Any Sydney mums around?

[thatsnotmymonster]

I am getting pretty excited as it is looking increasingly likely that dh is about to be offered a job in Sydney (should know by next week). However, whether we are able to accept or not all depends on the salary package, particularly with th school fee issue- has anyone else moved and had the company pay the school fees?

We live in Scotland and so ds is in P1 but he will be 6 in March and dd1 is due to start school after the summer as she will be 5 in July. I don't know whether they should go into Yr 1 and 2 in Oz from when we move or whether they shoud go into Yr 1 and kindergarten. Do most people wait until the year the dc turns 6 or send them the year they turn 5?

The office is in Pyrmont and we are hoping to rent in a nearby suburb- I have been looking at Lilyfield, Five Dock, Drummoyne...can anyone recommend any other nice suburbs in that area or tell me if there are any to avoid?

Anything else I should know? If this happens we will be moving around April.

Thanks!

all interruptions are welcome

I think you are right about pushing through- maybe just a few hours in Singapore will be the ticket

When you do a night stopover you have to unload kids and gear, settle in to hotel, accustom them to new beds and then pack up all gear and go back to the airport. I think it's a faff. Maybe with older dc who can carry their own gear it would be better!

I have vowed never EVER again to fly Qantas or BA after too many horror stories to bore you with. Don't do it to yourself longhaul with three kids! I would go Singapore Airlines every time (though we too abandoned thoughts of a trip back in July after we calculated airfares). I would suggest train to Newcastle too - the last thing you are going to want to do having got off a flight from the UK is to get back on another plane.

I do know people flying to the UK for the Royal Wedding. Blows my mind, but then again I'm Irish so I'll just keep my mouth shut

great Sunny- that's fab! I think we will do that!

I have been researching schools and emailed a few Catholic Private Primary schools. One has got back to me and said the fees are less than $1000/per year and less for child 2 and 3. Plus a few hundred dollars of admin etc.

Is this right? Would we be able to pay just these fees? Certainly the head of one school seems to think so but I can't believe it? I don't suppose any of you will really know?

sorry, I don't know anything about catholic schools.

Re stop overs, either stop for 3 hours, or 3 days. I wouldn't do an overnight I don't think.

We did a 3 day stop in singapore and had all our transfers etc taken care of, and booked the hotel through the airline (singapore air) and it was good (except I was v morning sick in the heat...). There is a good zoo and bird zoo and other easy attractions to occupy the kids there (min you there is an even better zoo in Sydney, so don;t stop ther just for the sake of the zoo).

Re movers, we used Britania and found them very good. They even 'delayed' our shipping for us as we were travelling for 4 months before we left Europe, and we didn't want it to arrive too far ahead of us as we'd have to pay a lot of storage fees. In the end our stuff arrived 3 days after us - perfect.

I don't think its insurmountable, but there can be some problems re customs if your stuff arrives before you I think? Extra forms to sign etc I think, but do check with the movers. Bear in mind it takes at least 10 weeks - ours took (at our request, as I said) 20 weeks.

just thinking TNMM, you may want to spend a week in Sydney when you arrive? rather then get straight on another plane or train? Its not far from Newcastle - 2 hours drive, so you could come any time, but you might find it is a good while before you find the time, what with setting up new home etc.

Our stuff arrived in Sydney before we did, thanks to the interminably slow visa process for me. We were given a week's grace (by negotiation!) when we didn't have to pay storage fees, but it meant that the day after we arrived in Australia, they delivered our stuff. I wasn't too cross-eyed, thankfully - but it would have been nicer to have had a couple more days' grace!
I don't remember there being any problems with that.

The air freighted stuff caused more problems - because I had to declare if there was anything in there that might cause customs some "ishoos" - and of course there were a couple of things (wooden rocking horse, shoes/boots). So we had to meet the AQIS inspection guy at the freight company's warehouse so he could inspect the stuff and normally his report would take 24h to clear it for removal, but because we were "up from the country" , he did it immediately for us so we could take it straight back with us.

Hi!
We moved back from the UK a year ago with our 2ds.
Would ABSOLUTELY recommend a stopover of 3 or 4 days in singapore or similar. We've done it both ways, but a hotel room with room service and a pool for tiring the kids out is a great way to avoid the worst of the jet-lag.

BTW as Sydney-sider I was fascinated by the spider advice given earlier as the Whitetail has never been mentioned to me as anything dangerous, so I googled it and It's not dangerous, so there is one thing less to worry about.
apparently this is what the fuss was about

Will come back and read more later - it's bath time now!

It might not be lethal but it can cause nasty infected wounds that come back and haunt you - one of my Aussie friends here had one 10 years ago and the area still flares up occasionally.

Still worth avoiding (as all my Aussie friends here do)

On the spider issues, the whitetail bite and how it affects you will depend on you metabolism. Huge skin eating lesion type problem or tiny spot. No one has died from a red back(black widow) bite since 1975 as the vaccine is readily available and it takes at least 24 hrs to die, so plenty of time for the vaccine.
When we were in Melbourne we saw A LOT of huntsmans, but they are not poisonous but they have a big bite, and they will jump at you if they feel threatened. They grow to easily the size of your hand or more and as I found like to hide in the handle for the car boot, so without thinking you can easily 'tickle' one while distracted!!!!. The whitetails in our house liked to hang around the plastic play kitchen in the garden so check that stuff regularly. All the said, the girls ran around in the garden regularly without shoes on.

Ha, yes the huntsman grow to scary size! One the size of DS's hand was in the car one day when I put him in - it escaped under the seat, never to be seen again (thank GOd!) but MIL says she has had a very painful bite from one (she trod on it by accident) that also got infected.

In general, I believe spider bites are best avoided, whatever they are - and however venomous. Because they can always get infected and that carries its own level of risk.

spiders!! Hehe it's a good thing I don't mind spiders but I think it will still take some getting used to!

How about flies/insects are they a big problem?

I guess what we do on the way over will depend on if dh can take holiday and how much money we have! He may want to take all his holiday before we go to visit family/friends around the uk...we'll see.

My DSis used to live in Wyoming, near Gosford on the Central Coast. It was very nice. I mention it because to get home from Sydney we caught the "Newcastle Flyer" so it is on a train route to Newcastle. Wyoming/Gosford was about a 2 hour train journey from Sydney central, not sure how long it is to Newcastle. But it is BEAUTIFUL scenery there, the Hawkesbury river is stunning, and property prices were very reasonable.

BalloonSlayer, it's great to hear more positive things!! In fact nearly everything we've heard about the area is good and we are beginning to allow ourselves to get excited! Think dh is going to accept the offer tonight and and his notice in tomorrow

I have just checked the map and it looks like Gosford is slightly nearer to Sydney than Newcastle, so that means it's a bloody long way.

But guess what's in between Gosford and Newcastle?

Only the Hunter Valley!

We live very close to Gosford (Point Clare) as DH works in Newcastle and Sydney so we moved here. I love the Central Coast !

Looking forward to the Hunter Valley and mmmmmm...in fact I've had a couple glasses tonight already

Don't get too excited - the wine's not cheap up there!
Most places will charge a minimum of $18 a bottle (around £12) - I can't remember any much cheaper than that.

It is fun driving around all the different vineyards though - especially on the Lovedale side of the Hunter. Although there are good ones the other side too - and also good cheese shops. The Chocolate shop has gone markedly downhill since I started going there though. :(

Oh I love the Hunter Valley, but holiday accommodation is so expensive. Everywhere else seems to charge per property but in the Hunter it's per person. I guess I can see why as it's often geared up to groups of adults going wine tasting, but it's a real deal breaker for a family of five.

Sorry for rambling off point OP, has your DH accepted the offer yet? When will you be coming?

ah, the advantages of living close to the Hunter Valley...

The lesion thing with whitetail spiders is an OLD WIVES TAIL people.
Now drop-bears on the other hand...

Spider Myth

Oh, I'll just TELL MY FRIEND WHO HAD ONE that then, shall I bubbaluv?

Thanks for that Bubbaluv, really interesting article. An English friend told me on arrival to watch out for this and I cheerfully accepted it as true. Mind you I just had the house sprayed this morning so nothing with 8 legs should be left living in the vicinity

Oh yes, a real live person online at the same time as me. Waves frantically to thumb!!!!