Hello Sydneysiders

[neuroticlady]

OMG had no IDEA there was an overseas 'section' (so technical) on mumsnet. Have been skulking around thinking I must be the only pom living overseas. I am nerdily excited to have discovered I am not alone .
Been living in Sydney for six years with DH after 20 years in London, 15 weeks pg with first bub. Feeling rather lost without family support. But living in fab part of Sydney (as anyone else on Northern Beaches will know)and really looking forward to some lovely warm spring weather! (Never thought I'd find an Aussie winter cold after 30-odd years of English ones, but they say your blood thins or something... .) Be lovely to say hello to other pommie Sydneysiders, and reminisce about Marks and Spencers prawn and mayo sarnies, Radio 2 some decent telly, pub gardens, having your family down the road...

[sunnydelight]

Hey AussieSim - we were looking at houses around Belrose today , then headed up to the Newport Arms for lunch, we definitely have to do a meet up!

Lovely to hear from you MABS - will e-mail you!

[AussieSim]

I am Belrose - kind of up and in ...

[neuroticlady]

Hi AussieSim, whereabouts on upper n beaches are you? I'm Avalon...

[AussieSim]

Hi guys. I am not a Pom, but am a Sydneysider who has been MNing since 2002 - started while I was living in Germany. I am on the Upper Northern Beaches which is just far enough away to get away from the backpackers but close enough to get to the beach. A Sydney meet up would be a great idea!

[neuroticlady]

I think London is lovely in the autumn, PPM. You may even catch the fab Selfridges Christmas window display, or do you think you'll be a little bit too early for that?

Quite agree re UK supermarkets. When I went back for Christmas four years ago I earned masses of brownie points for volunteering to enter the Christmas Eve scrum at Waitrose and collect the turkey at the crack of dawn. Little did everyone know I was totally jet-lagged so awake at 3am anyway and just blissfully happy to push trolley dreamily around Waitrose aisles and look at all their lovely produce...

Am VERY jealous re: Gap. How come they're not over here? It's very annoying.

Will keep it all crossed for you with the time zones and the little ones. My sis did it in reverse with a two year-old (and two older kids) when they came here and it was amazingly painless so you never know...

Come on girls, let's get the diaries out and set a date for a meet up that suits us all. Starting point is mid Nov...

[PeppaPigsMum]

arfishy - it will be interesting to see what London is like. we still own a house in East London, so will be heading over to have a look around.

this trip is going to be an important one - am hoping it will take off my rose-tinted glasses wrt life in the UK, and clarify how i'd feel about staying in Oz for longer than our 4 year business visa. i've got the age-old argument of lifestyle vs family proximity running round my head.

looking forward to UK supermarkets though. and Gap! here's hoping the jetlag isn't too bad - think my 3 year old will be OK, but our 4 month old could be a bit more tricky. may need some matchsticks for my eyes...

so, when would be a good time/place to get together (i'm back in Oz mid-November)?

[MABS]

Hiya Sunny, so sorry to hear yr dad so poorly xx

[arfishy]

Yes!! Sydney meet up would be lovely.

PPM - I went home for the first time in 2 years recently. Out of London everything was the same.

The London demographics were different with the influx from Europe. People seemed very grumpy in comparison to Aussies, I'd forgotten about not smiling on the streets!

found that I'd changed - I missed the sunny skies, healthy food and smoothies. DD asked for a smoothie every single day poor thing.

I was VERY pleased with the supermarkets, M&S and Monsoon though.

Have a good trip back!

[neuroticlady]

Hi sunnydelight, lovely to 'meet' another Sydneysider! Sorry to hear your dad is so ill, that really must be hard to deal with from here. I hope you're managing to settle in ok, despite the worry about your dad and subsequent trip back.

Oh what a shame you're not in Avalon (with me!). But you're right, it is a pain to commute from here. And St Ives is lovely.

I bet the Brighton meet ups were boozy... had lots of (boozy) friends there before moving out here so know it fairly well. It's a fantastic place.

Good luck with schooling etc and hope we get to meet up soon.

[sunnydelight]

Hi - can I butt in! I would love to do coffee/lunch/something. I used to be a regular at the wonderful, very boozy, Brighton mumsnet meet ups! We're in St. Ives (would ideally like to be in Avalon but that wouldn't suit OH's commute). We've been here since July but I had to go back to Ireland recently as my dad is seriously ill, so I feel like I'm back to squre one socially! I have a 14 year old at Northern Beaches school, and am currently home schooling my others (8 and 4) but they will all go to school eventually!!!!

[neuroticlady]

Me too for coffee/lunch/chin-wag: am feeling most envious that the Melbourne girls are organising nice get-together on another thread: so who else in Sydney is up for a meet up? Shall we try and make a date before Christmas? (Bearing in mind various trips home and looming birth dates etc!)

[PeppaPigsMum]

hello again. sorry for the lack of a response - have been going to bed very early in the evening recently (how is your little one btw Aquasea?). hope everyone is OK, and those heading over to Sydney are feeling organised!

just noticed the mention of meeting for coffee some time - i'd definitely be around for this. i'll keep an eye on the thread to see who's about.

good luck to those flying over - hope it all goes smoothly. we've got a trip to the UK coming up very soon. it will be the first time i've been home in 2 years - am wondering how i will find the UK after all this time. hope the jet-lag isn't too bad!

[Aquasea]

Hi! Definitely up for meeting up for coffee with anyone who's up for it.

[Jackaroo]

Afternoon all - Aquasea, I was worried that I hadn't written recently too - but I guess that's the thing on here, no one holds it against you

We are setting off 19th Dec for my folks in Cyprus, then we'll be in Sydney 13/14th January, and even that feels very soon... hate hearing how homesick everyone feels when pg. as that is my plan whilst I'm there.. heyho. Maybe I can join you all for a coffee at some point? We'll be further up Upper North Shore, but still managable; I suspect I would go quite a long way to meet you guys !!

Oops can smell lunch...

[Aquasea]

Hi Neuroticlady, thank you so much for your advice. I am so sorry I haven't responded - our computer died and we have been trying to get it fixed (we finally gave up and bought a new computer yesterday so this is the first chance I have had in ages to get on line). Your sugessions really helped and I will have to get on to properly researching them. I can't believe we leave so soon (fly out Nov 30th). Nothing is sorted! Ah well, it's all an adventure! How is your pregnancy going? are you blooming?! (I don't think I ever got to that fabled blooming stage!)

Thanks also for your message Peppapigsmum. It all sounds so lovely. I will have to put lots of energy into building up a social network too. I really don't want to be lonely on the other side of the world with a six month old.

Anyway, I hope you guys see this. I will keep you updated on our thoughts (and of course where we end up). Oh, DH office is actually in Darling Harbour - I don't know if this makes any difference to the suggestions.

Thanks again ladies, you really make me feel so much more positive about all this.
A x

[neuroticlady]

Hello PPM! Hooray for a fellow northern beaches Mumsnetter. Congrats on the recent new arrival. Hope things are going well for you.

Your post gave me a boost because at least I feel it's not weird to be feeling this way - and I'm sure that once bub is here it will get better; as you did I will just have to work at it.

[PeppaPigsMum]

hi there. i've just seen this message and had to reply quickly. i found this site last year when i moved to Sydney, but dropped off shortly after introducing myself as things got rather hectic. it seems like there are loads of people in Sydney now! i'm in the Northern Beaches too (Harbord), and agree its a lovely part of Sydney.

neuroticlady - know what you mean about feeling a bit lost when pregnant and so far from family. part of the reason i've been away from Mumsnet is i was pregnant and very homesick. i ended up having to put a lot of energy into building up a social network here and didn't have a lot of time for anything else.

aquasea - i've got an 11 week old baby too (as well as a 3 year old)! have you had any further thoughts on where you'd like to live. the Northern Beaches is a great place for families, as NL has already said. the North Shore is also very family orientated and closer to the City from the commuting point of view. it doesn't have the lovely ocean beaches we have here though (my dh goes surfing in his lunch hour - couldn't do that in London...).

anyway, got to head off to bed before the evening feeding sessions. will catch up again soon...

[neuroticlady]

Righto Aquasea, as far as the northern beaches goes I think you need to stick to the lower end (the southern end, nearest to the city) and that way your DH can commute in either by the Manly ferry or by bus/car. One major disadvantage of n. beaches is terrible public transport, no train service etc. So you need to stay within 15-20 mins of Manly I'd say. That means (in order of how the beaches go up the coast from Manly and away from the city - Manly is closest - Queenscliff, Harbord, Curl Curl. Lots more lovely areas beyond here but I think it would be too much of a headache commute-wise. The whole of the n. beaches is very family friendly TBH so I don't think you'd have any worries there, though I only properly know about the top (northern) end of the n. beaches.

Those are the suburbs that are actually on the beach.

Then there's an area called Middle Harbour (get your hands on a map so all this makes more sense if you can) which is absolutely beautiful, lots of sheltered waterways and protected coves and beaches. Seaforth is very nice and so is Balmoral - overlooking inland waterways, very tranquil, lots of families, but also quite posh so you'd need a nice big budget for there .

If you can persuade DH further up the n. beaches Collaroy and Narabeen are worth considering. Quieter, but lots of cafes, very surfy lifestyle, lots of families. Basically the further north you go the quieter and more green it all gets, though wherever you are in this area you're so near a beach or water you never feel too hemmed in or surrounded by suburbia.

I hope this isn't too bamboozling and that it's a bit of a help. Don't rule Manly out, by the way, there are plenty of little villagey enclaves within Manly itself such as Manly Cove and Shelley Beach, which are family friendly with sheltered beaches and away from the hubub of the Corso.

One final suggestion completely out of n. beaches would be Watsons Bay, which sort of looks back at Manly from the south. Beautiful sheltered beaches, lots of cafes, direct jetcat access to city (15 mins?) and gorgeous houses. Could be a bit of a budget buster but thought I'd throw that one in there...

[Aquasea]

Hi Neuroticlady, thank you so much for your suggestion. I have been thinking about it (and discussing with DH) and I think these are the things we are looking for...

Has to have a reasonable commute to the CBD as DH will be working there
There, that's him sorted! Now as for what I would like... I could list a thousand things but I think these are the most important.
Preferably not too far from a beach, Quietish but with some shops, cafes etc not too far away, lots of young families around. I think they're the main issues I am interested in. I have lived in West London for the past 20 years but we recently moved further out (to just inside surrey) but it's such a difference, so much more peaceful, lots of families, lots of green space, a real little village but only 30 mins to Waterloo. I always thought I was a city girl but since being preg and having the bub I realise that I don't need so many bars/clubs/people around! How life changes!
Anyway, what do you think? Do any areas spring to mind?
Thanks again so much for your help with this. I feel so much better having your help. I don't feel quite so alone!

[neuroticlady]

Oops, sorry got your name wrong Bamamama.

And hi to Harrogatemum - good luck with your plans for Brisbane. My parents are just down the road from you in York..!

[neuroticlady]

Bamama, Canberra? BRRR! It's bloody cold in Sydney - coldest winter for years - but I know it's nothing compared to the temperature in Canberra. They don't tell you Australia gets cold in the tourism ads, do they! I hope you're settling in ok and starting to meet some nice people

Aquasea, sorry for silence. Only just discovered mumsnet and got a tad obsessed, so had to 'switch it off' for a while in order to get some work done!! No, I don't live in Manly. I'm at the other end of the northern beaches in Avalon. About 30-40 mins north of Manly. Not many people bother commuting into the city from here as in peak hour it can take an hour and a half or more, eek. I did it for a while but now I work from home so it's not a problem. It's much quieter than Manly but it still has a nice little hub with plenty of cafes etc. And virtually every other doorway leads to a yoga studio so I'll have no excuse not to be nice and bendy by the time bub arrives...

What do you reckon to this idea: you could tell me what sort of area you'd like to live in (quiet, peaceful, lively, cosmopolitan, lots of green space versus more of a city life) and I'll try to give you an idea of the right sort of area on the northern beaches, or possibly elsewhere in Sydney..? Eastern Suburbs is very central and very popular with Brits (and returning Aussies!), for example. Anyway, happy to help if I can. x

[bamamama]

Aquasea - Canberra due to dh's job and almost everyone I told I was moving to Canberra said "well, it's near interesting places....!" Harrogatemum - thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Things are ok so far, we're renting a place through dh's work and am pretty central in the city. I just need to get my arse into gear and get meeting people! It's tricky as we're only here for a year but if I don't get organised it will be Christmas and my poor son still won't have anyone to play with (and I'll have noone to drink coffee with!)

[Harrogatemum]

bamamama have you tried looking on the Bub Hub - its like the Aussie Mumsnet. I think its www.bubhub.com.au It has a section for mums living in different areas so bound to be one for Canberra. I've joined as DH and I and 3 kids are heading to Brisbane in January (DH is an Aussie) so I'm looking for info before I get out there!

[Aquasea]

Yes, I heard Manly had lots of 18 year old backpacking Brits! I'm not sure myself and my baby boy will fit in so well with them. The beaches and the commute to the city sounds appealing though. Are you in Manly? Thanks so much for the links (and please don't worry that you are giving information about Australia to an Aussie... I am Aussie in passport only! I literally know nothing about life over there so any info and advice is greatly appreciated!)

Bamamama - so why Canberra? How did the move go? Are you renting? I am going to be in your situation when I arrive in Sydney - 6 month old baby, no friends and probably being a SAHM (it's the first time I have written that!).

[bamamama]

Hello there! I'm not in Sydney, but moved to Canberra from the UK a week ago. I'm freezing!!! It would seem that there are no other MNers in Canberra so I'm just going to have to attach myself to the Sydneysiders for the time being.....
A question for Aussies in general - am I likely to find mother and baby type groups and where can I find out about them? It's all well and good for dh, he has work to provide an instant social network but I'm a sahm and although I love being with ds, at 14 months he's a little lacking in the lively debate area (although he is trying, bless him!)