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!

eralc if you wanted to stay it's pretty easy to transfer a 457 visa to a new sponsor and extend it. We've got a few friends who've done it, although obviously he'd need to find a job with someone willing to sponsor you

yes I do feel like a headless chicken at the moment! So many things flying through my head all the time.

DH is leaving at the same time as us but I still think it's the women who tie up all the loose ends and make sure it all comes together and he is left feeling like it's been a breeze!

The shipping company is coming to pack on Thurs/Fri next week so I have been trying to pack our luggage for the journey to keep it separate.

I have asked the company to book our flights flying out on 5th May and arriving Sat 7th

Despite having got rid of half of our belongings I feel like I am living amidst complete chaos. I hope it's better after next Friday!!

Oh, I fly in the other direction on the 5th!

Just don't do what I did and let the shippers pack the kids' favourite cuddly toys Still not quite sure how it happened - luckily there was a fantastic toy shop in town specialising in teddies and cuddly things so we did "choose something special for the journey" and got away with it.

OH NO sunny, the kids would hate me if I let that happen though I see how it could easily be done!

Are you flying over for a holiday? We will have to wave as the planes pass each other

Sorting through our filing cabinet today....

I'm flying in the other direction on the 6th. Not looking forwards to it with a non-sleeping 5 month old.....think I'm going to be the person with the whinging baby that I always used to tut at

Just want to say good luck with the move! We moved to Sydney from the UK 7mths ago. It takes a little while to settle in but it sounds like your super organised. All the best. x

lol I don't feel super organised!! Thank you though x

Bunny, IKWYM you never though, maybe your baby will sleep the whole time. Don't know if a whingy baby is better than a bored whingy toddler...though at least mine can watch dvds!!

Just wondered if anyone can tell me about hand luggage? For Singapore airlines? I asked and the lady on the phone said the bag had to be less than 115cm long seems quite big and also quite vague to me. Am trying to pack at the moment so any advice would be useful

Is this any help?
www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/before/plan/cabin_baggage.jsp

We flew with them and it took me ages to find this on their website!

Just bumping this as it's going down the page and it's become a good general chat thread!

Happy birthday to me - just to reassure TNMM (and anyone else making the move) I have been here nearly four years now and although of course I miss my girlfriends in the UK (who I will get to see in a few weeks - yay!!!) it is possible to make good new friends when you move. One friend (whose 2 kids have also become really good friends with mine) came for lunch with a card, present, bottle of fizz AND birthday cake, we are going out tonight with some friends we made here who returned to the UK but are back on a holiday, and I have had so many birthday wishes on FB from "new" friends I feel quite emotional. It's a tough thing to do but so worth it (does it show that I've been drinking fizz since midday...........)

Happy birthday sunny. We have finally got here second time round and feel great about it. We are currently in Melbourne but are moving to Adelaide next week.
Tnmm, it will all be worth it.
My biggest tip is to pack your suitcases and then when you have done, re pack and try and eliminate more things. More difficult with you as your stuff has gone already.

P.s. Tnmm, bring bisto gravy granules as in just over a year instant gravy has not improved at all !!! Pack it in your suitcase and declare it. They will let it through :-))

Happy birthday sunny There's no way we'd have known you've been on the fizz if you hadn't told us

lula we can get proper bisto in Coles in the British section. In fact with the weather getting cooler I quite fancy a nice roast dinner

Ooh. Will have to look but I do begrudge paying a huge amount.

Happy birthday sunny! It's lovely to hear that you sound so settled. Even a year in like we are, I can't believe how much more settled I feel than I did even a few months ago.

I was really pleased to find Hellmanns mayonnaise in Coles - I haven't found any of the Aussie stuff tastes quite the same (although I ration it because it's so expensive!) I've banned myself from the British shop in the CBD though, as I go a bit mad in there and end up spending a small fortune on things I really don't need!

Am loving the weather at the moment (and giggling when people are complaining about how cold it is!) - it's just about perfect for me. If it stayed like this all year round I would be very happy. The sunshine is just lovely and not too hot. We took the DS's to Balmoral on Saturday (DS2's first beach trip - he was suitably uninterested in the whole thing!), and it was a really gorgeous day weather wise (although DS1 complained that the sea was a bit cold - he's going to be in for a shock when he has a paddle back in the UK!)

Is anyone else braving the Easter Show this year? We are going to because I think DS1 will love it, but I can't make up my mind which day to go (we went last year, but I'm not sure which day we chose - it was all a bit of a blur as we'd only been here a week or so, and the whole thing seemed very surreal!) Am figuring it doesn't matter much as it will be heaving whichever day we choose.

Happy Birthday SunnyD

I don't feel settled yet but then I've only been here 3 months so far. I'm missing my neighbours - in the UK we had a lovely family next door and we were always in and out of each others' houses. Here the only other people in our small apartment block are retired or on long-term sick leave and don't seem to be able to deal with a noisy family. I had one neighbour come round yesterday to find out what was going on - just because ds2 was screaming at me for putting antiseptic on a graze. I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed by our neighbour's 'concern' and I pointed out that there would probably be worse noises to come. I haven't yet told them that I'm planning a home birth .

Anyway if we go for permanent residency at any point we will lose the LAFHA and will not be able to afford our current apartment. It has a lovely view though.

I also find it funny when people complain about the cold. It seems strange to be in 'autumn' when it still feels like an English summer.

Don't think I'll brave the Easter show this time round.

MilaMae, good luck with the decision. I am enjoying it in Sydney (despite having said above that I don't feel settled) but it is hugely expensive. I have two kids at school so that's $9k gone already and the rents are far higher than they were in the South East of England where we moved from. But we thought if we were going to move all the way over here we wanted to be near the beach, and for dp not to have too much of a commute either (he works in Sydney CBD). So we're basically paying the price for the view and the convenience. If we stay for longer we will probably reassess.

Belated happy birthday SunnyD!

Eralc, we'll be going to the Easter Show but I think we're aiming to go next Wednesday on the principle that it'll be slightly less busy than at the weekends. We're also not going so early in the morning this time, more like lunchtime so we're not knackered by 4 in the afternoon!

Anyone else sitting around waiting for exHMAS Adelaide to be sent to the bottom of the ocean? Am PMSL at the pod of dolphins who are scuppering the scuttling! DH is getting progressively more pissed off at them cos he wants to see the ship go down.

Re. the gravy debate - we use the Orgran gluten free gravy and actually it's not that different to Bisto powder - you need to use dessertspoons of it where you'd normally use teaspoons of Bisto, but it tastes pretty good.
All of the Gravox stuff is made with wheat flour so I can't have it - Bisto powder is on my list of things to bring back with me this time when I return from the UK though, because sometimes nothing else will do. I don't like the granules, never have - they're too salty.

It's colder out here in the "country" - we're going to have to start using the fire again, probably tonight because the insulation in our old house is sooooo bad; have already had the heater on in the evenings a couple of times. It's the biggest problem - it's not that cold here but in the UK home heating is de rigeur - here, it's not, so in our case it's colder inside the house than it is outside! Still love the autumn weather though :)

Also - if anyone moves to anywhere outside of the big city areas, Coles etc. don't necessarily stock the British stuff. So we don't have Bisto in ours, nor Hellman's mayo - although thanks to my intervention we do now have Boursin (yes I know it's French) and we have retained G&B milk and almond chocolate since I complained vigorously when they stopped it for a few weeks. Of course, it puts me under an obligation to keep buying the stuff, so that they keep it in stock, but I don't really mind

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Are you ok thumb? If you fancy a trip down the freeway you are very welcome to come for lunch/a drink/whatever. You could always pop in on your way back from the Easter show?

Our local IGA has recently started to stock a whole lot of English stuff so I can get Hellmans and Bisto cheaper than Coles, and if I fancy spending a fortune I can even buy yorkies and minstrals. I think I'll be coming back from the UK next month with a suitcase full of English chocolate!

Thankfully DS is too young for the Easter show this year - am thinking there is probably only a small window where he'll be old enough to enjoy it but too young to demand we spend $$$$$ on showbags

We moved house a couple of months ago to a place with central heating Have spent the last few evenings basking in the warm glow of our radiators, although the owner didn't see fit to put them in the bedrooms and DS seems to have inherited my cold blood so will probably have to buy a heater for the nursery.

thumb love how you're successfully singlehandedly campaigning to get all your favourite foods in your local Coles

The lolly shop at Birkenhead Point stocks British choc - DH proudly produced 2 whole Yorkie bars he got from there as my Valentine's Day present (can't really complain as I totally forgot and got him nothing!)

Took DS up to Coff's Harbour for the day today as a dry run for getting him on/off a plane. He was beautifully behaved, except for refusing to BF on take off/landing and leaving me exposing my boob to pretty much everyone on the plane. Gave him a dummy instead on the way back. Keeping him entertained for the 50 min flight took all my energy so I have no idea how we'll manage for 24hrs.

oh bunny!! for the CH in the house!!

SunnyD - thank you - might take you up on that offer although not after the Easter Show cos will have DH with and he doesn't "do" sociable after a day out (he has limited stamina ) - I wouldn't wish that on anyone!

I used to come back with a suitcaseful of chocolate but no need now - instead I have to take it all with me to the UK! My sis has a thing for Cadbury's Snacks, which isn't available anywhere we know in the UK. Still have stuff to bring back though - Sandwich Spread, G&B drinking chocolate, but primarily Oatibix bitesize with cranberries or apple & sultana. It pains me that I can't get those here - they're fab.

thumb maybe you could pop by next time you're in the city and I'll let you stroke my radiators

OMG bunny - central heating, I am SO jealous! I just put my PJs on to slob around for the rest of the evening and had to put my dressing gown on top. Strange weather - kids were in the pool earlier and I'm sitting here feeling decidedly chilly now! Let me know if you want to come down thumb.

I'm also very jealous of your central heating bunny! We have reverse cycle aircon, but after our last electricity bill, there's no way on Earth I'll be using that! We're going for lots of blankets and some crappy electric heaters from Bunnings!

We don't even have reverse cycle aircon!
Didn't need the fire this evening after all, which is just as well seeing that DH hasn't been down to Bunnings for the coal or chopped any of the wood lurking in the garden

Must persuade him to bring the rest of the heaters in from the garage though. I could of course do it myself but he keeps messing up the garage, piling things in awkward places which makes it almost dangerous for me to even set foot in there.

Eralc - you must have popped by now - what did you have and how did it go and how did I miss it?