need help with life decision! ... we might be moving to canberra...

[ogsmum]

good morning all mums from Canberra...:):wave:

my partner has been offered work in canberra and we're seriously considering the move. must admit i'm a little scared... as anyone would be moving from their hometown i guess :-) what do canberra mums get up to?

i come from a place where there are 12 month waiting lists for almost every childcare centre - and therefore haven't used childcare yet - but without family there to take him every now and again i think this is something i'll need to be doing a few days a week. what are the waiting lists like?

what part should we move to??? we travelled down there on the weekend and liked the kingston, narrabunda inner south areas, what are your thoughts??? i probably won't have a car - but love to walk and ride a bike - so would these areas be accessible do you think ???

any idea/comments/suggestions (or encouragements!!!!) are welcomed bub hubbers!!!

[mummybunny]

Hello, im Kim.
with the waiting list for child care tbh i have no idea what they are like but i would imagine they would be pretty much the same all over, i haven't used child care as i have had no need to with family close enough to take my 17 month old and not working i have been lucky enough to be able to stay home with my DS and not go insane lol. A few of the other mums use child care though so they may be able to help you out there.

Canberra mummies do everything hehe :D threw BH its self we try to organise a meet once a week to fortnight and get ourselves out of the house, we go to the movies, we go shopping, there are a few pretty cool play centers around we like to visit, and we have meets at each others houses sometimes too, which are great cause we can let the kids go and get in a much needed adult conversation :D

Where to live? well i think when it comes to where to live it depends on your price range, weather your buying or renting and what you like to do, you said your big with walking and the bike, then the Kingston area would be fantastic, your not far from the lake and you could go down there and ride and walk around down there. your also close to the city which means you could get a quick bus into the city and go shopping, or you can get a bus from the city either more south or north. personally im not a bus fan, specially not a Canberra bus fan. I live on the south side in Bonython, Tuggeranong, and i think its lovely, we are a 10 min walk from the shopping center on this side of town, we have the lake down behind our house, and there is plenty to do that (because i don't drive) i can walk to, there is a child care center around the corner and a play center up the road. :D im happy here.

i think it also depends on where your DP would be working. if he is north side, go north, if he is south go south, and if he is in the city try for the city, that way he doesn't have a huge travel ahead of him each morning for work.

How old is/are your child/eren??

good luck with the looking and keep us up to date with when your on your way if you decide to come, :D

if you need anymore info just pm me. ill help out where i can :D

[cinnamonbear]

canberra is fairly accessable with the public transport.lots buses evrywhere

as for childcare.. for a good centre in can up to and over a year..sometimes you get lucky but yes there is big big waits down here also. i think its a nationwide shortage to be honest

kingston is lovely so is narabundah..narra does have a few bad areas just make sure you stear clear of them..its usally the areas where the gov flats are..they are full of druggies.

How old is your son?

As for things to do..there is plenty in canberra, bush is close by so you can go bush walking..lots parks to explore, shopping centres, markets on weekends. we also have a decent zoo too.

coast and snowy mountains are very far also..snowy mounts has things to do summer and winter.

WE have meets reg so you and your son are always more than welcome to come along.

we are all really friendly here so dont be scared

what line of work is your hubby in?

[Lahri]

Good morning,

I moved to Canberra with my husband in March and we both love living here. We didn't know anyone when we moved down (due to DH's work) but I had joined bubhub and have been along to a couple of their get togethers and have met some great people.

As Kim and Kieren have said there is a lot to do down here and everything is pretty accessible. I live in on the north side of Canberra and my DH works in the city (well otherside of the bridge close to P. House) and it takes us 30 minutes in the rush hour for him to get to work. I haven't used public transport yet but will try it out eventually. I have heard it is great.

I am due to have our first baby in 4 weeks and so far services down here have been great. I have therefore not had the need for childcare yet but I know some of the mums here do so they could probably give you some more advice.

Where to live really does depend on personal preference, your partners work, accessibility and whether you are looking at renting or buying. I know there are a shortage of rental properties available and rent can be a little expensive so taking both of the above into account, that can pretty much determine on where you live. We love the north side but I know many of the mums on here are from the south side and they say they love that.

If you do move down here, we look forward to seeing you at one of the get togethers, feel free to post on here again or pm me if you have any more questions.

Jenna

[ogsmum]

well by the looks of it canberra mums are very friendly :yelclap: the info everyone has given is really useful and sounds like there is lots to do. i have extended family in the palmerston area, and my DP will be working in tuggeranong (spell?) so kinda opposite ends. this is why we thought closer to central and we liked the look of the inner south area. and i thought i might do some more study - and here would be closer to ANU etc.

so the childcare wait lists are long hey? hmmm. anyway, i guess there are other options - family daycare, etc. i'll do some research.

bonython would be really close to my DP's work. is it walking distance to that lake, etc? seems like a nice area, just a long way from my family. we walked around the tuggeranong lake on sunday. it was lovely and lots of families about! canberra has great facilities for kids such as playgrounds by the looks of it :-) we'll be renting out our unit on the gold coast and taking a lease on a place down in canberra (but DP's work will pay for most of it) but, yeah it seems really hard to get a rental.

I'll keep you updated on what we will be doing - and the decision we make. I'd love to come to a meet though :flowerz:

thanks so much for the replies - i feel better already :thumbsup:

[mummybunny]

if you decide to come down and have another look around, let us all know and we will try to arrange to meet up so you can at least know some faces.

and bonython is very nice, if its walking distance to your dps work that would be fantastic, and tbh a drive to the other side of town is not too bad if its not peak hour traffic, you could get from one side of town to the other in 20 mins.

good luck with it all and im happy to help out any way i can :D

[Ashi]

Unfortunately im going to give you some negative feedback, Canberra is a very expensive place to live, the rental market is insane car registration is also as far as i know more expensive than any other state, we are currently considering moving down to melbourne (where DP is from) ive lived here all my life but i have to admit in general everything is cheaper down there..

But if ur DH has a good job and your not concerned about money its a nice place

Good luck with your big decision hope you make the right choice for you :)

[ogsmum]

thanks for the feedback... when you say more expensive, other than car rego and house renting, would you say the day-to-day is more expensive? like groceries? i'm from the gold coast so things aren't exactly dirt cheap here either.

DP's work will be paying for the majority of the rent, but I can see that the prices really aren't any cheaper than here.

Thanks for the feedback, and good luck with Melbourne :)

[Lahri]

I lived in the Blue Mountains prior to coming here and we had one supermarket in the town (Coles) we lived in so no competition. I thought it would probably be either the same price or cheaper here and I don't think I have seen a difference, maybe more on offer here than up there.

I wouldn't say the groceries are more expensive than elsewhere but coming from a town with only one supermarket it is hard to say, sorry.

[Ashi]

I guess maybe from the gold coast to here its prolly similar, but compared to melbourne its mental lol!
honestly tho apart from money issues
its a lovely place to bring up kids.. i grew up here its very safe and clean for the most part

[ogsmum]

well we've made the decision to come, and it looks like my DP will be working in gunghalin now. prob is when we came down we only looked at areas south side cause that's initially where he was going to be based....so our biggest question is - where do we live? is gunghalin a good place to be? i kinda got my heart set on the inner south. is it possible to live in the inner south and have DP drive to work in gunghalin? or is that just silly and should we live closer to his work? we're confused....:confused:

i can't see many mothers groups or daycare providers in gunghalin...from my research on the internet.

anyone from gunghalin that can tell me what the pros and cons are?


cheers :):):)

[mummybunny]

Hello again :wave:
im not from that side of town so i cant tell you really what its like, without having a car i dont really venture over that side. but im sure one of the other lovely mummies around here will let you know what its like.
but i just wanted to wish you luck and say really i dont think it matters where you live and where you drive to work from, my DF is an electrician and he drives some days to the other side of town and back, he also has days where he is driving around all day. i dont think it makes a difference where you drive from you would be surprised at the amount of people that drive from the inner south to outer south areas, because they like it there and live there, that drive to the other side of town to work, and vise versa :D

good luck sweetie and if you need any help looking around im here to help :D

[emd]

If I were you, I'd definitely look at living in Gungahlin. That's where all the babies and small children are in Canberra, so there's far more variety of services for young families than in the inner south. The inner south has the fastest-ageing population in Canberra. Plus Gungahlin is cheaper housing than the inner south (inner south has the most expensive housing in Canberra).

[mummybunny]

If I were you, I'd definitely look at living in Gungahlin. That's where all the babies and small children are in Canberra

thats not always true, there is way more from what i can tell from research babies and babies activities over on the south side of town. tbh i don't like north side at all. i think its over crowded and I'm just not a fan.. thats my opinion though!

[ogsmum]

Hey thanks for the advice! Interestingly Gunghalin is not at all cheap in terms of rentals - we've been checking out allhomes.com.au and wow! really expensive!! Luckily DP's work will be paying most the rent. But it is interesting to note that families and stuff live in Gunghalin - I couldn't find much on the net :no: I have family in Gunghalin, so that's a pro for moving there. Thing is I like places with old and young people and houses and I think that's why we were thinking inner south. We are in a pickle! I think it's amazing that people from the north don't venture south and vice-versa! I guess it's pretty well equipped wherever you live, so no need! I just never knew there was a north/south divide till we went and visited :):)

[moftwo]

well, i just have to add my two bits as well.

Hi and congrats on the decision tomove to Canberra. Its a lovely place for families.

I live southside and find it is extremely accessible to all things child/family friendly. Having said that i have not been northside....
My thoughts on inner south are that it is more based for working couples with money - narra and kingston are extrodinarily expensive places to hang out, coffee and shop and i wouldn't think that they were child friendly really.
Having that iin mind, you can get from one side of canberra to the other in around 30 - 40 minutes depending on time of day so really - anywhere is good and family is always good to have nearby.

Good luck with your decision

[Lahri]

Hi,

Congratulations on your decision to move to Canberra, I am sure you will love it. I live in Nicholls on the north side with my husband and we are expecting our first baby in a few weeks, we love it up here and my DH works just past the city centre so I venture down there quite a bit.

Gungahlin is easily accessible and pretty new so as they build housing estates etc they seem to be developing the shopping areas and services to accommodate everyone. We are looking at buying a property in the upcoming months and are seriously considering remaining on the north side. Nicholls is only about 5-10 minutes away from Gungahlin so I go there on a regular basis, if when you next pop down here and want to meet up I am more than happy to oblige. Perhaps we could even arrange a meet up there, if some people can get there, so you can see the area and get to speak to mums from Canberra.

I don't know what child care services are available but I can try to find out for you by popping into the local library and community centre type thing. Let me know if you want me to as I will probably go there in the next few days.

I like some parts of the south side and the inner south is nice, don't know what it is like living in either of those parts though because we are new here ourselves and haven't lived there.

Sorry, probably not much help, but thought I would reply anyway. Look forward to meeting you here whatever you decide to do with regard to living arrangements. You will be happy either way I am sure

Jenna

[emd]

kim, grass is always greener isn't it... I live southside and find that we're constantly losing services and facilities and being told "but all the babies are in gungahlin, we have to take your facilities away so we can afford to provide more in the suburbs where the babies are being born..."

ogsmum, if you ring Playgroups Australia they can tell you where there are the most playgroups with vacancies for new members. They could also tell you about any special interest playgroups on their list eg musical, bi-lingual etc

ACT Govt organise Paint & Play in Gungahlin on the northside, and Richardson and Kambah on the southside. Parentline organise Paint & Play in Ainslie (inner north) and YMCA are about to start one in Chifley (Woden area) but there's nothing in the inner south for Paint & Play. This is a weekly activity group that meets in a park, there are tables set up with activities for kids under 5 (painting, playdough, chalkboards, bubble blowing etc) and the parents mill around chatting and watching the kids get messy. Good thing is there's no commitment or cost - so if you just don't feel like going this week, nobody minds if you miss it.

Australian Breastfeeding Association has a very active group in Gungahlin, and they have a playgroup that meets on Mondays in Cook. There are other ABA groups on the southside, of course, but they don't have a weekly playgroup.

I have quite a few friends northside (I live in Woden area) but don't mind the 30-45 minute drive. It's kind of useful for getting the baby to have a quick nap on the way to playdate for the older girls (3 under school age in my house).

[ogsmum]

i think we'll be going to gunghalin. DP will be moving down on Sunday! so fast!

emd: thanks for all the contacts. i will be looking into the ABA meet ups definitely and the others hopefully as well. So you come from Woden? We drove through Woden cause i was actually born at the Woden Valley hospital (i lived in canberra for the first year of my life).

Lahri: Thanks for offering to find out about the childcare! I'll wait till we're 100% about the suburb we're moving to, but I'd really appreciate the info :yes: and I'd love to meet up, I'll let you know as soon as I know that we're moving down. My DP will be working in Gunghalin town centre so maybe at that shopping centre.

I'm so scared and nervous, but kind of excited as well :(:)

[Lahri]

Well, good luck with the move. It sounds just like our situation, we were given a weeks notice that we were being relocated and he moved down 3 days before me. It was a mad rush and things were pretty hectic but glad we made the move.

Look forward to meeting you and when you are settled come to one of the meets with us all. I know the other ACT mums would love to meet you as well. They are all very friendly, as you will tell from their posts, and will make you feel at home.

See you soon. Jenna

[ogsmum]

We are moving to Gungahlin next wednesday! We found a place to live (it was close to impossible!) and we're making the big journey down next week. Excited but really nervous...

Anyone out there from Gungahlin?

Will let you know when we're settled and then I can hopefully meet some of you ACT mummies!!

:wave:

[mummybunny]

:wave: im not from over that side of town but you know that im more then happy if you ever feel like the venture for you to come over this way and say hi :D and im here to help anytime :D

good luck and congrats on finding a place

xx
Kim

[Lahri]

That is great news, I hope the move goes smoothly for you and glad that you found somewhere to live. I know it isn't easy and can take some time to find a nice rental property.

As I mentioned before, I am not in Gungahlin but only about 7 minutes away in Nicholls. I am more than happy to meet up for a drink or something in Gungahlin when you are ready. I think a meet is being planned for this week, and probably again next week so feel free to join us when you are settled. I am sure next week will be better for you but let us know.

Good luck and look forward to meeting you soon.

[candiee]

:wave: i am currently on the south side but we are moving over to spence (north side) in october, spence is only 5 or 10mins away from you.

i am happy to meet up with you, i don't mind where.

good luck with the move and welcome to sunny Canberra :laughing:

[Lahri]

OOh you are definitely moving? Ooh good another northsider. :laughing: I am sure you will love it out this way, doesn't Bec live over there also?