We are about to go on our fact finding visit and although we know we want to consider Perth we will only have time to visit one other City. If you were to choose one or other to settle would you advise us to look at Adelaide or Melbourne (we have children ranging from 3 to 18) ...and why?

Many thanks


Geoff

In my opinion, Melbourne. Its cosmopolitan, cultural, diverse, fun, sporty, old.....and new, Victoria is small enough to travel around it easily and see a wide range of countryside.

There are probably loads of other reasons, but I am getting sleepy and thats all that comes to mind at the moment.



Have fun!!

Hels

Adelaide is laid back like Perth.

Melbourne is double the size city as Perth and Adelaide, huge sport culture, though most of it seems to be watching rather than doing. Lots of work opportunities. But the weather is crappy. Used to live in Melbourne for 3 years, thats why I am in Perth

Siren's b/h

l think you should see both cities , after all they are fairly close to each other so it would'nt cost much extra or take up much extra time and because they are both very different cities. Melboune is alot larger and more crowded, the climate is colder then Adelaide but there are more job opportunities.

You think the Melbourne weather's crappy. Our summer at the moment is like the Melbourne winter. The temp in Birmingham at midday today was 14C and there were grey skies as far as the eye could see. Melbourne's weather's got to be better than this.

I have no firsthand experience of Melbourne but from hubby and in-laws (who've all lived there) have heard Melbourne is the city of four seasons in a day...lol.

Suppose though that compared to Canada...it has GOT to be better!

So far, I love Perth for it's laid-back, family oriented culture. It seems somehow much less of a rat-race here and much more focused on kids, family and enjoying life as much as possible.

Don't get me wrong, Perthites do everything full-on, including work but the fun doesn't get pushed to the wayside like in some big cities.

Tough call, if I were you, I'd probably want to see Melbourne, just get the feel of something different but it depends on what you're looking for.

Siren

We are 95% sure want to settle in Adelaide.

BUT

Just to make sure we don't spend our first few months (when it all feels tough going) thinking - "I wonder what it would be like in Melbourne/Sydney etc" we are going for a few days in Melbourne before we arrive in Adelaide for our fact finding mission. Back via Sydney for a real contrast!

I think it will put things into perspective. Who knows - we may fall in love with Melbourne, or Sydney even...

We don't want to narrow our focus too soon and live to regret it.

And it's a good excuse to see a few places before we arrive for good and have no time to go anywhere for a long while!

Excellent point, Olive 101, about wondering what the "other" Cities would have been like - looks like we will need to pay for some more internal flights after all.......



Geoff

goto adeaide - melbourne is swapping the same uk moans for the same thing in australia - bad traffic, expensive, the 'in' people with the 'old' money, and the weather is soooo lousy in melbourne. not a friendly city at all. adeliade really is a wonderful mediterranean-style lifestyle

I have it from someone who has lived in both Adelaide and Melbourne that there is a load of money in Adelaide and that it is very old money.Not quite sure what he meant.

I hate big cities like London and Paris but find that whilst Melbourne is fairly big,it is still small enough that the CBD is not a complete nightmare like London's or Paris. At 8pm of an evening it feels nice. The suburbs of Melbourne can be very nice - as nice as Sydney or Adelaide.

The weather is not the best - but it knocks the spots off the UKs. It's no worse, than say the south of France. (?)

BM

melbourne is worse weather than london!!! its nasty-nasty - sorry to differ!

Melbourne, agreed! Hels, I notice you are heading for Bendigo. We lived there for 5 years and on our 5 week visit back to Melbourne (just got back Friday) we were up in Bendigo for a day (last Wednesday to be precise). PM me if you want more info on Bendigo or whatever - I won't be at my PC much over the next week or so though. I'll post more about the trip when I get a chance.

OzTennis

Hi Oz...

Thanks for that...I really appreciate your offer. I am actually from Bendigo...an Oz in UK. My family are all in Bendigo and we were back there last year. Got married in Rosalind Park on the bandstand and had the reception in the Shamrock....

Where in Bendigo did you live?? Why did you leave?

If your ever back there, you will have to look us up...

Hels

Hi,
We got 3 kids aged 9,11 and 14 and visited all 3 places last year on a similar trip.
Perth was our overall favourite, great weather, beautiful beaches, fab houses, lots to see and do, a wonderful lifestyle...kids loved it!
It did feel a bit isolated tho when we flew to Adelaide.
Adelaide has an older feel to it, better weather than melbourne and cheaper house prices but not a lot in SA apart from Adelaide. We stayed 3 weeks with friends but started to feel bored .... depends what things you like doing (theres a lot of vineyards and outback nearby!) or if you have great friends/family/other reasons to be in Adelaide you might like it.
altho' perth is isolated a lot of places around WA are prettier/more interesting than SA.
Melbourne is the big city, lots goin on, weather not as good as the others
but great if you like sport, shopping, restaurants,lots giong on,
Guess you have to ask yourselves what is most important to you?
Weather, house prices and things to do???
Saying that we are still not sure where we want to be!!!
We liked Melbourne,Perth and QLD but feel we need to go and have another look... all of Oz was better than here!!!

Have a wonderful trip!!

Sherie

eh - seriously?

I grant you both have fickle weather and it can rain...both can be cool...or changeable - owing to the maritime climate..

Melbourne can string together weeks of summer temps of mid 20s and above, unlike London which manages days of late teens and above, and Melbourne's mid winter day temps of c.12-15 are better than London's which are c.7-10 ? And the sun does shine even in Melbourne winter. It is quite common to see no sun to speak of in London over the winter for a fair while.

London in 2003 was fantastic though. But according to mates it normally rains for most of July and August. London often has summer in May and June, and then the rainy season.

There is no ice to wipe off my windscreen in Melbourne.

BM