New to Adelaide, well sort of...

[Rhino1]

Its been a while since I posted anything. I thought I need to get my mind off things as I have just handed in my resignation and it is final now. I will arrive in Adelaide on 5 February 2015. We activated our Visas on the 27th of November and my wife and two girls stayed behind in Adelaide, residing with her brother. It is really tough being separated from your wife and kids but this is how the cookie crumbled in our case. By the time we had to book our flight tickets our house was not sold yet so we booked return flight tickets. I just did not want to rent my house out or resign and having to sit with mortgage payments from Australia. I want to make a clean cut and don't want any obligations left in SA. Anyway, we received an offer on our house with a "subject to" sale agreement which finally registered on 2 December. This meant that my wife and the kids could stay behind in Australia as we had already packed up all our possessions and wrapped up her business.

Sadly I had to leave beautiful Adelaide behind being entrusted with my lovely wife and two daughters. So at least this gives me the time in SA to wrap up the formal financial emigration, work my final months' notice and skip the quiet January holiday period in Aus. I can still spend some time with old friends and do the farewells.

We managed to register for Medicare, open bank accounts, and buy my wife a car so she can be mobile. They absolutely love Adelaide, its parks and beaches, clean environment and functioning public services. Oh and the Aussies we met so far are a real delight, friendly, approachable, chatty and just welcoming.

My wife is just a bit concerned about finding the right school for the kids, so she's doing lots of research.

I received an email from the City of Mitcham stating that I have been shortlisted for a position but the interviews will only be on the 22nd of January as some panel members are on leave. I may just be lucky and land a job before I arrive!

Will keep you guys posted as I finally make my final move to Adelaide...

[Piper100]

Hi Rhino1,

Best of luck with the final arrangements and will hold thumbs for the job opportunity!

Hopefully we will also be in Adelaide in the first half of 2015.

[Minks]

Hey Rhino1, it must be tough to be apart from your family for such a long period!!

good luck with tying up the last few bits and pieces on this side and Crossing fingers for you that all goes well with the interview in Jan and that you manage to land that job before you arrive.

I think it is one of the biggest stress factors for men (Dads especially) during this process.

We too hope to be in Adelaide during the first half of 2015. Still have loose ends to tie up and final dates to be decided on, but it WILL be next year!!

[Spider]

Hey

good luck with it all!

What schools are you looking at?

[Rhino1]

Hey

good luck with it all!

What schools are you looking at?

Hi Spider,

My wife is looking at placing the kids at Stradbroke Primary School in Rostrevor. She is now trying to secure a rental in the area as well.

[Faduv]

Hi Rhino, we are planning to leave end of year. Any specific reasons for placing your kids in Stradbroke. We also need to find primary school for our twins, will be in gr 3 when we arrive

[joweni]

On this eastern side of Adelaide Stradbroke,Norwood and Burnside are wonderful primary schools, good principals and staff. I would not hesitate to recommend these schools .

[Faduv]

Thanks Joweni, we've never been to Adelaide so is going into this "blind". We looked at some other forums and there are suggestions of Hallett Cove, Woodcroft, Morphett Vale (Pimpala primary) and Port Noarlunga. Any personal opinions on these, would truly appreciate as much information as possible.

Tx F

Edited January 10, 2015 by Faduv

[Spider]

I hear those are not bad

west have good schools - are you looking public or private and any location interests?>

Henley beach, Fulham north, flinders park, kidman park, grange are all pretty good schools in the west in public

[Faduv]

Hi Spider. For primary I am comfortable with public. Big believer in kids need to be exposed to all other types of households. Teaches them good social skills and how to interact with people.

As stated above. We will be coming over "blind" so to speak thus any advice will be more than useful.

Rent wise. How does west compares from south and east. From my research it seems west and south pretty much the same but east is more expensive??

[Spider]

yep east pricey - kind of like the "north" of jhb equivalent

west can be depending on exact location but have had a good run nearly 5 yrs now in the west and its close to sea and city - so it depends on what your needs will be travel and work wise as well (and u have trains etc)

south has amazing beaches though! if you happy travelling

yep look generally speaking (knowing there are exceptions) the public system I think is pretty good. high school can vary based on area so I have enrolled her into a catholic high school (or whats known as independent so pretty much quality of private but lower price tag)

I guess if u plan on city based work location is a bit more flexible to choose from.

[Faduv]

Thanks Spider

[snkc]

My 3 boys are in Burnside Primary and it is an excellent school. Generally the majority of the primary schools in the eastern suburbs are strictly zoned as there is a lot of demand for them. You will need to live in the area for 6 months to a year but can move out once your kids are in the school. If you do have younger kids they will have sibling rights to enter the school after you move.

The 2 government high schools are Marryatville and Glenunga, both are excellent and very strict with their zoning.

Rentals are slightly higher here because of the demand. You could probably rent a decent 3 bed house in the $450 range. Check out this one which is in the Burnside zone for example and a lovely area: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-erindale-409462991

We lived in Burnside for a year and have now moved out to an acreage in Norton Summit for more space.

Rhino - did you get your kids into Stradbroke?

[Rhino1]

Hi SNKC, yes we were fortunate enough to find space for both our girls. Our rental is also conveniently located walking distance from the school with the public library on route. After school they walk straight to the library where they can do homework or relax in the air conditioned building. It has been rather hot lately.

[Rhino1]

Hi all. This is Rhino's wife. I spent a lot of time researching schools here. It is not as easy as it looks. There are various options. You get the obvious of either private or state schools. Then there is the different curriculum options. There is Aussie, Waldorf, Montesorri and International Bacculerate(IB). A few state schools offer Waldorf or Montesorri. I was looking for a state IB school. I love their enquiring approach to education. We had our heart set on living in the hills but when we got here realised that the fire threat is huge and that riding the winding roads in and out to work each day might just drive us insane. So the search was on for the perfect IB school. When you find one then you need to look at zoning, property prices and availability of rentals. Our rental requirements played a huge factor into finding the perfect match of school and area. We also love nature and some of the newer areas are far too clinical.

The schooling here is very relaxed till the last three years of high school. So when you make a choice you also need to look at the subjects offered at the high schools if your children are pre teens. Each High school offers different vocational subjects along with the basics. You can choose to go to a high school outside of your zone, but you need to apply for it. If you are unsuccessful then you need to go to your zoned school.

We ended up at Stradbroke as it met most of our requirements. We walk along a shaded path way to the sound of parakeets chirping each morning and get to see koalas in the trees at school. After school we meet up at the library, which is an essential place to visit for all your admin, IT and community info. They also offer various activities and classes at reasonable prices. The kids sit and do their homework while we attend to all our admin, which is fantastic when you are camping out at home with no desks or internet. Our container will arrive soon but I think we will still make use of the library as I know my kids are safe there if I am running late, which happens when you get lost... Lol

[Bob]

I've lived up in the Adelaide Hills, the rolling hilly countryside immediately to the east of Adelaide, for the past 20 years or so, since my wife and I came back from living in the eastern States of Australia where our three kids were born.

We didn't want a suburban lifestyle. We'd been spoilt with the beautiful scenery we'd lived in for 13 years and hankered for a less stressful, prettier environment, where the early morning calls are more birdsong and the lowing of cattle than the hiss of truck brakes and whirr of a bus.

We ended up in Mount Barker.

Today, it has been classified as a "growth" zone by the State government of South Australia.

In 1994, when we first came back, it had around 6 000 people living in the district. Now it's more like 20 000 with more and more sub-divisions of housing springing up. I used to know a lot of people on a Saturday morning whilst shopping . . . . people from church, the kid's school, my wife's tennis club.

A lot of people I am not familiar with and these folk have largely come into the district since the South Eastern Freeway was connected to the suburbs of Adelaide in March 2000.

Nowadays, once you get to Glen Osmond, next door to eastern suburbs of Adelaide like Burnside, it is 110 km/hr all the way along the dual carriageway until the turn-off into Mount Barker 15 minutes later.

The motorway itself, is an engineering masterpiece winding its way along deep gullies, cut thro the hillside and going thro tunnels before hitting the top of the face of the Adelaide Hills 2 000 feet / 600 metres up, then winding its way thro rolling hills.

Mount Barker has a public High School which has International Baccalaureate teaching standards.

There is also a Lutheran private High School, "Cornerstone", which my kids went to. My son, now 31, has his own business, has bought a 30 hectare / 75 acre property with a cute 3 bedroomed home on it only a kilometre away from us with fantastic views of the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Adelaide Hills . . . the envy of many, thanks to his Cornerstone education and connections.

My youngest daughter also went to Cornerstone. She is now a practising dentist and is waiting for a work visa for two years to work in British Columbia, Canada where she has a job lined up. The world is definitely her oyster with a damn good six figure income, thanks to Cornerstone education in no small part.

http://www.cornerstone.sa.edu.au

The lifestyle up here in Mount Barker is attracting an increasing number of Australians from the city, as it's only 35 mins to the city centre and has a good public transport network connecting the town with Adelaide.

Since we've lived here, it has become the "hub" of the Adelaide Hills with the big department stores all locating here, so instead of needing to go into the suburbs of Adelaide for shopping, we have electrical, furniture, clothing stores galore with government services available locally, too.

A 7 cinema complex has been built with restaurant alongside, showing all the latest movies coming to Australia.

http://www.wallistavern.com.au

There must be about 15 or 20 coffee shops in town with the growing population, and the ambience up in the Hills is different to the suburbs. People relax outside chatting away to each other while enjoying a cup of tea or coffee, among the deciduous trees lining the streets of town that the early settlers planted over 100 years ago.

There has been a "wetlands" nature park on the eastern side of town which allows locals to walk through on the 10 kms of pathways that now extend across the town to the south and north, where they are set to join up with a pathway network running thro other towns.

http://www.dcmtbarker.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Laratinga_12_page.pdf

Very few suburbs in Adelaide have such a network that I can think of . . . maybe Urrbrae, Salisbury.

In fact, the local council is one of the most progressive councils in South Australia, putting in new infrastructure all the time for its residents.

By June 2016, a new interchange on to the South Eastern Freeway is being built to cater for the increase in growth around the Mount Barker district, allowing faster access to Adelaide.

Lastly, there is a growing number of South African families moving into the Mount Barker that I've come to know . . . . around 10 families that I can think of . . . . but many more because they hold a get together at Christmas time in one the many parks around the town.

They are welcome residents, attracting business and professional skills to the district.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Bob

[snkc]

Hi Rhino's wife

We are just up the road from you....please let me know if I can help you out with anything until your container arrives. We waited 2 months for ours so I understand just how frustrating it is!

Shaylene

[ABC123]

Thanks for the info everyone. We are also looking at Adelaide as a possibility and so the research begins! So difficult when there are so many factors to consider. We will be doing an LSD trip in July so hopefully will have a better idea then. I am a PYP teacher and both my children have been at a PYP school since Reception so it would be great if we could carry on at an IB school. I had looked at Stradbroke and thought it looked like a good school. I also came across Belair Primary school. Does anyone have any knowledge of this school? I see there are some really good PYP schools closer to the city centre, but I doubt we would be able to afford to rent in these areas and I assume they are strictly zoned?

[Rhino1]

Hi Shaylene, thanks. I will send you a pm.