Newbie from South Africa.. to Darwin

[Arleneg75]

Hi everyone

I am a mother of 2 young kids and we are from South Africa. We have recently decided to emigrate to Australia. We are moving to Darwin, Australia on 20 November this year.

I am really excited but nervous at the same time. I am looking forward to making friends on this forum. Anyone else here from Darwin?

My children are almost 4 year old Caitlin and almost 2 year old Daniel. They both have their birthdays in February.

Arlene

[aussienic]

Hi and welcome.. I am not from Darwin but am going there for a holiday next year

[mrsmac]

Hi and welcome. I live in Sydney but lived in Darwin for 14 months, DD2 was born there.

[Arleneg75]

Thanks for the welcome. mrsmac, did you enjoy Darwin?
I'm quite anxious since I have never been there before. Visited other cities in Australia before and loved Sydney the most but we are off to Darwin since I got a job there.

We hope to get the kids into daycare within the first 2 months and DH needs to get a job.

Hope we like it there. Any info would be appreciated.

[Lucy]

I was in Darwin for a long while.......my eldest was born there....

We now live in Adelaide, but I still hanker for Darwin at times!

Where are you going to be living in Darwin?

In comparison to other Australian cities I found it small, friendly, tropical and very very laid back. It is very different to Sydney: much much smaller.

I found it very family friendly. You'll have no issues getting child care.......places aplenty!

Welcome, and best of luck!

[Arleneg75]

The company I will be joining has an apartment in the city and we will be staying there for a few weeks. Then we will have to find a place to rent.
Seems like the Palmerston area is very nice but we will decide when we get there.

I realise that Darwin is a very small city but I am sure we will fit in. We live in Johannesburg at the moment and it is also a big city so it will be an adjustment to live in a small city.

Regarding Daycare, seems like a lot of the cheaper places get filled pretty quickly. I phoned 2 places that were recommended to me and they both had waiting lists of over 12 months. So, thats pretty scary. There are others with space but they are more expensive.

[mrsmac]

We lived in Durack which is part of Palmerston and we loved it, very family friendly, good school, plenty of open spaces and parks.
I agree with Lucy- Darwin is very laid back and welcoming, almost everyone you meet is from somewhere else originally so they are very friendly to newcomers.
Are you ready for the humidity??