pinkpiggy Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Hi Glad to hear you're loving it, bet it's not too difficult though lol! Will get my wife to PM you when we've arrived to catch up. How are your kids finding it? Mark Hi Mark Kids love it here they are always doing something such as swimming and playgroup. It's alot more of an outdoors life and lots of things to do. It is a bit of a drive to the beach but it's not that bad, we love visiting palm beach at the top of the northern beaches. Yes get your wife to PM when you get over would be great to meet up. If there is any one else that fancies a meet up then just let me know would be nice to meet some others with young kids as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Harbour bridge is closed this weekend It's closed to traffic but I think that you can still walk over it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Rennolds Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Oh Mark - you or your Mrs should go to the Docs before you come over here and get a print out of the kids immunisations, as for some things over here their red books aren't enough It's about half seven in the evening, the birds are chirping in the trees outside, it's still beautiful and warm and I'm loving the breeze coming through my screen door.......I think this is what they call serenity :wink: Sounds beautiful! Glad it's going well. Thanks for the advice on the kids imm's. So glad we're close behind you - getting jealous reading your posts! :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jtrd Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Yes 3 year olds sure aren't the best bridge climbers, head over to the opera bar for a beer break and a great bridge view when your exploring the cbd, we are in st clair equipped with a fellow 3 year old if your interested in a catch up sometime We'd love to meet up! Did it rain this morning or what and yet despite this, the kids were able to swim this afternoon! The train into the city is fab and takes no time and çompaired to UK, so incredibly inexpensive ($12 for 3 of us, don't pay for the small one). Just rented a car for a month to take a bit of the pressure off. Hubby starts work on Monday and after meeting with them yesterday he can't wait. Not too sure what tomorrow will bring, but can't wait :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve n Mel Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 We'd love to meet up! Did it rain this morning or what and yet despite this, the kids were able to swim this afternoon! The train into the city is fab and takes no time and çompaired to UK, so incredibly inexpensive ($12 for 3 of us, don't pay for the small one). Just rented a car for a month to take a bit of the pressure off. Hubby starts work on Monday and after meeting with them yesterday he can't wait. Not too sure what tomorrow will bring, but can't wait :biggrin: Hi guys hope you had a great weekend in oz, good luck with starting work, where abouts are you based in syd at the moment, maybe we can organize a catch up when your not run off your feet. Steve, Mel, & Mikey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 We'd love to meet up! Did it rain this morning or what and yet despite this, the kids were able to swim this afternoon! The train into the city is fab and takes no time and çompaired to UK, so incredibly inexpensive ($12 for 3 of us, don't pay for the small one). Just rented a car for a month to take a bit of the pressure off. Hubby starts work on Monday and after meeting with them yesterday he can't wait. Not too sure what tomorrow will bring, but can't wait :biggrin: Really glad it sounds like it's working out I like Dural. Proper rural but not very far from other things at all :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jtrd Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Hey Mark, just thought I'd let you know that all is still going well. We tried to explore a bit of the Blue Mountains on Aust. Day but got rained out so we're going again tomorrow - its only about 40(ish) mins away and so beautiful! Medicare, child benifits sorted without too much fuss. House hunting is a nightmare, don't believe all that you see online - its quite soul destroying really, closely followed by car shopping - thought hubby was going to cry. Hope you and yours are counting down the days! Tracey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frostie Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Hey Mark, just thought I'd let you know that all is still going well. We tried to explore a bit of the Blue Mountains on Aust. Day but got rained out so we're going again tomorrow - its only about 40(ish) mins away and so beautiful!Medicare, child benifits sorted without too much fuss. House hunting is a nightmare, don't believe all that you see online - its quite soul destroying really, closely followed by car shopping - thought hubby was going to cry. Hope you and yours are counting down the days! Tracey Hi Tracey, Sound like your all settling in well. Glad you have got all your medicare etc sorted. Somebody else said dont belive the pics on the internet and that many of the photos are years old which they use to advertise the houses. Have really got my hopes up that the new house in Stanhope gardens, kellyville etc are like their listed pics? Hope you have a great weekened and the house quickly falls into place for you. I really cant wait to get out there in April Best Wishes Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Hey Mark, just thought I'd let you know that all is still going well. We tried to explore a bit of the Blue Mountains on Aust. Day but got rained out so we're going again tomorrow - its only about 40(ish) mins away and so beautiful! It was soaking wet yesterday again! Don't expect much of a change until this cloud finally shifts, it just sits on the mountains and dumps drizzle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve n Mel Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Gee what's happened to summer? we were supposed to be going up the mountains today but weather still not looking fantastic, when it rains here it really rains, ah well a day painting the boys room for us instead. Have fun tho guys hope you don't get rained out again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Rennolds Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hey Mark, just thought I'd let you know that all is still going well. We tried to explore a bit of the Blue Mountains on Aust. Day but got rained out so we're going again tomorrow - its only about 40(ish) mins away and so beautiful!Medicare, child benifits sorted without too much fuss. House hunting is a nightmare, don't believe all that you see online - its quite soul destroying really, closely followed by car shopping - thought hubby was going to cry. Hope you and yours are counting down the days! Tracey Hi Tracey Highs and lows by sound of it. Can't wait to see the sights like you are. Hope house hunting gets better for you! Thanks for the advice as usual - its great reading your updates. Anything you would advise we could do from this end prior to coming over in terms of our first rental? Only 9 weeks left at work now, and all very excited. Got my work location confirmed now, so doing some more short stay accomm research this week. Haven't looked into child benefits yet. Are we eligible on a 457 visa do you know? Not sure what visa you went over on? take care Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Rennolds Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hi Tracey, Sound like your all settling in well. Glad you have got all your medicare etc sorted.Somebody else said dont belive the pics on the internet and that many of the photos are years old which they use to advertise the houses. Have really got my hopes up that the new house in Stanhope gardens, kellyville etc are like their listed pics? Hope you have a great weekened and the house quickly falls into place for you. I really cant wait to get out there in April Best Wishes Mandy Hi Mandy As you know we will be out in April too and will be looking around St Claire, Glenmore Park area we think. If you find a decent estate agent who doesn't lie then please let us know and we'll do the same. If anyone reading this has any estate agent suggestions please feel free to recommend! Cheers Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve n Mel Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 A real estate agent that doesn't lie !!! Sorry too any good ones on here but gee finding them is hard, had a fair share of idiots since we've been here, I would say what's on the net are available but when they look good they go in seconds or renters offer over the asking rent to get in. Get in as many agents as you can and go crazy on the viewings it can be demoralizing its probably the hardest task of the move, we didnt think we would get anything then after 3 weeks of hunting things started to fall in place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve n Mel Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hey Mark, just thought I'd let you know that all is still going well. We tried to explore a bit of the Blue Mountains on Aust. Day but got rained out so we're going again tomorrow - its only about 40(ish) mins away and so beautiful!Medicare, child benifits sorted without too much fuss. House hunting is a nightmare, don't believe all that you see online - its quite soul destroying really, closely followed by car shopping - thought hubby was going to cry. Hope you and yours are counting down the days! Tracey Oh just read the end of your post about buying a car and brought back such memories, went from my pride and joy Jag to a dodgy ford falcon, you sure don't get like for like on used cars, so much more expensive here. New cars i think are a slightly different story with some good buys but not the typical euro cars like your VWs, Renaults, the import tax is the usual excuse for price hikes, but look at Japanese etc like Subaru these are usually a little better or on par pricing compared to uk, or at least this is what I found at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkpiggy Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hi Mark, We came over on a 457 and as we are considered temporary residents you are not eligible for any benefits. This includes the childcare rebate that all residents get of 50% so it means paying the full wack of $70/80 a day! Have a look into LAPHA though as you should be eligible for that, we were although I know they have changed it or are about to change it! Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frostie Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hi Mandy As you know we will be out in April too and will be looking around St Claire, Glenmore Park area we think. If you find a decent estate agent who doesn't lie then please let us know and we'll do the same. If anyone reading this has any estate agent suggestions please feel free to recommend! Hi Mark, Will do. A friend of my brothers says he knows a few people who work in estate agents so we will see if he can help us out at all. Not to sure if his talk is bigger than his actions but will soon find out! We will also be on a 457 and will not be entitled to any child benefits. Husbands work have said that on 2nd Feb there will be a decision on the LAFHA so we are waiting and hoping it wont go ahead. According to our employer it has been threatened to be changed before but never got passed? Also have also found out some more info regarding state schools which is there is a threshold which if you are under it in terms of salary you are exempt from school fees for state schools We have been loking at cars from here and think if we go for a new car we will possibly looking at leasing. Im still not 100% where we will be looking. I love the look of the hills and the fact we can probably afford a pool there, my son is looking forward to all the sports clubs etc in that area. My girls are totally sold on the idea of a pool. Husbnad will only have to go into North Sydney a couple times a week. The rest will be working from home which means we can look further out Good luck Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Rennolds Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hi Mark, We came over on a 457 and as we are considered temporary residents you are not eligible for any benefits. This includes the childcare rebate that all residents get of 50% so it means paying the full wack of $70/80 a day! Have a look into LAPHA though as you should be eligible for that, we were although I know they have changed it or are about to change it! Liz Hi Liz Cheers for that, thought that might be the case. I've looked into LAPHA but unfortunately it ends in June from what I've read so will only get one month of it. Gutted as would have meant a massive difference to our monthly costs. Mandy has said decision on it will be made in February - hope its good news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jtrd Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hi All, I'm an Aust. citizen by birth, so no visa issues for us luckily, but on the flip side, my hubby can't get LAFHA because I'm originally from here. We did get to do our hike in the Blue Mountains yesterday and it was gorgeous!! We went to Wentworth Falls and although the trail we chose said 1 hour I think we may have gone a little wrong as it took us around 2 and half, not to worry though we all loved it, even the 3 year old (Lots of muddy puddles!!) so it was all good. My hubby sold his beloved Alfa before we left the UK, which made car shopping even worse for him and I'd definately agree, there is no like for like (or even close to). We have opted to do a long term rental rather than buy now, and in 6 months or so we may have a re-think. I think when you first get here it is like haemorraging money from every available avenue and the last thing we wanted to do was spend loads on an older than we would like/are used to car. My son is 'enjoying' his first day at school today - he was in year 7 in the UK (just started High School) and he has gone back to start Year 6 in primary school here because of his age. I don't think he minds the primary school bit, but boy was he nervous about going into school! But have to say, everyone couldn't have been nicer or more welcoming and he soon had a smile on his face - here's hoping that lasts! The little one has her first day of nursery today too - she went in skipping and smiling, I guess that's the difference between being almost 4 and being 11! Rental properties for when you arrive a quite hard to come by in my experience, we're staying in a cabin (both husband and son call it 'The Shack') in a holiday park, its a bit small but has everything that we need including a pool which the kids have been in everyday and it's not to far from anywhere - took me less than 40 minutes to get the kids dropped off this morning, despite their location being suburbs away. It's costing us $650/wk including a weekly service, so it will do for a bit. I suppose you have checked on Stayz? I couldn't find anything in the locations I was looking for, when I was looking for it but a different time of year for you and you may be luckier? I start work next week, so I guess the fun will begin then with the juggling that will be needed, but the kids are sorted which was my main aim before starting work (I've even managed to find after school care for my son, until we find a house closer to the school!). Hope you all have a good week, I'm back to house hunting :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenwood Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 OMG I know the frustration of trying to find rentals :arghh: You will get there keep on plugging away - we went to see a house that looked beautiful on the web and it was crap!!!! We were lucky we managed to get a house on the first weekend of looking but I reckon it had more to do with the fact that we had rented in Canberra and had the estate agent references from there - always take your forms with you and build relationships with the estate agents. Stanhope and Kellyville generally live up to the pics it is a lovely area particularly Stanhope not too sure about Kellyville though driven through there and gone to the Etta (theme! :biggrin:). Buying cars are a mare no one warns you of the cost do they - we ended up buying new as it seemed to be the better deal! It is all a mare but stick with it you will get there it will drive you nuts but it does all start falling into place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenwood Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hey Team Renolds - we looked at Glenmore Park initially it was top of our initial list - we went there to have a drive around and it was lovely. We went to speak to the estate agents in that area and they said the rental market is tight around there as it is reasonably priced and the houses are lovely. We decided against it only because of distances to work however it is nice :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jtrd Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hi Glenwood, Thanks for the pep talk! I had a list of 5 houses to view on the weekend, the first was just vile and the second still had people in it who were then when we did the viewing and didn't try to be out of the way - one was in the shower with the door open, one was in his bedroom getting undress again with door open, the mother(?) was talking/swearing on her mobile while following us around and the man was drinking straight vodka at 11 in the morning - I didn't have the heart to go and look at the next 3 on my list - oh well, this is a new week (back to being optimistic - I hear it's really cold in the UK!), so fingers crossed things improve. Tracey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Rennolds Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hi Glenwood,Thanks for the pep talk! I had a list of 5 houses to view on the weekend, the first was just vile and the second still had people in it who were then when we did the viewing and didn't try to be out of the way - one was in the shower with the door open, one was in his bedroom getting undress again with door open, the mother(?) was talking/swearing on her mobile while following us around and the man was drinking straight vodka at 11 in the morning - I didn't have the heart to go and look at the next 3 on my list - oh well, this is a new week (back to being optimistic - I hear it's really cold in the UK!), so fingers crossed things improve. Tracey Hi Tracey How awful for you. Keep your chin up - you should have asked him for a swig and then moved onto next viewing lol! You will find what you want. Our fingers are crossed for you. Weather is freezing here - will hit minus figures this week so that should cheer you up! Looking forward to you getting sorted. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Rennolds Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hey Team Renolds - we looked at Glenmore Park initially it was top of our initial list - we went there to have a drive around and it was lovely. We went to speak to the estate agents in that area and they said the rental market is tight around there as it is reasonably priced and the houses are lovely. We decided against it only because of distances to work however it is nice :biggrin: Cheers Glenwood Getting a list together of agents now to visit when we arrive. Do you know much about St Clair? It's between the 2 suburbs at the moment as will be working in Minchinbury I've finally been told. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenwood Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 It's my pleasure to help it is always nice to know you are not alone and that we all go through! Awww but that sounds crap really though don't give up and if you can afford to don't settle because you think you are not going to get something I know people that have done that before and it makes the whole adjusting to the move difficult. When we first moved to Australia my OH done the house search in Canberra which is as bad as it is here in Sydney he looked for about 3 weeks and said some were just awful but we didn't give up and ended up with a great property there. Build those relationships with estate agents it pays in the long run :smile: Hi Glenwood,Thanks for the pep talk! I had a list of 5 houses to view on the weekend, the first was just vile and the second still had people in it who were then when we did the viewing and didn't try to be out of the way - one was in the shower with the door open, one was in his bedroom getting undress again with door open, the mother(?) was talking/swearing on her mobile while following us around and the man was drinking straight vodka at 11 in the morning - I didn't have the heart to go and look at the next 3 on my list - oh well, this is a new week (back to being optimistic - I hear it's really cold in the UK!), so fingers crossed things improve. Tracey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenwood Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Hey Mark I don't know much about St Clairs but Mel and Steve (I think) are from there so they maybe able to help? I can also ask in work for you and let you know. Cheers Glenwood Getting a list together of agents now to visit when we arrive. Do you know much about St Clair? It's between the 2 suburbs at the moment as will be working in Minchinbury I've finally been told. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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