Has anyone moved to Australia from the US?

[aussiegirls]

Congrats Chesire

You are going to love it here. The US is an awesome place to visit but Australia is the best place to live

And Canberra is so lovely. In fact my DD's are trying to convince me that after this trip to DL our next holiday has to be to Canberra

Keep us posted on how the preparations are going. And when you come to Sydney give me a yell

xxx

 

[Kalice]

Congratulations! ANU is a beautiful university. I lived in Canberra for a period (seconded from Perth). I loved it there and was going to sell up in Perth and move back. The only reason I didn't is because I met DH a few months before I was due to leave and decided our relationship was worth a shot .
Things I loved:
I lived in Reid across from Glebe Park, which is walking distance to Civic (Canberran for City!)
I loved the friendly people, I think because most people were from other places we relied on each other to substitute for our far away families.
I loved the bike paths.
I loved walking Lake Burley Griffen and wandering in to one of the FREE places to visit (like DC many of the tourist attractions are free).
The size, I loved that I could visit friends anywhere in the city without travelling for ages, or encountering traffic.
I loved looking at the snow capped peaks (a novelty to Perth residents) and visiting the snow.
I loved the Kangaroos on the beach (Pretty Beach).
The proximity to Sydney (lovely place to visit, but would only live there if I was either close to the city or the beach - I live near the beach in Perth)
I could go on, and on...as usual

Things I wasn't so keen on: hmmm...distance from Family (sometimes good, sometimes bad)
Okay, after writing this, maybe I should move back. Although I'm not sure my kids would approve. They didn't like moving next door

 

[Willow25]

As an american who has lived here for the past 8 years I have to say that Christmas is very different here. Aussies certainly celebrate it big but definitely differently and of course the fact that you are away from your family has a major impact. I guess it is all about perspective but a hot summer is not my idea of christmas just not something I can get my head around. Good luck australia can be a wonderful place to live and raise a family.

 

[kylieh]

Christmas is our main family time. And as well as having Christmas and Boxing Day, most of the country shuts down for the following week or two. All the shops are open, medical, police etc are business as usual, but almost everything else is running on skeleton staff if at all. I love that week.

We're in Sydney and it's only a few hours to Canberra. We've done many day trips.

 

[Toy Story]

Hi Chesire,
Congratulations on being accepted into the University of Canberra. As mentioned earlier, the summer school holidays are six weeks, in Canberra it can be very quiet from the 24th until about the 10th of January as many 'Canberrans' escape to the coast (a two hour drive).
A lot of Australian's celebrate a more laid-back Christmas, cold seafood and salad followed by pavlova and summer fruits.

I live in Canberra (as does Ms Shuttergirl), ask anything you would like to know. i am sure we will be able to arrange a welcome meeting.

BTW - Tonight we drove past a kangaroo nibbling on trees in someone's front yard. We do see a lot of kangaroos in the open spaces, this was on a suburban street.

 

[BecBennett]

Just chiming in on the Christmas thing, because I'm a Christmas nut.

Christmas is huge here! But it does depend on the family. Since well before I was born my family has always been into big gatherings at Christmas time. Every street in my town has at least one house with lights on, and many that go over the top.

For some of the past couple of years it's been quite cold over Christmas, obviously not snowing, but cold enough that we've been back into our winter clothes, and I've hated it! Christmas isn't Christmas to me unless it's sweltering outside, so when it gets to just on evening time it's the perfect weather to sit outside and eat dinner, cold prawns, ham freshly sliced off the bone, and too much chocolate

My fiance's step mum is American, and my family celebrates Christmas more then her family does. Same goes really for my fiance's mum and step dad, we all seem to celebrate it more then most of the American's I know...

Ahh Christmas... That's it, I'm off to add some things to my Christmas list and put on some carols

Come on people! Only 50 days left!!

 

[Chesire]

Oh my goodness, Thank you so much!!
Everyone is so kind!
We are excited and scared, I suppose that is normal! We are really looking forward to moving though. Sometimes I feel like a few months (we start the visa process in April) is not enough time, others I want to leave next week!
I hope you don't mind if I post some Canberra questions in the future. When I was looking at schools, I really feel in love with this town and I am so excited about moving there!

 

[Aust]

Chesire, what part of January will you be at DLR? B/c myself (heidispidi) and my sister (Aust - I am at her house now,on her PC, using her username) will be there 8 - 15 Jan, and would be happy to do coffee/a ride/a show/a meal, whatever, if you are there at the same time

 

[AussieCaribou]

How exciting Chesire! Congrats on making it in!! I have been hoping to hear form you with news!

You will have to let us know when you are in Canberra so we can all meet and say 'hi' (Mickey ears optional...but I am happy to put mine on!).

Like others have said, happy to answer any questions you have. I moved from the US to Canberra 13 years ago yesterday! So I might be able to answer some of them. :0)

And Christmas is big over here with the people I know too. The malls get decorated (already) and there are lots of houses with tons of lights! It's summer and usually fairly warm, so it's great to go walking in some of the festive areas at night. My husband's family does the full 'English' Chistmas dinner. We have turkey, ham and pork. We have all the normal fixings and of course, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake. Oh, and I bring pumkin pie... ;0D

From Canberra to DL is either a 1 hour flight (or 3 hour bus ride) to Sydney and then a 14 hour flight to LAX. For something different for my hubby and daughter we are going to Disneyland in Dec!!! Can't wait to take them to the park in the holidays. My daughter is graduating from year 6 this year...so I am taking her to DL to celebrate.

Anyway, welcome to the neighbourhood (soon)!

~ AussieCaribou

 

[Chesire]

Chesire, what part of January will you be at DLR? B/c myself (heidispidi) and my sister (Aust - I am at her house now,on her PC, using her username) will be there 8 - 15 Jan, and would be happy to do coffee/a ride/a show/a meal, whatever, if you are there at the same time

That would be wonderful
We are planning on being there from the 5th-9th I think (need to double check with DH's supervisor at work to make sure they authorize it).

 

[Chesire]

How exciting Chesire! Congrats on making it in!! I have been hoping to hear form you with news!

You will have to let us know when you are in Canberra so we can all meet and say 'hi' (Mickey ears optional...but I am happy to put mine on!).

Like others have said, happy to answer any questions you have. I moved from the US to Canberra 13 years ago yesterday! So I might be able to answer some of them. :0)

And Christmas is big over here with the people I know too. The malls get decorated (already) and there are lots of houses with tons of lights! It's summer and usually fairly warm, so it's great to go walking in some of the festive areas at night. My husband's family does the full 'English' Chistmas dinner. We have turkey, ham and pork. We have all the normal fixings and of course, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake. Oh, and I bring pumkin pie... ;0D

From Canberra to DL is either a 1 hour flight (or 3 hour bus ride) to Sydney and then a 14 hour flight to LAX. For something different for my hubby and daughter we are going to Disneyland in Dec!!! Can't wait to take them to the park in the holidays. My daughter is graduating from year 6 this year...so I am taking her to DL to celebrate.

Anyway, welcome to the neighbourhood (soon)!

~ AussieCaribou

Thank you! I would love to meet up with everyone, how wonderful would that be! I am so excited

Congratulations to your daughter! The holidays at DL are so magical, you will have such a wonderful time.

 

[heidispidi]

Chesire, we cross-over for 1 - 2 days! Let's see if we can plan something a little closer to our holidays.

 

[Chesire]

Sounds great!

 

[Chesire]

Would anyone mind sharing their favorite airline for flying to and from the US please? We are starting to check airline prices but I would really prefer to go with a recommended carrier!

We will be flying into Sydney (I think) and then traveling to Canberra. Would you recommend flying into Canberra or taking a train?

I know this is a long shot, but if you have recommendations for moving companies I would LOVE to hear them!

Thank you!

 

[heidispidi]

Some of the favourites on here for flying to the US are Qantas, V-Australia, United, Air New Zealand...

Fly to Canberra. Or hire a car from Sydney and drive - will take you max. 3 hours driving.

Can't help you with moving companies though...

 

[Chesire]

Some of the favourites on here for flying to the US are Qantas, V-Australia, United, Air New Zealand...

Fly to Canberra. Or hire a car from Sydney and drive - will take you max. 3 hours driving.

Can't help you with moving companies though...

Thanks! I had heard good things about Quantas, but V-Australia was a lot cheaper, its nice to hear they are good too!!

We are trying to decide between flying (after so long on an airplane) or maybe a train because its not flying. Thankfully we have a while now to decide!

 

[kylieh]

Some of the favourites on here for flying to the US are Qantas, V-Australia, United, Air New Zealand...

Fly to Canberra. Or hire a car from Sydney and drive - will take you max. 3 hours driving.

Can't help you with moving companies though...

+1 - V Australia and Qantas have the best inflight entertainment, seat back, not sure about Air NZ but the flight would be via Auckland. Both V and Qantas have connections to Canberra so you can go on the one ticket. A lot easier.

Wouldn't bother with the train either. The drive from Sydney airport to Canberra is very easy, you're straight on the motorway from the airport. Though just off the plane and after 13+ hours I'd go with the flight especially if you haven't driven on the left before.

 

[aussiegirls]

I second V Australia. I think they are wonderful and they are very often cheaper than most airlines. These days Qantas seem to be quite pricey, although they may be forced to drop their prices now because a lot of people are getting a little wary of flying them because of all their "incidents".

Personally, if it were me I would go with a train from Sydney if you don't want to drive yourself. I don't think that I would like to ge on another flight after just having been on a 15 hour one if I had a choice. The train will be a bit roomier and a bit more relaxed and you can see a bit of the countryside on your way to the ACT.

xxx

 

[ehsmum]

I would book a flight from LAX-CBR and transfer in either SYD or MEL. It's such a short flight that it won't be a hassle at all and you'll want to get there as soon as possible.

 

[shushh]

I'd second the flight to Canberra. In Sydney, you have to catch the train to central before getting on to the trains for Canberra. A lot of changes with suitcases!