It is very far from everything and everyone. Air fares have tripled compared to when we moved here. Airlines know we have no choice and that if we want to travel to see family, we will fork out the money they want.
Sydney is very expensive. We can afford it, but I still remember the shock when I did my first supermarket shop.
Housing market is nuts. The price to purchase a house is ridiculous , I could buy a French castle for that amount of money.
Our rent is per week, what we used to pay per month in Europe. We live near the sea, so be warned that if you want to be close to the beaches, it will come at a price.
However for me, the biggest con is how far and isolated Australia is.
I am from Monaco, so I had plenty of sea and outdoor at home. This means, you pro wasn't mine. I came here following my husband's posting. In three years , it will be over, and I can't wait .
Australia and Sydney are nice and pretty. But there is plenty of nice and pretty in Southern Europe, where you can take a Ryanair flight if you want to spend a weekend in Venice or a Spring break in Sardinia .
The health system is also quite weird. It is perfect at the two extremes, very healthy or very sick, and crap in the middle, if you need to see a specialist or have exams. Free GPs are long gone where I live, in the Northern Beaches. If you need surgery - they call it elective, even if essential - unless it is an emergency, you wait a couple of years, however the same surgeon can operate on you, next week if you go private, and private health care is again very weird. It doesn't cover specialists visits or exams. It is mostly to cover for hospital costs, leaving the cost of the surgeons, anaesthetist to you.
It is a bit hard to make friends when you are older, because people here already have their friends, and already have little time to see their friends.
Art and culture is also a bit low. There are a few amazing theatre company such a Sydney theatre, but shows are very expensive compared to Europe. Museums are limited. Collections don't change much, and the novelty of a new wing wears off very quickly. We do get some exhibitions, but so small, so cramped.
Safety is a big pro. Fucking snakes a big con if you have bush near you.
The Northern Beaches is a nice area. Plenty of bush for walks or bike riding, the beaches of course, and nice suburbs. No train here, so it is car , bus or ferry to go into the city and commute can be very long at peak hour.
Distance is a killer. It takes so long to travel anywhere. You lose days going to Europe. Our summer holiday are Winter in Europe, so days are shirt and cold, friends and family are at work or school, once Christmas is over, and I miss the vibe of Summer in the Mediterranean.
Also, here, you should NEVER enter the water after sunset! No midnight swim under the stars! Dark rhymes with shark.
The water is so cold. Yes you can wear a wetsuit, but you take it off once, then it is wet and sticky and you won't put it back on for a dip. Also you are not allowed to swim where you want. You have to stay between two flags, meaning 200+ people are enclosed in a short space where you can't swim , just jump the waves and hope that the wall of body boards coming at you won't hit you. Why the hell do they say " swim between the flags" is beyond me as you wouldn't be able to swim (breaststroke , back stroke, ...) without hitting someone or being hit after 1 meter.
Did I mention how cold the water is?