fairydust300980

Hi all,

We still have a way to go yet but i can't decide where to go when we finally make the move.
I have a sister who lives near Bendigo, approx 2 hours from Melbourrne/coast and of course initially i want to go there, but what about the future, im the type of person who needs to stand on their own two feet, i don't want to land with my sister and then feel unable to explore Australia for myself (Think to much about other people!!!).

Has anyone any opinions of the different areas of Victoria and pro's and cons.
Im not a city dweller so that wouldn't appeal but i wanted to get an idea of different perspectives of Victoria.

Thanks very much
Fairy.

interested16

Hi there,i live in Victoria in latrobe valley which is about 2 hrs from Melbourne..its kinda out in the country but i love it as cant be bothered with city life! Lived in Orkney most my life but by far the best move of my life coming out here 2 yrs ago...property not expensive out my way either!

mulben

Never lived in rural Vic. but had friends living in numerous Vic.towns.Sister lived in Bendigo but had to leave as the job situation is not good there - its a really nice town thou. It all depends if you want to be near your sister I guess-Echuca is only an hour from Bendigo, further away Benalla and my personal favourite Albury/Wodonga .All are a good size and are a mix of old and new.

There are such a lot of good towns out there, since you say your not a city person what are you looking for in the country.
Any particular occupation, rail links ,visual appeal (very subjective but you get my drift)
North East Vic- great food area,prestige wines,close to snow fields,historic towns, etc
East Gippsland - towns such as Bairnsdale,Lakes Entrance,Sale
all close to the sea or the Gippsland Lakes,90 mile beach and snow fields ,worst aspect is its road system back to Melbourne not as good as NE Vic.

fairydust300980

Do you have mutch of a community, from what my sister says it's a nice community to get into especially with kids.

I just don't want to feel to out of it and miles from anywhere.

We have been over twice but travelling is different to living there isn't it.

fairydust300980

Our occupations arn't such that they should restrict where we live and we are both open to ensureing that we have a job to cover the living essentials but want the quality of life, places for the kids to enjoy sports, be able to get out and do things as a family at weekends, you know what i mean.
I think the thing i have in the back of my mind is Oz has always been about the beaches, but my relationship with my sister is very important in that we want our families to be a proper family.
The way you have broken it down has highlighted some excellent areas, and like you say there is Echuca not to far away, and i did love it there when we went.

If needs be i will put my husband to work to get me a holiday home by the beach, LOL!!!

NickyP

I live in NE Victoria in a small town not far from Wangaratta. We are about 2.5 hours from Melbourne and about an hour from Albury and the NSW border. We love where we are there is a great community and the kids are in a wonderful small country school (78 kids). I teach at one of the local High Schools (there are 3 in Wangaratta) and hubby works for a local defence company and there are very few signs of the credit crunch here (as yet) in terms of jobs. We have a small place which was built in 1850, which is positively ancient in Aus terms, and are slowly renovating. We have broadband and pay TV but get our water from a well onsite and rarely get mobile coverage without a wander down the road lol. Our town has a lovely small pub (smallest in Victoria apparently) which is the closest to an English pub that we have ever found and we have a local post office but other shops are about 25 mins drive away.
Nearby we have the gourmet region, skiing in the winter and plenty of water holes for swimming for those that miss the sea in the summer. The countryside here is spectacular with the hills (you can't really call Aussie mountains anything more than hills hee hee) rather than the more flat countryside further west. I love my trips down to Melbourne but am happy living in a country area and I am certain that the kids have a generally better quality of life for it. Sports are all around here and anyone that wants to get involved is more than welcome. As a family we aren't very sporty so our kids do cubs and we are all involved in the local theatre company which has made us lots of very good friends. I can honestly say that we have more friends here and a more fulfilled life than we ever had in the UK. It isn't always the dream as we have had it tough at times but the strong community here has meant that even without family nearby we have always had the support that we needed to get over any problems and move on.
PM me if you want any info on specific areas and good luck in your search.
Nicky