Sungold

Hi All, I'm hoping to be off to Canberra in the next couple of months assuming my ENS visa goes through OK so I thought I would canvas peoples opinion of Australias capital city. Why couldnt they have put it on the coast?

Everyone else on this forum seem to be going to more exciting places like Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane etc so there isnt much info on here about what life is like in Canberra.

I know people say it is full of politicians and boffins (have to admit I am one of the latter for my sins) but it has a lot of cultural stuff and its only 2 hours from the coast and not that much more form the mountains so there are positive things to look forward too in addition to the BBQs, wine, sun etc (scientists arent all mad guys in white coats as some people think).

In fact I am truely modern family man - for the last couple of years I have been a househusband and enjoyed it very much but now the tables are turned and its me who has got the job and my wife will look after the kids until she finds a job.

So I'd like to know peoples opinion of raising a family in Canberra. What are the good/not so good areas to live, schools, climate etc.

I'm coming out first to find a place to live and look at schools etc and the rest of the family will come when the kids have finished the school year back in Britain, so I will be separated from them for at least six months which I am not looking forward to.

I guess I'll be busy starting a new job and setting us up so hopefully the time will fly by.

Look forward to the replies
Oh and Ive heard that you cant get warm beer there
Steve

bondipom

http://www.summernats.com.au/

Canberra's annual celebration of hooning.

wombat42

The main complaints people have about Canberra is that it is a boring or souless place as it is a planned city and has a small population compared to
other cities in OZ. Someone once compared it to North Korea's capital.
Also if your after sun, beaches and a warmer climate compared to the Uk, Canberra is not the place for you. In winter it is freezing, gets -0c . However in summer it is warm enough to go the the beach, however it is a 2 hour drive. The advantages of living in Canberra is that it has very low unemployment because of the large numbers of jobs available in the government or public service. Nice mountain scenery,rivers, fishing, bushwalking ,national parks and Ski fields nearby in winter. In terms of suburbs, obviously the more money you got the nicer the suburb, but there are'nt what you would call bad suburbs with crime problems. The older more established inner suburbs probably seem nicer then the new outer suburbs.

anya4oz

Steve,

Have only been to Canberra a couple of times, but have the impression of a very clean, neat well-ordered place, with good public transport. An Aussie gal I worked with in London came from there, & she was always telling me about the fantastic ski-ing locally in Winter, & the good nature trails you could walk in the summer (she really missed that lot, living in London!). I loved the Art Gallery there, & the tours you can do of the Old/New Parliament buildings. Also, ISTR there are some Observatories within driving distance for a 'geeky' day out

There is a guy called Scutter UK who posts on this forum sometimes; he moved to Canberra a few months ago. Maybe it is worth you sending him a PM to ask specific questions - he's a very friendly guy.

Best of luck with the move!

Cheers
Anya.

PS - I used to live near St Neots - do they still have that brewery on the Market Square?

stressfree

Be warned, if you mention the possibility of living in Canberra to your average ozzie they will fall about laughing. When they recover themselves they will look at you mystified and ask "why ever do you want to live there"? I know this because my brother in law used to live there and we thought about following him there. We had small children then and for a family I still think its a good option but most ozzies seem to think of it as a bit of a joke.

scutterUK

no i'm not it's all untrue i tell ya!!

*puts his canberra touristboard hat on*

HI Steve!

yes, canberra isn't so bad to live in once you get over all the 'why canberra?' questions people will throw at you. yeah it's empty and feels like a ghosttown sometimes, but there's no traffic problems apart from the fact canberra drivers can't drive for S**T! and the police are pretty keen to try and catch you speeding.... but apart from all that it's great!

i've only been here 3.something months and i'm here alone so i can't help you with the family type questions. but you can get warm beer here, pj's in tuggernanganong or whatever it's called serves some nice kilkenny which goes down a treat! going out for a steak tomorrow night (they only serve cold beer there though).

i'm still to see an area that i'd call bad, coming from doncaster and scunthorpe. But aparently there are a few. pearce is pretty good and waniassa but that's about the limites of my knowledge. you wont have trouble finding somewhere though, there are some beautiful places around (well out of my price range!) and some really nice areas. everywhere is so easy to get to coz of the good roads and lack of traffic.

One thing i will say though is that if you're a beach bum, you're gonna be driving a long way to find yourself a beach to bum on. there are alternatives though and they're just as entertaining, but they wear more clothes from what i've seen (bugger).

canberra's not bad at all and i still can't think of a reason why anyone would not want to come here. fine it doesn't have the beaches, but it's very clean and pollution free! aparently it does get cold in the winter, it hit -8c one evening when i was here last in 2002 but that means a pleasant 15 degrees during the day also. anyway, i love it here...

*takes off the touristboard hat*

...even though i'm thinking of moving to sydney or melbourne now! :scared: this isn't due to canberra or anything it's just down to work and where the jobs for me are at. i've seen 3-5 jobs a day! advertised for what i do in sydney yet none in canberra... although i've not really looked here yet.

oh well. if you think i can help feel free to get in touch.

Leigh

Sungold

Yeah that just about sums up what I have gathered on my two short trips to Canberra.

I liike the beach but only occasionally and I am not the type to just sit there and burn. I like to do things outdoors so I think I will find Canberra OK as will the kids. If we want to go to the beach we could I guess follow the crowds and buy a small place by the coast for the weekends which we may do in the long run but first I'll just get used to the city and its surrounds.

Good to hear you can get warm beer especially if it gets cold in the winter. Cold beers OK in the summer but, I hate drinking it all year round.

The kids are looking forward to the snow in winter and I do a bit of skiing occasionally so I think we will be fine.

Are you the only person on this forum from Canberra??????

Steve
Steve

Sungold

Theres got to be better things to do in Canberra than that!

Steve

Sungold

HI Anya, You're not the only one on this forum from St Neots -I think Go Bananas was from this area as well. FYI the brewery stood empty for years but they finally refurbished it and converted it into apartments. The whole of the town has grown tremendously in the last few years. Its not a bad place to live - not far from Cambridge but its too close to the A14 for comfort. All I can say is the lack of traffic problems in Canberra will be a welcome change from gridlock that we get when accidents occur on the A14.

Steve

bridiej

The same thing seems to happen when you mention you want to go to Adelaide!

What's that all about?

andrew63

Steve
I lived in Canberra in 1995 without a family but escaped!
I am sure it has changed since then so my comments woudn't be relevant but what scutteruk said is a good summary.

Andrew

Kristine

Hi Steve,
Nice to hear from a potential Canberra person.

I'm going out there soon myself - when who knows at the mo!!!

You're not going out as a Family Services Worker are you????

Scutter is very positive about the place and I have a friend who moved out there two years ago - who also has only good things to say..

If I can be of any help - just let me know.
Kristine

sackofspuds

Out of interest, why did you go to Canberra if this was the case?

sackofspuds

Adelaide has the reputation of being part of the rust belt, economically. Few job opportunities compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

Sungold

Hi Kristine, Wow that makes only two people on this forum who are going to Canberra ! At least it wont be crowded.

No I work with plants not people.

BTW I went to university in Brum many years ago.

Steve