Moving from UK to Melbourne, Australia

[MinTom]

👋 Hello. my husband has been offered a position in Melbourne and we are flying out in four weeks to look at schools and areas to live. I would be very grateful for advice on areas and good primary schools please. I'm hoping to work at the royal children's hospital and so need to be near school and home. Hubby's office will be Glenn waverley. Thankyou so much. X

[CatsCantFlyFast]

I've just posted about a potential move to Melbourne. Have you found out any info at all?

[MinTom]

Unfortunately not on here
I'm doing an awful lot of googling in the evening. How about you? When are you thinking of going?

[MinTom]

There is another thread from messystressy which is useful in here that I've just found. Regarding snakes etc

.our advice has been no-one has died from I think it was black widow /similar evil spider for past 20 years, and if you see a snake stand completely still....

[SavoyCabbage]

How old are your dc? Glen Waverley has some really good schools but their catchments are really tight. It's quite a good suburb though. There is a shopping centre, nice restaurants and it's 30 minutes to the beach.

It just depends what you are looking for.

[CatsCantFlyFast]

It's less about the deaths and more about the fear of finding them in the house/garden/beds!

We've no timeline yet, potentially a visit within the next 6 weeks

[MinTom]

Lol @ notwithoutmymeekin....they're BIG too aren't they!
Savoycabbage - boys are 5 and 8. Although husband works in glenwaverly I will hopefully be at royal children's hospital so need to be nearer there as I will be doing school run. Husband wanted to look at williamstown where a colleague lives but that is too far from hospital (I think?)

[FlorisApple]

Wow. Those three areas, Glen Waverley, Parkville and Williamstown are absolutely miles and mile apart. You will be spending all your time stuck in traffic, so I would definitely not recommend Williamstown. It really depends what you are looking for. I love the inner North around Parkville - but it is a trendy, students, inner-city feel, slightly gritty (though depends what you're used to!) Glen Waverley on the other hand is a totally boring respectable middle-class suburb with the feel of Neighbours. The Kids hospital and Glen Waverley are really a long, long way apart - Melbourne is very spread out. If you have a decent income, I would look at the eastern suburbs in between: Camberwell, Canterbury etc. These have trainlines and trams, lovely Victorian and Federation houses, tons of private schools, but also good state schools, but they are $$$, so it depends what you are after.

I really wouldn't worry about the snakes, though: you'll be lucky to ever see a snake! I've seen way more snakes in Europe and the US than I've ever seen in Oz!

[saffronwblue]

I live in Melbourne and have never seen a snake here. Agree that Parkville and Glen Waverley are far apart. One of you will have a long commute. Agree that living in inner east, maybe Hawthorn, may be the way to go. I love the Parkville, Carlton, North Melbourne area - lots of bookshops, cafes, trees, uni students etc but it would be a long trek out to Glen Waverley. Wherever you live you will need a car or one each.

[Shnookum]

Ooh hello, we're off to Melbourne to live too - by Easter if all goes to plan! We have 3 kids of 12, 9 and 4 and I have been researching areas and schools like mad too (and whether snakes and spiders are likely to kill you while you are sleeping).

My husband is mainly able to work from home, with a little bit of travel within Australia each month so we are quite flexible regarding areas to live. Saying that though, we have friends in the east around Croydon and also Wantirna South, so will be looking around those areas. My son will be high school age; trying to find a good high school without local knowledge is so hard! Will visit lots once we're all over but that doesn't give you the full picture.

Still, very excited! Good luck to you both!

[SavoyCabbage]

Shnookum, you could look at Blackburn if you want to live in the eastern suburbs. It has good schools and it's closer to the city without being too far from your friends.

[Shnookum]

Thanks Savoy. That's good to hear as Blackburn is high on my list of potential suburbs because of the little bit of info I found on the high school.

My dh is going over at the end of the month and I'm packing up and selling house etc. here. Busy few months ahead!

[BananaInPyjama]

I live in an area where snakes are meant to be prevalent. They are pretty shy and tend to slither away from noise and vibrations.

Every now and then someone posts on a local FB page ' I found a snake in our garden in xxx street' but it is unusual enough for people to read, and I've only seen the snake catcher van around once in 10 years.