Perth Hills
 

Just got back from our 3 week reccie trip - had a fab time even though it rained for almost the entire 21 days!!

The only place we really felt 'at home' was up in the hills (we live in the Chiltern Hills here in the UK). We visited friends in Mount Helena and did lots of driving around in the Hills slightly closer to the City (I think Mt Helena may be a little too far out for us).

What we really need now is a rounded view (good & bad) of life in the Hills - our friends who live there love it too much to be objective!!

Our main points of concern are: where good primary & Snr schools are, are flies much more bountiful there compared to the coast, how bearable is the heat / cold, will the hills be too quiet for our boys who are 17, 12 & 8 in terms of things for them to do, are sporting facilities good such as cricket clubs, football (soccer) clubs, etc.

Any views welcomed.

:wub:
Karen & Co xx

Re: Perth Hills
 

I went to school (boarding school) in lesmurdie and loved it. I dont recall there being more flies etc but i would live there in a heart beat (if not for the fact that my job is "down south" of course)

Re: Perth Hills
 

oops sorry- sport facilities and clubs are plentiful and loads of stuff to do. the only negative i can think of is that it is not close to beach (obviously lol) but for me that is no worries as id prefer the hills anyway.

Re: Perth Hills
 

we're hillbillies so feel qualified to answer this :)







It depends which part of "the hills" you want to live in.

The "Perth Hills" stretch along the darling range from bindoon down to keysbrook - a distance of about 100 km.

Most people in Perth - when talking about "the hills" mean either mundaring and surrounds or kalamunda/lesmurdie.

Schoolswise - Kalamunda consistently scores in the top 10% for the state in terms of high school performance - more often than not in the top 3%. Mundaringshire has a montesorri school as well as a few other "alternatives", but Kalamunda is definately the 'top' for schools

businesswise - its easier to get into town (CBD) from mundaring surrounds than from Kalamunda/Lesmurdie

shopwise - Kalamunda definately has the best shopping in the whole of the hills district

propertywise - Kalamunda/gooseberry hill is the more expensive area. If you want to live cheaply in "the hills" go to a suburb of chittering or Jarrahdale, but be prepared to pay for it travelwise if you want to work.

heatwise - the hills are always a couple of degrees hotter in the summer and a couple of degrees colder in the winter than perth coastal. Plus you do get more flies but you also get more wind, which blows away the flies.








Personally we live on the border of greenmount & darlington and IMO have the best of everything.

We're 10 mins driving from Kalamunda, 10 mins from mundaring, 10 mins from midland (and the train station) and 5 mins from one of the best wineries in Perth (darlington). The absolute best winery is in chittering but darlington is a damn fine second!

Plus we're right on the edge of a national park and get all sorts of wild life in the garden (including my "semi" tame kangaroo family and my 2 bobtail families)

I get home from working in Perth CBD each night and sit out on the front veranda with a glass of wine and all I can hear is the bird song and all I can see is trees.

The added attraction is that Greenmount isnt expensive. You'll get a 4x2 for under S600K. Theres not many places in the hills where you can do that unless you are prepared to sacrifice distance.

But I dont think you'll like living in "the hills" :ohmy::p:rofl: and certainly not greenmount / darlington :p:):rofl::D;) !

Re: Perth Hills
 

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

We drove around most of the areas you mention and really liked them, especially Mundaring. We really liked the Noblewood Estate in Mundaring and something along those lines (an acreage estate) would suit us down to the ground as you have the neighbours but with plenty of room between you!

I had been told to steer clear of Kalamunda High School but after reading your post it seems the person who gave me that info was very misinformed :zzz:, I'm glad I asked the question as we liked Kalamunda but had been put off by what we were led to believe were poor schools in that area!

Karen x

Re: Perth Hills
 

Send a pm to Sam. She lives up that way and works in one of the local high schools ;)

Re: Perth Hills
 

I'm in the Hills and have a child at Kalamunda High. It used to have a good reputation, but this has been dropping each year for a while now. Lesmurdie High is far better and would be most locals first choice. Have a look at the Ed Dept website for up to date results. There are some excellent private schools around at reasonable costs too. ( We chose Kalamunda as they offer some curriculum choices that we specifically wanted and my son is very happy there )

If your older child is very sporting or into drama then there's lots to be involved in around here, but if not, then there's not much else to do if they haven't got some established social networks. My older son went back to the Uk as soon as he could ( 18 ), as he said this was 'the most boring place on earth' - Perth in general and the hills in particular. He got a good job here and made good friends, but for him it wasn't anywhere near as good as his establised group of mates in the UK. Also nightlife in Perth just doesn't cut it when you're used to a big UK city.

Having said all that - I still wouldn't change a thing. I love it here.:) Good luck with wherever you end up.

Re: Perth Hills
 

Thanks for the info.:thumbup:

The remoteness of the Hills is a little concern re. eldest, definitely. Thankfully he can try for his licence once he arrives and that will help. He's heavily into cricket and football so that's a bonus as hopefully those social networks will gain him some friends early on.

Thanks for the schools info, I'll take a look at Lesmurdie HS website.

Would you know which TAFE is the closest to Mundaring?

Kind regards
Karen x

Re: Perth Hills
 

Hiya

The nearest TAFE is based in Midland ( although has depts in lots of local areas, depending on what you are studying ). If you google swan tafe it will come up - can't remember the address I'm afraid. I'm not sure what it offers, but I know that come colleagues at work have kids that go there and are very happy with it ( second hand info I know).

I'm sure your younger kids will be fine over here, as they'll be at school and making new friends etc. If your older lad is into sport, then that's great. Get him enrolled into a team and he'll have a ready made social life. ( If he's into English football, soccer here, he may need to adjust to the crap level of play. I support the Perth Glory and we seem to lose badly most weeks LOL ).My son was far more into partying than sport sadly.

You can't enrol your children into the government schools here until you arrive and have an address etc etc, so if you have an area you like, then once here, it would be a good idea to visit all the schools with your kids, and get a feel for whats right for them / you. All high schools offer different specialist areas, so it will also depend on what your kids are interested in as to where they may end up.

Sorry for the ramble. Off to drink some wine on the verandah and enjoy the life that is the Hills :thumbsup:

Re: Perth Hills
 

Hello The Colebecks

We also fell in love with the hills area on our first visit, we love Mundaring right up to Bullsbrook. Also feel in love with Darlington.....what a place!!!

I want to have the feeling of being in the country as I am a horsey girl (hence the pic!).

Can't comment on schools but we realised pretty soon that most areas were out of our price range so we will be looking in some of the cheaper areas when its time to buy.

Cx:thumbsup:

Re: Perth Hills
 

Hi,

The Hills felt like 'home' - we live in the Chiltern Hills here so it figures I guess!! We found most coastal areas plots were too boxy and 'Stepford Wives'- like (spooky!!).

Regards
K xx

Re: Perth Hills
 

Thats exactly what I keep saying to my OH!!!! He wants to be by the beach whilst we rent for the fist year or so but I want to be up in the hills after that.....

Let us know where you decide in the end.

We saw some fab 5 acre plots at Bullsbrook......if only;)

Cx

Re: Perth Hills
 

Just for information (not raining on your parade)-

You will not recognise the area in Summer - the green almost disappears.

If you have never been to Aus in the Summer nothing can prepare you for the flies especially away from urban areas. I thought they were bad in Mandurah 'till I went to Harvey for a job (working outside), they nearly flew away with me!:eek:

Bruce:) (I still wouldn't mind the hills).

Re: Perth Hills
 

We live near the coast, but visit Darlington quite regularly. It looks very beautiful and we considered moving there. What put us off was the bushfire risk.

Before we came to Perth we knew of course that you get bushfires in the summer. What we didn't know is that these are weekly occurrences, sometimes several times in a week (often started by arsonists).

I think if you've lived there all your life, you probably take it in your stride, but for me it's too scary.

Gina

Re: Perth Hills
 

Hi Karen :)

Glad you enjoyed it :thumbup: