Cathhenley

Hi, my husband has just been offered a job in Melbourne, we have a day left to decide what to do. Is mornington a nice place to live? What's it like for families? Is there much to do with a 2 year old boy? Are the primary schools any good? Are the bays ok to swim in? Is the wether ok? Have visions of rain and loneliness with two small kids. What about mount martha and mount Eliza are they nice places to bring up kids? Many thanks for any ideas or views am in a muddle.

wapping

Mornington is a beautiful part of the world .
Shopping you will get everything you need in the local shops.
If you travell 30 min up the road you enter the city of Frankston where you
will find all the big stores,cinemas drug addicts and drunks all the things you can find in any British city but no litter.
Schools are good and dont think you are going to live on a cattle station
with no neighbours for 200 miles.
We have tv/paytv/radio and great beaches so no need to worry.

Cathhenley

Frankston sounds lovely!
But thanks for your reply re mornington it does sound lovely, almost to good to be true just wish I could visit, thanks again.

wapping

Most people coming to Australia think its like the outback.
Australia is a cross between England and the Usa.
The tv is terrible unless you get Foxtel{sky}.
If your husband likes soccer there is plenty on there.
If you like Corrie street we are four weeks behind you.
Give it a go i dont think you will regret it.

Cathhenley

It's not that I think austrailia is some backwater, more that I'm scared of moving, I've moved a lot. I don't really care about tv and shopping, I'm just looking for somewhere safe and freindly to bring my kids up and hopefully settle.

koalakim

Hi there!

I live in the area so guess I know it quite well!

We love living down here as I find many of Mellies suburbs especially the inner ones not appealing to me personally. If I had pots of money then a nice pad along Beach Road along the bay would be lovely but....

We find the Peninsula is a cross between the UK countryside and Oz, so it's like Sussex with gum trees, farmland, rolling hills along with beaches that resemble the med or Cornwall, lots of sandstone cliffs etc. The bay beaches are safe for swimming especially around Rosebud where the water is very shallow and then you have the back beaches which face the ocean which are rugged with huge waves.

Mornington, Mt Martha and Mt Eliza are all lovely places to live and bring up kids. We don't have any so can't help you out on schools but I know most families seem pretty happy with their lot down here!

Mornington has everything you need for day to day, Frankston has some pretty good shops but is a little weird, it's no where near as bad as a bad place in the UK but there is just something different about it! South Frankston on the other hand is quite upmarket with some huge posh houses but you'd still have to go the Frangers (as it is affectionately known!) for shopping etc. For big shops then there are plenty of other shopping centres or home care centres to go to for furniture purchases etc.

The only downside of living down here is public transport isn't great. There is a bus network but the nearest station is Frankston. The train journey to the city can take between 50-1.15 hours depending if you can get an express or a stopping everywhere on the planet train. Most people drive to Frankston and park but you need to get there around 7am to get a parking spot, but it is free or there is another carpark at $2 a day which isn't much considering I used to have to pay nearly 4 pounds a day for street parking where I worked. Otherwise you could get the bus if you were near the stop.

I think it's one of the best places to live in Mellie. We lived in Brighton for our first year which is a very nice suburb, near the beach and 20 mins from the city but I did miss the countryside. Mellie does have a lot of parks which is nice but it is pretty much wall to wall housing. Mornington has a nice safe beach and a huge park with a playground for the kids.

Another nice suburb I would consider is Mordialloc (Buzzy Bee lives there) as it's half way between the Peninsula and the city, has a lovely beach, nice shops etc but like everywhere in Mellie over the last few years has gone up a lot in price.

Expect to pay around $450-500 a week for a 3 or 4 bed rental and houses cost between $400k (small 3 bed) unto around $550k for a 3/4 bed newish house.

Hope this helps! If you come let me know!

Cathhenley

Thank you so much, all your info is a great help. Mordialloc is some where else I had looked at so it's nice to know I'm looking in the right areas. Am being so hesitant over this move it's like I am stuck in limbo, I'm driving my husband and his new company mad. I live in Henley on Thames at the moment and it's the first place that's felt like home in years so I've been looking at places that could have the same feel. But impossible to really get a feel from pictures on the Internet so much better to hear from people that actually live there.

Buzzy--Bee

Hi Cath, if you want to know anything about Mordialloc or the surrounding areas ask away, we've lived here almost 5 years now. We did originally want to live in the Mornington area but it's just too far to commute to the city. Mordialloc offers a great combination of closeness to city and countryside and also it is on a great beach!

BB

MUST LEAVE UK

Is Frankston that bad. When I was in the city talking to some guys from the Northern burbs. When I said I was going on to stay in Frankston, they where shocked. They said it was like Liverpool !!!. I think they are a bit out of date. Tons of money looks to have been spent on improving the bay side area. The beach is also long and shallow, better than Mornington.
I did like Mornington as well, like the feel on main street and the pier area, even if that beach is smaller. But then went to the public toilet by the boat ramp north. Lots of tagging inside, blocked drains and a nice yellow syringe bin on the back of the door !!.
Yes further up the coast is good, but the prices seem to rocket beyond most of us from Mordy onwards.

Cathhenley

Hello BB, do you know any thing about the primary school in mordialloc? I know this may sound daft but in your option which of the areas has the most friendly feel, and do they all work well for people with little kids? It would be nice to go some where and feel part of the community.

koalakim

They have tarted Frankston up recently but it's still has it's element of strange people! The beach is shallow but then if you live in Mornington then you could go to Rosebud for a similar beach and it's a bit nicer.

I was late picking hubs up today and whilst he was waiting some young girl was having a f-ing rant, two people walked past him smelling of beer and numerous other strange people and this was at 3.30 in the afternoon. It's almost like there is a forcefield around the place keeping them all in around the town centre. I would probably compare it to Croydon, but Croydon before we left as I doubt very much it's as bad as Croydon now!

Unfortunately tagging and needles are everywhere in Aus these days I think. Mornington can apparently get a bit "lively" on a Sat evening but we rarely go out, we're always working or go round friends. We used to live in Brighton and apparently around the station was really bad for druggies and dealing and that is very upmarket....same goes for Brighton UK ha ha..used to live there too!

Cath, you could also look at Mentone, Parkdale, Aspindale, Edithvale, and any of those suburbs either side of Mordy.

Mornington and the area certainly has a few Brits or two, if this helps or hinders!

Buzzy--Bee

Hi Cath, Mordialloc Beach primary school is considered a bit average compared to Parkdale Primary School, where our girls go, and Parktone Primary School. Parkdale would definitely be the best primary school in the area, a lot of kids travel from other suburbs to attend it. Parkdale and Mordialloc are both great family areas - there are kids in every other house of various ages and there is loads to do round here for kids, there's 2 tennis clubs, a swimming pool which has been awarded best swimming school in Victoria, loads of sports grounds etc and then there's the beach - with the lifesaving clubs etc. There's playgrounds everywhere. One thing you may find is a shortage of pre-school places. There has been a big influx of people to the area and as a result 3 year old and 4 year old kinder places are in very high demand. Some friends of ours moved here in December last year with a 3 year old and have not been able to get her a kinder place in a state run kindergarten. So something to plan in advance for your 2 year old.

BB