taylahlou

Hi,
Can anyone tell me much about living in the hills area, we are looking at Kalamunda and have passed though twice on holidays and think it could be just what we are looking for, the only concern is that we have two children 11yr old girl and 7yr old boy, what are the schools like and is there much for the kids to do?
Also how hot does it get without the fremantle doctor and are the flies a lot worse up there. And lastly how long would it take to get to hillarys as the kids really love it there.
any help would be great
best wishes
Sharon

Amazulu

Kalamunda is great - a nice place to raise a family. It's a real small Aussie town.
Schools are a mixed bag as per most places. Gooseberry Hill Primary and Lesmurdie High have good reps. Kalamunda High not so. There are good private options too. My son goes to Helena College in Darlington.
Kalamunda is a windy place generally. It can get a bit hotter than the coast - but not always. It's cooler than the area below the hills. It's cooler in winter and gets much more rain too.
I thnk the flies are worse at the beach. Flies are mostly gone by now though.
It takes just over 30mins to get to City Beach. Hillary's would be 40-45mins but there are much nicer beaches than Hillary's to go to.

taylahlou

Hi,
Thanks for the reply, we cant wait to get there. it looked so lovely when we visited in December just wish we had the golden ticket.
is it a very child friendly place? our friends are living in tapping and although its very nice its not for us, we are looking for a community feel with room to breath and maybe hope to open a B&B or buy something with enough land to maybe put one or two small log cabins for holiday lets if planning allows.
best wishes
Sharon

Phoenix

Well I live in Roleystone and consider it very family/community and kid friendly.
The primary school is excellent. The shops have what you need mostly. I love the view driving down mills road towards the city.
Its quiet yes - but we have busses if you're carless.
Less to do here than Kalamunda but that suits us fine.

We dont find it a problem being about 30 mins from the city.

Tis all good

Amazulu

Very child friendly. Lots of young families. Good public facilities in the area - pools, parks, sports facilities etc. There is a great ice-cream stall next to Bunnings that my son loves - always loads of kids there. Most of the properties are on large plots, so loads of space for the kids to play in. Taking my son camping is fun too - plenty of places to do this within 20-30mins of Kalamunda.

Good luck with the B&B or cabins. Sorry but cannot help you we info on this.

We love it here.

rockpeblar

We're currently renting in Lesmurdie and have a great size plot. Plenty of room to move around. Can't comment on schools as our son is only 18 months old.
We do get it hotter up here compared to the coast. Left home on Thursday afternoon and the car thermometer was reading 41.5C. Went to Hillarys and it was reading 29C. When we came back home at around 6:30pm the car thermometer reading was back up to 34C. I know they're not the most accurate thermometers but would say that is probably 4 or 5C hotter up here compared to the coast in summer and a few degrees cooler in winter.

keel

Kalamunda is a perfect place to raise a family.

I've got 2 kids, the eldest will be starting Gooseberry primary full time next month. It is a beautiful location with views overlooking the state forests.

Because we are on the edge of the forests we will not be yet another suburb swallowed up by the city. All the land to the east is water catchment so is totally free of development.

It only takes about 50 mins on the bus to the city centre, 40 in the car or about 30 on my motorbike.

There is a wet and wild centre which is good for the kids in the summer.

I think the average size of plot is about 1/4 acre (that's what I've got).

Unfortunately the area is very white, with very few Aboriginals or refugees. This is a pity as they do tend to liven an area up.

We do get the occasional brake in or vandalism but I think we are well below the city average.

All in all perfect.

Keel

chrispy

Having looked at a few places around Perth we came to look at kalamunda and fell in love with the place, really fantastic small town feel and everyone is friendly. There is loads to do, certainly more than most places, plenty of recreational activities. House plots are generally bigger so more room for kids to play... the pubs nice as well

Cheers

taylahlou

Thank you to everyone that has replied, it sounds perfect and we just cant wait to get there now.
hope to meet some of you when we finally land.
best wishes
Sharon

Amazulu

Sometimes. When I left the office in the city early on Wednesday the temp. was 39c. When I got home 25mins later the temp up here was 36c.

tawkins1

Hi
We visited my sister in Roleystone in Oct 07 & I must say the flies almost put my husband off going!! They did say tho that it was the worst year they had had so hopefully its not that bad every year

They are very persistant little "*****" they dont get the message when ya wacking them off ya, they just come back for more!!!
I think the hats with the corks on are a gr8 investment! Ha Ha

Sam

Lesmurdie itself has some very good private schools

My eldest is off to St Bridits

and there is Mazanod (sp) for the boys

Saves the journey to Helena!!!!!


My youngest goes to Kalamunda Primary and its a good school!!!!

But as Amazulu said Kalamunda HIgh!!!! NO WAY

keel

Hello Sam

Is the offer for a lift to the Maiden concert still open?

Keel