Jen1977ni

...Wodonga and Yarrawonga .....

Anyone know anything much about this region and what it's like to live there? Also, I know different parts of Regional Victoria are called different names. What's this region called?

Any feedback would be greatly received!

busterboy

Good friends of mine lived in Albury-Wodonga and loved it. Pretty big town, nice locals is how they might describe.

Wodonga has its own website.

Alos have a look at visit victoria website.

Petals

I have just returned from the region, my son lives in Yarrawonga and we were up there this week to visit. We love it. Its got lots of pubs with great food on the Victorian side and good Clubs on the New South Wales side. No pokies on the Vic side as they have an agreement with the Clubs. The clubs send shuttle buses to pick up people take them to the clubs and then home again so no worries about drinking and driving.

We ate out every night as we do when we visit. We went to Rutherglen for a Parkers Pie which always are great. The wineries around the area are very nice too.

Yarrawonga is 30 minutes drive from Wangaratta so we were also down there during the week, dropping of my oh and son who rode the rail trail up to Beechworth. I dropped them and then drove up to Beechworth about 30 mins and had a look around and waited for them to arrive. We then went off to Yackandandah for lunch which was lovely.

Wangaratta is a fairly large town has a largish public hospital its a bustling place on the main train line from Sydney. Nice housing and close to the Milawa region Brown Brothers Winery, the Cheese Factory, Bright, Winton Race Track, Ski fields of Buffalo, Falls Creek and Hotham.

Not far to Albury Wodonga, Shepparton.

Lots of agriculture and sheep, horse and cattle studs around due to the irrigation. Canola fields, lucerne that sort of thing.

My son teaches in Yarrawonga and loves the country as the commute is fantastic and once he left uni he decided commuting Melbourne style was not for him.

Could I live in the area yes, but I am not one to follow the kids as they have to get on with their lives so we will stay put and visit often as its an easy drive up for us. We go over the back way up to the Hume at Euroa and then up to Yarrawonga.

Country life may not have the whistles and tweets of cities but I can tell you country people have a full and happy life and a lot going on and there are less lonely people.

busterboy

This confirms a lot of what I have heard too. I work with folk from Wangaratta and Shepparton and they say that there is a lot that the country towns can offer.

quoll

Um Northern Victoria?

Real Australia - big country towns but precious little rain unless they have had some over the past few weeks. Can be very hot in summer and not in winter. Sometimes apparently quite bogan - with apologies to the folk who live there who I am sure are not in the least bit bogan, it just sort of seems that way to me. Much more tangible sense of community in those places than in the suburbs of the big cities IMHO. Met my DH in Shepp so good for romance

Jen1977ni

Ohhhh your son teaches in the region? That's why I'm showing an interest in the North East as Primary School Teacher is on their skilled shortage list, is he Primary or Secondary?

Thanks to everyone else's responses, very very appreciated! Sounds like a nice wee spot indeedykins!

Petals

I think you are tarring the whole area with parts of Shepparton Quoll where it is a little yuck. Just because farmers wear farming clothes does not make them boguns and there is big money in farming in the region. One should not judge a book by its cover. Of course you have the English tinted glasses on and everything Australia is bogun to you from your posts. No offence but I have yet to see a post with a positive note in it from you.

Rain is missing all over southern Australia presently but they are still irrigating and the CSIRO have developed ways of sewing and crops that use minimum amounts of rain these days. Farming is a highly skilled occupation these days and most young farmers will have university degrees in agricultural science so they can keep up with the times.

quoll

Aw c'mon, you have to notice the difference between the big country towns and the cities. It is a world away from South Yarra or Mosman - I think the country towns are more "real" than a load of the bling that people usually head for and as I said, far more community spirit.

I often say positive things, you just arent looking. However if someone were to arrive in Aus expecting the stereotypical view then the culture shock of the big Vic country towns would be quite severe. It wasnt so much the farmers, many of whom went to Geelong Grammar and have oodles of dosh I was referring to but there are other quite different folk who are also necessary to the smaller communities. There is definitley a different culture perhaps I was remiss in calling them bogan which does have a nasty suburban connotation of burn outs and chesty bonds but it isnt the sophisticated city living that perhaps they would be expecting. I actually quite like the Vic country towns - perhaps even in preference to similar NSW ones but they arent in the same ilk as a UK village or country town and the culture shock has the potential to be greater.