It's decided ... moving to Sydney April/May 2008... which areas are good with kids?

[MrsBigD]

o.k. it's still a bit away but thought I better get started re what to consider.

Visa stuff I have info and paperwork to be done.

I've been to Sydney yonks ago and obviously didn't look at it with the eys of a parent trying to work out which area to move to for good schools etc. but more to find good night clubs etc

So who knows Sidney from the parental perspective and is willing to share all the gritty details ?

Hi there! You posted the same time as me - we moved to Sydney in May this year, so haven't got extensive knowledge of the city yet(plus my daughter is only 2, so haven't really thought about schools properly yet), but I can say that I'm finding the Northern Beaches a great place to live with a child. We're on the border of North Manly/Harbord, and its very family friendly - lots of playgrounds, lovely beaches of course and from what I've heard the schools are good too. Its got a really relaxed feel about it, and its only a half-hour bus journey or ferry ride into the city. And the weather is fab (although that's not linked to the area of course ). Am sure others will be able to help wrt schools and stuff - hope things go well with the visa etc...

oh hello cross poster

visa shouldn't be too difficult as dh is a Kiwi so I should be able to get a 5-year family member visa that entitles me to work. Won't get all the social benefits, but I want to work not sponge so no issue there.

What visa are you on?

Sorry for the delay - was just cutting dp's hair!

We're on a 4 year long-term business visa. We fell in love with Oz when we spent a year doing the backpacker thing in 2000, and always said we'd like to stay longer. We couldn't imagine being away from the UK forever though, so we're sort of having a 'try-out'. We need to decide whether to try to stay or go home in that time - still have our house in London.

We've been in Australia for 9 months in total now and I am already feeling torn between homesickness (for family) and knowing that the lifestyle would be better over here for Abbie. Decisions, decisions...

Sounds as though your visa will be easy to get. Northern Beaches are lovely, but expensive to buy from what I can see. We're just renting at the moment, and its a bit disconcerting to be amongst million dollar homes! Think its a bit cheaper further from the beach though. Have you any ideas about where to live?

mentioned north beaches to dh and he said that's where he was looking at too

Already starting to put money over in an account in Sidney so getting the benefit of the lovely exchange rate

We won't have that much of an issue re 'home sick' and family as our families aren't in the UK so used to it. O.k. my mum's gutted because we'll be so far away (she's in Germany) but at least she's seen the kids at least 3x a year so far whereas dh's mum who is in NZ has only seen dd once when she was 18 months and ds only on pictures. And she can always come visit for an extended period of time provided she doesn't stay with us or in the shed at the bottom of the garden... dh's mum has already offered her baby sitting services

We're most definitely planning on going long long term especially because of the quality of life improvement it would have

yeah, northern beaches are fab!

agree about the quality of life - i've only been here a short time and already i know in my heart that it's the sort of place i'd love dd to grow up in. but the pull of family is strong - webcams are good, but can't make up for regular visits .

at shed in bottom of the garden! maybe you can get a place with a little annexe somewhere...

ooooh lovely
my only advice - apply for the visa(s) as early as you can. Unlike DH - prevaricated, it's not through, is taking ages, and he won't be able to work for a while when we get to NZ which is v.irritating. POssibly the Aus people will be more efficient than the irritaing Kiwis in London (oh yis, we can't find people to train up so it'll sit on the shelf for about 2 months until someone even looks at it.....)

MrsJC I'm surprised the NZ high comission is dealing with the visa here in the UK Thought they would have passed that to home turf. When we did the kids NZ passports they were quite quick besides being anal re the passport photos which got declined twice because they weren't front on and they kids smiled... so now the pics look like we've nicked they're lollies!

Planning on getting paper work started soonish though just in case. Thankfully I'm the only one we need to do paperwork for! Otherwise it'd costa fortune

PPM yeah sure I just hope I win the lottery so I can afford a place with an annex on the north beaches

v. annoying MJC!

you've got to keep on at visa agencies as well if you apply through them - we felt like tearing our hair out sometimes as it didn't seem like they knew anything about our application whenever we contacted them. it was a bit worrying when we had handed our notice in at work, flights booked, but no visa and no information on what was happening. we could never work out if it was the agency or the immigration department.

just the thought of it is sending my blood pressure high

MrsBigD - you've got just under 2 years to buy that winning ticket. just think of the exchange rate on a jackpot win!!!

yes wouldn't that be nice a lovely condo on a huge property with the annexe at the far end so mum wouldn't be around all the time

btw PPM what are you still doing up?

its not too late here - just 10.20pm. saying that i'm thinking of going to bed very soon. trying not to get sucked into Mumsnet, leading to v. late bedtime and v. tired PPM in the morning dealing with bouncy toddler !

I know that feeling only too well get to bed late only to be rudly awoken by very energetic toddler at 0530

Hey, great idea I say...but then I would (I'm a Sydneysider having a stint in Derby for DH's work). I lived on the North Shore, which is a great area for families, but is expensive. Here are some suburbs I'd like to live in, roughly in order from the most expensive to the least (still expensive though, but Sydney is):

Mosman
Neutral Bay
Roseville
Waverton
Cremorne
Lane Cove
Chatswood
Willoughby
Artarmon

These are a little further from the city...still lovely, very leafy...
Gordon
Pymble
Lindfield
Kilara
Frenches Forrest
Forrestville

You MUST check out this thread, it will be very useful.

HTH
Astro

5.30 am !!!

at least i don't usually get woken up until 6.45/7-ish (now i'm tempting fate - a 5.30 alarm call will arrive for me tomorrow!).

right, that's made me yawn just thinking about it, so am off to bed. maybe chat to you another time - good luck with visa preparations!

Thanks Astro!!!

got pulled in again - i lived in Neutral Bay for 4 months in 2000 and it was on our list of places to live when we got here this year. its only 10 mins to the city by bus, or you can catch the ferry, and the local shops are pretty good. we opted for Northern Beaches in the end cos dp works in DY, so quicker commute for him.

Mosman is beautiful (walked through it on the way to the zoo the other day) - looks very expensive !

No worries MrsBigD, I'll keep you thread on my watch list in case you have any Qs, but there is a lot of info on that other thread!

How old are you kids?

Where in Neutral Bay PeppaPig? I grew up there. Mosmoan is gorgeous, but unikely to ever be in our price range! We hope we will be able to buy in Lane Cove when we go back in 3 years-ish, but prices are getting very high there too! eek!

kids are currently nearly 2 and nearly 5 so will be 7 and 4 when we move

Will make note of your name for person to 'pester' with questions

oh yes my photo wsa rejected by the NZers for hair covering part of my face - well yes, I can see they needed to see that millimetre of flesh just in front of my ear!

bumpitibump in the hope that some Syndey'dians are awake now

Morning!

I'm here. Goodness, there are loads of people coming over at the moment. How exciting for you MrsBigD, and welcome PPM .

I moved over from London a year ago. I'm in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney (Coogee), pretty much decided by work. I'm very happy here, we are a 3 minute walk from the beach and a huge playground. We sit out in the garden, even in winter basking in the sun and playing with DD.

Mosman and Manly are gorgeous! I would want a boat if I lived in Mosman though.

The northern beaches are often suggested to expats moving over, but I don't know them too well personally. Manly is a lovely place, but that's about the extent of my knowledge.

I think Bloss should be able to help some more if she's around, she's particularly good with schools.

Sydney is great for children. There are playgrounds on every street corner, loads of smoothie bars and a great outdoor lifestyle. We take DD up to darling park a lot and also to the Entertainment quarter. The beach of course, swimming lessons and lots of playgrounds.

I'm seeing a couple of schools next week (DD is 4 in December). One suggested by the lovely Bloss .

What sort of schools are you looking for? Will you have a car? What sort of house?

You can look at houses on www.domain.com.au to get you going. Also www.sydneyschild.com.au for info on Children's stuff.

Goodness, we're going to have enough people for meet-ups and swaps soon!

MrsJC - the bit around the ear is the most important apparently. Especially for babies who will look nothing like their passport photo 4 years later.

MrsBigD - it's not that far away really, my ds will start school in Feb 2008 and that feels much too soon.