Mostly Off Topic - if that is ok!

[Chesire]

And yes, Virginia! ....there really are Kangaroos around; but not in the cities. There probably are more around the rural countryside outside of Canberra or in the outskirts of some of their suburbs and satellite towns than where I am; but your son is sure gonna be disappointed. If he's not walking, the only things he is likely to ride to school will involve wheels of some sort.

He will be sorely disappointed He still has not gotten over the idea that our car does not (nor will it ever) turn into a robot!

Thank you all for the medical advice. I am not exactly sure how ours will work when we are there. I have prepaid for it through the university (not associated at all with the US). I think they will tell us a bit more about it when we arrive. Normally I would not worry too much, but I am amazed at my sons and what they get into! We have only had one non-wellness check this year, that is great for us!

Thank you for all of the car information. My husband is convinced we will need one, I am not so sure.

Oh my, look at all of the birds! How beautiful! We live in a small town here and have more animals then you would normally see (deer, ducks, quail and coyotes), but nothing like that!

I was disappointed in the selection of antenna toppers when we were in Disneyland! They had wonderful princess ones ... lots of pink ... I have boys! 3 if you could the 35 year old!

Thank you ... I am so excited about moving! Being able to find possible houses was so nice (not nearly as scary now!) and hotels!

 

[Toy Story]

In Canberra, with kids you will need a car - especially if they play sport. You will also want the car to take the two hour trip to the coast or the snow, or the three hour trip to Sydney.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I feel like I am jumping into this conversation far too late (sorry for going missing for so long everyone) but I too am a Canberran and I think Sugarglider has given lots of great advice.

As for cars, the cheapest way to purchase them in Canberra is at Pickles Auction house, much much cheaper than anywhere else here. http://www.pickles.com.au/cars/. We have bought several cars here and they are super cheap.

I am southside so about a 20-25 minute drive from where you will be and we have Kangaroos all over the place too. Not as much as a few years ago since there has been lots of development around here but still you see them everyday.

Renting here is hard, pets can be a problem and the rent costs are quite scary but hopefully you will find something suitable.

Amazing schools in Canberra and a really special lifestyle really. Many people earn good incomes and per capita I would say it is a relatively affluent town. We have lived here for 11 years now and have fallen in love with the place.

What is bringing you to Canberra? Is it University or your husband's work?

We moved here with a baby and didn't know a soul and at times it was a little scary but it has turned out to be one of the best decisions we have every made.

Good luck!

 

[Chesire]

Ms. Shuttergirl, thank you!
We are moving there for the University (my husband doesn't have a job yet ... he will look when we arrive) and it's very scary!
We have 2 little boys and there isn't a day that I don't wonder if we are making the right decision. If it was just my husband and I it would be different. Thankfully, when I start to get nervous, my husband is supportive and telling me everything will be ok!
Does Pickles Auction house sell just used cars? Would it be a good idea to purchase from them if you know nothing about fixing cars (between the two of us we can change the oil and that's about it!)
I have been looking up housing, its about the same as we are paying for our house here (they are all a drive from the college). So far, finding one that doesn't say "no pets" has been a challenge though! Our dog is 3 and a big couch potato but he is so good with the boys and my husband would miss him if we didn't bring him. It is something we are still talking about though ...
Thank you for letting me ramble!

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

Joining in late as well but thought I would throw in my 2 cents.

I lived in Canberra most of my life, only recently moving to Sydney.

Kangaroos - They are everywhere! It was not unusual for us to wake up in the morning and see them on the front lawn. Just watch out for them on the backroads when it starts to get dark, just take it easy and you should be fine.

Wildlife - I know that this isn't something that you are going to want to hear but you need to know (especially for your boys). Watch out for snakes. Because Canberra is surrounded by bushland a lot of it finds its way into the suburbs. You might never see a snake but if you do you need to assume all snakes are poisonious, and call the relevant people to come and take it away.

Car - In my opinion you need a car in Canberra because the public transport sucks. A car makes life so much easier, trust me.

Suburbs - I guess it depends a bit on where the kids will go to school. My father used to live in Florey and that was nice enough and my boyfriend used to live in Gungahlin and it was a nice area. There are lots of younger families in that area and it is growing in population out north fast with all of the new building sites opening up.

Slang - http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-au...a/about-australia/au-customs/common-words.htm thought this might help. Don't know if they use this expression in the US but "How ya goin'?" is something you will here a lot .

I think it is great you are moving to Canberra it is a wonderful place, I loved growing up there. Make sure you take the boys to Questacon and The National Zoo and Aquarium. They are fun things to go to on the weekend. Also in the winter a lot of Canberrans take the pilgramige to the snow, which isn't too far away. In the summer if it is a long weekend, canberra will become a ghost town as everyone migrates to the coast.

Feel free to ask any questions, I think I speak for everyone when I say we are happy to give out any help and advice we can

 

[Chesire]

Feel free to ask any questions, I think I speak for everyone when I say we are happy to give out any help and advice we can

Thank you

Everyone has been so helpful and so wonderful!

I do have a question and would love anyone's opinion. My husband and i have been talking this over for over a month now and we are torn! My school term starts in August and that's when the visa will allow my husband to begin working (August 8th). As I understand it, he cannot start earlier (but I believe he can secure a job before hand).

If we go over at the end of May, the flights are much cheaper (about $1200 for our family) and my oldest (5) can get settled into school after we find a place to rent. The downside is that we will be paying rent there for 2 months while we are unable to work.

If we wait until the end of June to go over, airfare is much higher. However, we can continue working here. Our house is set to go onto the market in May, so we will be staying in my dad's studio apartment before we leave ... with 4 people and a dog!

We are both leaning toward going in May (excited to get started!) but we cannot purchase airlines tickets yet (have to wait until the visas are approved and I cannot apply until mid-April).

What would you do?

 

[HappyFingers]

dont hate me

save money and leave the dog behind

buy a new dog

 

[Chesire]

dont hate me

save money and leave the dog behind

buy a new dog

We have talked about it. It would save a ton on the airfare over there (his ticket is more then all of ours put together and we have to go through a special company to book it) and immigration fees. Not to mention finding a rental that would allow him ...
I wish I knew what the right thing to do was.

 

[Toy Story]

Hi,

My advice would be to line it up so your son starts school at the beginning of Term 3 on the 25th of July. This way he is starting the school term with everyone else.

If you move over at the end of May - this will mean your son will still have had a school break and some time to adjust. It also means you could check out some schools 'in action' before the end of term 2 break.

Another 'Canberra' news forum that might help with some of your questions is RiotACT.

 

[HappyFingers]

just tell the kids what the deal is

demonstrate to them how much it will cost using coins or something

start looking for a new home for the dog (parents, grandparents, internet forums)

by the time you get the dog threw all the quarantine procedures it will be a long time and very costly

tell them they can have a new puppy

I love my dog but she knows if she gets sick to the point i have to spend more than what she cost to buy new as a puppy (in her case $500 basset hound) then she gets the friendly needle that puts her to sleep

ive explained it to her, i was very clear

take them to a pet shop and let them play with some puppies to help break the ice

besides your dog may be racially victimised by all the Aussie dogs

just saying its worth considering

 

[Chesire]

I agree, term 3 would be a great time for him to start!

 

[heidispidi]

But if you were to come end of May, you could stop in Sydney long enough to celebrate Jaymi's 9th birthday...I am sure she remembers you and your 3 (!) boys through the fog of our 2nd night in Disneyland!

Take a breath...hold it...breathe out slowly...

Everything will be OK! I'll even give you one of my 3 cats when you arrive I can't help you decide about your dog...but we do have cute puppies here...

Buy a Ford or a Holden car. That's half the battle of proving that you want to be Aussies! But you have to choose one brand then stick with it for LIFE. (I recommend Ford, my hubby recommends Holden - it's one or the other, there is no inbetween).

PS Happyfingers, you crack me up

(Sorry I have been MIA for so long, but I'm back now!).

 

[Chesire]

Welcome Back!
LOL, I think I am making myself too nervous!
Yep ... 3 boys ... the "oldest" (at 35!) is usually the biggest boy of them all

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Chesire, when we moved to Canberra we actually gave our dog away to friends of friends. She ended up living out her days gallomping around a farm and had an even happier life than the one she had with us. We knew from our enquiries that pets were a no go in the competitive rental market here so as sad it was for us to give her away, we just made extra sure she was going to a loving home and that's what happened. We only had a 1 year old at the time though so I can see that explaining something like that to older kids would be tough.

I agree that starting your little one off at the beginning of term 3 would definitely be the way to go. Everyone is fresh after the holidays and there could very likely be some other new kids starting at the same time. Most people would move kids for the beginning of a term.

 

[Sugarglider]

Buy a Ford or a Holden car. That's half the battle of proving that you want to be Aussies! But you have to choose one brand then stick with it for LIFE. (I recommend Ford, my hubby recommends Holden - it's one or the other, there is no inbetween).

PS Happyfingers, you crack me up

besides your dog may be racially victimised by all the Aussie dogs

Hmmmm..... Welcome to Australia!! Where the larrikin is alive and thriving!

 

[HappyFingers]

Hehe yes im a **** i type what i think and sometimes that gets me into trouble

but im getting better

one thing you will notice chesire is that we dont have guns here in Aus

well sort of not really we dont

i mean the cops have guns and so do some security guards (like money collection guards, aka armour guard)

you can easily go a whole week, a month even without even seeing a gun

and that is just the way we like it

whilst we understand the culture around guns in the USA is vastly different for a number of reasons, all we ask is that other cultures also understand that we like not having easy access to guns

i mean if i really really wanted a gun i could get one (legally) but it would take time and i would have to undergo a number of different qualifiying criteria

illegally i would just need money and find the right guy called spiro in lygon st so i could get hooked up

gun crime here in Aus is reasonably rare because of all the hinderences to getting one and most people dont know spiro or wish to assosiate with him

we have become accustomed to this policy around guns, we dont feel like our rights have been taken away because of this policy (the majority anyway)

i mean dont get me wrong, i like guns, they are pretty and manly and make me want to grunt

but they kill people, so i dont need to collect them

but trust me you really will notice the lack of guns

but maybe not so much in Canberra

please im joking

 

[kylieh]

After the gun differences the next major or big culture difference is attitude to swearing, nudity, and gambling. And vegemite.

Gambling - Melbourne has a public holiday for the Melbourne Cup (Horse Race.) Most of the rest of the country is semi-shutdown for the day, or at least the afternoon when we have sweeps. Nearly everyone participates in a sweep or place a bet at the TAB on Melbourne Cup day. I don't need to go to a casino to gamble either. I can go to my local club and play the pokies (slots) almost anytime of day or night. There is a club in almost every suburb, sometimes two or three or four! The odds for elections are on tv and it's never a problem.

Swearing - We don't all swear, much , but it is pretty common, but not that common, if that makes any sense. And it's on the tv past 8.30 at night. If someone swears when your out an about just ignore it. Everyone else will.

Nudity - we don't worry about wardrobe malfunctions - aka Janet Jackson at the Superbowl. It's not shock horror how dare that happen on tv, it's more laugh time at the person's expense.

Vegemite - kids have vegemite sandwiches for lunch at school. I have it on toast for breakfast. Spread it thin. Really thin. Almost transparent. Don't let anyone make you think you spread it thick. It's good with cheese, and sometimes for bananas. OK I like it with bananas. Can also add it rather than salt and/or Worcestershire to your meatloaf or meatballs, perhaps a teaspoon.

PS - We're a Holden family... though we drive a Honda at present!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Chesire - sent you a PM. Just wanting to know what sort of work DH might be interested in.

 

[Chesire]

I am rather looking forward to not seeing gun shops around! They are everywhere here (i live in Nevada ... most people do not seem to realize the wild west days have ended).
We also are surrounded by casinos, it will be interesting too see the differences (and I am looking forward to seeing a horse race!).
The problem with the dog is not the boys (well, not the little boys ..). He is my husband's dog. He has also been slept on, climbed on, sat on, used as a blanket and a bed ... he is wonderful with the boys. We are checking with some agents about finding a rental that would allow him.
I will head your advice about the vegemite!

I just saw that PrincessInOz! Thanks!

 

[Chesire]

Update!

We got our visas, booked the crate and have airplane tickets ...
We are landing in Sydney on the 9th of June!! (not sure which one fits my mood better!)

A few days in Sydney then into Canberra (where we have the fun task of finding a rental).

I can't believe this is really happening