ABL275 Many, many thanks for your insight into living in Canberra. I am grateful. A lot of people have mentoned how expensive it is to move to and live in Aus these days. However hopefully the quality of life is much better than back here in UK. Our car is nearly 10 yrs old. I had planned changing it before moving to ACT but I read you have to have owned and used the vehicle for 12 months minimum to be eligible to import it into Aus.:arghh: I am lead to believe we could be in ACT around March 2012 so no good to us. However I have owned my Fireblade (motor bike) for over a year already so this fits. Good luck with importing your XF - beautiful car, im jealous (lol)! How much is petrol/diesel per litre in ACT? We are about £1.30 p/ltr for unleaded and £1.35 for diesel. Interesting information on school fees and that to send them to Private school is cheaper. Thanks again for the info and links to the stores - hopefully I will have a chance soon to look at their website. Cheers Breezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezer Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 i looked into doing it myself but the cost of doing it was going to be about the same cost as selling it in the UK then buying one in Aus, there are going to be so much paperwork and hassle for doing it I decided to get one over here. Put a post on the transport thread as I think there might be people who have done it. I bought my bike from a private person in QLD and did a road trip back to Canberra, never had a problem with it yet. I looked at a blade here in canberra and the guy wanted about $8k for it, I got a firestorm instead for $5500. By the way, some really good roads around here for a ride Hi Nik Thank you. A great great bike with beautiful sounds the Firestorm.:wink: Thanks for the advice. Any good dealers in ACT that you could recommend? Did you have to pay a tax as you bought the bike in QLD and not ACT? I thought I read somewhere that if you buy a vehicle outside the State you live in you will be taxed for bringing it into a different State? I was wondering about the roads for biking, thanks. I live on the West Coast of Scotland and the roads from here upto and past Loch Lomand (and other areas) are wonderful for bikes. Cheers Breezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABL275 Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Hi Breezer, Fuel looks as if its currently around $1.38 for four-star, $1.47 for diesel and $1.33 for E10 (10% enthanol mixed into the fuel). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik_kershaw Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Hi NikThank you. A great great bike with beautiful sounds the Firestorm.:wink: Thanks for the advice. Any good dealers in ACT that you could recommend? Did you have to pay a tax as you bought the bike in QLD and not ACT? I thought I read somewhere that if you buy a vehicle outside the State you live in you will be taxed for bringing it into a different State? I was wondering about the roads for biking, thanks. I live on the West Coast of Scotland and the roads from here upto and past Loch Lomand (and other areas) are wonderful for bikes. Cheers Breezer I actually live in Queanbeyan (NSW) and so I had to pay 3% stamp duty and also a years rego and I had to get a pink slip (roadworthy in the ACT (MOT)) as well as getting a years rego and a green slip (3rd party insurance). You tube the word Mt Mac on a bike or something like that, some really good roads there as well as the trip to the coast isn't too bad so long as the traffic isn't too bad. As far as i know you don't have to pay any tax for getting a car from interstate, just the standard 3% stamp duty which you have to pay for any new vehicles you buy. Motorbike shops in Canberra are a little few and far between but here goes Canberra motorcycle centre (they are by far the biggest and sell most of the common brands like honda, Kawasaki, suzuki etc, they have 2 places in Fyshwick and Mitchell) Joes Motorcycles (they just sell yammies but I think they are the biggest store when it comes to dirt bikes) Dahlitz (located in Queanbeyan and normally quite well priced bikes for a dealers. They deal in Suzuki) Euro Tune (Also located in Queanbeyan, they are a Triumph dealer and a little bit pricey) Robbo's Harly (the name gives it away, also located in Fyshwick) There used to be Gecko who were KTM and Ducatti dealers but they fell through and so I think the next nearest dealers in these bikes are prob in Sydney I try and get my bike parts from overseas as you can save loads as parts in Aus can be a bit pricey. Shop around, I find Ebay and Bikesales.com.au will be your friend, there are also some good deals on Auction bikes at times. let me know how you go, I go for rides every so often and communte daily on the storm (aussies think I'm mad doing it in the winter). When you get over no matter if you import a bike or buy one here let me know how you get on. Be aware however that you will need to get a new lid when you get here as the british kite mark on your UK helmet does not cut it here even if you can buy the exact same helmet here. Also it gets cold here (2 or 3 deg C in the morning at times) so don't throw away any of your thermals and it gets very hot here during the summer so you might need to buy a new jacket with plenty of vents when you get here Any further questions give me a shout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABL275 Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 the same gord for car seats as for bike helments, the ACT Kidsafe office told me that UK car seats don't meet Australian safety regulations (couldn't say why, merely that they didn't) so you'll also need new car seats when you arrive. For more info try: www.kidsafe.com.au Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik_kershaw Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 the same gord for car seats as for bike helments, the ACT Kidsafe office told me that UK car seats don't meet Australian safety regulations (couldn't say why, merely that they didn't) so you'll also need new car seats when you arrive. For more info try: www.kidsafe.com.au Prob the same issue as the helmets, you might be able to buy the exact same seat but as it does not have the aussie sticker on it then it's not legal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik_kershaw Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 <LI class=for-IE7-tick>All child restraints sold and used in Australia must comply with Australian/New Zealand Standard 1754 Child Restraints for Use in Motor Vehicles and are marked accordingly. This Standard is one of the most stringent child restraint standards in the world, so child restraints meeting this standard offer good protection in a crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurls Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 the same gord for car seats as for bike helments, the ACT Kidsafe office told me that UK car seats don't meet Australian safety regulations (couldn't say why, merely that they didn't) so you'll also need new car seats when you arrive. For more info try: www.kidsafe.com.au Prob the same issue as the helmets, you might be able to buy the exact same seat but as it does not have the aussie sticker on it then it's not legal That's right, they have to have been tested and meet Australian Standards so British seats won't meet this standard. http://www.kidsafeact.com.au/new_road_rules gives you details on the law. http://www.crep.com.au is a good site as well to compare potential seats you may want to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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