Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - adelaide- moving to down under

Hey,

My dad got a call asking him if he was interested in a job in Australia! I have never been there but its already my favorite place from all the research I have done it. I hear also how so many people love it. Well this would be an amazing oppurtunity. I would be finishing my last two years of high school there. We are not certain but almost positive that the job would be based out of adelaide. How this area? Any tips, info for me.

Thanks
Matt

Adelaide is a sleepy provincial small town that is very charming to visit. Living there would probably get old quickly for a teenager, particularly one used to the US way of life, however the surrounding area has many outdoor activities that are world famous and the climate is good. The nearest comparison I can think of is it is like living in Sarasota without the rich people (Adelaide is one of the less developed major cities in Australia). Personally I'd love to live there, but for reasons that probably do not appeal to everyone (it is near the wine country, for one, though everywhere is near the wine country these days).

[QUOTE=number_6]Adelaide is a sleepy provincial small town that is very charming to visit. QUOTE]

A think that few South Australians might take exception to your description of their state capital :eek: Good luck getting through the Australian immigrations next time you visit :D

Anyone know anywhere else I can go online to get more feedback?

Matt

There is actually a group in Yahoo called Americans in Australia or something like that. This is a group for Americans now living in Australia and they may be able to give you some advice .

Mind you..most of it is Australia bashing..."the bacon doesn't taste the same, you can't get the variety in chocolate chips, the marshmallows are different, you can only get fresh whipped cream etc etc etc". Just dig through the inane whinging and there are some useful bits in there.

I think they have now made a group just dedicated to whining about life in Australia so the initial group may be a little better.

Phoebe

Melbourne


Hey we found out the job is based in Melbourne! I think thats a good thing since its a bigger city. Opinions.

Melbourne is a wonderful city, a lot like San Francisco but nicer. It happens to be the biggest Greek city in the world (more greeks than Athens), to give you some idea of its cultural diversity. Lucky you, quite a change from Adelaide (if Melbourne is San Francisco then Adelaide is Stockton).

Melbourne is also much easier to travel internationally to/from.

Melbourne Hey we found out the job is based in Melbourne! I think thats a good thing since its a bigger city. Opinions.Population is about 3 million. Easier to travel around than Sydney. Look at Melbourne citysearch (http://melbourne.citysearch.com.au/) and Thats Melbourne (http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/info.cfm?top=259&pg=3059) for a start. Plenty of web sites about Melbourne

For the best cafe scene in the world - you're living in the right city! :)

What are nice city suberbs of Melbourne thats a popular growing area. We want to spent under 900,000 usd preferably. Would like nice 4 bedroom home, nice yard. Newer the better. What are popular suberbs maybe right close to city and some nice ones outside of the city.

Matt

What are nice city suberbs of Melbourne thats a popular growing area. We want to spent under 900,000 usd preferably. Would like nice 4 bedroom home, nice yard. Newer the better. What are popular suberbs maybe right close to city and some nice ones outside of the city.

Matt

That amount will give you some room to move.

To get ideas on what is available for that price you may want to check out www.realestate.com.au or www.domain.com.au or www.justlisted.com.au . Just remember that the prices you are are Australian dollars :) To find out where those suburbs are look at www.whereis.com.au

You may want to look at rentals for a while until you find out a) how long the job will be for and b) If none of you have been to Australia before, if you are going to be happy here. It would be a shame to outlay that money on property only to decide to move back to the USA after a while. In the current real estate market places can take a while to sell, especially the higher price places.

There are some people on the yahoo list I spoke of before who are now living in Melbourne so they may give you a better idea than you can get here. This board is mainly for travellers and while locals can give you an idea of where to look, not an awful lot of locals post on here.

Phoebe

What are nice city suberbs of Melbourne thats a popular growing area. We want to spent under 900,000 usd preferably. Would like nice 4 bedroom home, nice yard. Newer the better. What are popular suberbs maybe right close to city and some nice ones outside of the city.

Matt

IMO the inner eastern surburbs of Melbourne are the best place to live. These include the following names which you may care to research on the web sites you've been referred to ... Malvern, Armadale (not to be confused with Armidale which is in rural NSW), Glen Iris, Camberwell, Kew, Surrey Hills, Canterbury, Hartwell, Balwyn. These are in no particular order.

If you enjoy cycling, there are some great linear parks and cycleways that connect many of these locations with the city. It's a terrific way of getting around.

Mind you..most of it is Australia bashing..."the bacon doesn't taste the same, you can't get the variety in chocolate chips, the marshmallows are different, you can only get fresh whipped cream etc etc etc". Just dig through the inane whinging and there are some useful bits in there.

I think they have now made a group just dedicated to whining about life in Australia so the initial group may be a little better.

Phoebe

Had to laugh when I read this... the first time I moved to Australia, I started my research on the web too. First site that I got was Australian ex-pats living in NYC - whinging about pretty much the same things in reverse!

Talk to your dad about the support he'll get re: your schooling. In Melbourne (prepare for gross generalisation here), where you go to school is everything. I've been told to hire people based on the fact that they went to a certain school or college (we're talking USA high school equivalent, not university or tertiary degree), as it guarantees that the candidate is "the right sort of person, from the right sort of family". Ignoring the validity of those claims for the moment, I can say that school relationships seem to factor significantly in social situations here well beyond the teen years. My firm offered significant school placement assistance to employees moving with families - hiring relo companies that specialise in assessing what the appropriate schools may be for your needs and offering assistance in swaying the appropriate admission boards. Plus, our firm gave school tuition assistance as part of our expat package - your dad should emphasise the need for this even if you're currently in a public US high school! While its toward the top end of potential cost, I believe that Melbourne Grammar is just over $19K/yr for 10th Year's (Sophmores) in 2006. And if you're even remotely considering university here (assuming your dad stays more than 2 years) make sure you get some answers about how the university system works up front... its a very different placement process than in the USA. The final choice of school could also impact where you live (some schools require that you live in the district area).

Re: suburbs - if you have relocation, you'll likely get housing people that will try to steer you to certain suburbs based on the job, your dad's title, etc. You're smart to do your research and should be hitting them with alternatives rather than just relying on them to guide you. Our "experts" had a heavy push to Toorak, South Yarra and the Domain / Albert Park areas. Those aren't bad areas (quite the contrary), but my taste was to the beach suburbs - Port Melbourne, Albert Park, Middle Park, Elwood & Brighton Beach; the agents spent significant effort trying to push me back to their picks. You should also consider your access to transportation, as opposed to your dad's. Close to a tram line could possibly make your life a bit easier to get around if you have no car.

Good luck with the move - and prepare for really crap bacon! :)

Whilst jrk gives good info re schools and suburbs, just have to disagree on the "crap" bacon comment. And Australian wine runs rings round that from the good ole USA!!!

Whilst jrk gives good info re schools and suburbs, just have to disagree on the "crap" bacon comment. And Australian wine runs rings round that from the good ole USA!!!

I'll agree on the wine wholeheartedly!

Good luck with the move - and prepare for really crap bacon! :)

Get real! :rolleyes: :p

Maybe we could settle for "different" ;)

Thanks for continued posts. We did find out for sure the job is based in Melbourne. My dad is waiting on finding out details like school assitance and housing assitance. I also plan to return to USA for university even I want to come back afterwards.

Matt