moving to NSW in January

wraybjoern · #1 (**permalink**) 4th August 2008, 12:02 PM

moving to NSW in January 2009 or possible sooner... depending on the work situation.

I'm an ESL teacher in Kyoto, Japan - will be finished my M.A. Applied Linguistics in June 2009 (Monash) and because I'm a glutton for punishment, I've also started my Grad.Dip.Ed. at UNE. While I can teach in Japan with my B.A. (from Griffith) and a TEFL certification, I cannot teach in Australia schools without the grad.dip.ed (which has residency requirements).

Thus I am moving from Kyoto, Japan with my wife and 3 kids to NSW (most likely - I'm open to Melbourne or Perth too) and have lots and lots and lots of questions.

VISA situation: I'm an Australian Citizen (born in Canada) and all my uni qualifications are Aussie (hoorah for Open Uni). Wife is Japanese, 3 daughters are Canadian/Japanese (will qualify for Aussie citizenship after we live there for 2 years). We're applying for permanent residency status soon.

I've researched a lot of areas from Sydney all along the Central Coast (Toronto, Lake MacQuarie, Gosford, Woy Woy) to Newcastle, and Armidale too (because UNE is there).

I have relatives living in NSW, but they haven't been that helpful in describing the various suburbs and areas of Sydney. I've been scanning this site, and cityhobo, realestate, domain, etc etc for months now looking for information. TBH if it weren't for the kids, I would just hop on a plane with my wife and head over without any worries. The kids make it necessary to be much more careful about the neighbourhood we decide to live in.

Sooooo now that I've probably bored you with too much background etc, here are my questions:

1) Employment - I'm a teacher, but won't be qualified to teach in Australia until I finish my grad.dip.ed.... What are the chances of someone with a B.A. finding work in an office admin environment? I really don't want to be stuck teaching ESL anymore - I've done it for 12 years now! I've talked to Hays and applied to jobs through SEEK and various universities (student advisor positions) but I've had only 1 interview so far ( failed

) and haven't had any replies except 'your application was not successful'.

I'm guessing that actually being IN Australia will help my situation a lot - but tbh my progress has been pretty dismal thus far. I'm depressed about employment prospects. I need SOMETHING that will allow my family to survive (single income) until I get my teaching certification - or something using my shiny new M.A. would be nice... (which will happen about 6 months after I arrive).

2) suburbs... This is a big topic because Sydney is so mind-bogglingly HUGE!
We've looked at Parramatta, Avalon, Mount Kuring-Gai, Turramurra and Balgowlah and lots of others so far. Today we checked out Minto. Heard from various sources that it may not be such a good place to live. Maybe you can help me narrow things down? I've heard 'North' or 'West' for reasonable living and that 'East' is expensive and that 'South-West' is risky.

Here is what I am looking for:

Good Schools
Near Transit
Decent Shopping (groceries - willing to go 'downtown' for electronics, etc)
'Reasonable' rent for a 2br. place (like around $300 a week or so)
SAFE neighbourhood (no gangs, shootings, drugs in the open, etc)
LOW crime rate (I lived in a bad neighbourhood in Vancouver once - moved promptly after my apartment was broken into! Don't want that experience again!).
QUIET neighbourhood (I need to study.... a lot!)
Within an hour of a beach would be nice (but not necessary)

So.... maybe you can help me narrow things down a little? Cityhobo is VERY helpful - but even with all that information I am still utterly undecided as to where, exactly, I would like to live.

Are there bad areas I should avoid? We have 3 daughters and we'd like to feel secure in our neighbourhood. I'm sure there are lots of fabulous areas that will suit us perfectly - the problem is actually narrowing it down to 2 or 3 before heading over!

Thanks for reading such a long-winded post! Looking forward to any replies!

WB

kaz101 · #2 (**permalink**) 4th August 2008, 07:56 PM

Hi wraybjoern,

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry I can't help with the employment or the suburbs but I still wanted to welcome you

Regards,
Karen

wraybjoern · #3 (**permalink**) 4th August 2008, 11:26 PM

Hi Karen and thanks for the welcome!

Main thing is the suburbs - it's annoying to find something we think is 'nice' only to hear later its 'dodgy' (Minto). Employment will come with time and effort - I won't give up!

If we at least have a list of places to AVOID, it'll make things much easier. Parramatta is one we are interested in - but I've heard mixed reviews of the suburb. Some say its great, others say avoid it. We don't need anything too fancy. Safe and Quiet are the two main concerns - and being near to some good schools.

anj1976 · #4 (**permalink**) 5th August 2008, 09:57 AM

Hi

why dont you go through Moving to Sydney or Melbourne? Find where to live with Cityhobo - Home and find some information from there. Its a good site with lots of info on Sydney and Melbourne

wraybjoern · #5 (**permalink**) 5th August 2008, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wraybjoern

I've been scanning this site, and cityhobo, realestate, domain, etc etc for months now looking for information.

um... I did mention (see above quote) that I have been reading cityhobo for months now - I have even managed to get email advice from Veronica (owner of cityhobo).

What I asked for here was for people who actually have opinions to speak up about the places they like, and the places they dislike, and why.

I know about lots of good suburbs already - I'm trying to narrow my search, not expand it.

anj1976 · #6 (**permalink**) 5th August 2008, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wraybjoern

um... I did mention (see above quote) that I have been reading cityhobo for months now - I have even managed to get email advice from Veronica (owner of cityhobo).

What I asked for here was for people who actually have opinions to speak up about the places they like, and the places they dislike, and why.

I know about lots of good suburbs already - I'm trying to narrow my search, not expand it.

eeeeeeeks sorry, i missed that one somehow.. so sorry