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Decisions..


Annabel

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Hi there,

I have some questions please!

We don’t know anyone in Canberra..only friends in Sydney..

Would you suggest that my husband flies 1 week before me and the kids (aged 4 & 6) to sort out a house to rent and find a school. He will stay with friends in Sydney to save on accommodation costs and to buy a car, then drive into Canberra to view properties and schools. What do you think?

Also, do you think it’s important for us to get there a week or 2 before the schools start the new school year? Or would it not be such a train smash if they started school mid Feb? Flights are cheaper, and more job opportunities in Feb, I believe??..

Please let me know your thoughts... thank you xx

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Turning up later in Feb is also all right as far as school goes.

Canberra can be difficult to find accommodation in at the beginning of the year. A ton of recent graduates move here every year to work for the government. This means that from January to March getting a rental can be a problem.

Fortunately most of them only get about $54k per year so they can't really rent everything ....... but rentals can be hard to come by.

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Hi Annabel,

Please note these are my thoughts, use them lose them ....

Would you suggest that my husband flies 1 week before me and the kids (aged 4 & 6) to sort out a house to rent and find a school. He will stay with friends in Sydney to save on accommodation costs and to buy a car, then drive into Canberra to view properties and schools. What do you think?

with renting anything is possible all just depending on where you plan to leave or more importantly where you plan to send you .... whilst Canberra is small, it if you chose a school on the other side of town to where you have you rental could be a problem.

Sydney is 3 hrs away from Canberra as would suggest that it is a bit impractical to drive potentially every day ....most viewing times can be "coordinated" but still this can be tiring. Arrive stay in Sydney, sort out the car and then move to Canberra. I would also suggest looking at schools now, depending on the ages next year they will be in Kindie and year 2.... if you are starting in public schools this mys not be a problem but there are definitely better public schools then others. Once you have researched the schools, then look at areas to live suing www.allhomes.com.au ... best site for Canberra. A week is a short space of time and will fly by..... not everything is available with in the time frames ... in Franklin/Harrison for example they are building a lot of apartments and think that next year there might be an over supply or rentals in the North. So you might just be okay....

I know it is expensive coming here from SA but I don't think being in Sydney will work.

Also, do you think it’s important for us to get there a week or 2 before the schools start the new school year? Or would it not be such a train smash if they started school mid Feb? Flights are cheaper, and more job opportunities in Feb, I believe??..

OubaasDik is right .... arriving in mid Fed is not really an issue as in most cases the school needs to take you in the feeder area and the work that they are doing is not dramatic that they will miss out. Some public schools are also very close to capacity and even though you choose that school they might not be able to fit you in .... There is a big difference in terms of quality of education between private, catholic and public so if quality is important then most private schools are full and you will need to go on waiting lists .... this can be done in SA...

Just some thoughts

Don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions.

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Hi Annabel,

We have only just arrived in Canberra but I have to say it really is a fantastic place.

We moved into our long term rental house in Forde (awesome place) today and my daughter starts at her new

school on Monday.

We arrived in the country on the Thursday. Searched all homes for properties to rent, then viewed places on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday evening we handed in our application and hoped the owner liked what he saw. On Sunday morning he phoned to say we had the house. It was all amazingly quick. It seems that here they usually only put the house up for rent once the previous tenants have moved out so you generally can move in straight away. We had already organised 2 weeks short term accommodation so have only just moved in. I think what really helped is that we got our daughter into a school before we arrived so when we got here we knew exactly whereabouts we wanted to live.

When we first arrived we stayed in a small but perfect little place in Kaleen. The owner Partick was great:http://www.stayz.com.au/93275

He also has a place which is slightly bigger but then costs more. http://www.stayz.com.au/83603

We only stayed here for four days.

We also booked a place in Malua Bay. A beautiful spot just under 2 hours away from Canberra. We felt that we may as well make a holiday of it and this place would cost us the same as an apartment in Canberra. http://www.stayz.com.au/7435

The idea was that if we needed to we could easily travel back to Canberra. This worked out extremely well for us we only ended travelling back once to organise a fridge and work out where we should buy things like mattresses etc for when we moved in.

Sydney is quite far away (at least 3 hours) but most viewing happen on Saturdays so your hubby could drive up on a Friday stay at a motel ready to start with the early viewings on Saturday. Schools - if you are going private, Christian or catholic you can organise that fom SA. Otherwise for a government school you need an address to register them......

If you want to ask me anything please do, it is daunting but an exciting process too.

All the best

Keglin

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Thanks so much for all the advice. We've decided to all fly together at the end of January. We've book accommodation with Patrick for 2 weeks in Kaleen. Looks lovely, and its all we need really. We would like to move near Amaroo, so the location is perfect for looking for rentals and schools.

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Sounds like it is all coming together. Amaroo is really lovely and so r the surrounding areas. We live next door in Forde so any questions just shout or if you want to meet up for a chat over coffee we can make a plan.

All the best for the up and coming adventures.

Keglin

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Hi All,

can any recomendations be made for good suburbs? We are newly weds with no children yet

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hi moet nie n kar in nsw koop nie jy gaan weer moet rego betaal en dit is baie makliker in die act

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I am planning to move to Canberra in the early part of 2013 - have you been onto the www.liveincanberra.com.au website? It is fantastic - filled with great information and you can request an info pack which they send to you free of charge with work, healthcare, residence info. I have found them absolutely brilliant and have an RSS feed which keeps me updated on the latest happenings etc.

Hope this is helpful!

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Hi Annabel,

We have only just arrived in Canberra but I have to say it really is a fantastic place.

We moved into our long term rental house in Forde (awesome place) today and my daughter starts at her new

school on Monday.

We arrived in the country on the Thursday. Searched all homes for properties to rent, then viewed places on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday evening we handed in our application and hoped the owner liked what he saw. On Sunday morning he phoned to say we had the house. It was all amazingly quick. It seems that here they usually only put the house up for rent once the previous tenants have moved out so you generally can move in straight away. We had already organised 2 weeks short term accommodation so have only just moved in. I think what really helped is that we got our daughter into a school before we arrived so when we got here we knew exactly whereabouts we wanted to live.

When we first arrived we stayed in a small but perfect little place in Kaleen. The owner Partick was great:http://www.stayz.com.au/93275

He also has a place which is slightly bigger but then costs more. http://www.stayz.com.au/83603

We only stayed here for four days.

We also booked a place in Malua Bay. A beautiful spot just under 2 hours away from Canberra. We felt that we may as well make a holiday of it and this place would cost us the same as an apartment in Canberra. http://www.stayz.com.au/7435

The idea was that if we needed to we could easily travel back to Canberra. This worked out extremely well for us we only ended travelling back once to organise a fridge and work out where we should buy things like mattresses etc for when we moved in.

Sydney is quite far away (at least 3 hours) but most viewing happen on Saturdays so your hubby could drive up on a Friday stay at a motel ready to start with the early viewings on Saturday. Schools - if you are going private, Christian or catholic you can organise that fom SA. Otherwise for a government school you need an address to register them......

If you want to ask me anything please do, it is daunting but an exciting process too.

All the best

Keglin

Hi Keglin. Catholics are Christian. You probably meant to say, "Protestant or Catholic". :rolleyes:

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Hi Keglin. Catholics are Christian. You probably meant to say, "Protestant or Catholic". :rolleyes:

Nope, when talking about schools, there is def a difference here. A Catholic school is a type of school, with certain entrance requirements. Not to be confused with a Christian school, which there are less of in Aus (one up the road from me). Personally, I dont hear people talk about Protestants outside of Ireland (now I'm splitting hairs), but think people still in RSA should know the dif and get used to the terms.

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Agreed, Protestant would only be a term that Scottish and Irish are familiar with. In Australia Catholic schools are known for offering private education at cheaper prices than private schools, probably because the schools are associated with and subsidised by the Catholic Church. You don't have to be Catholic to go to Catholic schools here, although Catholics would be given preference.

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I am planning to move to Canberra in the early part of 2013 - have you been onto the www.liveincanberra.com.au website? It is fantastic - filled with great information and you can request an info pack which they send to you free of charge with work, healthcare, residence info. I have found them absolutely brilliant and have an RSS feed which keeps me updated on the latest happenings etc.

Hope this is helpful!

Hi Aficancowgirl,

Where can I find the info pack? I would be very interested in seeing what they have to offer.

Many thanks

Al

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You will find it if you go into the "Contact Us' button at the bottom of the home page. (Let me know if you can't find it.) Hope it is helpful.

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