HelenS

If you are moving into an area where the local school is zoned, I would suggest that you call the school before you sign a lease. There are quite a few schools in the eastern suburbs that are oversubscribed and even if you are in the zone they won't be able to take you.

I wouldn't stay in the City if you aren't planning on living in the city when you move here. Better to use the time to get the feeling of a suburb but make sure its one that you think you can afford when you actually move over here. The suburbs to the East are really nice, very green and have excellent schools but can be expensive. The schools are zoned but be aware that some of the schools in the East (Rose Park, Linden Park and Burnside) have recently been at capacity so make sure you give them a call to see if they have space before buying or renting a house in their zone.

I applied for ours a couple of weeks ago and they were granted within 5 seconds (on a Sunday!)

We landed in Adelaide on a Saturday night and then spent the next 2 days sorting out car rego, driving licenses, mobile phones, bank & medicare etc. We didn't start looking at houses until Tuesday (saw 3) then Weds my husband started work and so I looked at a further 2 properties with just the kids. We made an offer on the best one on Thurs which was accepted straight away and then enrolled the kids in school on the Fri. Done and dusted in a week. I contacted the agents and made appointments to view the properties, we didn't actually go to any opens. I think it would be possible to achieve what you need in the time that you have but do a lot of research first. Look at properties on realestate.com.au and check the school zones. We wanted a house with a pool which made it slightly easier as it eliminated a lot of properties. I then checked the school zones for all the available rentals with pools in Adelaide which only left us with a total of 5 houses in the zones of schools which we liked. We were lucky at the time (2015) because there was still space in our chosen school but some of them are now over subscribed and cannot take you even if you live in the zone. Call the schools first to check if they have places available in your kids years Make sure you have all the paperwork that you need with you if you want to sign a lease while you are here on a visit plus enough money to pay the bond and the first month rent Good luck

I lived in Sydney for 4 years and it was great as a couple with no kids. We returned to Australia 2 years ago and this time we have moved to Adelaide (with kids) and I was unsure what it would be like at first as I loved Sydney but this is a much better place to be with a family. Its really easy to get about, traffic is light, there are loads of opportunities for the kids and great festivals. Property is much cheaper here too We have been back to Sydney for a visit and while it was great for a week, I was really happy to come back to Adelaide. There was just too much traffic in Sydney and everywhere was really busy. I guess it depends what sort of lifestyle you are looking for and what stage you are at in your life

We got ours back in 2 days and this was without meeting the 2 year residency

The local libraries run really great holiday activities which are ridiculously cheap (usually $5-$10 per session). Burnside Library has a great program - check their website later in the term, its not out yet. Some of their activities take place in Eastwood so would be close to you. Otherwise Come and Try http://www.comentry.com.au/ run loads of different sporting activities in various locations around the city during the holidays. My kids tried water polo during the October break. If you are planning on swimming lessons for your kids, find out which pool is closest to their school and sign them up for lessons as soon as you arrive - you'll probably find loads of kids from the school will be having their lessons at the same time and your kids can start making friends. As Snifter said - OSHC is a really good way to meet people if your kids aren't going to start school until January. We arrived in Adelaide just before the July holiday but signed the kids up to do 3 or 4 days at OSHC before they'd even started at the school so that they got to meet a few people and also had a chance to explore the school at bit before the start of term

Before you sign a tenancy agreement, check with your zoned school that they still have space to take new pupils. Many of the schools (especially in the East) are closed even to kids in the zone as they are at capacity

We stayed in this one for 2 weeks when we were in between long term rental properties https://www.stayz.com.au/accommodation/sa/adelaide/norwood/183006 The owner was lovely and fixed things very promptly. Its centrally located and easy to walk into the city

Thanks so much for your replies

Does anyone know anywhere in the city where you can get a smashed iPhone screen repaired quickly (and cheaply....) We're going back to the UK for a visit next week and my husband just dropped his phone Thanks

Our credit card gives us travel insurance and reduces the excess for car rental as long as we use it to pay for the flights and car hire. We're going to the UK, Belgium and France next month ( British family of 4) and we're not planning on buying any separate travel insurance

Thank you

Hi Steve Could you forward Katie's details to me as well please? Thanks for your help

We used Voovit to ship a few boxes - they were great