Safin

We've been living in hervey bay for last 2 yrs and now may have the chance to live in Adelaide. We almost started out there so have some theoretical idea of the area. But in reality????

We are a family of 5, three boys aged 5,7,9. We'll be on a reasonable but not lavish wage. We like the outdoors for camping fishing surfing. We love the warm constant temperature where we are but not the real heat or humidity. Concerned about how many months the sea/pools are usable for in SA.

We aren't 'cultural' people really and fancy dining isn't (unfortunately) something we either do now or will do but I'd really like a bit more to do than we have here - be nice to have some different choices.

So people who are either there or have recently lived there whats good about it for young families? Whats awful?

and yes i know whats awful for one may be great for another but looking for some pointers to check out and think about for ourselves

Cookster

God im glasd you didnt text me that question I would have been there all night answering!!!!
As you know we were in Adelaide from March 06 to May 07, and I can honestly say we loved it, well most of it!!!
OK plus points:
Lovely cold winters, log fires, seeing your breath on a morning!!
Dry heat, none of this humidity nonsence!!!
Fantastic shopping, art galleries, museums, culture.
Plenty of country markets and fate`s, prob every weekend.
Easy access into Adelaide town and free buses all around town when your there.
Central markets in town, absolutely fantastic, you could spend all day there just people watching.
Most major bands come to Adeliade, we saw Elton John.
100`s of wineries. We were paying approx $2.00 per litre frfom a local winery. You just turned up with your gerry can and they filled it for you.
Amazing screnery, Adelaide Hills are amazing.
Plenty of campsites with plenty of space.
Big expat comunnity.

oh I could go on for ever!!! So I`d better do bad points:

Hardly any palm trees!! Never felt tropical!
Got to say SA always felt like a poor relation to Queensland.
It always felt like we could have still been in the UK.
The roads are terrible with major pot holes everywhere.
Traffic congestion is very bad especially around the town, Marion, Glenelg, and surrounding areas of Adelaide.
Apart from the vineyards, the surrounding fields are brown and depressing for a good 8 months of the year. Everything is tinderbox dry and fire bans are everywhere.
The weather can change dramatically from day to day. You can have a run of 40 degree days then it can plummet to 18 over night.
I thought that there were a lot of feral people in Adeliade till I came to Queensland!!!

Anyway as I said I could go on forever.........


Oh one other thing..... I saw my favourite road sign ever in Adeliade.
` PLEASE DO NOT STICK YOUR BUT OUT OF THE WINDOW` Classic!!!!!

Dorothy

I loved living in Adelaide. There is so much to do if you like outdoors. The beaches are great, Barossa Valley wineries not too far away, camping , Kangaroo Island close by, festivals every weekend, friendly locals.

sunnyj

If you like constant warm weather all year roundthen adelaide is not for you. It gets quite chilly and miserable in the winter, obviously not by uk standards but it does feel cold. The temperatures go up and down by about 10 and 20 degrees sometimes in the summer and you do get some sticky days. The weather can be quite erratic and I do prefer constant temperatures.
Do be honest, adelaide is boring (in my opinion) and behind the rest of australia. Every week we are now reading that utilities, taxes, stamp duty etc are higher in SA than the other states. Yes housing may be a bit more affordable, but that is the least desirable places, so contrary to belief, adelaide is not cheaper than other states.
As for wineries, yes you do get cheap plonk but seeing rows of grape vines in lots of fields isn't really that exciting after seeing them a couple of times.
Glenelg isn't all that and if you are not into the fringe, clipsal or womadelaide then you are not left with an awful lot else to do.
The only plus I can say is that you do get some lovely sea views from where I live and being so close to a number of beaches is great. The sea is relatively safe to swim in, except for the obvious sharks but it does get quite cold in the sea, unless you have had a few days of temps in the high 30's to low 40's.

We have our house up for sale and are moving to Queensland once it is sold.

lonndongeek

So in summary...

If you don't like what Adelaide has to offer, it's crap.

Do you work for the ministry of the bloody obvious?

Cheers

Steve

chris and farideh

We've been living in Qld for the past 2,5 years, if my OH could ever secure a job down there I would happily move over, I havent settle in Qld at all.
I find people arent as friendly here as they were over there, there was just so much to do up there, I have no idea why people take the piss out of Adelaide.

mohogony

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu3Wt5PGAg8

sunnyj

Well the OP wants to hear about adelaide. Surely they want to hear positives and negatives. It wouldn't do for people to come with rose tinted sunnies on.
What one person thinks is great, equally another person thinks opposite.
I still don't understand why people get so upset when a negative thing is said about a place. I think adelaide is dull and thats that. No need to get all emotional over it. Nowhere is perfect, I know.

Seacaptain

Check out Poms in Adelaide - lots of discussions on there about where's best to live etc. We move to Adelaide later this year. Our friends have been there nearly a year now. They are struggling with the high temperatures at the moment. But often go down to the beach (5 mins away), grab some fish and chips and sit on the beach watching the sunset. They are on a tight budget, but seem to do heaps!

http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/

Good luck

Aussie30

Hi, I am from Adelaide so if you have any questions about nice areas to live or things to do/see, I would be happy to help.

Adelaide is a beautiful place and the weather is fantastic.The warm weather lasts from October until around March/April and it does get very hot in January & February.
There are beautiful beaches (ignore the silly comments about Sharks, it is the ocean so of course there are sharks) and the Adelaide Hills are also lovely for a weekend drive to find somewhere for brunch or afternoon tea, there are lots of places to go camping, Goolwa is beautiful as are the Flinders Ranges. The Adelaide Central Market is the best food market I have ever been to & is fantastic for having lunch or dinner at China Town.
The seaside and hills suburbs are my favourite places and have lots of parks,playgrounds and BBQ areas for the public.

Personally I think Adelaide is a great place for families and children and find it to be very family oriented.

trice_ie

hi there

we moved to adelaide from townsville (nth qld) last year, have to say the cold was a shock to the system after constant heat in tsv. It is a lot hotter temp wise in summer but it's a very diff type of heat.

we live about half an hour out from city in seacliff and the ocean is sooo calm there's no surfing but there is lots of kite surfing and sailing and we just bought ourselves kayaks so that's great. Loads of people at work go camping and fishing really regularly so i dont think you'd struggle there

I have to say i prefer it, it's a bit more fast paced than tsv but still pretty relaxed. there's definitely more choice and options here

Kingseat

would you reccommend Adelaide for a long weekend then? Thinking Easter? 2 adults and a 22 month old? Most of the places we fancy in WA are fully booked so looking at alternatives.

trice_ie

if you like the water/seaside town feel kindof like freo then try glenelg its about half an hour outside city on a direct tram

Safin

Thanks everyone, its all useful to consider. Its especailly good to hear from ex Qld'ers who made the move (or vice versa) who can compare what we are used to with SA. Think a weekend trip may be in order if we can swing it but expensive for 5 from up here ....

Aussie30

Definitely!