sydney to adelaide move

I'm getting offline right now but have bookmarked this and will post some answers later if that's okay.

that would be great! any and all advice will be greatfully recieved and poured over, believe me!

Here we go -

1. Can you recommend a suburb within say 20 minutes of Findon which would be a nice "family" area? Want somewhere like Norwood, without the Norwood price tag (am I dreaming?)

West Lakes is very nice. Findon is in the western suburbs so the beachside suburbs (Henley Beach, Henley South, Grange) aren't far but housing there can be very expensive and may not meet your needs. Glenelg and Glenelg North are about 20 minutes away but can be very expensive.

Further up on the LeFevre Peninsula there are some very nice houses in the suburbs of Largs Bay and Largs as well as some at Semaphore. North Haven also has some nice homes but is further north on the peninsula.

If you were to select some houses you liked in suburbs not far from Findon at an online site the Adelaide people here would be able to brief you on the suburb.

2. How accessible is Findon by public transport?

Accessible only by bus. http://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/ Findon is too far from the Grange railway line.


3. Is it totally unrealistic to live in Belair and take under 30 minutes to get to Findon by public transport?

Yes. The train from Belair to Adelaide is good but getting by bus from Adelaide to Findon would take quite a while. The Adelaide metro site has timetables on both.

4. Can you recommend any pre schools/ ELCS from personal experience?

Sorry - no kids so no experience.

5. Can you tell me a suburb which is in 15 minutes drive of an outstanding private hospital with paediatric A & E...DS has severe allergies, and so this is VERY important

The only hospital I know of which has paediatric services is the Adelaide Women and Children's Hospital situated at North Adelaide.

http://www.wch.sa.gov.au/

http://www.anzics.com.au/paed/about_anzpic.htm

I included that second link because it sort of explains my response to your question 5. Again not having children I am out of the loop a bit but I believe the ACH as well call it is the single service. Having said that I'm advised the ACH is a very good establishment.

Re housing. It's always a very personal choice but the suburbs I've indicated are very nice areas. Anyway this is Adelaide, we don't have too many "bad" areas but if you pick a suburb some of us will be only too happy to give a local view.

thanks soooooo much for your help! have been researching away from all that information, believe me...
At first, we have been offered a place to stay short term, which is in Kensington Park...Have got my son on the waiting list for pre school in Hyde Park, which is good.

Am thinking that we might wait and see if the office moves before we take on a long term rental...At the moment they are in Findon, but maybe moving, as most of the workers live on the "other side", around Burnside, Auldana etc...It is very nice there, but a little pricey!

I was wondering what the areas "under" hyde park are like... I can't think of the suburbs off the top of my head, but they are heading down towards Happy Valley, but not that far down... "Something light gardens???" Any thoughts on these areas?
Thanks in advance

Things look to be going well spunkymonkey - glad to hear it.

Hyde Park is a lovely suburb. Are you familiar with the American singer Ben Folds? He and his Adelaide-born wife live in Hyde Park when they are back in Adelaide. Anyway enough of the name-dropping Oh it has a great pub and a very nice shopping area too.

Kensington Park is also very nice. Very similar to Hyde Park. Auldana is lovely up there in the foothills but very expensive as you indicated. Great view of the city at night though.

Colonel Light Gardens is the suburb you're thinking of. Again a very nice area, it has an interesting history being a new form of development when it was originally established just after WW2 I believe (they had to create an Act of Parliament to create it). Anyway other areas in the vicinity are Goodwood, Millswood, Unley, Unley Park (note - Unley Park has quite a few mansions - real ones), Parkside, Fullarton, Malvern.

All of those areas as well served by public transport. The bus is probably the most practical but you can get the tram from Goodwood.

Happy Valley is a long way south of those areas (the ones I have nominated usually rejoice under the rubric of "leafty eastern suburbs") and is closer to places like Aberfoyle Park and Reynella.