Lois1

Can anyone help.....if successful in our visa application kinda thinking of heading to mandurah.

Having looked at realestate.com endlessly, seems to me that you get more for for money in halls head, not looked at silver springs or dudley but is this the case with them too?

How far away is halls head, silver springs and dudley from Mandurah. Are they well equipped with primary schools etc. Is there enough to do in these places with a young family, recreational parks, restaurants etc

Sorry if i am asking really dumb questions! They may only be a ten minute drive away for all i know!

Thanks

kar-kier

I can only speak for Halls Head as that is where I am.

You are 7 mins from the centre of Mandurah - 10 max if the traffic is heavy in the morning. I think the prices here are pretty reasonable, but I have found that the plots aren't huge (in seascapes anyway). There is a brand new school in Seascapes - South Halls Head Primary - there is also a private school - Living Waters Lutheran College.
I have a 2 year old and an 11 year old. Baby and I have swimming on a Tuesday, tumble tots on a Wednesday and playgroup on a Friday - these are all in Halls Head - well swimming is in Erskine, but that is literally the other side of the road. We only have one car, which my husband has for half the week, and we manage fine. Public transport is not great - that would be my one complaint.

There are lots of fast food places, i mean LOTS - you name it, it's here! I haven't ventured to any restaurants yet, but there are quite a few, especially in the centre.

K14

Hi we live in Secret Harbour, but my girls go to school in Mandurah and my sister lives in Halls Head.

Halls Head is a nice area and is on the beach too. If dh work wasn't in the city I think this is where we'd be living. There's an old part and new part.

Silver Springs - I think you might mean either Silver Sands or Meadow Springs

Meadow Springs is nice - not on the beach though.

Silver Sands - is on the beach

Dudley Park - has a reputation for being a "not v nice" area. The real estate agent I spoke to last week said she won't even deal with house rentals there.

Mandurah is good for families. Very laid back but a few shops etc. Mandurah's train line into Perth is good (takes about 50mins).

Hope that helps.

Lois1

Thanks for that, my girls are coming up for 3 and 6, so nice to know there are things locally to do pre school age. Do they have "playschools" like we do?

Obviously a fair way off from getting to the stage of buying a property, but no harm in looking to see what you can get for the pounds/dollars! I am a bit suprised that in both mandurah and halls head the plots aren't that big. ideally wanted something we can put a pool in but our options seem to be quite limited in that respect. Not too good with measurements and visualising them, what sort of plot size would we be needing to look at for something that could accommodate this?

kar-kier

The older part of Halls Head, or even just outside seascapes seems to have much larger plots!! I've been told that 650 is a decent size.

Not sure about the 'playschool' is that like nursery? If so it is called Kindy here, and children start in the January that they turn 4, UNLESS their birthday is after June 30th, which means they start the following January! There are also a couple of private nurseries and a number of childminders.
If that isn't what playschool means, sorry!

Lois1

Thank you for that, you've been really helpful.

Yeah playschool is same as nursery/pre school only here they can start from age 2, though some dont take them til they are 2 and 9 months. However, i guess when the time acutally comes to it (fingers crossed!) she will be 4 by the time we arrive anyway, as she is 3 later this month.

Thanks