Bells Posted March 24, 2007 Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 Hi allMy family and I arrived two weeks ago (457 visa) and loving this first world country so far!....with a little help from our friends, might I add! My hubbies company booked us into Dural Village Park cabins for two weeks....quite near the hills area....thanks a tip from Sa2Aus...perfect for the kids....nice pool and park and very clean. We have met some great families here, one of whom have "adopted" us from Pietermartizburg....they keep cooking for us! My hubbie had to leave for China for a week so left me to fend for myself but have never felt so safe and free in my life.....got lost plenty on the busses and my boys (5yrs) kept saying "Mom, are you sure you know where we are going"....! I have found the Aussies do not greet you readily but as soon as you ask them a question, they are extremely helpful to the extend of overload at times! Met many a mom in the parks who have offered their phone numbers should I need any help. The parks are GR8 We managed to open a bank account before we came over with NAB so that was good to have ready cash....just had to pop in to sign for our cards.Renting has been mentioned a few times on the forum and it is very tough and competitive! Basically the rush is on because I wanted to get the boys into a school ASAP.....no address, no school is how it works. Well after a week intense searching on the internet and going to open days in the Hills area, I became very despondent.....also hard lugging two 5 year olds around and getting lost (oh, bought a car after 5 days to run around in)....you would find as you phoned the agent representing a property, it was either leased already or there were another 20 families applying for the same thing! Things get snapped up so quickly.....I wish I owned a few properties to lease out....could name my price!So in the end we went to visit SA friends in Oatlands....closer to where my hubbie is going to work (7.9kms) and found the area to be very pleasant....older than Castle Hills but a nice enough suburb and the public school only has 200 kids. We saw 3 places and basically used money to get our application accepted....bond- plus 3 months rent in advance! Hectic, but needed to bite the bullet in order to secure a place to settle and get the boys into a school. We originally wanted to spend $350 -$380 per week but ended up paying $430!In the former price bracket you are just up against too much competition with previous rental references.My advice to anyone coming over soon, is to have a bit of cash flow.....one could certainly not afford to be in temp accomodation too long.....up to $100 a night! So now that we have an address, we have posted off the $9000 for school fees (on a 457 in NSW) and hopefully the kids can start end of next week. ...only to break up on Easter holidays for about 3 weeks! On a whole, I love the food variety, the transport, the climate, the efficiency, starting to enjoy the accent, and the relaxed attitude....we could all ceratinly do with a drop in pace. It is also so nice to see old people and children with so much freedom. But yes, there are plenty RULES which makes the place work!I am convinced that it will take us almost 5 years to explore just Sydney itself....so much beauty to see and things to do....can't wait to get stuck in!Looking forward to settling and awaiting the arrival of my precious container!! Having to beg and borrow stuff to keep us going in our new place as I don't want to spend $$$'s for just a few weeks until it arrives.....there have been delays due to the heavy seas in Durban. Planning, timing and getting the logistics right of this move has been hard .....one just has to chill and go with the flow. Rome was not built in a day ....all will happen in good time. That's it for now from this very happy little family!Bye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sa2auz Posted March 24, 2007 Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 Oh wow you are doing so well. Your first few weeks bring back so many memories. Once the boys start school you will become settle and everything will fall into place. It souinds like you are already so organisedThere is a group of us who get together every 2 weeks or month or so and do tea and chat and etc during the week so it would be great if you could join us sometime.Have a great week and congrats on the house.S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bells Posted March 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 Would love to get together at your next meeting.....please let me know when and where..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
australian Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Hi BellsSo nice to hear your story considering we will be in the same situation soon!!! We have looked at so many areas including Pennant Hills, Cherrybrook, Pymble, Gordon....and the list goes on, but as you say, unless you have an address, you can't get into schools. For this reason alone, I am considering sending my husband ahead of us....also for the reason that my brother has a one bedroom flat in Sydney, that could easier accomodate my husband....but the whole family may just be too much!!Good luck, and enjoy this exciting time in your life, and I look forward to meeting up with you once we arrive.When you get a chance, please could you PM me the name of your boys school.....I am tyring to familiarise myself with the schools so we know which area to settle in. My daughter is 6, in Grade 1 in SA.Keep wellRobyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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