Ok so got my letter of job offer today and we are obviously delighted

So excited.

The only thing is, we have been posted in Roma and do not know much about it, We can apply to move in the future as the company has branches elsewhere however we are there for the moment.

Any info would be much appreciated, especially on houses and schools.

There are no houses to rent on real estate which scares me slightly

Are there any members who stay there ?

Thanks in advance again

It looks very, very remote.

Is it a mining town by any chance? Prices are rather alot for the remoteness.

http://www.realestate.com.au/buy/in-...4455%3b+/map-1

lot of drilling companies there as well as mining, it would be a farming town if it wasnt for the mining.

Most truckies stop at Miles and the road trains arnt allowed past the Carnarvon intersection

I believe there a cattle Auction there but not 100% on that one

Roma is about a 6 hours drive west of Brisbane on the Warrego Highway. It has recently (in the last two weeks} flooded. Roma has an airport and is about an hour flight, but flights are expensive as most of the passengers are fly in fly out miners/gas workers.

I live in the next 'big' town before Roma. (My town has about 1000 people). Roma has traffic lights (I think maybe four sets), a McDonalds, a KFC, a Woolworths and a Coles! It also has a cinema (I think).

Roma has two main schools the Roma State College (which is a state school that is split over 3 campuses) Which I think are Prep to 3, Years 4 to 8 and Year 9 to 12. It also has a catholic (?) school which I think is St John's but I've never paid much attention.

Good luck and wave as you drive through Miles.

Gosh I have had a further look and it is remote !

Oh well it needs to be done before we reach our goal of somewhere closer to the cost.

Josieanne how long is the drive from miles to roma ?

The houses for rent in miles are expensive also !!

Please check carefully before you rent somewhere - they've had serious floods in Roma several times in the last few years, so it's in your best interests to check out streets with that in mind. I'd hazard a guess that there's a shortage of rental properties out there at present too - for the same reason, many families have been displaced by the flooding.

To check which areas flooded go to:

http://www.qldreconstruction.org.au/interactive-map/

Click on '2010/2011 Natural Disasters' then 'Search' on the right. You can just type in Roma for an overview or an actual address of a rental property.

HTH.

Not sure if you will be blocked from watching this from the UK but this news report on low unemployment in Roma and the need to recruit overseas workers may be of interest.

Note that the report was filmed 10 months ago so the employment dynamics may have changed since then.

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3197174.htm

You don't need to tell me, I upload the maps to it! Useful for the OP though

Lots of areas in the southwest around Roma and St George have flooded worse this season than in 2010-11 so best to check local reports too

Drive from Miles to Roma is around 90 mins.

Roma is about half way between the larger towns of Toowoomba and Charleville on the Warrego highway. The river has regularly overflowed the last few years (i was stuck there last year in floods). Roma is also on the north/south running Carnarvon highway which runs up from St George in the south and then continues north past the great Carnarvon Gorge.

Roma is around 4 hours west of Toowoomba, 3 hours east of Charleville and 2 hours north of St George.

You could also look at living in the towns of Yuleba (60 km) and Wallumbilla (40 km) near Roma.

It would be nice to live close to Carnarvon:






Carnarvon gorge rock art by Merryjack, on Flickr


Carnarvon gorge rock engravings by Merryjack, on Flickr


carnarvon art gallery by liam.jon_d, on Flickr






the moss garden - carnarvon gorge by liam.jon_d, on Flickr

Yeah, I meant it for the OP but quoted you as you were talking about the floods.
It's a great resource, I'm looking for property at the moment and it's been very helpful for places like Emerald...I would like your job, I love maps!

I think Roma is the beef capital of Australia isn't it. Lots and lots of cows out that way.

Will be a hard working kind of town with a few pubs where when you walk in everyone stops and looks at you.

I would volunteer early on for something that helps the town, will help you to settle and be accepted. If you play your cards right in 20 years you might be accepted, but you can't rush these things, could be 40 years. 60 years and they might consider you a local.

In 2011 Roma unemployment level was 1.1%

(Source: http://www.remotejobs.com.au/roma.html)

OP, do you get accommodation with the job? I would be a bit concerned that there are no rentals available.
There are lots of places for sale though, just to give you an idea, this one rents for $600/wk:
http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...roma-107432987