Hutch

That other thread got a bit mullered what with one thing or another, but I reckon Polly was right - there was some good stuff in there. So, in a spirit of mutual support and understanding, why don't we try again?

Some of us who move here have specific reasons for living where we do (work, family etc), but a lot of people move to Australia 'blind'. So if you're happy where you are, what do you think are the main benefits of your neck of the woods? What's it like for work, schools, recreational activities, traffic, housing? Did you travel around a bit before settling on your new home or did you just get lucky. What makes it a nice place to live?

My bit:

We live in Shoalhaven Heads on the South Coast of NSW, two hours drive south of Sydney down the Princes Highway, 45 minutes from Wollongong, 15 minutes from Nowra and three hours from Canberra. Whilst lots of places are considered touristy, this area's a real honey-pot for Sydney-siders who flock to the area during school holidays and weekends, attracted by some cute towns/villages, national parks, great fishing and of course beaches.

This is a semi-rural area - lots of dairy farming, but also has some light to medium industry in the local area (paper mill, starch mill etc) and some heavy industry up the road in Wollongong in the form of the Port Kembla steelworks. The area's on the South Coast line to Sydney - this part of the track isn't electrified, so trains take just under three hours to get to Central, though you'll only pay the princely sum of $30 return to Sydney - at peak.

In terms of housing, you're looking at around the £350k mark for a three bedder in a nice town on about 700m², but there's plenty of acreage and beach/river frontage around too, mostly in the million+ price bracket. You'd be advised to buy wisely here, because properties typically take over nine months to sell. The Princes Highway can be a bit of a bottle-neck during holiday period, but I've commuted up and down it enough to know that it doesn't come within a country mile of the M4.

Most of the primary aged kids here are in the public education system as we have some superb schools in the area - at secondary level there's a mixture of church based and private schools and not much in-between. Out of school there's a hundred different activities available to kids, from soccer to surf-life saving and they're all pretty well subscribed.

In terms of recreation you're spoilt for choice, though if your idea of fun is browsing through racks of YSL evening-wear then Sydney or Melbourne or probably a safer bet. Fishing's huge here, loads of people have tinnies in their front yards, but our beach (Seven Mile Beach) is also popular with surfers, swimmers, kayakers and kite-boarders. Of a weekend you can do anything from rock-climbing to whale-watching. There's plenty of great pubs here, both your standard Aussie boozer and swankier hotels/bars. There's also the usual array of clubs - bowlos, RSLs, leagues clubs - all worth joining, most excellent places to eat, drink and waste five bucks on the pokies.

If deep-down you're a big town/city sort of person then I can't imagine this area appealling for anything other than a weekend away in one of the many boutique hotels. But if you want a simpler life or if you enjoyed small town life in the UK, then this is a great place. We've found the people to be nothing but friendly - have struck up excellent relationships with people and have emersed ourselves in life here by joining things like the surf club and the rural fire-brigade and attending poker night down at the bowlo every Friday. The ratio of pom to Oz here isn't anywhere near as high as other areas, so if you're after some sort of expat enclave, you're probably better off in parts of Perth. But if you want to find out what the Australian lifestyle's really all about, then I'd heartily recommend it.

worzel

We came to Australia (& New Zealand) for 3 months, 4 years ago. My wife instantly fell in love with Australia but I decided I wanted to spend a couple of years using our time in the UK to do some last minute sightseeing in Europe (and thanks to work, the USA and Canada). It also gave the parents a bit of focused time to see our daughter. In Australia we did the big half tour – Melbourne-Adelaide-Ghan Train to Alice-flew to Cairns and drove all the way to Sydney so we saw a lot of Australia – but ironically, did not go to Perth where we ended up.

Having decided on Australia rather than New Zealand (we only did South Island but it was way too quiet – before we went I expected to prefer NZ) we had to choose where. Sydney was quickly eliminated as too large / busy - -didn’t like it at all having lived in towns of less than 100,000 in the past. Realistically for work I needed somewhere reasonably large so that left Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide. Adelaide was an early front-runner as Sam has family there but we decided that was a good reason not to go there – we needed to break out and make new friends of our own (and Adelaide has a weird reputation, sorry Adelaidians ). Melbourne then took the lead as I wanted to be near Philip Island for the motor sports but when we looked at house prices and commuting distances we decided both were on the large side (ironically given Perth’s prices now and my 30 minute train ride each day) so would not give the sort of lifestyle we wanted. It was then down to Brisvegas vs Perth and Perth edged ahead because: the heat is drier and less oppressive; a have worked in the Energy sector before which is strong here; closer time zones to the UK; and Perth has a slightly more family-friendly reputation it seemed to us.

When we arrived we had a 3 week furnished let in Duncraig – reasonably close to the city while giving a taste of suburbia. We then got a hire car and criss-crossed just about every suburb in Perth for a week. The first choice was north or south but we went north as we knew more people from BE in the Joondalup area than south. Within budget, it was then a choice between mid and far distance from the city. We could have afforded quite a bit more but chose not to extend ourselves. Mid-distance, like Duncraig was more expensive and the cheaper houses were older and needed a lot of work. Having spent 2 years doing up a house in the UK I couldn’t face that again so decided it had to be far north on the grounds of cheapness, newer houses (less work) and closer to the other poms . (With hindsight, we probably could have stayed a bit closer as I have made friends at work it Woodvale / Kingsley, those Friday night cab rides would be less etc but then I wouldn’t get a seat on the train).

We then went through the rental pages (you need to get on line to get the best ones as they are snapped up) and ended up in Currambine for no particular reason. At this point houses were rising by 25% per year so we decided to break the lease 9 months early and buy – what a great decision that turned out to be $$$ . On price we were struggling for Currambine so were really focusing on Kinross and Carramar. We found the houses in Kinross had smaller bedrooms so ended up in Carramar but that could have gone either way. By buying a house 8 years old rather than one of the brand new ones we managed to get a bargain $100K cheaper than the new ones and it only needed some basic tarting up. Some of the new ones still needed a pool so would have been $150K more. We have a modest 4x2house with a pool but that is adequate for our needs as there are only 3 of us. I think Carramar was a really wise investment choice. 2 burbs back from the beach houses are perhaps half that in beachfront burbs. The freeway extension will reach us in 12 months and I am a couple of minutes from Currambine station. The school just opened recently as did the community centre. We get shops in 12 months and hopefully a tavern soon after. All of this means Carramar is predicted as one of the top 5 suburbs for predicted house price rises this year. I am now Treasurer of the local residents association so I have a close eye on any developments.

Through BE and work we both made loads of friends – more than we had in the UK. We do tons more at the weekends and are all happier and healthier. Our daughter does a club after school 4 times per week and we feel safe letting her wander the streets, playing with friends.

Having bought well within ourselves we are now thinking of using some of the spare money to buy a boat. We already have a tent, kayak, bikes and fishing rods and the outdoor lifestyle is a key benefit of WA.

Maybe I should have put this in the Update forum?!

Kapri

Excellent posts

Hutch

No worries.





Come on everyone else.

Wendy

It's certainly not growing as quick as the other one is it

louise4

what other one?

Wendy

You know, the one I've PM'd you the link for

louise4

Just spent the last 20 mins reading it. she sure knows how to wind people us.







but sounds as thick as two short planks

TeresaG

Fantastic posts.

BadgeIsBack

Alot of people won't realise that I settled in SE Melbourne because I happened to visit a poster that lived there and never left (the area I mean ).

Originally, I was going to settle near family in Sydney on the Central Coast but then got cold feet at the house prices or rather found cheaper and better in Melbourne.

That drive down the Princes' Highway to Melbourne showed me that a home in a real village on the fringes of the Dandenongs less than an hour from a city job was viable. So I rang Chief in London and told her to book back to Melbourne and not Sydney.

Real village - that is what we have. It consists of a township with CFA firestation (Country Fire Authority), church, family run hardware, baker, butcher, milkbar, supermarket, a great little steak house, war memorial, Post Office, hairdresser and pharmacy. (All you would ever need). Off this central area radiate long avenues branching out into vallys with homes on acreage. Further along to the N, is the primary school, oval, tennis courts, and pub (real wood fires and sundeck) adjoining a vineyard.

On the other side to the S, is the creche, community centre, pre-kinder, and another restaurant. The creche is run by vols, and it has a babysitting club run on a points basis. Chief has been asked to sit on the creche committee lol and is quite happy to go along to it with a mate of hers and nod occasionally whilst ''I'll have another biscuit''.

Further out on the approach road and around are big properties; we've been here 3 years and am still discovering secret enclaves off roads and in back allies. There is also a nature reserve off my lane and tens of K's of walks and tracks leading everywhere, which come out k's away in other places. My lane has a bridalway for horses, and there is a village scout camp comprising several square kilometres in the valley outside my front door.

It's 45-50min drive from the city off-peak and just over an hour on the train in the rush hour although a 10min drive to the station - the long straight road is a nice drive actually and I never get sick of it.

The village is actually unique - its not so bang in the middle of the Dandenongs that it's over touristy, nor is it alternative or even slightly feral like some of the outlying Dandenong villages.

As it turned out, it is quite an expensive commuter's village with a mix of homes from the small 3 bed on 1 acre which we live in, to million dollar homes on acreage. People are from all walks of life but all seem to be interesting and a little different from the usual surburban Australian - although 10k to the SW, S and SE there are plenty of new suburbs. We thought it might even be a tad country or feral and some people warned us it might be , but we've since discovered there's a lot of ''money'' (and culture here) and we are never bored and often surprised by the talent pool here. There are some very interesting people enjoying themselves immensely here and all are incredibly happy. You'd never notice the money as people sort of dress ''country'' and it's all very laid back. (We like this). The kids are amazing - some of the most balanced kids I have ever had the good fortune to meet and most of the teenagers tell me they all want to buy back in to the village (if they can afford it!)

I was worried initially that Melbourne was too ''European'' but I found that it fast grew on me as each week went by and my love of all things Australian did not flounder. I was also concerned about the lack of NRL there - but I keep an eye out for AFL now as well.

Melbourne truly has it all - we like heading to the city every now and again but we love it back home.

There are vertually no British expats here; well, we haven't met any(!)

doub

We left England almost four years ago. It was a wet, miserable October day. I had always lived within 3-4 miles from where I was born in the West Midlands, so it was with a degree of trepidation that I boarded the plane that day.
I had never been to Australia but my wife and eldest son had (she won it in a radio competition! I kid you not).
We chose Brisbane for a couple of reasons; firstly I had found a college that had the perfect course for our eldest son (then 17) which encouraged him to embrace the idea of relocating, which he had previously intemated that he was not too keen on the whole idea (understatment). The second reason was geographic, the warm weather, cheap(ish) housing at the time, and not as remote as WA. The third reason was that being a 'train spotter' and spending hours tralling the net for housesschoolssuburbs etc etc I came across Ormiston College website, which looked just like the school we wanted to send the other two kids to, then 4 & 13.
I had booked a hotel for a couple of weeks in springhill, but the place was pretty ordinary so we made our way over to Cleveland to see if we could land a short term rental.
To cut a looong story short, after staying briefly in Thornlands then Cleveland - we finally bought our Australian home in Birkdale.
I can truly say that it was the best thing my family could have ever done to relocate to Australia. We are now citizens of this fine country and (with the exception of the cricket team) have embraced our new Australian life.

Healthier, happier, safer, lovin' it

thewoodz

this thread is really useful - but throwing more info into the already overflowing melting pot of my brain

mindblower

[ ![/QUOTE]

Your a good poster Worzel -good that.

Dave

cresta57

Hum
We ended up living here in QLD more by accident and illness than by choice. Long story condensed is we moved here as dad was diagnosed with terminal C, he beat the big C then found he had another form [asbestoses] some 4 years down the track he's sailing back to the U.K, under protest, with my mum who "loathed this bloody country" We're staying, it's home now and we all prefer it to Cleethorpes.
We didn't choose the area we live in either we just moved over and lived on the oldies boat until their house was built, then we moved in with them for as long as we could bear it. We found a reasonably cheap block of dirt and bought it with most of our savings then set about impressing banks to lend us the cash to build a home upon it.
Work wise Deb & I are both licenced wall & floor tilers, we work for ourselves and have gradually built up a reasonable reputation in and around what most people dismiss as a very inward looking parochial town. We work for a number of local and regional builders as well as picking up some work from a couple of kitchen and bathroom companies in the area. At present work is plentiful and we don't go looking for it it just finds us which is always good. This small part of SE Qld is still seeing massive growth as both housing and land are still very affordable.
Gympie is the town/City I refered to, population 20k with another 20k living in the rest of the shire. We live in a small township about 20 mins out of town, population 500 or so. We have a servo and a small country club with a liquor licence no other shops or services. We've lived here for about three yrs and during that time Deb & I have volunteered our services as bar staff at the club, Deb is now the Chairman of the club, I just work the bar a couple of nights a week. We've assimilated into our new lives as well as we could have expected, we have a steady stream of invites to functions and parties. Life here is laid back to the point of boredom for some and it really isn't everyones cup of tea, we find that a plus as there's very little hooning, almost no crime. We can go out for the weekend and leave our keys in the car and the doors to the house unlocked without a care. Not that we do that as old habits die hard. The people here look out for each other in the same way that the smaller rural communities of Lincolnshire used to when I was a boy. If you need a hand with a fence or a fallen tree someone will always be there with a shovel or a chainsaw ready to muck in. It's a real community I'm proud to be considered part of.
Now what do I like about the area?
I enjoy the remoteness, it's so peaceful. I love the fact that Brisbane is only 2 hrs drive South if we feel the need for civilisation and the thrills and spills of suberbia yet Bundaberg is 2 hrs North if we want to go for a dive on the reef. The Sunshine Coast is an hour away, Noosa a mere 40 mins. We live 30 mins from the Great Sandy Straits and I can be fishing in a quiet little spot in such a short time I often go after work. People we meet are generally Aussies there are a few Poms dotted about but this area is predominantly filled with cheerful friendly honest Aussies. I love it it's like the little Lincolnshire village I grew up in years ago.
To add a little balance, what don't I like?
Well the fact that everything is closed by 8pm [even the pubs] during the week, I'm slowly getting used to it though. I miss good old country pubs serving real ales though I can get a real ale fix in the form of homebrewed ale or by visiting the big smoke. I miss the music scene most of all, I still miss the weekenders and the Friday nights watching live bands after 4 yrs. I've seen a ferw live bands and they are all a bit well...........
Anyway that's about the size of it.

Teabag

Badge your post made me very envious, I love the area around the Dandeongs, so pretty. Melbourne will be my next City if Hobart doesn't do it for me in the long term!