Hi George,

If you still need advice on where to live, I've just made a posting in the Tips/hints section of the forum espousing the virtues of Randwick. It's a great place in the eastern suburbs. Plenty of shops, cafes, people, but none of the "i'm beautiful" or "I'm so cool" image stuff you can get in places like Bondi.

Hi Gerty,

We've arrived and are sussing out the suburbs. Thanks for the information and advice on Randwick.

At this point, we have checked out Balmain and Rozelle only but we have a little bit of time up our sleeves to find a nice area to live.

I have to admit i have been surprised by the high rent.

Yeah, rent is pricey and it is only going to get worse. If you want cheaper rent you'll have to go further out of the city centre or what they are now calling the Chardonnay belt - 0-15km from the city centre.

If you can afford it, it's best to stick as close to the city as possible because that's where the public transport is great, where there are a huge number of cafes, restaurants and everything else that makes Sydney good, including, of course, the harbour.

If you can't afford it, or living close to the city is not your thing, no sweat.

Hey, we've checked out a few more suburbs, including Randwick and we agree it is a good location. It's tough trying to decide on being close to the beach or near a great cafe culture. At this point it's a toss up between the two R's - Rozelle and Randwick.