Above is a link to the blog that Nikki Wallman wrote about her family’s move from Sydney to Bowral. She points out that Sydney is much too expensive for first home buyers. Apparently they made a good choice in moving to Bowral where they bought “a lovely, light-filled, four-bedroom, three-bathroom house on a big block in a beautiful wonky street where daisies grow wild and cockatoos call to each other like grumpy old men.”
And she goes on writing:
“Enormous trees hug the skyline around our deck; we’re walking distance to town. We’ve made great friends who live down the road (Bowral seems flush with young families in similar situations to ours). We stroll there with the pram, past the “ducks crossing” signs, for drinks and playtime in the backyard.”
Nikki writes how much they love Sydney life. However, “the increasing stress of chasing tails and deposits and ever-rising house prices” was grinding them down.
This reminds me of C and M, who were renting for ten years a two bedroom unit in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. Paying rent in Sydney they would never have been able to save up enough money for a deposit on a house. Finally they decided they could commute from the South Coast. It means for them long hours on the train to Sydney and back. But finally they are in a position to save a bit of money and look for a suitable affordable place some distance away from Sydney.
C is our daughter. She lived with M for close to ten years already. M is the father of two children, who are by now both in their twenties and continue to live in Sydney. We offered to C and M to live with us for the time being. This should give them some time to look for suitable housing in our area. For Peter and me it is very beneficial to have family around. Right now C is away on an overseas business trip, and that means, we all miss her a lot. She’ll be away for all of April!
Many months ago, before the great influx of refugees to European countries, we did already some bookings for the month of June. So Peter and I are now looking forward to go to Berlin to see our German family once more, as well as some old friends. We are going to be there with quite a few of our Australian family which is rather exciting!
AuntyUta 