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Hi Josem,
I've spent quite a lot of time in Australia & am thinking of emigrating there; however, having been there at Xmas I realise that Sydney is probably out of my price range, where would you recommend moving to? Pertinent information:
1. I have a wife & 2 daughters under 10
2. I have a steady income from real estate so I don't need to work
3. I have friends & family in Sydney so I would like to be within a couple of hours drive.
4. I would like to be close to a good beach
Cheers.
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I'm not a fan of living outside major cities. Be aware that my own demographic (25 year old, single, mobile, etc.) is not reflective of yours, so my view of the world might be biased.
If you want to live outside Sydney, in a decent sized town (I'm going to exclude country towns simply because they're unlikely to have the services and schools and facilities you want) but within driving of distance of Sydney, you have two main options:
1) Newcastle region, north of Sydney.
2) Wollongong region, south of Sydney.
Co-incidentally, I currently live in Newcastle. Newcatle (and surrounds) have some sensational beaches, and I reckon they're better than Wollongong's. I also suspect that Newcastle is likely to grow more in the future than Wollongong, and is currently a city of over 500,000 people.
I took a photo of the beach at the end of my street; it is here:
http://www.michaeljosem.com/uploaded...ach-789928.JPG
Other possibilities include the North Coast (4 or more hours north of Sydney; literally the best weather in the world; smaller cities/towns than Newcastle/Wollongong); the NSW Central Coast (which to me seems like a suburban extension of Sydney without the excellent services you get in a main city).
Some more info:
www.nsw.gov.au (State Govt Website)
www.realestate.com.au (Real Estate)
www.domain.com.au (More Real Estate)
www.education.nsw.gov.au (State Education Dept)
Hopefully this is a start - if you have more specific questions let me know.