itigo

Hello All

Well having arrived in Brisbane at the weekend, my husband has just landed a dream job he was headhunted for.........in Melbourne! We may still move back to Brissy as it's only a 2 year contract but we felt in this climate we would be silly not to take it.

It's based in Geelong and I know that that's a nice area - are there any bits to avoid? And what's the rental market like at the moment?

Also, I cannot be faffed with lugging all our stuff through the airport again plus we have bought extra bits already so are there interstate removalists/air freight companies? We will have to talk to Excess Baggage as well as all our boxes are currently mid ocean on their way to Brisbane.....

What a kerfuffle, but a mighty exciting one!

Thanks for any help with my questions.....sorry I haven't trawled the search engine but we need answers quick.....

mika24me

Hello

there are lots of lovely areas in Geelong. If you are looking for suburbia, try Highton, Waurn Ponds, Belmont, Grovedale, Wandana Heights. For more of a city lifestyle anywhere around Pakington street is lovely (Geelong West, Newtown).

If you want to be near the beach then Eastern Beach (expensive but lovely views) or outside of Geelong you have Portarlington, Clifton Springs, and Ocean Grove (all lovely)

Areas to avoid - Corio, Norlane, also Whittington and breakwater to a lesser extent

A tip though - please do not refer to Geelong as being part of Melbourne,the locals take offence to this

Ozzidoc

I'm from Geelong.....some of it is nice, some of it is not-so-nice. Where exactly will your husband be working? For how much time is he prepared to commute to work? Do you have children?

Ocean Grove/Barwon Heads/Portarlington are coastal, 20-30 minutes drive into Geelong. Leopold (15 minutes, 6 miles from Geelong) probably has quite a few rentals.

East Geelong - older style houses (well, old for Oz), 20-30 minute walk....
Newtown and Highton are nice. Can't comment on Torquay - it's quadrupled or more in size in 15 years. There areas would all have a few rental properties.

Then there are areas which are a bit more rural (Wallington, Bannockburn, Teesdale, Inverleigh) or further coastal (Anglesea and beyond.)

Avoid Norlane, Corio, North Shore.

Ozzidoc

Too true! And Geelong is NOT sleepy hollow

I think that it is relevant to include Melbourne in the thread title though....some people do commute from Melb to Geelong....

itigo

Thanks for your help. Those areas do look good. Will try to get somewhere down there...... We are drinking wine and c******* ourselves now! The worst bit will be relocating us, our 4 year old and 8 month old down there........logistics logistics..........

Is interstate removal reliable? Are there quick ways to get small amounts sent?

Off to try and chill out now........

Laights

I live in Clifton Springs and its really nice, have a lovely view out on the bay, rentals are a bit cheaper here than in Geelong, you will probably find some rentals in Leopold because there is a massive estate being built there and houses are going up like crazy.

Lisa

slipshot

Good luck - I'd talk to the shipping company and the chances are they will or could keep your goods in port and then ship them onto Melbourne as most container ships from Singapore or whether the interim port was will do the Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide route - thus you could save a lot of hassle by arranging this sooner rather than later.

It is a pain but when I moved to Aus the first time I had all my goods on route to LA (USA) before that job went Pete Tong and I was offered a role in Melbourne. Took some sorting but everything soon arrived in Melbourne...