Australian international school.

[Sophwillsmum]

Hi,
My husband and two children will be moving to Hongkong in June. We are hoping that our daughter who is 5 and a half will be accepted to the Australian school as it works on the same calendar as here in Sydney. Does any one know the best areas to live in if we are to have her at school in Kowloon Tong? We would prefer Hongkong island as that is where my husband will be working, but we are open to anywhere that would be nice for a family. We currently live by the beach here in Sydney, so we were wondering also about any of the coastal areas such as Repulse Bay or otherwise the Hongkong goldcoast. Both of these seem a fair way from Kowloon Tong though. I would really appreciate any suggestions,
Sally.

[Bombalurina]

I went to AISHK about 7 years ago.
Back then we were located at Cheung Sha Wan and students came from all areas of Hong Kong. Most were in Sai Kung, Sha Tin or Midlevels, Pokfulam, etc. Not sure if they still do it, but there were school buses that went around and picked kids up from the different areas. Even if the bus service isn't available, don't think travel will be too much hassle as the public transport system is so efficient!

[cK123]

I would suggest that you live near Kowloon Tong, coz the travelling is much easier for your husband than your little girl. Besides, KLT is beautiful and peaceful, good environment for kids.

[Sophwillsmum]

Thanks so much. I have to agree that I would much prefer to be near my five year old than my husband for safety reasons if nothing else. Thanks for the input on Kowloon Tong, I didn't know it was a nice place to live. Are there many expats living there? Also what sort of rent can I expect to pay?
Thanks,
Sally.

[Tung Chung mum]

Hi, my daughters, 9 and 7, go to the Australian school and love it. We have friends at the school that live all over HongKong. We live at Tung Chung and yes it is quite far away from the school but we drive the girls to school (about 25min.). The school does still have school buses that go all over HKG but not out to our area.
Kowloon Tong is a nice area and makes life easy to get to and from the school. Some days we do fill-in quite a bit of time at the local shopping centre, Festival Walk, rather than drive back and forth to home.
Can you initially stay at a serviced apartment so you can assess what your family really wants while in HongKong?

Good luck with your decisions.

[Sophwillsmum]

I am thinking that if we live further out(possibly Clearwater bay area or Goldcoast) that we will have to get a car. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that they were very expensive though. Is this the case? Also how do you go with after school activities and playdates/parties with school friends?
Thanks,
Sally.

[Tung Chung mum]

Hello again.
We have friends who live in Clearwater Bay and Sai Kung. They also go to the Australian School.

When my daughters have a playdate or sleepover, they usually go straight after school on Friday and we pick them up on Saturday. The two families either meet at Festival Walk, near the school and about half way for both families, or we drive out. From Tung Chung to SaiKung has taken us about 45/50min. but this can change depending on traffic.

Seconhand cars are not too expensive. Fuel does cost quite a bit - we fill up about every week for 600-700 HKD. Pay toll each trip in toward town 30HKD. For us we weighed up the convenience and decided a car was the way to go.

[JRn]

I would recommend Shatin; much cheaper than Kowloon Tong or anywhere on Island side; more open space; convenient public transport (KCR) to AIS.

[BEL]

Hi Sally,

Belinda here!! Just happened to come across your post and wanted to say hi. Matt and I have settled in - we are going to be living in Pokfulam - pick up the keys to our new apartment tomorrow.

Sounds like you were able to enroll for the school, which is great!

Catch up in June when you get here!

[sooz]

Hi Sally,

I am from Eastern Sydney myself. I currently live on the South side of the HK Island.
My suggestion would be similar to Tung Chung Mum?s reply, which is to live in a serviced apartment first and decide where you would prefer to live before making your final decision. Depending on what you like compared to Sydney ? like convenience, crowd, open space, park etc, you might want to take those into consideration.
Since you are sending your child to AISHK ? it?s quite central in terms of location in HK, either drive / busing/ MTR (subway) to this school seems quite easy.

For owning a car, the cost of keeping a car compared to Sydney is about $HK3000 - $3500 a MONTH here for a car no more than 2.0 litre capacity. It may not appear expensive now that AUD is high. It can cost less if parking is part of the accommodation cost from husbands Expat package.

Personally, I would not live too far out like ?Clear Water Bay? or ?Gold Coast? Area - travel can be inconvenient. South side or the ?brand new building? - ?Bel Air? ? it?s part of Pokfulam area, is where I personally would like to live, because it has more open space and for children to run around, facing the South Sea, less polluted, not as crowded and much quieter. Easily accessible from central HK district by car or taxis. (You will find Taxis are quite affordable here in HK compared to Syd). For AISHK, there might be a school bus which can cater the pick up and drop off to your home, check with them. Bel Air / South side does have a lot of Expats, you will want to live around those area because of shopping conveniences, parks and beaches.
Word of warning, the Summer here is really horrible!

Anyway, I hope this helps you somewhat?.if you want, you can email me directly.

All the best.
S