aussie-nomade

We’ve recently moved to Hendra and honestly can’t believe how happy we are here.
The suburb itself is extremely picturesque and charming - old Queenslanders mingled with lovely new builds in tree-lined streets, with the clip clop and whinnying of horses making you feel like you’re much further than the city than you actually are (a mere 6kms away).
There’s plenty of cafes nearby for the caffeine addicts, fabulous childcare options and great gyms for the fitness freaks. Racecourse Village is a few minutes walk away for all your grocery shopping needs, complemented by some beauty options and cafes too. Meanwhile Racecourse Rd and Portside are a 5 minute drive for restaurants, bars and cinemas.
We live in a gorgeous house near the old stables and have horses walking down our street twice a day. Outside school hours kids are always in the street playing, whilst neighbours always say hello and often share a glass of wine at the end of a long week.
Coming from Sydney, we’re pinching ourselves at what we were able to afford in Hendra and are so glad we made the move up North. We never want to leave!

We recently moved to Virginia from Sydney and honestly cannot believe the value for money and quality of life we’ve stumbled upon.
We live very close to the borders of Northgate, Wavell Heights and Nundah, a 5 minute walk to Virginia Station, a bus stop servicing the city is across the road and dog parks, bike paths and parklands are at the end of our street - it’s incredible!
As soon as we moved in our neighbors introduced themselves and we often have friendly chats with complete strangers at the park. The area seems to be very family-centric and you can see that most residents are very house proud.
The streets are dotted with beautiful old Queenslanders and there are several cafes (including VEND Marketplace) within walking distance.
It’s 10 minutes to the airport, 20 minutes to the city on the bus and both Chermside Shopping Centre and Toombul are super close.
There are also great daycare options in Virginia, Banyo and Toombul.
Oh... and did I mention that you can get a decent house for around $650k?????!
Get in quick, this suburb won’t be a secret for long!

My partner and I loved our time living in Crows Nest - it’s extremely convenient to the City, has excellent public transport options, is walking distance to the Harbour and the bridge, has good shopping options and fabulous places to grab a bite or a drink. Additionally, the whole North Sydney is area is extremely dog-friendly, meaning you can let your dog off the leash at just about any park in the area.

Like most places in Sydney, however, it’s desirable nature is reflected in its housing costs - which are extremely high. If you managed to get in the market about 8-10 years ago, you’d probably by well-placed and have a relatively affordable mortgage. However, if you’re looking to buy now your cheapest option would be around $600k for a 1 bedroom apartment, which is exorbitant in my opinion compared to the housing costs of many of Australia’s other major cities (which are just as fabulous as Sydney).

Eventually we had to leave as we were expecting a child and had to consider our costs a little more carefully. Had money not been an object, there is no doubt we would have stayed. For this reason, the area is probably better suited to professionals and singles than families. Additionally, many of the houses in the area are on very small blocks, so if you have a dog or a kid, be prepared to take them to the local park for their exercise.

All in all Gymea is a pretty convenient place to live. Even though it’s 20km from the CBD it only takes about 40 mins to get there by train. For beaches, Cronulla is about 10 minutes down the road and the village is convenient for food, coffee & grocery options.
In terms of housing costs it’s still relatively expensive (it’s Sydney after all), but certainly more conservatively priced than other suburbs.

The major drawbacks here are parking, traffic, distance from the city (if that matters to you) & some of the housing commission areas. Traffic is getting worse because of the sheer amount of unit that are going up (1000 are being built just around the corner is Kirrawee), without the infrastructure to support it. Likewise, parking can be a problem due to density and the fact that Sutherland Shire don’t allow parking permits for residents.

Besides that, it’s a nice place to live and seems to home a lot of young families. The National Park is also close by for nature lovers and there are several good walks spotted around the Shire. You could certainly live in worse places in Sydney.