Moving to Australia – In the Spotlight: Canberra

Thinking of moving to Australia?  If so, you need to be sure that you select a well established and reliable removals company providing international removals to Australia.

Moving Partnership (MPL) provide first-class services for shipping and removals to Australia, including removals to Australia’s capital city, Canberra.  Our removals to Australia service can alleviate much of the associated stress of such a life changing event. Our service works like this:

Starting with our worldwide network of partners we will compare a range of quotes for removals to Australia and find the best priced, most suitable service for your individual requirements.  Many of our partners are  BAR/FAIM accredited meaning that you can rest assured that your possessions are in safe hands during your move. What's more, because of our connections with removal companies worldwide, we are able to pass on significant savings on the cost of removals and shipping to Australia.

Our friendly team with be on hand from start to finish to provide you full support with your removals to Australia - answering any questions you may have and assisting with all aspects of customers clearance and paperwork.

We can also provide quotes for the shipping of pets, vehicles and other specialist items.

Removals to Australia - click here for full information on our removals to Australia service, or contact us today for a free Australia removals quote.

This article investigates Canberra as a possible location for you to consider when moving to Australia.

Moving to Australia: About Canberra

Canberra, the capital city of Australia offers everything you’d expect from a capital city however unlike most of Australia’s cities, it is located inland rather than on the coast.  That said Canberra is in easy reach of the bush, the delights of Sydney, south coast beaches and snowfields; something not generally associated with Australia but great for those who love to ski or board.

Canberra was chosen as the capital city of Australia back in 1908 as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two largest cities.  Canberra is known as the ‘bush capital’ due to its significant areas of natural vegetation and its residents are commonly referred to as Canberrans.

Despite being a capital city, Canberra offers a relaxed lifestyle; in fact the very spirit of Canberra is community living.  You can expect a clean and safe place to live with a low crime rate, great schooling and a health service to match. 

The climate in Canberra is less humid than its coastal cousins; it is relatively dry and has a more continental feel.  Summers are warm to hot and winters can be cold.  Fog and frost are not uncommon in winter and although the Central Business District (CBD) tends to escape the snow the surrounding areas do receive a spattering of annual snowfall and the snow capped mountains can often be seen from the city centre.

Moving to Australia: Living in Canberra
The wide range of housing in Canberra makes it possible for you to choose a lifestyle which is suited to you and your circumstances.  Housing ranges from city apartments, large homes and opportunities to purchase sizeable blocks of land.

Canberra is a planned city designed by American Architect, Walter Burley Griffin, and is arranged in a series of town centres which are divided into smaller suburbs.  Some of these town centres include Woden Valley, Tuggeranong, Belconnen and Gugahlin which benefit from individual shopping centres, schools and community facilities and more importantly excellent work opportunities - a great incentive for moving to Australia.

Woden Valley provides a good range of well established new houses and apartments and has an excellent location only a few kilometres south of the city, close to the town centre and Canberra hospital.

Further south is the town of Tuggeranong providing a mix of affordable new and established housing, large blocks of land and plentiful open space making it an ideal location for families.

Northwest of the city is Belconnen which is very much centred around education and sport - the University of Canberra, Canberra’s Institute of Technology, Australian Institute of Sport and Canberra Stadium are all located here.  Belconnen also offers fabulous shopping and fresh food markets.

Canberra’s newest town is Gungahlin which is popular with first time home buyers and young families due to the range of housing and the fact that it is within 20 minutes drive of the city centre.  In addition to some established homes and townhouses, Gugahlin provides the opportunity to purchase land and house/land purchases.

The careful planning of Canberra means that each of its town centres is linked by some of the best roads Australia has to offer and probably explains why the most popular form of transport in this city is the car.  For those that don’t drive, there is a bus service, ACTION, which runs throughout the city and trains which connect Canberra with other cities including Sydney.  Canberra’s hundreds of kilometres of bike paths are a popular alternative to driving and allow you to take advantage of the fabulous air and spectacular scenery.  ACTION’s bus service also provides a ‘bike and ride’ service.

Property prices in Canberra are relatively high but cheaper than the likes of Sydney. This attracts a young population with an average age of mid thirties.  Renting however is renowned for being extremely pricey due to the shortage of land, but this is offset by the excellent salaries on offer.

Moving to Australia: Working in Canberra

There are lots of opportunities for skilled workers in Canberra and you will additionally be rewarded with the highest levels of pay for full time positions anywhere in Australia.  The city of Canberra also enjoys consistently low levels of unemployment and relatively short commuting times - you can get almost anywhere in the city in around 25 minutes.

This is a well educated city with around 30% of Canberrans holding the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree which far exceeds the national average of 19%.

Canberra is home to Parliament House, the High Court and numerous other government departments and agencies meaning that a high proportion of public servants are employed in the city.  The Federal Government continues to be the largest single employer in Canberra.

Although a major employer in the public sector, over half of Canberra’s workforce is employed by some 250,000 private sector businesses which range from small to large multi-nationals organisations.

Moving to Australia: Leisure in Canberra

Canberra offers great nightlife, fantastic shopping and a cosmopolitan café/restaurant culture which is perhaps another reason this city attracts such a young population.

Canberra’s recently renovated shopping precinct offers a buzzing and vibrant atmosphere with a range of large department stores, trendy boutiques and more specialist stores - so you’ll be sure to find what you’re looking for here!  Not forgetting that each of the surrounding town centres provide alternative shopping, fresh food markets and entertainment adding to that Canberran community feel.

You’ll be spoilt for choice for eateries too; Canberra has cafés, pubs, bars and clubs in abundance as well as award winning restaurants offering fine dining experiences.  Particularly popular cosmopolitan suburbs are Kingston and Manuka which provide a wealth of cafés, fabulous restaurants, bars as well as trendy boutique shopping.  These suburbs are extremely lively at the weekends offering a great place to meet up with friends.
Removals to Australia - click here for full information on our removals to Australia service, or contact us today for a free Australia removals quote.

Moving to Australia - Top Australian Cities To Relocate To

Moving to Australia is a dream that many hold dear due to the high quality of life, warm sunny climate, the natural environment and the abundance of space it offers.  All of these things have contributed to Australia being ranked sixth in the World by the Worldwide Quality of Life Index! Now if that’s not an incentive for moving to Australia then what is? 

Rather than being a pipe dream, as it ends up being for most, if you are seriously considering moving to Australia then you need to look at what options are available to you in terms of removals to Australia.  At MPL we offer a friendly and reliable end-to-end service for removals to Australia by providing a full range of shipping and removals services from the UK to Australia and between most other European and international destinations.

Our removals to Australia works in the following way. We compare a range of quotations from our network of professional removals companies and find the best most suitable service to meet your requirements. This saves you both time and money when booking your removals to Australia, and we are able to pass on significant discounts due to the volume of removals we arrange. To ensure that our clients receive the best possible service most of the companies that we partner with are either BAR registered or FAIM accredited.

Removals to Australia - click here for full information on our removals to Australia service, or contact us today for a free Australia removals quote.

If you are planning on moving to Australia, you’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding on a location.  Australia is a country offering an abundance of fabulous cities to live in including Sydney, Canberra, Darwin, Perth and Adelaide each with loads to offer.

This article aims to highlight some of the top cities which people locate to in Australia and summarises the highlights of each.

Moving to Australia: Sydney

Sydney, Australia’s oldest and largest city is home to the famous Sydney Opera House in one of the world’s most stunning harbours.  Coupled with its easy going outdoor lifestyle, friendly people and a year round climate it’s not surprising that it’s viewed as one of the world’s most appealing cities.

If you’re looking for cosmopolitan style and elegance then look no further than Sydney.  Sydney is Australia’s London, with many of its popular districts named after London tube stations.  Oxford Street and Paddington offer chic in abundance, Kings Cross is infamous with both tourists and locals for its nightlife and dining, whilst the Haymarket is Sydney’s Chinatown and Liverpool Street the Spanish quarter.

Sydney offers a mix of contemporary and colonial architecture creating a vibrant backdrop to the city. And despite it being a city, it occupies at least five major national parks some of which offer views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House - now it doesn’t get much better than that!

The centre of Sydney occupies the Central Business District (CBD) and the cities major shopping centre amidst an eclectic mix of Victorian architecture and ultra modern high rise construction.

High standards of education, first class healthcare, cutting edge technology and world class business and conference facilities are just an added bonus to this truly fabulous city.

Moving to Australia: Canberra
With a population of 345,000, Canberra is the capital city of Australia and Australia’s biggest inland city.  Although it does not benefit from a coastal location as the vast majority of Australia’s cities do, it has much to offer.  An excellent education system, health service, some of the lowest levels of unemployment and the highest salaries in Australia make this a popular haven for the young. 

The city is well thought out in terms of its architecture making it easy to get about and congestion is almost unheard of in Canberra with most journeys taking no longer than 25 minutes wherever you are starting from.

Low crime rates make this an extremely safe city to live in and the culture is equally relaxed which is possibly due to its community hub construction where commercial and social activities are centred in towns which surround the main city.  Each town offers its own shopping, schooling and entertainment so everything you need is immediately accessible.

Canberra’s climate is not immediately what you’d expect of Australia.  Although relatively dry , winters can be cold with an annual snowfall in surrounding areas offering the benefit of nearby winter sports such as skiing and boarding.

Moving to Australia: Darwin
Darwin is a city with a work hard play hard culture and due to its coastal location in Queensland it offers its residents a wealth of wonderful beaches and the weather to enjoy them. In July, Darwin’s coolest month, temperatures rarely drop below 9.5 degrees - a winter us Brits can only dream about!

In addition to the clear blue skies, the vibrant city of Darwin is a clean and modern city with a bustling Central Business District and healthy economy to match.  This is a city which attracts big business with many global organisations in a range of business sectors located here.  Despite being a hub of business activity the working culture is generally relaxed with low stress levels.  Once work is done, Darwin’s fabulous outdoor lifestyle beckons with visits to the beach, a barbecue or a walk in the hills all popular pastimes.  If culture’s more your thing, then there’s no shortage in Darwin - theatre, ballet, opera, concerts, art galleries and museums such as the Queensland Museum and Sciencecentre can all be found here - Darwin truly has it all!

Darwin is also a shopaholic’s paradise; the undercover Queens Street Mall occupies some 500 stores!  Fashionistas will love the five floors of designer labels at the Myer Centre whilst those looking for a more bohemian shopping experience should take in the delights of the South Bank Markets held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Moving to Australia: Perth
Located in Western Australia, Perth is a location best suited to families looking for relaxed suburban living.  It is not the ideal location if you are young and looking for nightlife.  Perth is renowned for being extremely friendly and relaxed in comparison to many of Australia’s larger cities on the Eastern Coast.

Perth is regarded as a very isolated, almost island like city due to it being surrounded by desert on one side and a vast expanse of sea on the other.  Whilst this location may initially seem disadvantageous, its position means that the city benefits from an extremely spacious and clean environment.  You’ll also benefit from Perth’s Mediterranean climate and its spectacular Indian Ocean sunsets. 

Due to the available space, housing in Perth is predominantly detached with wide and relatively traffic free streets and avenues offering a safe environment for children to play.  Almost a quarter of Perth’s population is British and the majority of migrants live in the highly regarded North and West of the city.  Although the journey from these popular areas can often be busy, during business hours the city does operate a regular and inexpensive public transport system.

Moving to Australia: Adelaide
Although far from being Australia’s most well known city, this is perhaps the most liveable city of them all.  Again affording a stunning coastal location, this city has something for everyone whether you’re young free and single or bringing up a family.  Adelaide is a city with a truly unique layout because it is entwined with so much open green parkland - perfect for enjoying the  weather here, which is equally beautiful.  Heritage Parkland, stunning beaches and the Adelaide Hills give this city a wonderful family vibe.  The compact city centre and rural surrounding areas mean that this is a city with a suburban feel, making it ideal for those who want a mix of city and country living.
As the fifth largest Australian city with a population of little over a million, the cost of living in Adelaide is fairly high but lower than many of the other large cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.  Adelaide also boasts a state of the art, public transport system which is efficient and reliable and continues to benefit from state Government investment.

With its location in Southern Australia, Adelaide is known as the wine capital of the new world producing some of the finest whites, rosé and reds that Australia has to offer.  Aside from its wine, Adelaide is probably best known for its festivals, in particular the Adelaide Festival of Arts & the Fringe Festival which is Australia's leading festival taking place biannually in March. 


Removals to Australia - click here for full information on our removals to Australia service, or contact us today for a free Australia removals quote.