sunniecat Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Hi everyone, I have been following poms in oz for almost a year now waiting for job confirmation and visa. well all is now completed and i booked my flight today so will be arriving in canberra on 13th march. would like to meet others who are new to canberra over the next few months so will keep an eye out for meet ups. congrats, sally! it's a great feeling, isn't it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest biomedical scientist Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 We arrived beg of Dec on a 457 - was lovely to get out of the cold! Christmas was strange to say the least! Canberra is lovely. We are living 'south' of the lake (it makes a difference apparently) but it was nearer to my job so I could walk until we got a car. You will need a car to get around. Buses are ok until the weekend and bank holidays then almost none existent. There are many lovely suburbs both sides of the lake and nowhere is as rough as some parts of Birmingham! Charnwood apparently is the 'roughest' areas but it is all subjective. The shopping malls are great - the one in Woden has everything - Woolworths and Coles are the main supermarkets and they are in the malls too. (strange I know). Big W is a good shop for value electricals and household goods etc. 'Yes' Optus for internet (Telstra not good coverage and more expensive). For 'hardwired' modem expect to pay $59 per month. Anything else you wangt to know - just ask!! Wishing everyone best of luck with your moves. We love it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pugsleysinoz Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 We arrived beg of Dec on a 457 - was lovely to get out of the cold! Christmas was strange to say the least! Canberra is lovely. We are living 'south' of the lake (it makes a difference apparently) but it was nearer to my job so I could walk until we got a car. You will need a car to get around. Buses are ok until the weekend and bank holidays then almost none existent. There are many lovely suburbs both sides of the lake and nowhere is as rough as some parts of Birmingham! Charnwood apparently is the 'roughest' areas but it is all subjective. The shopping malls are great - the one in Woden has everything - Woolworths and Coles are the main supermarkets and they are in the malls too. (strange I know). Big W is a good shop for value electricals and household goods etc. 'Yes' Optus for internet (Telstra not good coverage and more expensive). For 'hardwired' modem expect to pay $59 per month. Anything else you wangt to know - just ask!! Wishing everyone best of luck with your moves. We love it!! Thanks for that really helpful. It just all seems a world away at the moment i dont even know where to start to prepare for our move in April i have been very partial to burying my head in the sand recently lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Perseus Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 We arrive on 18th march 2012 with 2 kids and would love to meet up with other newbies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Perseus Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Hi Everyone, I just wrote a long quote but it seems to have disapeared so apologises if you read this twice............... We have a 5 year old girl and an 8 year old boy and will be in Canberra on 18th March 2012. We are staying in Kaleen for the 1st 4 weeks while we look for a longer term rental. We seem to be favouring the north side at the moment although will keep an open mind for when we have a drive around to decide where to stay. After delaying booking the shipping company I finally chose a company and am awaiting the phone call to say when they will be coming to pack!! We have double baggage with singapore arlines too and Im interested to see what 160kg of luggage looks like, will it even fit in 1 car?! We would love to come along to any get togethers any one might be planning and welcome any new friendships, its exciting times for us all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prom9 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 We arrived beg of Dec on a 457 - was lovely to get out of the cold! Christmas was strange to say the least! Canberra is lovely. We are living 'south' of the lake (it makes a difference apparently) but it was nearer to my job so I could walk until we got a car. You will need a car to get around. Buses are ok until the weekend and bank holidays then almost none existent. There are many lovely suburbs both sides of the lake and nowhere is as rough as some parts of Birmingham! Charnwood apparently is the 'roughest' areas but it is all subjective. The shopping malls are great - the one in Woden has everything - Woolworths and Coles are the main supermarkets and they are in the malls too. (strange I know). Big W is a good shop for value electricals and household goods etc. 'Yes' Optus for internet (Telstra not good coverage and more expensive). For 'hardwired' modem expect to pay $59 per month. Anything else you wangt to know - just ask!! Wishing everyone best of luck with your moves. We love it!! Hi Biomedical Scientist, I'm assuming your name is also your job title - hope you don't mind you asking a bit about it. I have an Applied Science degree and have 9 years experience in path lab work but have been doing something else for 4 years. I'm not sure I'll be granted a visa because of this, and wonder if there is much demand for this line of work in oz? Many thanks:biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest barbsh Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Hooray, we have arrived, all is well, for those of your still on the other side, Canberra is really lovely, well worth the gruelling 28 hr flight. We are just about over the worst of the jet lag and are looking forward to meeting up with some new folks and potential long term friends. The first 24 hours was daunting to say the least, but now we have wifi and can communicate with our friends and family, all feels very positive. First impressions are very positive, the people here are very friendly and eager to help out with advice and tips. Canberra is very clean and well organised, there does not appear to be any Congestion on the roads even in rush hour. We went into Civic this morning, Saturday, to do some shopping, expecting the roads to be busy, but quite the opposite. We're looking forward to meeting up with y'all in this ver lovely city sometime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slean Wolfhead Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Hooray, we have arrived, all is well, for those of your still on the other side, Canberra is really lovely, well worth the gruelling 28 hr flight. We are just about over the worst of the jet lag and are looking forward to meeting up with some new folks and potential long term friends. The first 24 hours was daunting to say the least, but now we have wifi and can communicate with our friends and family, all feels very positive. First impressions are very positive, the people here are very friendly and eager to help out with advice and tips. Canberra is very clean and well organised, there does not appear to be any Congestion on the roads even in rush hour. We went into Civic this morning, Saturday, to do some shopping, expecting the roads to be busy, but quite the opposite. We're looking forward to meeting up with y'all in this ver lovely city sometime soon. Where are you staying..i notice you're Subclass 119 so is that ACT sponsored for Children's as well? We got here last Monday....first impressions of Northbourne was that it's like driving through Birmingham at midnight, just easy.. There is a weekday rush hour though...not awful and it soon clears when you turn off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest barbsh Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Hi Sean, we're in Braddon at the moment. Looking for long term rental but not sure where yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slean Wolfhead Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 pm'd you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Hooray, we have arrived, all is well, for those of your still on the other side, Canberra is really lovely, well worth the gruelling 28 hr flight. We are just about over the worst of the jet lag and are looking forward to meeting up with some new folks and potential long term friends. The first 24 hours was daunting to say the least, but now we have wifi and can communicate with our friends and family, all feels very positive. First impressions are very positive, the people here are very friendly and eager to help out with advice and tips. Canberra is very clean and well organised, there does not appear to be any Congestion on the roads even in rush hour. We went into Civic this morning, Saturday, to do some shopping, expecting the roads to be busy, but quite the opposite. We're looking forward to meeting up with y'all in this ver lovely city sometime soon. Glad you like it, so many people dont like Canberra but I reckon its one of the better cities to live in. The roads can get congested - try and avoid the Parkway at rush hour and it has been known for traffic to take half an hour to get from Dickson to Civic along Northborne in the morning (always when you have an appointment to get to LOL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezer Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Hi Everyone We are flying out to Canberra on 14th June 2012 and not looking forward to the 29 hour flight from Bonnie Scotland with a baby and a 6 yr old. Quite excited about the move but my OH is pesimistic about ACT. Doesn't help that her only Sister is emigrating to Perth. Any feedback on first impressions of ACT plus those of you that have lived there a few months, etc would be great. What areas are good (North or South, etc) and what primary schools are reputable. I like the sound of it especially the location to the coast (2 hr drive) and Snowfields plus other City's such as Sydney and Melbourne (5 hour drive ish I believe). Cheers Breezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest barbsh Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Hey Breezer, good to hear you have flights booked. I came over from Manchester with my 2 sons aged 20 and 18, we landed on 1st Feb, so we are still finding our way around. I love it here, we have secured a lovely house in Palmerston which is north Canberra, near Gungalin. We are due to move in next week. I can't comment on schools as we haven't needed to look, but I hear the education system here is much better than the UK. Canberra is nothing like Manchester which was our closest big city. It is much better organised here, I've heard stories of congestion but in my short experience it's nothing like you will get back in the UK. One of the plusses here is that you can cycle or walk through any traffic into civic. the landscapes and blue skies compensate for any stresses you may encounter. Believe me I've had my fare share since arriving, but nothing seems anywhere near as bad than it does in a cold, grey wet climate. lots of luck with your move. And on the plus side canberra is much nearer to Perth than wee bonny Scotland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunniecat Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 blue skies...and thunderstorms...but those are fun too!! (we've been here a week...). the education system is supposed to be the best in the country. and I have seen traffic jams, backing up off Parkes Way onto Tuggeranong Parkway in the morning and the evening. But there's a very short window for those, and I think also they're partly due to roadworks. and they're only in the one place, which considering I'm driving all the way from Kaleen to Calwell at the moment is pretty good! (Also, I totally got the hang of the weather thing so fast, I walked out of the home office on Thursday to the grey skies and went "gee, it's cold". And then my car told me it was 19 degrees outside...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 The education system is OK but nothing to write home about (certainly not better than UK!) - almost 50% of Canberra parents send their kids to private schools (which I think says something about the gov system but the Ed Dept just blames it on snobbishness). Check out the NAPLAN site for information on schools. Personally I would avoid anything in the Tuggeranong valley - all the schools are multi-pod (open space) designs because that was the prevailing pedagogy in the 80s and 90s - the ambient noise in the pods can be very distracting to little people and now that they still try and function as individual classrooms you get too many bigger kids squashed into spaces that really arent big enough for them. The NAPLAN results certainly dont bear the rhetoric that the system is the best in the country and I think there are a few delusions going on in high places (unless you count in the private schools of course!) Look for somewhere to live that is going to give you easy access to work - you dont want to be living in Palmerston and working in Calwell for example. Where you live is probably going to depend on how much you can afford - the nicer areas cost more (avoid Charnwood, Lower Narrabundah, Richardson for starters). Personally I am an Inner North girl and it is a great area to live in but the compromise is that you will probably live in an overpriced, crappy house for the privilege! The inner suburbs - North and South (unless they have been dual occupied) have smaller houses on bigger blocks and the further out you go the bigger the house on increasingly tiny blocks so that in some places there is just house and no garden. Be aware that many rental houses are poorly insulated so have a good look at the heating and cooling (because you will need both) and insulation (if they will tell you) The further out you go, the more ropey the ACTION network (buses) become and it can take a while to get from A to B in the boondocks on buses. Between city centres the buses are great though, very fast and very frequent. The further out you go the more likely you are to need two cars for a family. Canberra is one of the better places to live in fact, there is plenty to do if you look for it. I wont say there is a great community spirit because there isnt, generally. It's a town full of shiny bums (public servants) with most families needing to be 2 income to meet the cost of mortgage/rental/school fees so everyone keeps pretty much to themselves. It isnt nearly as isolated as Perth and you can get to coast/snowfields/Sydney/Blue Mountains/Snowies within easy driving. You can even pop down to Melbourne for the weekend if you fancy it but it is easier to fly than to drive (about 7 hours door to door no stops) although many Canberrans do drive down for the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilMe1 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I'm planning on moving to Canberra in July, so would be interested in any meet ups too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RobzNdebz Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Hi everyone, hubbie and I are coming down June aswell (arrive approx 13th June! day before the big 30.. yikes) so would be up for meeting anyone!!!. Just trying to tie up lose ends here before we go as it will fly in no doubt. We were thinking the Lyneham area to rent, having initially considered the Kingston, Griffith area. Anyone have any thoughts / info on this area. Hope everyone is well :cute: xxxx Hiya We arrived last May and I highly recommend living in Kingston or Griffith. We love it! We are renting an apartment with a pool and its approx 10 min (or less) walk to the lake and a few min walk to the lovely restaurants/bars in Kingston or Manuka. Its great! Depends what you are after! We have regular walks and rides around the lake and we dont need a car to get there. We cycled the whole lake yesterday (took 2 a half hours!). I can walk to the city from here and it takes about an hour (i am a fast walker), dont walk it that often but its a great walk! Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hforoz Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Hi, We have a 2 and a half year old and are heading out to Canberra for good hopefully later this year. Went out last year to validate our Visas. My daughter, then just under two was great on the flights and handled it better than we did. We flew Emirates via Dubai and into Sydney,spent a couple of nights in Sydney and then took the train to Canberra. Train jouney is really relaxing. Will probably look into doing a stop over in Singapore or somewhere next time if finances allow as it is a very long journey. Would love to keep in touch with anyone going through this too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hforoz Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Hi EveryoneWe are flying out to Canberra on 14th June 2012 and not looking forward to the 29 hour flight from Bonnie Scotland with a baby and a 6 yr old. Quite excited about the move but my OH is pesimistic about ACT. Doesn't help that her only Sister is emigrating to Perth. Any feedback on first impressions of ACT plus those of you that have lived there a few months, etc would be great. What areas are good (North or South, etc) and what primary schools are reputable. I like the sound of it especially the location to the coast (2 hr drive) and Snowfields plus other City's such as Sydney and Melbourne (5 hour drive ish I believe). Cheers Breezer Hi, . We havent booked flights yet as we're just getting ready to put our house on the market but are hoping to leave Bonnie Scotland in August or September this year. Have a toddler and took her over last year to valiate our Visas and thought it was a lovely place, although seems very expensive when your spending pounds. Only hope we can get jobs really quickly. It looks like a nice place to bring up kids. I love Perth too and would have loved to have moved there but I think that for work and access to the rest of Australia, ACT has its advantages! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sallyannheaney Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Hi all arrived in canberra yesterday, would love to hear about any meet ups. will def need a few days to get my sleep pattern sorted!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toops Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Lyneham is good - pretty central and easy to find your way about. nice cafe bars and good feel about the place. Kingston and Griffith are the posh area, and very expensive so you get more for your money in Lyneham. We have been here 6 months and love it here! Good luck with the move - that goes for everyone on PIO :-) Hi everyone, hubbie and I are coming down June aswell (arrive approx 13th June! day before the big 30.. yikes) so would be up for meeting anyone!!!. Just trying to tie up lose ends here before we go as it will fly in no doubt. We were thinking the Lyneham area to rent, having initially considered the Kingston, Griffith area. Anyone have any thoughts / info on this area. Hope everyone is well :cute: xxxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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