kerrieee

My husband is fortunate enough to have one of those careers classed as essential by the Australian Government. Consequently, his UK office has offered to transfer him internally. Fantastic news aye? , but now we have a dilemma, because we have been given several locations for settling.
The company has offered us a choice of working in Brisbane, Melbourne or Adelaide. Our gut feeling would be to go for Brisbane; from what I can see, the cost of living is reasonable (middle for diddle) and let's be honest, we love the sunshine.

Second, there is a chance of working in Melbourne (recently voted best place in the world to live ). We already have a friend there too, but the additional expense of living there put's us off slightly.

Finally, my husband has been offered a HUGE career opportunity in Adelaide, it would be a massive leap for him. The thing is, it's not all about the money is it? Aside from the work, I guess it's even cheaper than Brisbane to live there, property is cheaper, but it is a smaller town and we think the weather is more UK styleee (is this right?)

We are completely torn by all three at the moment Can anyone offer us any advice? Career's are one thing but really, we want the best possible prospects for our whole family. We have 13 year old son and a 10 year old Daughter. We want to encourage them to be more outdoorsey with their lives, which is why we were originally tempted to go for Brisbane.

What do you reckon everyone? - Boy relocation is scary isn't it?!!! :scared:

ROBnCAZ

Hi Kerrieee

I think at some stage of this process, most of us have faced similar dilemmas...us included!

Here are my opinions:

Brisbane is a big city, hot but VERY humid in the summer. The city itself and surrounding suburbs are not particularly close to any beaches, you need to get in the car and plan it etc....

If I were you I would discount Melbourne - British weather and quite pricey (comparatively).

I have a cousing living in Adelaide - he rants about it! Been in Oz 15 years and has lived in Brisbane, Sydney and now Adelaide. Great weather, not too hot, not too cold and with proper seasons. Best of all worlds, mountains, countryside, beaches and city life......

Is there not an option to go to Perth....thats where we're orf to!!

Good luck with it all.....

chrismcevoy

Housing in Brisbane has become expensive of late. Also, the climate doesn't suit everyone (you need to experience summer there to know if you can stand the humidity).

As long as you don't expect to live on the beach, or right in the centre of the city, Melbourne is pretty affordable. If you don't mind living 30 minutes out of the city, you can pick up a nice 3 bed detached house for about $200,000.

I wouldn't recommend Adelaide ... there's literally nothing there. It's cheap for a good reason!

Bordy

I honestly can't remember too many days in the 30s & 40s back in the Borders of Scotland but keep telling them that & let them all go to Brissy.

kerrieee

Thanks for the info ,we lived Middle East for three years, so used to humid weather.
Company wants us over in six to eight weeks
I'm leaning towards Melbourne but big D (hubby) more for Brisbane. thanks chrismcevoy and ROBnCAZ for your views

chrismcevoy

I think you'll be happy in either Brisbane or Melbourne - they are both great places to live. Melbourne has a bit more variety and culture, but is a bit more hectic than Brisbane.

Flip a coin time!

andy thomas

I think you will find the weather in Victoria is more like Spain, 15 degs in the winter and a damn sight warmer than the UK in summer, which incidently lasts a bit longer than the 2 weeks you get in August.

Andy

Dinnie

Andy - a City fan I see. I was invited to a corporate dinner there a few weeks ago (through work) and sat next to an old director of the club - regaled me with tales all night. Nice bloke.

Now, with regards to the weather in Melbourne - not sure who said it was like Britain's weather but you've either not been there or don't remember how bloody cold it gets here or that an English summer rarely reaches temperatures of upwards of 35 degrees! I think Andy is right however it probably gets a little colder than 15 degs but not much colder.

Now that the facts are straight - which city to choose? Being a Melbournian I am biased but most Brits I know who go there rate it over Sydney and my British hubby says its a place where you just go to be. Good restaurants, cafes, things to see and do or just a place to hang out. We love it. I like Brisbane but it is smaller and to live near the beach is pricey. I have friends in Adelaide who ABSOLUTELY love it!

I don't envy you at all - chosing a place to live having not been to any but I think you'd like Adelaide. Again, Australian cities are not like European ones where everything is obvious - you have to live there, get in with the locals and dig around. Good luck!

Cheers
Dinnie

marco121068

I wouldn't have classified the Middle East as Humid!

Dinnie

True actually. Brisbane is very humid, Sydney less so and Melbourne - Adelaide are hot and dry. Good spot Marco!

Dinnie

kerrieee

Hi Dinnie, In the U.A.E the humidity is very high in the summer months, humidity reaches up to 100% day and night for eight months of year, which is unbearable for any more than a few minutes, so it's pretty extreme over there.
Anyway, AC is a marvelous thing, so these days you normally don't stay in it for long.

We know humidity is high in Brisbane, but is it so bad?

OzTennis

Not an easy decision to make but a nice one. You aren't choosing between Baghdad and Port Moresby (recently voted the 2 worst places in the world to live) after all! What can go much wrong if you end up in any of these 3 I ask myself?

Each has their own attractions and they have been generally summed up well (apart from the Melbourne weather - how can a place of mid 30's latitude have the same climate as a place of mid 50's latitude??) I come from Melbourne, have visited Adelaide and Brisbane often and have friends living there as well. I've been in Brissie in summer and yes, high humidity can be a problem. The southerners don't flood north in winter only for a reason. Notice how many cheap holidays in Queensland are on offer in the UK from November to March.

Melbourne is generally more expensive property wise than Brisbane but the traditional gap between them has narrowed much in the last decade. It is the cultural, sporting and business capital of Australia so obviously has much more of that nature to offer than Brisbane or Adelaide if this is important (no arguments from Sydneysiders about this - accepted fact).

OzTennis

Shellfish

Melbourne

DianneH68

Haven't been to Adelaide so can't comment.
Spent a week in Melbourne in August and it was bloody cold :scared: OK, maybe not as cold as England, but you definitely needed a coat on at all times and the night time was really really really cold. Have heard it can be like this for quite a few weeks/months over winter. Also have a friend who is from there, now living in Brisbane, and she would never go back to Melbourne because of the climate.
That said, it's a fantastic city.
I've been in Brisbane for a few weeks now and honestly wouldn't want to live anywhere else. It's much warmer than Mel in winter and, although it's getting pretty humid now, I love it!
You do seem to get a lot of rain/storms in summer though, but it's not too bad cos it's still hot
It's a fantastic city too, and the proximity to the Gold and Sunshine Coasts mean you have plenty of options for weekends away/trips to the beach.
I guess weather-wise it depends what you prefer - I'd rather have a too hot summer than a tool cold winter!
By the way, would there be a chance that you could give it a year in your chosen detination then, if you decided you preferred one of the other places, move again with the company?
Anyway, good luck - what a fantastic dilemma to have

Pollyana

Brisbane can get (relatively) chilly in the winter - we had a few nights down to about 6 degrees this year, and you soon acclimatise, and start needing a coat in temps that would have been UK t-shirt weather.