sea glimpse

Hi Twinkle We have had a cancellation for Christmas so could probably accommodate your dates. Have a look at http://www.seaglimpse.com.au and if interested drop me an e mail on info@seaglimpse.com.au and we can discuss. Best wishes, Zena

Hi there Due to a cancellation we now have availability over the Christmas and New Year period if anyone is looking for any last minute accommodation by the sea. Visit our site at www.seaglimpse.com.au and take a look and if interested please e mail (info@seaglimopse.com.au) or call Zena for a booking. Merry Christmas to you all!

Thats great - look forward to hearing from you - hope your plans go well! Zena

Recently renovated fully furnished 3 bedroom house in Seacliff available to rent. The area is perfect for children, there is an excellent kindy and primary school within a few minutes walk of the house (my kids go there so I know!) and the beach is an easy couple of minutes to walk too (as are several parks, playgroups etc). The house is child friendly with a secure backyard, children's toys, DVDs, books, scooter, bike, trampoline etc. For those of you without kids the house is a few minutes walk from the Seacliff pub and yacht club which both offer drinks, meals and a amazing sea view! You can also walk to Jetty Road, Brighton along the beach where there is a lot of lovely cafes and shops. Also many restaurants and other amenities (supermarkets, post office, doctor, bottle shop etc) very close by. The price is $650 per week including all bills, unlimited internet access (a lap top with Skype installed is provided), and all linen (bed and towels). We provide a small welcome food/drinks package on arrival. It is $100 per night for any odd nights. Take a look at http://www.seaglimpse.com.au for more info and photos. If you needed any more information on the house or the area please do not hesitate to contact me on 0466 419 363 or via e mail (here or info@seaglimpse.com.au) . I'm happy to help in any way I can, both leading up to your move and once you arrive. We are ex-pats ourselves so have been through it! I can also provide references if required. Look forward top hearing from you! Zena

I would agree with Lindaj they are lovely areas I would not move! Excellent school, lovely beach and parks. Not many shops that are walkable but if you have a car they are 5 mins.

We lived in Millswood near Unley when we first got here and it was very nice. Safe, good schools, bars/cafes. restaurants, shops, parks etc. About 4 tram stops into the city very convenient...We would have stayed but wanted to live by the beach.

I think your budget is more suited to an unfurnished property. Furnished places are normally 500/600 plus! Obviously it depends on the location, size and state of the property but for something decent I think you would struggle for $400.

Its your call but personally I would wait and give yourself time to settle and to research different areas first - there is a lot on offer here! Yes it is a buyers market we have just bought and manged to work the price down so if your gut feeling is to do it than you take the risk - the rental properties in my opinion are generally poor. However be aware that costs associated with buying here are higher than in the UK - stamp duty is payable on all properties and you also have to pay registration fees which are a few thousand too! Good luck and I hope you make the right decision!

It took us about 3 months to find somewhere decent and I was getting a bit panicky as our short term rental was finishing and the prospect of us and our kids camping on the beach until we found something was a little worrying! The main problem I found was the state of many of the rentals within our price range - dirty, smelly, tatty - I joked that many looked like someone had just died in them and they had just put them on the market! I later found out that this is often the case as often inherited properties are rented out while the owners make enough money to knock it down and rebuild a new home. Don't be fooled by the photos on realestate web some of them look fantastic and they are a real dump when you get there. We also had problems when we did find somewhere and submitted our forms due to us having no rental history (well obviously as we'd just got here!). The ones that were good got snapped up staright away by people offering over the asking price. All in all not a good experience, we got lucky in the end by bumping into the owner outside our house and doing the deal direct with him rather than going via the agency and it has worked out very well as we have not had to have the inspections and have built up a good relationship with him as apposed to a company - I would recommend this from our experience.

Hi Karen, Brighton caravan park is really nice (actually in Kingston Park near Marino though not Brighton!). Its right on a sandy safe beach, playground for kids, cafe, boat club with bar etc. Really lovely spot. I haven't actually stayed there so can't comment on the actual cabins but we go down there a lot.

If you have or are planning to have kids I would recommend Adelaide - very safe, laid back, kiddy friendly, lots of parks, beautiful beaches, known as the "education capital of Auz", lots of festivals, more affordable than most cities, good public transport etc. We came here 2 yrs ago with young children having previously lived in Melbourne 12 yrs ago. We planned to stay here for 2 yrs (in order to gain residency) and move to Melbourne, however now we are here we will definitely stay - far nicer for the children...(however if you are young and kiddy free Melbourne was more of a 'party city'!) I think the climate here is fantastic - the winter nights do get a bit nippy (but not by UK standards) but some of the winter days are beautiful - it was 23 degrees one day last week - better than most summer days in England!

Adelaide Central market - go about 12 ish on Sat and they are selling off all the fruit & veg and meat for very reduced prices (often half price!) due to them being closed on sunday...top it off with a chicken laksa for $9 (near Gouger St entrance) massive bowl & deeeeeeelicious! Its also great for the kids - free face painting, balloons etc ours love going and its free!!

Hi, no you don't have to prove any funds on arrival so yes bring the minimum and exchange at a better time (if there ever will be one - we are still waiting too!). We used a currency firm IFIX but there's a few to choose from - the more you transfer the better rate normally. We also kept our English bank account open as we had rent going into it and used the surplus to fall back on when we needed to (probably not ideal though with the exchange rate the way it is...). I would estimate that you will be paying approx $600-700 per week for furnished rent whilst waiting for your container (including bills). After that unfurnished rent can be anything from $300ish plus depending where you go (add bills on though). Council tax is cheaper here but I would say that electric and water are probably slightly more.. It depends on your visa whether you can claim child benefit etc. - I believe is you have a permanent visa you can but you are not able to claim anything if you are on a temporary visa until you have your residency at a later stage. Hope that helps a bit...

Really shocking what is going on - just heard Cameron on news saying that he expects jail sentences for all charged - they should also stop their benefits so they have to go out to work and do something constructive with their time and learn some respect for people and property and lose "the world owes me ..." attitude.