Advice on Areas to live in Sydney (North/North Shores)

[MrsBigD]

Well the visa application has been sent and police check and medical arranged. And of course flight tickets booked for May and mother not impressed because we're shipping her grand children to the other side of the planet...

Just having a look at rental properties and obviously doing a rather broad search as we have no precise idea yet where exactly we will be moving to except for North Sydney

Some places look great but also rather cheap... where's the best place to look to find out about the 'neighbourhood'?

Avalon I'm guessing is cheaper because Wayyyyy north. Allambie and Balgowlah seem reasonably priced too.
Then there's Chatswood etc So many places to choose from!!!

Basically what we'll be looking for is family friendly area with good schools/nurseries, nature (thought that's probably a given anyhow ;)), transport to 'town' etc. you get the picture

Tia

hi arfishy - nope, I'm here for the long haul (we've got PR and timed our arrival so that we can apply for citizenship after 2 years). You're probably thinking of Moqwai who I never managed to meet up with to my shame. If I lived in Coogee with a pool I really would be in heaven! I'm in St. Ives hence the fairly high rent, but the pool is bliss If you fancy a coffee, or something stronger, some time CAT me - I've had zero success in starting a tradition of long boozy lunches with likeminded mumsnetters (one of the few things I miss about Brighton!!!!!).

Ahhh yes. I think you're right. It was mogs.

I am always happy to meet people with a pool make new friends.

Should we try to arrange a Sydney boozy friendly lunch? Who's left? Is Bama in Sydney?

I have friends (actually, my old flatmate from Surrey) who live in Hornsby. Is that quite close to you?

Thanks Sunnydelight & AussieSim

found tis haven't had a chance yet to actually read through it LOL, however our boxes have arrived and we've packed 2 so far... only a gazillion to go... ;)

Question for all of you who have migrated to Aus... I know there are quite a few forbidden items to take through customs, but when shipping can we take our wodden picture frames, mayong set in wodden box (laquered) and Jenga game?

just looked at it and they actually want money so scrap that one LOL

McMahons Point or Kirribilli both nice
Crows Nest .( might have to sell anarm and a leg)
i wouldn't want to live in Chatswood- no offence.

I think treated wood products are generally fine, so anything varnished or lacquered should be ok. Customs will probably open your consignment and will remove anything that could be dodgy, and give you the option of paying for fumigation or just having it destroyed. May not be worth the bother to ship duvets etc, but on the other hand I do know people who've entered Australia wearing down jackets so perhaps treated feathers are the same as treated wood.

The only thing I've ever had confiscated was a Chinese drum, because of the skin. I think it was going to cost about A$60 to have it fumigated, which was more than the drum was worth so I just let them burn it. They are very helpful and friendly as long as you declare it, but will (rightly) throw the book at you if you try to sneak it through.

Seed and food products seem to be the huge no-no, but you wouldn't have those in your container anyway.

Cremolasnowdome,, no offence taken Friends of ours live in Kirribili but that seems rather expensive too

Ninedragons - I think I'll pack one box specifically with 'dubious' items and declare them that way

weren't planning on taking furniture, duvets etc. ... after all why pay for the shipping when for that money you can go visit IKEA

oh and thanks arfishy... sorry totally missed your post earlier

SunnyD ... cat'd you

Spoken like a pragmatic person who is paying for their own relocation!

I have some lovely friends who have a perfectly ordinary pine dining table that was bought in New York, moved to London, then to Hong Kong, then to Sydney and most recently to Singapore, but her company pays for a full relocation every time they move her. I have to admit that I do look at that table and think wow, for the money it's cost to ship that bugger round and round the world, you could have bought a museum-quality Regency mahogany table that seats 30. Even Hong Kong to Shanghai was expensive enough that I wouldn't ship anything I didn't adore and couldn't replace.

Target is very good for household basics when you arrive, and less of a scrum than Ikea.

Good idea to do a "potentially dodgy" box. Your moving company should be pretty au fait with the regulations anyway. I think the fines are discretionary and if it looks like you've made an effort to be honest you'll be fine. I used to know someone who worked at frontline customs at the airport, and he always let off silly tourists with straw hats they'd bought in Vietnam, but levied the full fine on sneaky old ladies who tried to bring in salamis and dried fish under their clothes (you'd be AMAZED how many of them he busted. Why anyone would want to sit on a Rome-Sydney flight with salamis under their clothes is completely beyond me).

Re Kirribilli, lovely place to rent but if you ever happen to be thinking of buying I would reconsider - all those Art Deco harbourfront apartment blocks are riddled with concrete cancer from the salt spray. We bought a waterfront flat in Birchgrove that's only 30 years old and has the beginnings of concrete cancer, and the bank would only lend because it's sitting on a big block of land so they'll get their money back even if the building has to be pulled down in 10 years.

ninedragons... pragmatically 'noted' target . We haven't got many memorable items. Our dining table is lovely but we got it second hand for £30 so not really worth shipping it LOL. Our bed has been put up/dismantled so many times if it's done one more time it's only going to collapse and the kids need new proper beds anyhow . The only thing I'm really dreading is how ds will react to us giving away his beloved 'Thomas the tank engine' bike! Do they sell them in Aus??? I hope so as I will have to promise replacement or end up with an unconsolable 3 year old! LOL

We will be looking at buying eventually but probably plot of land and then have our architect friend draw up the plans for building...

I love wathing 'Nothing to Declare' which they are screening ad infinitum here on satellite. we always laugh at the 'smuggling' attempts. I'd had to do that job! I'd probably loose my temper with some of the 'in your face' people

If they sell Thomas bikes anywhere, it would be K-Mart or Target. Check the online catalogue for both before you get rid of his, just to be sure. If you know someone in Sydney, perhaps you could get them to buy it for you before you even arrive, so he knows it's waiting there for him.

Last time we went back to Sydney, we had a hideous couple sitting in front of us on the plane who reclined in our faces the second they sat down and treated the aisle as their personal luggage storage space. The beagle humped their bag at the carousel and we watched with great schadenfreude as they first tried to deny that they had any food in their bags and then got shouty with the customs officer when she pulled out packet after packet of biscuits in four layers of ziplock bags. Hard to pretend you weren't aware of the rules when you've clearly gone to such trouble to circumvent them.

Re packing your own boxes - I would check that you will be able to get insurance for goods that you have packed yourself. Sometimes insurance will only cover items packed by the professional removal companies. Also re container getting held up - alcohol is a big pain - so drink it before you come and sample our wonderful vineyards upon arrival and take any real special couple of bottles of wine in your carry on.

Kirribilli a very old suburb by aussie standards - small rooms/windows/not much in the way of balconies and no off street parking much. AND v expensive. Crows Nest or St Leondards would be better if you want to be so close to North Sydney. St Leonards is on the train line so great for commuting.

ninedragons... 'giggle' at that obnoxious couple. 4 layers of zipperbags!? that indeed screams... trying to get away with it! In our case it'll probably be a case of dd or ds having stached something in their pockets

AussieSim... thanks for the tip shall check with the shipping company we have in mind. The package we were going for was 'self pack' so am assuming they won't have an issue with us packing it . Already started a box for our dubious items as that is also what the recommend on the aqis site

ROFL at beagle humping the bag!

Sorry to hijack thread but if anyone has any advice/recommendations on shippng companies that would be great. We're currently wondering what to ship (if anything). If it's gonna cost 2 grand to ship 2 grand worth of stuff then it's a bit of a no brainer...

Our favourite thus far has been Wridgeways. We used Crown last time I think and they were great in Germany and terrible in Australia. Furniture hire is always a good option especially as when you are on a 457 Visa it can be salary packaged and therefore be very tax efficient, as opposed to buying a depreciating 'asset'.

We're going with PSS but we only need 4 cubic metres as we're not taking all that much and it'll work out at around £800. Everything else gets ditched/sold and repurchased in Sydney. Which reminds me need to contact friend to find Thomas the Tank Engine bike to await ds's arrival LOL

Hi MrsBigD! Congratulations on making the big move! We are on the north shore in Mosman and are loving it. All the areas around here seem nice - Cremorne, Neutral Bay etc. It suits us because it has good links to the city (bus and ferry - gorgeous way for DH to go to work) and we have a lovely beach 10 mins down the road. It is pretty expensive but worth it I think!
Good luck with everything. xx