Reccy in May 2008 - Some advice please?

[alan smallman]

Hi

My wife and I are flying to Adelaide for a 2-week reccy. We plan to hire a car and move on each day visiting different areas in different towns. We are looking to get a feel for the place, to see if people are friendly, visit a couple of hospitals (from a professional point of view - hopefully not as customers!!), and have a scout around different residential areas.
Can anyone recommend any good (and reasonably-priced) B&B's please? Also driving around, are there areas to avoid going to? Where are the nice areas to live? Which hospitals have the greatest reputation?

How about the weather? What should we expect coming over in May?

Our main worry is the cost of higher education for our 18 year old son. He finishes college this year and would be eligible to study at Uni in UK. Thing is, he will be coming over with us when we finally decide to emigrate, and we're finding it difficult to gain any sort of info relating to courses in Performing Arts. From what we have uncovered, it looks like he would be classed as an overseas student. If that's the case we wouldn't be able to afford the fees that Australian Unis charge. Does anyone know of any courses (specifically at Degree level) offered at a Uni in adelaide which caters for 'budding' actors/singers?
And what opportunities there are for kids his age coming over wanting to study at degree level?

We're hoping to emigrate in Jan 2008 after our daughter's graduaton ceremony. Will be coming over via a recruitment agency. Obviously haven't done anything formal yet. We'll have a better idea when we return to UK after our 2-week stay. If anybody out there can answer our questions it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Alan & Pauline Smallman

[Kiki]

Hi there

Can't really answer the part of your question regarding your sons education but we are going to for a visit in march with the 2 kids. ( 3 if you count my husband) Anyway I checked out hotels and B and Bs and caravan sites and found doing a short term rental was the cheapest option for a family of 4. to be honest I was surpursed at how pricey it was. That was just my experiences I might of been looking in the wrong places.

Good luck

Kimberley x

[salisbury massive]

We don't really do B & B's here in Adelaide and you'll be hard pushed to find any accomodation the further North you go. Most pubs have little apartments attached but I would advise you to try the Caravan parks and see if you can beat them down on the price, tell them you'll be paying cash, that should help. Here are the most popular places.
http://www.levipark.com.au/
http://www.brightoncaravanpark.com.au/
http://www.adelaidecaravanpark.com.au/adelaide.html
http://www.adelaideshores.com.au/Default.htm
http://www.highway1touristpark.com/

hospitals can be a bit tricky as there are public and private hospitals

the main public hospital is The Womans and Childrens in the City, The Royal Adelaide, Flinders, Calvery Hospital, Lyell McEwin and Modbury in the North East.

If you check out this nursing forum, you might get a better picture

http://www.nursingdownunder.com/forum3/index.php

I'll avoid the great "where should I avoid" debate, suffice to say you won't get robbed raped or murdered if you break down and have to walk after dark. Give me an idea of where you want to be in terms of beach, hills, near the city etc and then I'll give you a few pointers. Sorry can't help at all with the education bit, maybe have a look at the SA TAFE website as an alternative to Uni - http://www.tafe.sa.edu.au/

Jo

[hardycot]

Hello if your coming down south check out www.mclareninfo.com (http://www.mclareninfo.com) there are some nice B&B s in Mclaren Vale if you prefer that to self catering?
Weather in May will be cold at night day temps are usually in the 20's and sunny, but with the way the weather is at the moment who knows!! Bring a jacket for sure!
Not sure about the uni fees, but tafe does have performing arts classes check out www.unisa.edu.au Only ever been to Flinders hospital, they re building a big cancer hospital at the moment it has public and private options
Hope this helps you a little bit? Good Luck

[alan smallman]

Hi Wendy

Just wanted to say
many Thanks for your information

xx Alan & pauline

[alan smallman]

Hi Jo

I'm thanking everyone for being so helpful and their interest in pointing us in the right direction. The womens' & children's hospital is a good example as we've looked at their site - it interests my missus as she's a gynae scrub nurse, so thanks for that. We are thinking of doing a bit of a circle, going to coast first (Saw Victor Harbour on the telly - that looked nice) and working our way up to the wine region and back to Adelaide before we fly back to UK. that's the only plan we have really. Thank you once again for you info

xx Alan

[alan smallman]

Hi Kim

I think my wife would agree with you on the 'kid' thing. I have surrogate wives/moms at work aswell (they all insist on treating me like a hapless bloke - maybe I am). Cheers and Many thanks


Alan:)

[alan smallman]

Hello if your coming down south check out www.mclareninfo.com (http://www.mclareninfo.com) there are some nice B&B s in Mclaren Vale if you prefer that to self catering?
Weather in May will be cold at night day temps are usually in the 20's and sunny, but with the way the weather is at the moment who knows!! Bring a jacket for sure!
Not sure about the uni fees, but tafe does have performing arts classes check out www.unisa.edu.au Only ever been to Flinders hospital, they re building a big cancer hospital at the moment it has public and private options
Hope this helps you a little bit? Good Luck

Hi Wendy

Sorry, I thought my thanks were a bit brief. Thank you for the info on weather. I feel the cold even in summer here (if u can call it that!!) so a coat will definately be in my suitcase. Many Thanks again

xx Alan;)

[sarahsmartiepants]

Hi Jo

I'm thanking everyone for being so helpful and their interest in pointing us in the right direction. The womens' & children's hospital is a good example as we've looked at their site - it interests my missus as she's a gynae scrub nurse, so thanks for that. We are thinking of doing a bit of a circle, going to coast first (Saw Victor Harbour on the telly - that looked nice) and working our way up to the wine region and back to Adelaide before we fly back to UK. that's the only plan we have really. Thank you once again for you info

xx AlanVictors a nice town, along way south though ,you would have to work down that way otherwisw to the cbd Id say about 90 minute drive maybe more. As for uni,if youve got PR then you will pay about $6-8K, if on temp visa, you will pay international student fees which you could find on the uni websites, but at a guess $15k plus.per year.

[hardycot]

Hi alan and pauline
No problem hope all goes well for you.

[nicolette]

Hi Alan and Pauline, we are going to Adelaide towards the end of May with our two kids, starting in Melbourne and hiring a car and planning on driving up Great Ocean Rd to Adelaide and travelling around a bi to get the feel of the different suburbs/towns? We havent booked any accomodation either which is a bit hard to decide what to do as last time we went we just chanced it but with taking the kids this time cant really move around as much so it would be good to have a base for a few days at a time as we will be living out of suitcases which is hard work packing up every day! I have looked on a couple of sites which i found quite good for accomodation, see what you think
checkin.com.au
wotif.com.au
stayz.com.au
Most of them are cheaper if you book upto 28 days before but i think checkin.com will give you a price if you wanted to book before them but there is some really nice accomodation on these sites.
What dates are you going?
Regards Nicolette

[Welshy]

JUst saw an ad on tv last night for a performing arts school in adelaide.. sure it quoted a website address literally with performing arts in adelaide in the title - try a google search. I know from personal Uni experince that if you are coming on a temporary visa then you will pay international fees, which could be as mucb as $15k per year. If you are coming on a permanent visa then you pay the same as Aussie residents, although I dont think you would qualify for a hex loan (same as student loans in the UK). Hope this helps