Australia -Aussies I need advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pickupthismess]

Hi. Last night watching "relocation, relocation" I decided I have infact had it with this weather and we ought to move to Australia asap to give our two boys a better way of life. Incredibly DH after a v stressful few months is in entire agreement.

I lived in Perth as a teenager and I have to admit I found it soulless and deeply boring but..................I bet I will have changed my tune now.

So my questions are:
1)is Perth still deadly
2)what are Melbourne or Brisbaine like?
3) Where is the work (DH is a senior professional) I know Sydney would be great but I don't really want a big city.

I just don't know where to begin.

4) And finally, please be honest what is WRONG with Australia. I really need to know I am about to make the right decision.

[Gmarksthespot]

You won't find it cold. You will probably find it lovely. Approx 10 to 22 degrees for August.

A month in Sydney will be great. You need to allow a few days for the dreaded jetlag when you arrive.

[ClaudiaSchiffer]

hey neighbour, I live about 5 mins from you!

Stirling

[tortoiseonthehalfshell]

Ha, I've probably seen you at the library, then. We're trying to afford a move to Stirling in the next couple of years, so I'm envious.

[Ozziegirly]

Contrary to helenwombat, I actually find it loads cheaper than living in London!

I used to spend around 70 pounds a week on food, and I now probably spend around $50, so miles less. But this is probably because I used to shop in Waitrose.....

Eating out I find loads cheaper, you can get a good meal for a pretty low price.

It does depend where you live though.

[backtolingle]

Thanks everyone.

Claudia Shiffer, it's me that's scared of flying. (also have bad eco-conscience about whole thing but that's not for this thread).

So Queensland and Darwin eh? Understand it's the dry season there in August.....

[pickupthismess]

OP back.

So...let's talk 1) weather and 2) office hours.

WEATHER I am really confused as to what to expect. I know what Perth was like but what are the other cities really like - desert heat, humid, rainy?????

OFFICE CONDUCT: Is it really true it is mor elaid back. I would hate to move half way across the world and find DH is still expected to work long grinding hours.

PLUS: I think I need to go out and get a map of Australia as am completely confused as to where everything is.

I'd just love to live in a nice leafy towny kind of place rather than a sprawling subrub. I guess this is because I am worried about getting to know people. The kids will be at school and I don't want to be trapped inside my box (albeit with a pool). I love the idea of a central high street etc but am probably being unrealistic. I don't think my DH would like to swap a 20 min commute for a 1 hr one.

[Ozziegirly]

Ok.

Weather.

In Adelaide, which is in the south, we have what is known as a "meditteranean climate". I cannot spell it though.

So basically we have hot, dry summers with very little rain, but cooler wet winters. In the summer it's normally around 28 - 38, but we also do get days above 40 when it is very hot. It's a dry heat though, not humid at all. Plus all houses have air con. In the winter it never really goes below about 4-5, but it feels cold and you need heating. It's quite nice actually.

In Sydney it's different. There you have hot, wet summers and cool dry winters. You get torrential rain storms and it is much more humid. Winters are beautiful, crisp clear blue sky days for weeks on end. Fantastic. Weather in summer can be wonderful, can be very rainy.

Then in the north (Darwin, North Queensland) it is tropical - so dry, warm winters (lovely), very hot summers with a rainy season in Jan - about Feb/mar. You also get cyclones, big storms and flooding. It is beautiful between April and December though.

Brisbane (I think) gets the tail end of this. Storms, but not cyclones, rain but not flooding every year like in the north.

Working Hours

Sydney I would say I worked less hours than in London, Adelaide even less. Sydney is a work hard city though, similar to any other major city. I had a short commute but many don't as public transport is poor (although cheap) and pretty slow, especially compared to London.

Of course I have missed out Melbourne (but only because you haven't mentioned it).

[bunnygirl80]

I'm in Sydney, and would basically agree with what ozziegirly said.

Weather: Hot and humid in summer, mainly temps in the high 20s and low 30s, but it gets up to 40+ occasionally. The further inland you are the hotter it gets. We get alot of impressive thunderstorms - it was going for 4 hours yesterday afternoon - these are usually timed to coincide with me hanging out the washing Winter's usually drier and cooler, but temps can still be in low 20's.

Work: DH is definitely working less hours here, I'm probably working about the same. DH and me both start earlier in the morning (by 8am) but most of our colleagues get up at dawn to go running/swimming/surfing!

I felt the same about sprawling suburbs - looked at a few and felt depressed as they seem so souless compared with the UK. Ended up in one of Sydney's older suburbs, so lots of buildings from late 1800s (or modern reworkings but keeping that style). We have a central shopping street with cafes, restaurants, food and clothes shops and a 10 min bus ride to the city.

[Ozziegirly]

bunnygirl, you're not in Balmain are you? Or maybe Paddington? I reckon those would fit with your description....

[bunnygirl80]

ozzie - good guess, I'm in Balmain! You can have a for your excellent sleuthing abilities!

[Ozziegirly]

I knew it!

I really like Balmain - some good friends of ours live there and if I moved back to Sydney it's probably where I would like to live too.

I used to live in Wimbledon in London and it has a similar feel to it (although miles more convenient for the city).

[pickupthismess]

Thanks v much. Please do tell me about Melbourne as at the moment it is at the top of my list although never been to any of the east side of Oz.

[backtolingle]

Sydney folk,

Well, it looks like we are off to Oz for a month!

Can you give me any tips on fun places to seek a short-term rental? Fun suburbs where we can walk/bike places?

I'm not sure if I'll drive there.

I'll have to work a little bit too so can anyone recommend any kids clubs etc in Sydney for children aged 7 and 4? The 4 year old isn't really up for sports clubs and would like to be with his brother.

Now just need to figure out how to rent out own house for month.......

[OzzieinLondon]

I think you'll find a site called ozstayz which might help with locating accommodation for the month. Sorry can't remember exact name but it is something like this.
If you stay at Manly - north of the city you can access the northern beaches (great for kids) but also jump on the ferry into the city for all of it's attractions.

[pickupthismess]

Melbourne bump

Saw Phil last night, this time in Belgrave. Looked great but is this too far to be commutable. Soooooo cheap, was really tempted.

[backtolingle]

thanks ozzieinlondon

[offtoOz]

Really enjoyed reading this thread. We are off to Sydney in January.

Would like to know more about Manly pros and cons. Seems very popular. Coming from London, I fear sprawling suburbs and prefer areas with more character and older buildings. Balmain sounds great, but a little too metro and not enough family for us perhaps? I think it will be a place to visit but we probably couldn't afford to live and my DH wants to be near beach. What do people think of Manly - what would be the comparator in London. We lived in Muswell Hill.

Does anyone know anything about kindergartens in that area? Manly Village Public School looks good. My LOs are going to be nearly 5 and just 3.

The 3 year old won't be able to start kindergarten until January 2013 - which means two years of childcare if I go back to work full-time. In NZ you get 20 hours childcare paid by the government once children turn 3 regardless of your income. Anything like that in NSW?

Thanks for any advice/help.

[echt]

Pickupthis mess.

We've lived in Melbourne for over 4 years and really like it.
Having said that we live next to the sea, a reasonable distance from the CBD.

We chose the area because of access to sea and good state schools. Houses more spacious than in UK. Buying a house is a bugger unless we go where we don't want to live.

Hard to compare food prices as we've not been back for a while, but clothes are pricier than hey ought to be when you consider how close we are to China. Do a lot of online shopping for nicer clothes. fresh food is good here; we shop at a wholesalers and get v.good bargains.

Weather is beautiful in spring and autumn. Some v.hot days in summer, but not for too long. Winter has been cold this year, though oldies tell us that Melbourne winters were always like this back in the day. Heating in house is often entirely inadequate, particularly in rentals, though we have been fortunate in this respect.

Making friends not easy as DD was old enough to get herself to school from day one. I'm also significantly older than the other mums and work full-time. Second the remark made earlier about making ex-pat friends.

DH is in a senior position in his work, and is a real "doer" in a world of policy wonks, so very much valued.
My job as a teacher is less well-paid than in the UK, but the students are doddle.

Culturally there's enough going on to keep you entertained, and a tendency to do more galleries, etc, because you know the next European exhibition won't be for quite a while.

Hope this is useful.

[PoppyAmex]

We have lived in Sydney for 6 years and I agree with most posters - the cost of living is extortionate. The lack of market competition really inflates the utility and grocery prices and it obviously also means a lot less choice for the consumer.

I'm a headhunter in Banking & Finance and in my experience the work hours for Finance professionals in Banking are generally the same (if not worse) as in London.

The salaries and bonuses in Finance are also slightly lower than in Europe, but at least the Australasian market was economically more resilient throughout the GFC, so most banks are now back hiring.

Sorry, just realised I made it sound a bit gloomy, but I speak to senior finance candidates everyday and got used to managing expectations before dragging them over to Australia for interviews!

Best of luck

[spaceforthree]

Really glad this thread has been resurrected.

DH and I are just doing our medicals this week and then hopefully will get Visa for Victoria. DH is very well paid here in the world of finance but sick of the stress so really interested in your comments poppy about working. Do you think Melbourne is any better than Sydney?

Also echt good to hear some positives about Melbourne as increasingly I have only heard negatives and felt a bit depressed about our plans.

[PoppyAmex]

SpaceFT my Melbourne colleagues always say it's a lot better in terms of work/life balance.

Two of the Big Four domestic Banks are headquartered down there, so there are a fair number of interesting roles in Finance and it's just a different vibe altogether.

I can't imagine why people would be negative about it. Unlike Sydney (which is quite American, urban brash) I think Melbourne has a lot of character and a bit of European flavour.

Not to mention, you'll have wonderful vineyards around, the Melbourne Cup is great fun and the shopping is a million times better down there. Sydney is just DIRE in terms of clothes/shoes shopping!

Best of luck with you visa and don't let off the cuff comments depress you.

[spaceforthree]

Thanks poppy. Dh isn't in banking (trained as Chartered Accountant) and now a finance director for division of big UK company. Are there many ops do you know?

[PoppyAmex]

SpaceFT - Finance in a Commerce environment will be even easier, as there are more employers.

Just don't be tempted to do a straight salary currency conversion between UK£ and AUD$ as it won't quite work like that.

Job market is really like a pyramid, so the more senior the role, the less opportunities you get, but here in Aus they do value UK experience a lot, so it will just be a matter of time.

I would def. advise your DH to start the job hunt before moving, as we recruit loads of senior people straight from the UK before they even arrive in Australia (interviews via video conference). Also opens possibility to secure a 457 Visa (employer sponsored), if you're struggling with that, although it's always easier if you already have a valid working visa.

UK Trained CAs never struggle for long here -
check seek.com.au (both normal and exec pages) and efinancialcareers.com.au

[spaceforthree]

poppy would you be able to recommend some agencies/headhunters that deal with senior execs that he should contact. Or newspapers (like the FT) that he should check for jobs?

Hopefully we will have our residency visa fairly shorty and he can start searching.