Hi all

We have been looking at houses around Perth and do not want to become part of the "Stepford Wife" syndrome, so we have been looking further afield at semi-rural properties and Albany/Denmark has cropped up, does anyone have any views please

Mog

I can only talk from the experience of a quick trip down to Albany when we visited last year. The town itself isn't much, some of the buildings have good character but generally it was a bit shabby. We stayed in a lovely B&B (Memories of Albany) http://www.memoriesofalbany.com.au/ with the most friendly hosts you could imagine. The surrounding bay is really beautiful and the coastline is dramatic (reminds me of north cornwall or coast of wales). The houses were attractive and noticeably cheaper than Perth itself, and there did seem to be a community feel that you don't really get in the suburbs round Perth. A big downer for me would be the temperature - we were there in January and although sunny it was very windy and therefore quite chilly. Also the distance to get back to Perth, it took about 5 hours of solid driving through the most tedious scenery (mile after mile of wheat fields). I guess it depends what you are looking for - if it is a quieter lifestyle and you don't mind being isolated then it would be a great place. Personally I would find it a bit limited, but only you will know if you go and visit.
Good luck with your decision. We are heading to Perth in October - either northern suburbs around Ocean Reef, or the Hills - Darlington/Kalamunda. Again, we won't know for sure until we get there and see what suits us.
Jayne

Beautiful part of the world. British weather, much wetter and cooler than Perth. Fine if you are retiring but not a lot in the way of work.

If you don't want Stepford wives Legoland in Perth, come up to the hills. Charcter housing on big blocks with bush or city views. Choice.

My wet SIL and her equally useless husband intend retiring down there from Perth - that says it all to me We drove down there donkey's years ago and were really disappointed - doesn't sound like it's changed drastically

Never made it as far as Albany on our recent validation trip (only Augusta area), however, if the towns down that way are anything to go by, I would say the place is VERY isolated with a VERY small town feel to it!!

Like a previous poster has mentioned, would you enjoy a 5 hour drive to get to the nearest big city?

Isolated in OZ is VERY different to what us Brits think of as isolated!!

Hmmmm, sounds like it might not be quite right, which hills are you refering to as we really liked the look of Gooseberry Hill but were a little worried about the airport being close ??????

Mog

We are next to Gooseberry Hill & rarely get aircraft noise. Flights into & out of Perth sometimes come over & light aircraft from Jandakot as well, but not may. Upside of living here is that it takes 15 minutes to get to the airport.

some interesting replies here, though its got to be said, none so far from anyone who has been to albany recently. SO id thought id sum up my experience of albany - my wife and i moved here a couple of months ago form north hampshire.

The weather is ideal for some, winter (i.e. now) can get a little cool (quite often down to 15 C), however this is more than compensated for a 'perfect' climate during the summer..ie. not so hot that you cant enjoy the outside (im not the sort of person that would enjoy thier summer dashing between air condition home, ac car and ac office, only to spend the evening in an ac pub.. this is not the outdoor living we came here for).

Jobs... tricky.. like anywhere i guess it depends on what you do. my wife is in administration and has found work quite easily, my line of work is proving more of a challenge to find, but then i havnt pulled out all the stops (.. if i was honest). anyone in nursing, teaching, engineering, accountancy etc. would, i suspect, find it less difficult.

Town (they call it a city though) centre is not huge, but is growing. population 20 - 30,000 (depending on how you count), but the town services pretty much all of the great southern for manufacturing etc. so has a range of facilities that youd expect from much bigger towns in the UK. SInce weve been here, we have not needed to go to perth for anything, and weve furnished a house! mind you, if you wanted a live gig, then youd have to go there.

house prices.. steep, in fact not that far off perth prices (due to the stupid amount of investment purchases made in all of WA from outer state). we did have alot of trouble finding a rental when we got here, and that rental agencies werent that helpful, this may have eased but i dont know. we were grateful for our house, paying 260 AUD pw for a 5+2, we dont need a 5+2 but to get anything smaller in a nice area is impossible (they simply dont build small properties anymore).

coastline and beaches.. are fabulous. really beautiful terrain all round, with fantastic walks and scenic drives. This is the reason i love it here more than anything else. on saturday, we took a walk along the beach and saw some whales (southern rights or humpbacks probably), mother and calf, just larking around about 80M of the beach. an amazing sight, and you could see the locals shrug it off, whilst us tourists just watched in amazement.

The people of albany are great. really friendly all round, including the shop keepers (i find that larger towns end up ambivilant to customer service - not so in small towns where reputation is so important).

initially, we did find it a challenge meeting people, but its a case of making a little effort (joining clubs, going to work etc.) i think this would be the case wherever you move to.

other things, well plenty of sport (volley ball, soccer, tennis,etc.) i understand the SCUBA diving is good, as would the sailing (i assume.. given the marina etc.).

not sure what else to add, but feel free to email me any questions you have on the area. my wife and i have travelled to a number of places in Aus (in fact were pretty well travelled generally) so can compare it to other places.

one thing i would say, is that the Australia i imagined doesnt really exist. there is WA, SA, NT, etc etc. but these states are all very different (think england, wales, scotland, ireland, isle of man) rather than Gt Britain. each state has a personality (i didnt get on with NT) but found WA just right for me. I would reccommend that anyone coming over, spends a few weeks holidaying around Oz before settling down, i reckon the cost of getting it wrong or doubting your decision would make it well worthwhile.. and of course its fun.. we did this last year (in fact we only came out for a holiday initially) but it was certainly an education.

anyway.. its late, and im rambling . but i might come back and post some pictures at some point.

Hi Dan
How did you get out there with no job if you don't mind me asking?

Hi, Dan summed Albany up very well. I've been here 6 months now with my husband and 2 daughters aged 9 and 10. We landed without jobs too and I secured a job quite easily in a picture framing shop. Not what I intended doing but I enjoy it and can frame my own stuff too which is a bonus! My husband took a while to get work but he once he discovered that he needed to be more pro-active, things started to happen. He's now in full time employment as a software developer and he also gets bits of work through a consultancy company we set up.

Admittedly we have had some scary moments as we never really had to worry about money back home but not having my husband earning for a few months put a bit of pressure on us especially as we now have school fees to pay! Speaking of which, The Great Southern Grammar School is great. Our girls have settled so well it's unbelievable! Fees are much less than independent schools in Perth...another plus.

Albany is growing rapidly and you can feel it. We've noticed changes in the short time we have been here, things are happening. I'm hoping that shopping will improve....I miss Marks and Spencer, Next and lots of others shops....sad I know! I've found a solution though; I order on-line have it delivered to my mum and she posts it out...not ideal as I have to stick to light weight stuff but I can get a few clothes sent out. Anyway, I like receiving parcels!

Oh I suppose I should mention the fishing on my husbands behalf.....he would spend his life fishing if he could. He wasn't really into it back home but we all end up going with him now. And the whales, we saw the same ones Dan did on Saturday off Middleton beach.......awesome!!!!

Before I go I should mention that Albany wasn't our first choice, Perth was but due to us only being able to get a regional visa that's how we arrived in Albany. The longer time goes on we are feeling more settled here and feel like things have worked out well for us. I've spoken to loads of people who have moved down recently from Perth so there must be some magnetism!!

Happy to answer any other questions, Sandra

Hi Salvador,
oh that was easy.. simply bribed an official.






not really, ... my wife was born here, so i got a spouse visa. out of all the bits ive seen of Oz, Albany ticked all the right boxs... not that i would encourage a huge influx of people, but i wouldnt want others to get the wrong impression of the place.

SJR & DanDD

Great posts guys..............just wanted to say that!

I just wanted to add we've been to Albany and I loved it if I had the choice that is where we would be going

We really like the look of Albany but with me being an English Plumber I'm concerned about the work situation.

Mog