BobbyDazzler

Hope somebody can resolve a little dispute I am having with my wife:

She wants to go to Brisbane but I want to go to Perth

She says "Perth's too remote and isolated from everywhere else"

I say "If we lived in Melbourne and wanted to go to any city in Oz we'd have to fly. The same would apply if we lived in Perth. So what's the difference?" I also reckon that Perth is closer to home and Europe than anywhere else in Oz so I really can't see what the issue is

Ironically, we're known as 'Icks from the Sticks' due to the fact that the village we live in is something like the land that time forgot!!! Word has it that the gas board are coming round next week to install street lighting!!

Seriously though, for people who live in Perth or have lived in Perth and moved on, is the remoteness of the City a problem in day-to-day life? Is being 'isolated' a *real* problem that has to be overcome, or or is it just one of these phrases that gets banded about like "the humidity in Brisbane will kill you", "rainy Manchester", "dirty London" etc etc

Thanks

BD

sara-anthony3108

We are heading for perth and never even thought of isoation .. at the end of the day u have all what u can need or want .. as u say closer to home cheaper flights and if u do want to go to other parts of oz just hop on a plane just like u would in Brisbane .. I suppose there are more place u can dirve to from Brisbane but how many time to u go away at home once or twice a year. .. we have driven from Brome to Perth and down to Albany and there are some great places .. weather is also meant to be better in Perth ..



QUOTE=BobbyDazzler]Hope somebody can resolve a little dispute I am having with my wife:

She wants to go to Brisbane but I want to go to Perth

She says "Perth's too remote and isolated from everywhere else"

I say "If we lived in Melbourne and wanted to go to any city in Oz we'd have to fly. The same would apply if we lived in Perth. So what's the difference?" I also reckon that Perth is closer to home and Europe than anywhere else in Oz so I really can't see what the issue is

Ironically, we're known as 'Icks from the Sticks' due to the fact that the village we live in is something like the land that time forgot!!! Word has it that the gas board are coming round next week to install street lighting!!

Seriously though, for people who live in Perth or have lived in Perth and moved on, is the remoteness of the City a problem in day-to-day life? Is being 'isolated' a *real* problem that has to be overcome, or or is it just one of these phrases that gets banded about like "the humidity in Brisbane will kill you", "rainy Manchester", "dirty London" etc etc

Thanks

BD[/QUOTE]

hevs

I "lived" there for 6 months, loved, loved, loved it and still do, but i'm afraid the thought of living there full time was a bit freaky cos you DO have to fly a long way (or drive ) for hours to see much the same (north that is, however south is awsome)

You do not have to fly from Melbourne to go to another state in a day (impossible from W/A) We have been to S/A and Syndney and are hoping to go to Tazzie at some point (9 hours by boat with your car or an hours ish flight)

Of course you can leave W/A any time you like but it will involve a plane and it is dearer due to the distance.

Perth peeps, don't slate me, i love where you live and hats off to ya. I just know that I would need to get out from time to time and finances would hinder us too much to do it to often

NickyC

I, too, lived there for a few months, many years ago. I went over by train and came back by bus. That's when you realise how far away it is - when you see every mile actually pass by.

I like Perth; it's a nice, clean shiny city but it IS a very long way away from anywhere else. Living on the East Coast you CAN just get in your car and drive to Victoria or Queensland - and that's exactly what most people do. Almost all of our holidays have been by car. We've explored all the Eastern States in our car and about the only time we've flown is when going to Northern Queensland. If you live in Perth, there is no alternative to flying - unless you want to spend six days of your trip driving there and back across some pretty unexciting country.

Airfares back to the UK are slightly less expensive, but only by a couple of hundred dollars. You'd easily spend more than that on one airfare to the East.

I'm on your wife's side!

Simone

I'm not into cities, and there's enough towns and nature around Perth and the southwest and the Avon Valley(east), and the occasional longer trip north, and maybe to Kalgoorlie once, to keep me going for a few years AT LEAST.

And hopefully airfares by then will be a bit cheaper/we'll be earning more to go east, and overseas.


Everyone's different. I don't feel isolated at all, and never think of it that way. But I guess it's what you're used to too. I lived in the northwest(Kimberleys/Pilbara), and in the southwest(Bridgetown), and the first was very isolated, the second was 3.5 hours from Perth. So Perth for me isn't isolated at all.
Now if you come from the south east of the UK or something, you MIGHT feel different.

cranni

Perth is the most beautiful city,technicolor and clean. You have so manysuburbs around Perth, south west is beautiful, 2-3 hours south you will find other cities and towns orchards vine yards, dolphins not far away,we love it here in south west and dont feel at all isolated, we have been here 6 months from UK ,we are nearer to Hong kong, Singapore etc yhan we are to the rest of oz, and we are only 17 hours away from home. Good luck with your great adventure.

Hels

I have lived in Perth, but when I was little.

I have also lived in Darwin, Brisbane and Melbourne.

I am DEFINATELY an East Coast person. I love the West for a holiday, but even when I was a teenager, I felt the isolation.

Perth is a lovely city, and there are some wonderful places to visit and holiday. Its just not for me on an ongoing basis.

Kudos to those who can live there...

Hels

NickyC

That's not true.
Both Sydney and Brisbane are closer to Perth than Singapore is. Hong Kong is much further away - about the same distance as Perth to Auckland.
Jakarta is the closest to Perth - about the same distance as Perth to Melbourne.

AliMay

Ok here's my pennies worth!

I can only comment on Perth as I have not been to Brisbane. I have been to Melbourne and Sydney and would choose Perth over these 2 any day.
On a day to day basis Perth does not feel remote to me at all. The benefits of clean open spaces and outdoor lifestyle outweigh any negatives for me.
There are lively suburbs like Subiaco that have nice bars, shops and restaurants. That is sufficient for me.
We were here 2 years ago for a 7 month stay- my husband had a short posting. WE returned to the UK and within a year have returned. It is our home for good now. For us its a great life, WE socialise more, have a healthier lifestyle, our daughter has so much fun and its cheap for us compared to the UK. One thing I have repeated by many expats is that it is so great for kids.

We drive South at weekends to places like Dunsborough (beaches, snorkelling).
If we have a long weekend we go to Pemberton or Margaret rivers (forests, wineries, lovely scenery). On a two week holiday we drove up to Shark Bay and Coral Bay. We love camping and the adventure. When you drive out of the city particularly up North you get a real feel for the isolation- I guess it may freak some folk out but we like it.

The one thing that is important to me is that we have enough money to get back to the UK if we need to. If we didn't have this I might feel differently.
Good luck with your decision making. Its a tough one.

Ali

darkless

Hello Mr B. Dazzler,

I agree with you about the flying thing. Take trips from England as an example. Lets say you live in London - how often would you drive 14 hours (equiv of Brisbane to Sydney) or 29 hours (equiv of Brisbane to Melbourne -via Sydney - my atlas doesn't have Brissie to Melbourne in it :-D)? I guess that would be the equivalent of a drive to the South of France(almost) and Mid to Northern Spain respectively.

Ok, yes it is possible to do these trips, but realistically most people take a plane. Now granted the plane trips from Brissie to Sydney, Melbourne etc are gonna be cheaper than from Perth, but for the regularity you will make these trips (I would have thought once a year at the most), you may find you are saving money on your housing costs and general cost of living by being in the West rather than East, such that the difference in flight costs are cancelled out anyway

We like Perth at the moment, there seems plenty to do and we haven't even scratched the surface yet.

movetoperth

It's a difficult question to answer. Yes perth is isolated from other state capitals, but that doesnt mean we live in a city in the middle of nowhere. WA is full of small towns and areas of amazing beauty. If you want to visit another state you have to fly or spend a great deal of time driving, but in europe if you wanted to visit anther capital city you faced the same situation.

Your feelings on Perth positioning will vary depanding on what you are used to and how you live your life now. I don't feel the distance as i lived in the north of Scotland and if we wanted to go on holiday we had to fly or else drive for a few hours to have a Scottish Holiday, it's the same here, if you can afford it and want to explore the eastern states or asia you fly, if you want to explore WA you drive. We have traded our holidays in Florida for a tent and a group of friends we can have great fun with. We have visited some outstandingly beautiful places.

As for the being closer to europe and the UK, perhaps in miles and hours it is but you get more flights and often cheaper flights from the eastern states. I really dont think distance from the uk is something you can use as an argument.

If Perth was 2 hours drive from Sydney it wouldnt be Perth, it wouldnt have the same people living here, the same climate or native plants. Perth is what it is because of its isolation from the other state capitals and most people who live here don't have a propblem with it.

Lynn

SuperSeagulls

And it is near(ish) to Margaret River

SS

shade8

Tough one.Perth is a beautiful place too live been here myself 7 years.Fab beaches,climate,great for bringin g up kids.but the downside is the isolation once you have been down South once or twice and thats only for very laid back holidays.As for flying anywhere its very expensive from Perth you are looking at about $4000 for a family of 4 to fly and stay in a hotel in Queensland.
Housing cheaper in perth looking at around $370.000 for something desent looking at $400.000+ in Brisbane.
Good luck.

possoms

LOL sounds like our place, only we're not getting gas until next year so your lucky

Come to Tasmania its a home from home and only an hours flight to Melbourne

Milo

My husband had lived in Sydney so this is where he wanted to come back to. I on the otherhand never having visited this wonderful land before wanted to go to Melbourne, it really caught my eye with all the different cultures , seems to be more European, the buildings,ect. Perth never interested me because all the travel books you read on Australia always start by saying- Perth the most isolated city in the world SCARY :scared: and yet watching the travel programmes here it looks pretty good, I would love to visit Perth one day.

Queensland- beautiful one day perfect the next so they say, and I agree, but not for me.

Well like us you are going to have to make your minds up cos otherwise you will be having a long distance relationship!

Good luck anyway with whatever you chose!

Marie