Melbourne LSD - advise will be appreciated

[Nicole86]

Hi all,

My hubby will be going over to Melbourne in April on a LSD trip.

Any advise on the following will be much appreciated:

- what area would be ideal to stay in for the week (central to most things and a safe area)

- would he need to rent a vehicle or can he get around Melbourne easily with public transport

- what areas are the best to live in permanently (good schools in the area, good neighborhood, safe etc)

We are looking at staying in St. Kilda that week. Would that be central enough for him to travel and look around Melbourne. Neither of us have ever been to Australia, so any advice will be much appreciated

Thanks

[DXB2OZ]

Public transport is very good in Melbourne. But it really depends on which areas you are looking at. Are you looking for high schools or primary schools or both? Private or government? Do you have a religious preference? Do you want highly academic, highly sporty or a mixture. For us, my daughter is very bright, but will wind herself into a breakdown under the amount of pressure of a top school. Likewise, my son is bright but lazy so will sink down to the lowest common denominator. So we needed the lowest denominator to be fairly high, a good academic school, but with a good all round aspect. It is such a personal decision, made harder if you trying to consider more than one personality.

For areas, you will need to consider public transport links into the city centre if either of you are likely to be working there. I would not advise driving in, the cost of parking alone may break you. If your employer provides parking, you will pay tax on the value of that benefit. We have one small car, but use a lot of a public transport.

For your husband's LSD and the car vs public transport question, it very much depends on how much ground he wants to cover and how much time he has to do it. We used Hertz when we first arrived and they were fairly good (there is a premium for airport pick up and drop off but equals the cost of a taxi and the inconvenience of public transport on arrival).

St Kilda is a good option for close to the city, but you may choose to live slightly further out. Also consider those areas with express trains, as the house prices and rentals can be significantly cheaper and the trip in no longer than a suburb closer to the city cente.

Coming from SA, there isn't much here that isn't relatively "safe".

Good luck - such an exciting time for you all.

[Neels]

Nicole86

I agree with DXB2OZ above. Be ready for a positive culture shock. You will be in a first world country with a first world economy. The only thing you will need to fear is your Rand in your account getting worth less by the day...

I just spend the whole of December and January in and around Melbourne and Victoria. It is VERY easy to get around there with public transport alone. If you plan a trip to outside the city, you can rent a vehicle for just a day or even a few hours (www.thrifty.com.au, www.rentforless.com.au, www.auzrentalcars.com) .

St Kilda is nice to use as a base, but in my opinion quite expensive to stay. But that's only me.. It is extremely difficult to tell you where to stay and what schools to go to etc etc. As the areas are so varied than the personalities at a teenage slumber party... I prefer country living, and we will be staying about a 45 min commute from where I will be working. But there I pay for a new 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom with double garage only AuD350 per week. Getting to and from work will cost around AuD45. Closer to the city means quicker to work, but more expensive to live.

There are quite a few forum members living in and around Melbourne that will be more than willing to show you around or even just point you in the right direction. Enjoy your trip, and best of luck with all you are taking on.

[Mongoose]

Nicole86

I agree with DXB2OZ above. Be ready for a positive culture shock. You will be in a first world country with a first world economy. The only thing you will need to fear is your Rand in your account getting worth less by the day...

I just spend the whole of December and January in and around Melbourne and Victoria. It is VERY easy to get around there with public transport alone. If you plan a trip to outside the city, you can rent a vehicle for just a day or even a few hours (www.thrifty.com.au, www.rentforless.com.au, www.auzrentalcars.com) .

St Kilda is nice to use as a base, but in my opinion quite expensive to stay. But that's only me.. It is extremely difficult to tell you where to stay and what schools to go to etc etc. As the areas are so varied than the personalities at a teenage slumber party... I prefer country living, and we will be staying about a 45 min commute from where I will be working. But there I pay for a new 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom with double garage only AuD350 per week. Getting to and from work will cost around AuD45. Closer to the city means quicker to work, but more expensive to live.

There are quite a few forum members living in and around Melbourne that will be more than willing to show you around or even just point you in the right direction. Enjoy your trip, and best of luck with all you are taking on.

Hi Neels,

My wife has landed a job in Melbourne, so we are super excited.

We will be flying in with our two toddlers in July and hope you can give us an idea which area you got such a great rental deal? My wife will be based in town close to South Wharf and does not mind a commute as we are more than used to it with the Jhb traffic.

Thanks

[monsta]

Hey Guys,

The best advice is always to ask your colleagues where they live. You might take up a cheap rental, only to find your neighbour drives the garbage truck and asks you which end of Africa South Africa is on.

By asking your colleagues, you are asking people with similar education and salary. I would also double check on www.peoplelikeu.com.au Just fill in your details as if you live in that suburb and you can see what your prospecive neighbours earn. Those figures are from a bank.

If you have a job already, then use Google maps! It can tell you how long it takes to get from A to B by car or public transport. You will need to login during peak traffic times. If you login at 10pm Melbourne time, it can't tell you the traffic at 8;30am. Public transport is a bit easier as you can tell it you need to arrive by 8:30 or leave at 5:15pm on a weekday.

Be very careful with google maps. I live in Sydney and the traffic can easily triple your journey time. E.g. I live 15mins from the harbour. It can take 1.5 hours in peak traffic to get there.

Google maps can also point out where your local shops would be, what schools are in the area. Just use the search box.

I hope that helps.

[Mara]

Mongoose, do look into Sunbury in the North West of Melbourne, train takes around 45-50 minutes to the city. Plenty of modern, spacious homes to rent. You can check on rentals and purchase prices at http://www.realestate.com.au

[Sunnyskies]

St Kilda for an LSD is slightly awkward as it is on a tram line but not a train line, so you have to tram up to the city to get a train and the traffic can be bad.

If you can find a cheap place in the city I would rather do that, as it is much easier to get to the train, and the city has a lot of interesting stuff to see and do.

In terms of longer term, yes look at Sunbury. However, my perspective being a working mother is that hour long commutes can be tricky when you need to get to your children quickly unless you know that you have a backup plan, like your husband. If you are both working, then you will probably be the one to have to make a plan to sort out the children.

There are suburbs on the Lilydale trainline with a shorter commute - perhaps look at Doncaster East, Box Hill North, Vermont or Vermont South. Your options to get to work are varied, train, tram in some of the areas, bus or drive. If you have to take a cab home it won't break the bank as the distance is not that far and if you are in a cab late at night it will get you there fairly quickly. I used to live on this line and I would park at one of the non-premium train stops and train in (it would take about 15 to 20 minutes from when I got on the train to get into my office). If I needed to get home quickly in the day I could train out and hop in my car and be at a school, home or doctor really quickly.

There are a number of good schools in or close to these suburbs, and you can easily get to two of the best shopping centres in Melbourne (Doncaster and Chadstone), there are lots of Woolies and Coles and other high street shops to go to and lots of parks. You can easily get out to the far east if you want to go to the country for the day, and you can get to the bay within 20 to 30 minutes. If you want to go to the beach you can get down to Mornington Penninsula or Phillip Island without first having to cross over Melbourne.

A rental of $450 in these areas is unlikely to be a new build, but it will be a solid build, and no one really cares if you are in a new home or not.

[Mara]

A new home means a more spacious home, rental and purchase prices in Sunbury are affordable.

My reply was actually aimed at Mongoose, not at Nicole86, who asked the original question.

[Mongoose]

Thank you soo very much for all the great info. I really appreciate it.

Another quick question, is the Melbourne winters like a Highveld cold (Jhb) or a Cape Town cold? I need to start buying winter sheets to take along.

Thanks a mil

[Nev]

It doesn't go sub zero if you are near the city, we were from JHB and find it doesn't get as cold.

Just be aware that the bed sizes are different here, if you bring your own bed then bring sheets, if you getting a new one here be careful stocking up on sheets that side

[HansaPlease]

Winters are more like Cape Town than Joburg.

Also bear in mind that many houses have central heating, so although it's cold outside, it may not be as cold inside the actual house. If you have central heating you can usually warm your entire house up in 15 minutes.

They are also generally not as insulated, so once you turn the heating off they can cool down very quickly too.

All depends on the house though...

[Sunnyskies]

Lol, my response was aimed at all and sundry!

My post was response to the question whether St Kilda is a good base, and in response to someone who has two young children and will be working at South Wharf.

I really don't mind Sunbury getting the spruiking you give it Mara, but I think that alternatives should be given as it will not work for everyone as it is far from the city and from what I can ascertain (based on other sites) the commute is getting longer as the areas leading up to Sunbury become more built up and there is more pressure placed on the line and the roads. There are lots of nice areas in Melbourne and we have always lived in older homes and been quite happy in them, so no need to build or live in a new house. Granted we have never lived in Sunbury, but then I've always wanted to be a maximum of 30 minutes from home including getting to the station and getting home when I get off the train as I always tend to work a bit later than regular office hours and in a pinch I like to get to my children quickly.

On the question of the temperature in Melbourne, I agree with Hansa that houses generally heat up quite quickly, but I think that winter in Melbourne can be quite bone chilling when you leave home and during the day, and that you need to be able to "rug up" as they say it here. You need a nice warm jacket to pop on when you go out, a warm scarf and shoes/boots that don't loose heat through the soles - then you are fine. Although it does take a bit of time to acclimatise and it took me the better part of 2 years to be comfortable in winter in Melbourne. By the time we moved up north I was quite comfy with normal shoes with good soles (not boots) and just a jacket (not a scarf/pashmina as well) but in the first two years I wore lots of layers to ensure that I didn't freeze on the street of Melbourne when the wind started blowing.

[DXB2OZ]

Cheerfully ran the central heating. Then got the first bill. Promptly turned everything off.

[Mongoose]

Thanks again for the info everyone.

Is it true that kids start school at the age of 4 in Aus? Reason I ask is I'm not sure if I can look after two toddlers without having a nervous breakdown .

The cost of daycare is what is keeping me out of the workforce and I really don't want to stay out of the workforce for too long.

Thanks

[Nicole86]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question, what is the area Preston like?

Thanks

Nicole

[Mara]

Preston has good and not so good parts, so I guess it would depend on exactly where the rental property is. It may pay you to take some time to sit in your car in the street, and see what happens in the area, especially on a Saturday/Sunday when everyone is out and about and at home.

[Nev]

This is really dependent on what you are used to, if you lived in Sandton and drove a Porsche it is not going to work for you, the better areas of Preston are around the eastern end of bell street (By the hotels and long term furnished accommodation) and the western areas are a bit older and not as great, but there is quite a mix.

I would stay there short term, but then move.

We are a few suburbs over in Heidelberg Heights, nice area that is not too expensive if you looking around here, more expensive than Preston though.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Nev

[HansaPlease]

Cheerfully ran the central heating. Then got the first bill. Promptly turned everything off.

Haha, forgot to mention - it does depend on what type of system you have!

[Nev]

Yea agree on the heating, we have gas central heating, first year we kept the place nice and toasty, now we just run it to warm the place up and turn it off again.

[HansaPlease]

Definitely a good idea to not run it all the time. Ours goes on in the morning for half an hour, then off all day whilst we're not there, then on again in the evenings and off again when going to bed.

20 degrees is also a good temp to keep it at. Some people I know have it so high it makes you want to sit outside.