Any Help Appreciated!

[Guest netty999panda]

Hi all

 

We are Richard (37), Sarah (34), Phoebe (6) and Ollie (3). We are right at the start of the process of emigrating to Adelaide. We are about to apply for our 475 visa, but first I will be going out to Adelaide for a reccie (neither of us have ever been to Oz before!) w/b 19th May 2008 for a week only. The main purpose of the trip is to suss out a decent school, then decent suburb, and lastly, job prospects. I thought it would be better to stay in a B & B in the suburbs so I can chat to the locals and ascertain local knowledge about the better areas to live and best schools. Are there any gatherings going on that week that I could gate-crash or is anyone willing to meet me for a chat and give me the low-down on the area. Also, can anyone give me any advice to the above questions?

 

Thanks

 

Richard

[Guest Guest75]

Hi Richard.

 

That week will fly by!!!

On arrival you will be suffering from jet lag so that will only leave you 6 days.

 

Look through http://www.realestate.com.au , search the entire thread base in here at least.

 

You'll have to narrow your area search to at least a few suburbs.

 

 

Good luck.

[The Monaghans]

Hi there, if you find yourself in the south feel free to pm us and we'd be happy to give you any help and info that we can.

[Guest netty999panda]

Hi Liz & Co,

 

What's the southern area like? Flagstaff, Edens Hills and Coromandel Valley all look good. We'd like to be outside the urban built up areas and will be looking for a family house on 1000sqm land and the above suburbs seemed a good match looking at www.realestate.com What are the schools and amenities like in these areas?

[Rachiegarlo]

The schools in the Eden hills, Coro areas are good, they belong to the IB hills cluster group that feeds into the IB programme at Blackwood High . All the kids do IB pathway until end of yr 10, then can choose to continue with it or do the SACE(local cert of ed).If you are looking at private schools then there is St Peters Lutheran in Blackwood(primary) and St. Johns Grammar in Belair which goes from montessori to yr 12. It is becoming extremely popular and prob now has a waiting list, but is a well respected school that doesn't just focus purely on academics. If you like the look of those areas you mentioned, similar areas are Hawthorndene, Belair and Bellevue Heights. My brother lives in Hawthorndene and looks out onto a hill where there are cattle and trees and yet is only 20mins from the city.

 

Ameneties in these areas are good, the hub for these areas is Blackwood where the supermarkets and other shops are. However for larger shops there is Marion shopping centre 15 mins away or Castle plaza or the city. In Blackwood there is a post office, 3 supermarkets, newsagent, fruit n veg, gift shops, all the main banks etc. Cinemas are at Marion.

[Guest netty999panda]

Thanks ever so much for replying. Funnily enough, my husband has just arrived home from work (7pm, another reason for emigrating) and we were then in the middle of looking at Coromandel Valley Primary School, which we have short-listed! We've more research to do, and if you don't mind, we'll probably be contacting you with more questions! Sarah and Richard

[Guest Diane]

Just a quick point - I'd do it the other way round - look at job prospects first - if it turns out you'll be working in the North, then you may find areas in the South are a long commute and we have recently heard of employers turning down applicants who they feel live "too far away from the place of work". Consider what line of work you and your husband are in, and use that to narrow down areas. There are plenty of good schools all over Adelaide - if you focus on Coromandel Valley (which is lovely by the way, don't get me wrong) area, then you may find yoursellf severely limited on work options.

 

Diane

[Guest netty999panda]

Hi Dianne

 

Thanks for letting us know that, we'll bear that in mind.

 

What we'd ideally like is to secure our visas, then get a job and emigrate. My husband works in the financial field, he's currently a compliance manager, so I don't know if our 'plan' is realistic or feasible. Personally, I'm worried about giving up our house, which I dearly love, and my husband giving up his good job, and emigrating to the unknown. We've been reading other peoples experiences on the forum, and some I've read have had it really tough, not being able to find work for months, and when they eventually do, they have to take a huge pay-cut. This, understandably, really scares me! I know this is a huge concern for everyone emigrating.

 

However, the Australian lifestyle, prospects for all of my family, now and in the future, and the sunshine, still beckon!

 

Are you able to offer any information regarding my pessimistic concerns!?

 

Kind regards

 

Sarah

[ianb]

Hi Dianne

 

Thanks for letting us know that, we'll bear that in mind.

 

What we'd ideally like is to secure our visas, then get a job and emigrate. My husband works in the financial field, he's currently a compliance manager, so I don't know if our 'plan' is realistic or feasible. Personally, I'm worried about giving up our house, which I dearly love, and my husband giving up his good job, and emigrating to the unknown. We've been reading other peoples experiences on the forum, and some I've read have had it really tough, not being able to find work for months, and when they eventually do, they have to take a huge pay-cut. This, understandably, really scares me! I know this is a huge concern for everyone emigrating.

 

However, the Australian lifestyle, prospects for all of my family, now and in the future, and the sunshine, still beckon!

 

Are you able to offer any information regarding my pessimistic concerns!?

 

Kind regards

 

Sarah

 

Sarah, I think your concerns are what everyone has. We are due there soon and are under no illusions its going to be hard at first but are prepared to work blooming hard at it as if we are prepared to do that in the long run we will be better off as a family, not financially maybe but a more happy family with less stress and more time to spend together and enjoy our kids growing up.

We was told by an aussie who dealt with our house over there that in oz if your prepared to work hard and u get the breaks you can make a real difference financially and have a great life style. But it takes a lot of blood sweat and tears before we expect that to happen.

 

We all leave houses we love and jobs we do in the uk and go in search of something else which is hard to find here. Time to spend with your children.

[Rachiegarlo]

I wouldn't say you are being pessimistic, just cautious. If you have a comfortable lifestyle already, to give it up and move out of your comfort zone is a big ask. Australia is a foreign country and you need to put as much thought , research and planning into it as you would if you were moving to Angola. The plus side is English is spoken here.

 

Maybe you need to come for a holiday and see the feasibility for yourselves speaking to companies, recruitment firms etc while you were here. Everyone's migration story is different, some do battle for longer, some get jobs quickly and find housing, etc really quickly. Some pine for all things british and others embrace quickly what is on offer here.

 

Rachel

[Guest netty999panda]

Hi Everyone

 

Thanks for you replies, sorry we haven't responded sooner, but to be honest, we haven't had much time to check our messages.

 

Your advice and kind words have been really appreciated and have definitely helped. Just knowing that other people have been there and done that, and come through the other side happier and pleased with their decision to move to Oz reassures us.

 

We received notification last week that our VETASSESS has been passed, so that's one hurdle cleared!

 

Thanks again.

 

Richard, Sarah, Phoebe, and Ollie