Moving to Adelaide in Jan 15

[Paul]

My wife and I (Lucy and Paul) are moving with our now 17 month old twin boys to Adelaide in January next year. We are touching 40 (in fact I will be 40....Oh dear!) and wanted both an adventure and an outdoor life to bring our kids up in.....So Adelaide it is!

 

We are coming over on a residentially visa that we recieved back in Feb this year through my wife as a coorperate manager. My wife has been working in Health and Fitness in the UK where we live in Warrington near Manchester for 20 years, from Fitness Instructor, Gym manager, Club Manager, Area Manager to National PT manager. She has gone back as a Project Manager on 3 days a week since going back after a year off with the kids and would be hopefully looking for a work in the same field when we arrive. I myself have been a housing site manager for most of my 20 years working, starting out though training and working as a joiner. I have over the last year set my own joinery company up and started working soley for a friend who has a construction company. I have supplied him with joiners as well as provided consultancy/project management on a couple of his jobs.

 

I can't believe I am saying this but neither of us have jobs to come over to but are taking a big risk in turning up and getting out there to find something. I'll pretty much do anything to get me us going and as I have mentioned my wife ideally would like to stay in the same industry. So to start with if anyone knows of anything for us in Jan 15 (a long shot I know) then let us know.

 

We are coming over blind with little knowledge of Adelaide other than research on the net and it is our intentions to get a short term let some where central for a month giving us time to look into areas for renting for a couple of years. We will be landing in Sydney to stay with friends mid December for Christmas and New Year, where we intend to pick up a cheap car to drive over to Adelaide around 4th Jan (thought it would be cheaper in the long run than hiring one). We have done some looking into holiday lets etc but if anyone has any suggestion for any or even long term lets then lets us know. I know when looking into areas to live longer term it is going to be subjective to what each person requires, wants, likes etc but again any feed back would be great. It may be a pipe dream but we would love to be either close-ish to the beach or have a pool (or both) and have 4 bedrooms. I know it all depends on how much we are willing to pay to what we are going to get but areound 400-550 a week would be a good starting point, with everything depending on if we get work soon-ish. Having the twins we would need a good nursery locally and amenties with walking distance.

 

We both love the outdoors and anything that comes with it from walking, running, cycling, canoeing, climbing, eating, drinking, partying or just sitting and relaxing.

 

Well....there's pretty much our life story. We would love to get some response to start us on our journey.

 

Thanks Paul

[NicF]

Welcome to the forum. Just so you are aware your first few posts will need to be approved by a moderator before they appear.

 

I don't have much time right now but I'll try and remember to come back and post some useful information when I've got more time.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Hi Lucy and Paul,

Welcome!

Thank you for sharing so much info:biggrin:

We were in our early 40's when we moved here. I moved here with three teenage (children!).

That amount of rental will get you a good home. I would personally forget about the pool. I have had a house with a pool (and still have one as a rental)for over 25 years...they are a bottomless money pit...great for young children in summer but the weather is foul here during winter and there are many months that you pay for the maintenance and electricity Rather swim in the sea and indoor pools!

Every joiner / carpenter that has stayed with me this year has found work. There are some big housing developments on the card for the Seaford and Port Noarlunga area in the near future...other people will give you an idea of what's happening in their areas.

We hadn't been here before. The locals are areal friendly! The humour is typically British and they are direct but easy going people...no worries there!

We both love the outdoors and anything that comes with it from walking, running, cycling, canoeing, climbing, eating, drinking, partying or just sitting and relaxing.

 

Brilliant!

You are arriving at the right time of the year.

You will find many helpful people on this site...

All the best.

Tamara

[zebedee]

Good luck - we did a similar thing, no jobs, nothing really and we've flourished in the 3 years we've been here. Oh, and the locals are friendly - until they are behind the wheel of their ute's!

[Paul]

Hi Tamara

 

Thanks for the speedy reply.

 

I will pass your advise over to the better half. I think it was the fact that my Uncle, who has lived in Perth for the last 30yrs has had his pool and how great and convenient it was whilst staying with him. I suppose having pool whilst on holiday looked after someone else is a different kettle of fish. He did say it is a labour of love and the climate in Perth tends to be different to Adelaide through winter I guess. Maybe we decide on the pool when we are ready to buy in a few years time.

 

We haven't looked down as far as Port Noarlunga but definitely give it a look now. I think we will go where ever the work is. We just didn't want somewhere off the beaten track.

 

Thanks for now

 

Paul

[Paul]

Good luck - we did a similar thing, no jobs, nothing really and we've flourished in the 3 years we've been here. Oh, and the locals are friendly - until they are behind the wheel of their ute's!

 

Thanks for that Zebedee. It's nice to know you've done well. It's a scary thing we are doing but you only live once.

[flossybeth]

Welcome

 

I know the pool is the least of your concerns but we have one that we put away each year - a bit like a big paddling pool; that way you get the fun of having it while the sun's out but not the maintenance that goes with an in-ground pool.

 

We arrived 3 years ago today and have been doing OK - we managed to get two consecutive house-sits while we worked out where we'd like to base ourselves (we'd never been to Adelaide before) and while my husband found himself a job. After a year in a rental we bought in time for our eldest to start at secondary and promised the children (we have 3 - then aged 10, 9 & 7) that we wouldn't move again until they'd all finished school. This kind of stability seems to be working for them. We came for very similar reasons to you - we were both pushing 40 and wanted to show our children there was more to the world than the small town in Devon we were living in.

 

The time you are choosing to arrive might have a bit of an impact on a short-term rental being the middle of the summer holidays for everyone - might be best to start looking and booking soon; or look into house-sitting, if you wouldn't mind it certainly gave us a head start and saved us loads.

 

I can't help on the job front at all - other than to confirm that what Tamara says about there being LOADS of new houses going up down south, I read just this week about another load going in between Moana and Maslin...

 

Good luck with all that you'll have to do in the near future.

[NicF]

Welcome again. I did say I would come back with a longer reply later so here it is.

 

Driving from Sydney to Adelaide in the middle of January with two year old twins could be interesting. Not sure I’d recommend it myself. You are looking at about a 14 hour drive in what will probably be very hot and sunny conditions. If you get organised and plan to do it over two or three days or something it might not be too bad. Although I would still be wary of buying a cheap car and then driving it all that way as you can’t be sure of the reliability of the car. There is also then the issue of insurance and breakdown cover (think AA or RAC). I’d certainly encourage you to consider this plan carefully and look a bit further in to what it would actually entail.

 

In terms of areas to live, well everyone is different and prefers different things. Personally I prefer a quiet area with lots of trees and greenery but still not too hilly and I find the Eastern suburbs perfect for me. Others prefer to be near a beach. On your budget you would be able to get somewhere nice to rent in most areas of Adelaide so could take your pick. I would however also consider the cost to buy a house as some areas can be far more for purchasing than renting. When we decided where to live house prices played a big part in ruling out a number of areas as we would not have been able to buy anything we would have wanted to live in.

 

There are a couple of sections of the forum that have a lot of information about different suburbs. There is a lot of information about the southern suburbs on here as at one point we had a lot of members living down that way. Staying somewhere central to start with is not a bad idea as this gives you reasonably easy access to all areas of Adelaide for potential work opportunities. Then once you get work and more familiar with the place you can be a bit more certain about the area you want to settle longer term in. The time you are thinking of moving is key summer holiday time as well so you may find accommodation away from the beach areas easier to find as well.

 

I wouldn’t worry too much about the pool. If you find a house that has one then great but I wouldn’t make it a key criteria when looking for a house. With young children a pool can be a bit of a safety hazard anyway. You could always visit a public pool or the beach on the hot days instead. Where I live we have 3 outdoor pools within a 10 minute drive of us plus another one a bit further away. And at Tusmore park there is a lovely large toddler pool that is free as well. I don’t know about the other areas but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were similar things elsewhere.

 

In terms of work as a joiner you will probably need to obtain a license to work (pretty much everything needs a license here) but I believe there is work for joiners around, although it’s not an industry I know that much about. There is building work going on all over Adelaide with small housing estates and subdivisions commonplace, but the large new housing estates seem to be mostly far south or far north. Whether you would want to base yourself in one of these areas would probably depend on where your wife could find work.

 

Most people come over without jobs to go to. The job market is tough at the moment and employers prefer people who are already here to people overseas. And even if you do get a job before coming over it might not turn out to be what you expected anyway.

[pinback]

Hi Paul,

 

I would recommend getting a short term let when you arrive, so you can scope the place out and see where you'd like to live and what you can afford.

 

I stayed at Midway Apartments in Kurralta Park - http://www.midwayapartments.com.au/apartments/index.html, when I got here, which I would recommend. I paid $475 per week there, though I notice it's currently down to $455. Maybe because it's winter. That includes all bills plus wi-fi, and a parking spot. They're one bedroom apartments, with a fully equipped kitchen, living room area with TV/DVD player, and a bathroom with washing machine and tumble drier. Aircon in the main room. Ours had a queen plus a single in the bedroom, which I think all the apartments do. We moved the queen mattress into the living room area, and got a cot from Ikea for our son in the bedroom.

 

The Apartments are right next to the shopping centre at Kurralta park, which includes a Coles supermarket and K-mart. It's about a ten minute walk to the tram which will take you into the city, or to the beach at Glenelg. There's a couple of playgrounds with swings and slides and whatnot a short walk away. Kurralta Park is located about half way between the city centre and the coast. I reckon it's an ideal place to base yourself for the first few weeks, and a reasonable price for a short term let. The fella who runs it, Kym, is really friendly and helpful.

 

I wouldn't want a house with a pool. Too much hassle I reckon. You can just swim in the sea for nowt. But I guess it's the Australian dream!

 

Good luck!

[Paul]

Good luck - we did a similar thing, no jobs, nothing really and we've flourished in the 3 years we've been here. Oh, and the locals are friendly - until they are behind the wheel of their ute's!

 

Thanks for that Zebedee. It's nice to know you've done well. It's a scary thing we are doing but you only live once.

[Paul]

Welcome

 

I know the pool is the least of your concerns but we have one that we put away each year - a bit like a big paddling pool; that way you get the fun of having it while the sun's out but not the maintenance that goes with an in-ground pool.

 

We arrived 3 years ago today and have been doing OK - we managed to get two consecutive house-sits while we worked out where we'd like to base ourselves (we'd never been to Adelaide before) and while my husband found himself a job. After a year in a rental we bought in time for our eldest to start at secondary and promised the children (we have 3 - then aged 10, 9 & 7) that we wouldn't move again until they'd all finished school. This kind of stability seems to be working for them. We came for very similar reasons to you - we were both pushing 40 and wanted to show our children there was more to the world than the small town in Devon we were living in.

 

The time you are choosing to arrive might have a bit of an impact on a short-term rental being the middle of the summer holidays for everyone - might be best to start looking and booking soon; or look into house-sitting, if you wouldn't mind it certainly gave us a head start and saved us loads.

 

I can't help on the job front at all - other than to confirm that what Tamara says about there being LOADS of new houses going up down south, I read just this week about another load going in between Moana and Maslin...

 

Good luck with all that you'll have to do in the near future.

 

 

Hi Flossybeth

 

I wanted to come on this site now to give us time to take in all the advise from people like yourself before we get carried away making plans that were not backed up in reality. We have been looking at both holiday lets and house sitting. Understandably at that time of year the holiday lets can be expensive and you would think being holiday season there would be plenty of house sit oppurtunities. I have looked through a few sites for house sitting and there doesn't seem to be any posted that far ahead. I will keep looking but i am mindful that the longer I leave the alternative holiday lets the less chance there will be of getting one.

 

How have you and your kids found life over the last three years and which area did you decide to settle in and why( if i'm not being too nosey)?

 

Thanks Paul

[Paul]

Welcome again. I did say I would come back with a longer reply later so here it is.

 

Driving from Sydney to Adelaide in the middle of January with two year old twins could be interesting. Not sure I’d recommend it myself. You are looking at about a 14 hour drive in what will probably be very hot and sunny conditions. If you get organised and plan to do it over two or three days or something it might not be too bad. Although I would still be wary of buying a cheap car and then driving it all that way as you can’t be sure of the reliability of the car. There is also then the issue of insurance and breakdown cover (think AA or RAC). I’d certainly encourage you to consider this plan carefully and look a bit further in to what it would actually entail.

 

In terms of areas to live, well everyone is different and prefers different things. Personally I prefer a quiet area with lots of trees and greenery but still not too hilly and I find the Eastern suburbs perfect for me. Others prefer to be near a beach. On your budget you would be able to get somewhere nice to rent in most areas of Adelaide so could take your pick. I would however also consider the cost to buy a house as some areas can be far more for purchasing than renting. When we decided where to live house prices played a big part in ruling out a number of areas as we would not have been able to buy anything we would have wanted to live in.

 

There are a couple of sections of the forum that have a lot of information about different suburbs. There is a lot of information about the southern suburbs on here as at one point we had a lot of members living down that way. Staying somewhere central to start with is not a bad idea as this gives you reasonably easy access to all areas of Adelaide for potential work opportunities. Then once you get work and more familiar with the place you can be a bit more certain about the area you want to settle longer term in. The time you are thinking of moving is key summer holiday time as well so you may find accommodation away from the beach areas easier to find as well.

 

I wouldn’t worry too much about the pool. If you find a house that has one then great but I wouldn’t make it a key criteria when looking for a house. With young children a pool can be a bit of a safety hazard anyway. You could always visit a public pool or the beach on the hot days instead. Where I live we have 3 outdoor pools within a 10 minute drive of us plus another one a bit further away. And at Tusmore park there is a lovely large toddler pool that is free as well. I don’t know about the other areas but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were similar things elsewhere.

 

In terms of work as a joiner you will probably need to obtain a license to work (pretty much everything needs a license here) but I believe there is work for joiners around, although it’s not an industry I know that much about. There is building work going on all over Adelaide with small housing estates and subdivisions commonplace, but the large new housing estates seem to be mostly far south or far north. Whether you would want to base yourself in one of these areas would probably depend on where your wife could find work.

 

Most people come over without jobs to go to. The job market is tough at the moment and employers prefer people who are already here to people overseas. And even if you do get a job before coming over it might not turn out to be what you expected anyway.

 

 

Hi NicF

 

Thanks for the information. I'm just picturing ourselves now strandard in the dessert with me kicking the car thinking on your advise. Why didn't i get a better car....!

I think it is our intention to take a few days to get over to Adelaide and if anyone has any suggestions on places to stay on the way that would be greatly recieved. I think we would be looking at around 3 days min, as you say no one wants to be in the car with young kids for that long, an hour is enough at the moment. We would be looking to spend up to $10k on a car and would get breakdown cover just to make sure. Hopefully in the few weeks we are in Sydney we can come across a decent enough car for that. We do have our friends there to look before we arrive and buy if necessary.

 

I do like the idea of living somewhere peaceful and as much greenery as possible, especially trees, as thats what I will miss the most of the UK (other than friends and family) the trees. We want to be somewhere we have all amenties close and it not take too long to get the beach. I would be interested to know more about which eastern suburbs you would personelly recommend. It's having things to do as a family and more so for my wife with the kids if I only work to start with.

I don't mind travelling to work, around an hour but like most I would prefer to be closer so I can be home with the family sooner. I have looked into getting a white card when I arrive in Sydney, which I am lead to believe is a day course and a fee. I have also since reading your comments looked into a license to work and you are right. It would appear that I could apply for one either in Sydney or Adelaide as long as I meet the criteria and pay the fees. I will look into this more and get some further advice.

I can understand that employers want to keep it local when looking for employees, but I have to come with the attitude that the best get the work and getting out there, being persistant and showing willing will win out........I am also good at picking litter up or sweeping the streets.

 

Thanks Paul

[Paul]

Hi Paul,

 

I would recommend getting a short term let when you arrive, so you can scope the place out and see where you'd like to live and what you can afford.

 

I stayed at Midway Apartments in Kurralta Park - http://www.midwayapartments.com.au/apartments/index.html, when I got here, which I would recommend. I paid $475 per week there, though I notice it's currently down to $455. Maybe because it's winter. That includes all bills plus wi-fi, and a parking spot. They're one bedroom apartments, with a fully equipped kitchen, living room area with TV/DVD player, and a bathroom with washing machine and tumble drier. Aircon in the main room. Ours had a queen plus a single in the bedroom, which I think all the apartments do. We moved the queen mattress into the living room area, and got a cot from Ikea for our son in the bedroom.

 

The Apartments are right next to the shopping centre at Kurralta park, which includes a Coles supermarket and K-mart. It's about a ten minute walk to the tram which will take you into the city, or to the beach at Glenelg. There's a couple of playgrounds with swings and slides and whatnot a short walk away. Kurralta Park is located about half way between the city centre and the coast. I reckon it's an ideal place to base yourself for the first few weeks, and a reasonable price for a short term let. The fella who runs it, Kym, is really friendly and helpful.

 

I wouldn't want a house with a pool. Too much hassle I reckon. You can just swim in the sea for nowt. But I guess it's the Australian dream!

 

Good luck!

 

 

Hello!

 

Just had a look at the appartments and location looks ideal. If there was a two bedroom one then i would definitely look into it further. We really want a two bed as we want a seperate bedroom from the kids. If we ever go anywhere, family's house and have the kids in our bedroom they never settle and it's the last thing I want when we are all in a strange place anyway. As for the pool, it is a dream and I don't think we will base our long term house rental on it. I know this may sound strange considering the country we are moving to but i'm not a sea lover........Always stay in the pools when on holiday.

We will be more interested in a good communtiy that has good nursery and plenty of local amenities.

 

Thanks for your advise and anymore is more than welcome.

 

Paul

[Diane]

Don't worry about the tree thing. Plenty of trees here. I've not missed trees at all

[sduffy]

Paul,have sent you a PM.

 

Sue