Gosford, NSW

[meerkate]

Hello all - we are a family of four living back in the UK for now, after a year in Perth then another year in Dunedin, NZ. We've also lived in Brisbane long ago in our pre-kid incarnation. We are getting itchy feet again after nearly four years back in Britain, and a good job opportunity has come up for DH in Gosford. I have no experience of living in NSW - we have visited friends in Sydney but that was years ago, and have only zipped through the Central Coast on the way back to Brisbane.
My DCs are 9 and 7 and if we moved back I would feel pretty much duty-bound to stick it for the duration of their secondary education at least- we will have moved them around enough by then! So I really want to research this carefully.I would be SO grateful for any input you Aussie-based MNers could give me about Gosford and what family life in the area is like.
Thanks so much

I am in Point Clare - which is right next door to Gosford !
I have a DD who is 10 and a DS who is 8. Point Clare Public School is lovely too. Any questions just shout we have been here since Dec 2009 ....

ooh Bonza- thanks so much I will have to google Point Clare and check it out! I've gathered from a couple of expat websites that a lot of people live near-but-not-in Gosford itself eg Tarrigal (sp?) and so on. The job for DH is at Gosford hospital (he is an anaesthetist) also at Wyong, it sounds highly appealing to him but I am just a bit, well, scared, I guess(!). Last time we were Down Under I was very home-, well people-sick, really, but then the kids were at a very demanding (pre-school) stage in Perth and I felt the need for more support. They are much more independent now so I have a feeling it would all be that little bit less strenuous, though of course stressful enough intitially at least!

Specific questions - do you feel yourself a bit far from an urban centre, or is there plenty to do locally (I suppose I mean things urban pleasures like museums, art galleries, cinema and the like - we are miles from all of that where we live in the UK I hasten to add, so they're not essentials on my list).

Are the schools good and are your kids settled and happy? Do you cope with being far from friends and family? Was it easy to make friends, and is there plenty of community stuff (I would really miss my community choir, and my yoga, etc!) to get involved in? I am the sort of person who desperately needs friends and a sense of local involvement to feel happy, you see (DH is much more of a self-sufficient introvert type and I know he would be really happy in Oz again.)

Huge thanks for your time!

www.pointclare-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/sws/view/503703.node

This is the school website. The headmaster is very nice - he saw me on the last day of school in December and manged to show us around even though he was so busy !

There is a cinema in Ettalong which we have been to... I can only vouch for Point Clare, Tascott and Koolewong as nice suburbs.

Pearl Beach is very nice too.

www.gosfordregionalgallery.com/
I keep on meaning to go - but good intentions etc etc ...

Someone mentioned yoga to me recently can not remember where... nope thought I had kept the email will have to search that out ... it is a fairly quiet area and I am a slow burner so have only just started to get my feet under the table so to speak !

I found a few friends via Ravelry as I knit / sew etc ... In Tascott we had lovely neighbours who were always having block parties where here in Point Clare they are a bit more reserved ....

Hope this helps a little - hope I can be more help !

bonza, this is so helpful. thanks so much. looks like a fantastic area and i can imagine my little boy loving surfing so much!! i will get back to you with any other burning questions if you don't mind - thanks so much once again!

It was a pleasure ... please keep in touch as now mt feet are under the table, I am looking at making more friends etc ...
When my husband is at work and the children are at school I do get lonely , thank-you for mentioning yoga I might look into starting that ...

Glad I could help a little .....

bonza, yoga would be great. it's always the first thing i look out for when i move to a new area (check the serial mover here!!), in fact i just got back from the village hall where my weekly iyengar class is held! i will definitely stay in touch, if we come out on a reccie i will let you know! hope the settling in continues to go well - thanks once again xxx