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23-03-2009 12:02am#1
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Rockingham is a coastal town just south of Perth that would probably fit your requirements. I suggest using google maps to get an idea of it's location and setting.
As for houses, auctioneers are called 'real estate agents' down under and using Google, you would want to put 'site:au' to return searches just for Oz
Here is one real estate agents offerings for Rockingham WA - not to be confused for the one in QLD
to give you an idea of prices.
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?id=rockingham&a=qfp&cu=fn-rea&t=res&q=Go
and here you go for the exchange rate:
http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic
Strangely enough, many natives like the idea of living close to the sea also, so property prices can reflect that.
http://www.myrockingham.net/ amenities etc.0 -
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South of the river ftl!
Ah no, there are good spots both north and south. I live in Joondalup which is 27kms north of Perth but in the middle of a sprawling suburban area. It's basically fully functional and almost a mini-city in itself. I dn't need to leave the surrounding area for anything if I don't want to, that includes nightlife, shopping, sporting activities etc.
As mentioned, Rockingham is decent spot.0 -
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Funny, never heard it being described as a decent spot...not by anyone who grew up there anyway
There are a lot of new housing areas in Rockingham that have sprung up over the past year or two. My cousin bought there last year and it's a really nice, clean friendly area.
Yes it's got dodgy parts but everywhere does. Still a hell of a lot safer than most of Ireland.is news to me too...perth often has the preception of being pleasantsville but scratch the surface and its a meth riddled crack hole...same with most of the towns off it...besides that, its far too cold for most of the year...If i had to choose between east coast and west - the east wins everytime
Huh?
Perth is basking in 30 degree plus heat from November until April pretty much whereas the east coast it pisses rain all the time (I spent 3 and a half weeks in Queensland last Christmas and got ONE day of sunshine). Yearly floods anyone?I hadnt heard great things about Brisbane but so far it whoops Perths ass...an hour either way to either the Sunshine coast or gold coast, and the water is actually warm to allow for enjoyable swimming
The beaches in WA are a million times nicer than anything on the Gold Coast.0 -
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Have you sure you have actually been in Perth? Because it sounds like you're talking out your arse TBH, unless you spent 3 weeks living in Kwinana in a Homes West house, (of which there is a limit of how many can be in any one estate/street). In Winter it rains heavily, usually in showers which don't last very long, it is rare to get rain all day or even grey skies all day. Summer started late here in 2008 which is a relief because it frequently gets over 40C for days on end. It doesn't get cold at night in Summer, unless you think high teens, low twenties is cold. We had a relatively cool summer overall which again is a relief, we've had some stinkers the last couple of years. In Winter the daytime temperatures rarely go below 10C with 20C days not being a rarity either. Night time tempatures never go below 0C and even that gets onto the news because it is so rare, I get up at the coldest time of day & it is usually 3 - 5C even on the coldest days. Most days by 9 - 10am you won't need a jacket, or even a t-shirt under your business shirt unless it is raining, then have a good brolly.
Lived and worked there for 8 months - lived in an apartment in the city for 7 months and south of the river for the rest worked not too far south of the river, been living and working in QLD for 6 months so I think i can fairly compare the two...factor in the wind in Perth too, makes it even colder...im shuddering now at how cold it gets there :eek:Perth, like any other capital city, has its dodgy areas but it's hardly a "meth riddled crack hole...
So you lived in the city then? have you ever walked around it in the evening after the place shuts down? And im not on about the dodgy areas...(as for it even really being a city in world terms - kind of like calling Kilkenny a city) as for the suburbs...some strange sh*t goes down out there...
Personally Perth, in relation to everywhere else Ive been in Austrlia ranks pretty much at the bottom...its as boring a city you can find, the beaches are nice but the waters cold and its an effort to get to anywhere with a bit of variety...Margaret River is nice and the North of WA is unreal...still possibly my favourite place in Aus...to me, Perth gives the rest of WA a bad name and you'll meet alot of people who think the same (generally after they moved away because it was too cold
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Lived and worked there for 8 months - lived in an apartment in the city for 7 months and south of the river for the rest worked not too far south of the river, been living and working in QLD for 6 months so I think i can fairly compare the two...factor in the wind in Perth too, makes it even colder...im shuddering now at how cold it gets there :eek:
You are ignorant, and that IS being polite.
July and August are the depths of winter in Perth. The average daily maximum for July is 17.4 and the average minimum is 9.
For August, the figures are 18 and 9.2, respectively.
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_009034.shtml
Those averages wouldn't be too far off the average summer temperatures for Ireland, and you are complaining the place is cold! What are you?
As for your long and extensive experience living there. I am a native of Perth and lived there for over 30 years.
Again, your expertise and knowledge leave me in awe. Perth has a population of 1.5 million. I wonder how that compares to Dublin?(as for it even really being a city in world terms - kind of like calling Kilkenny a city) as for the suburbs...some strange sh*t goes down out there...
wikipediaThe population of the Greater Dublin Area (Dublin City; Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown; Fingal; South Dublin; Kildare; Meath; and Wicklow) as of Census 2006 was 1,661,185 persons.
Yes, the OP would be far better off in terms of excitement in Adelaide then, by your reckoning? Been to Melbourne by any chance? Or perhaps Hobart is one non stop party.Personally Perth, in relation to everywhere else Ive been in Austrlia ranks pretty much at the bottom...its as boring a city you can find,
Did you read the OP's criteria? He was asking about a sun/water/sand environment. Your mentioning the beaches is about the only accurate or helpful thing you have said so far.
My experience of Perths aquatic and coastal environment lead me to suggest Rockingham. Your mentioning a minority element of undesirables is like people labeling Limerick stab city when the it has less violent crime than Dublin.
Waters cold? In the depths of winter you need no more than a wet-suit. In Summer, you can swim in the sea without one.the beaches are nice but the waters cold and its an effort to get to anywhere with a bit of variety...Margaret River is nice and the North of WA is unreal...still possibly my favourite place in Aus...to me, Perth gives the rest of WA a bad name and you'll meet alot of people who think the same (generally after they moved away because it was too cold)
You can drive to Carnarvon in a day - that's 902 km (560miles) You can drive to Albany and be there before lunch time. Driving in Ireland is an effort, Driving in WA is a case of closing your eyes and setting the alarm to wake you up so you don't overshoot - in comparison.
Perth has been the fastest growing city in OZ. In an Economist ranking of world cities in terms of livability, Perth came 4th in world rankings, How Melbourne came second is beyond me. Sydney came 6 palces behind Perth in 10th place, Brisbane doesn't crack a mention in the top 11.
http://www.economist.com/markets/rankings/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11116839
So how do you explain the incredible divergence of your opinions from objective reality? Do you work for the Brisbane tourist office or something? 0 -
exactly - people from there have one warped view of the place and as for Ignorant? Funny that coming from someone from Perth...suggesting driving to Carnarvon for god knows what reason says it all - I think anyone can fairly guage a place after living and working for a few months (I guess you lived in every city in Australia for a considerable amount of time to judge?)
When I talk about a city, I am referring to the city centre - you can tell alot by the life in a city centre outside of work hours Perth doesnt have one...and its a shame because its a nice looking little 'city' - Brisbane is better than Perth in that regard but its still no New York - the places you can get to in a day from here are far to great to mention but even the worst is a thousand times better than Carnarvon (where the hills have eyes)
If I am correct the Perth Metropolitan area is as big if not bigger than greater DublinThe population of the Greater Dublin Area (Dublin City; Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown; Fingal; South Dublin; Kildare; Meath; and Wicklow) as of Census 2006 was 1,661,185 persons.
If anyone by this classes Meath and Wicklow in Dublin CITY then id like to hear their views...same way I wouldnt class Mandurah or Joondalup in Perth CityPerth has been the fastest growing city in OZ. In an Economist ranking of world cities in terms of livability, Perth came 4th in world rankings,
Wont last much longer - seeing as it was based on unsustainable mining (and their own housing bubble), and the Economist also put Ireland at Number 1 a few years back - says it all
My advise to the OP is - do not listen to someone from Perth in relation to Perth (they do have a warped view)...do not settle anywhere until you first live there for a few months until you get a feel for the place. Definitely do not buy a house until you are ready to cimmit - I have friends who bought in Perth but ended up selling up and moving to the the gold coast.So how do you explain the incredible divergence of your opinions from objective reality?
I like that quote - I couldnt describe the Perthian (is that what is is?) view better myselfBack on topics that are useful for the OP please, and less bickering about the intricacies of Perth.
Apologies...maybe we should start a Perth Appreciation thread for the Perth people 0 -
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And still, after all your unhelpful negatives, you have still not supplied the OP with anything constructive.
As opposed to your constructive input? :rolleyes:I'm struggling to see why you have such a blatant hatred for Perth and a massive vendetta, going so far as to tell the OP not to listen to people who actually live there.
From there not live there...although there were a few descenting voices when I was there wondering why anyone would decide to move there...I dont have a hatred for Perth and there are alot of things there that were spot on - bus and train to work and I was still in the exact same time every morning but in my experience its far from the eutopia portrayed by people from there (most who have never been anywhere else in Australia) -You seem to think Brisbane city is some sort of happy haven in comparison to dull oul Perth. I simply don't understand this as I would put Brisbane on a par with Perth in terms of excitement and opportunities. Brisbane city is hardly the partycapital of the world and the most exciting spots are a good hour and half away down the Gold Coast.
Where did you get this rubbish from? Who's talking about party capitals or happy havens? (although in comparison to Perth, Athlone would be one of those) I remember walking along Hay street in the CBD early enough on a Saturday evening and whispering because it was so quiet...I could hear myself echoing off the buildings...pretty surreal feeling -
To be honest I wouldnt reccommend anyone settle in Brisbane long term either, but thats just me, I prefer bigger cities - if I had kids and was looking to settle then maybe i'd have a different view...if they had to choose between here and Perth then in my book, its an easy answer...and I'd take an hours drive to a variety of attractions over a few days drive anytime...The OP should maybe listen to someone who is a bit more impartial than yourself, and even myself, as I think we're at opposite ends of the scale when it comes to opinions on Perth.
Agreed, there is nowhere in Australia the OP should move to until they have lived for a while and can weigh up the life style versus the opportunities...even if those opportunities are dwindling by the day0 -
OP I think you need to give us more info on what you are really looking for, there is far too much choice for locations! And a LOT will depend on your line of work as well. Perhaps you should let us know what towns/cities have interested you thus far and we can then comment.Guineapigrescue wrote: »Basically looking for coastal area/near a busy town but with reasonable house prices.
I'm not going to comment on other States, but in Victoria, you might be interested in Melbourne, Geelong, Warrnambool. Really depends on what your definition of "busy town" is.
As for house prices (either renting or buying) check out...
http://www.realestate.com.au/
http://www.domain.com.au/Guineapigrescue wrote: »Driving:What's the avereage cost of running a car, e.g. insurance etc.
Check out
http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Primary/insurance/car+insurance/
http://www.aami.com.au/car-insurance/car-insurance-details.aspx0 -
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GPR, I'll give you my personal experience and you can see if that will be of use to you.
First things first, I live inland, in rural Victoria. I live in a small town, pop. circa 5,000. In fact, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmore,_Victoria
That's where I live.
I've just moved into a project-built house (where you buy some land and then buy a house off the plans and the builder builds it for you with the colours and interiors you choose yourself). The house is 2600 sq ft including a double garage, four bedrooms, study, a large kitchen/living area and a separate lounge room. The block of land is 1,200m2 (that's just under one third of an acre). All in, including house and land, the finished product cost me, in euros, €160,200.
Weirdly, the town reminds me strongly of Bray in Ireland back in the late 1970s early 1980s, when I was a child. Perhaps it's just the small town feel that I'm recognising, where people in the shops know you and so on.
This town has all of the desirable amenities - schools, both public and private, for all age ranges of children; supermarkets, one large and a number of smaller ones; three pubs (yeah, I know, in Ireland that'd be closer to 20 pubs
); restaurants, shops etc. The shopping is a bit crap in terms of clothes and shoes but you'll find something to do for you in a pinch, plus the shopping at Epping is a 45 minute drive away.
That's the next issue. Driving.
Seriously: if you don't drive, you won't survive outside a major city in Australia.
The distances in question, relative to Ireland, are HUGE. The 'Australian dream' used to be a detached house on a quarter acre block, and the frontages on those blocks are around 12 to 15 metres, (so you're talking one postbox every 12-15 metres!) My postie drives a moped to deliver post in the summer, and a little van in the winter.
The pressure on land was never as intense down here as it has been in Europe for thousands of years. Subsequently, in this little town of 5,000 people, it would take me 40 minutes to walk to the supermarket, and easily an hour to walk to the train station from where I live - and I live at the south end of the main road of the town! As the crow flies, I'm 8.5kms from the supermarket. Getting there in the car is no bother, takes less than 10 minutes. On foot - well, I just couldn't do it. Might be different if I were a keen cyclist, but then there's the problem of what I could carry home on the bike...
Anyway - the upshot is that towns and suburbs are spread over a far wider area than equivalently populated towns and suburbs in Ireland. Most of the cars down here are automatic rather than manual, however, which makes them point and go, so it's easier to learn to drive! Trust me, I held a full manual licence for two years in England before moving to Australia, and I never used it because I couldn't bear driving on the roads in SE England. I was a seriously nervous driver, and now I'm a happy (enough) driver to manage rural and suburban roads and highways, and if I can do it anybody can.
Still though, if the big question is what your husband's working life is going to be like if he moves down here - that's unanswerable. Will he still be cycling huge distances? Yes, possibly, if they'll even take him on without a driving licence. Will it be an improvement? Well it'll be cycling vast distances in sunshine and warm weather more often than not. He certainly won't be cycling against horizontal hailstones wearing one of those full-body macs - well, maybe once every two years he might break it out of the closet if we have a freak storm.
In general, Australian working hours are not as intense as those in Ireland and England. Sure, if you want to you can do 70 hours a week, but there's a strong work/life balance ethic here, especially in the 'burbs and country areas, and if 5pm is when your day finishes then that's when it finishes.
I will say I strongly believe that suburban and rural Australia is an excellent place to raise kids. I see kids around me having the sort of outdoors-oriented childhood I had myself, where you can still run and cycle and play ball in the public parks and there are skateboard parks provided for you, for instance, and people generally don't hate kids so you won't get yelled at to shut up or eff off or go somewhere else when all you're doing is hanging out and minding your own business. All of the pubs and restaurants around us are family oriented.
It was a major adjustment for us to move from London (Sit-down curry at 11pm? Not a problem. Pizza delivery after the pub at 1am? I'm sure there's somewhere that does it. Will you pop to the shops for me? I want a guava, a moisturiser, a bunch of lemongrass, a pork pie, a dorothy perkins swing coat and a pair of Firetrap boots - you'll get them all in the mall, which is a 10 minute walk away) to Kilmore (can't get a meal out after 8pm, the hotel restaurant uses butchers paper as tablecloths, if you want to go clothes shopping you'll need to drive for 45 minutes), but it's been well worth it, and after our initial rocky settling in period, I can tell you this was the best move we ever made. Australia is definitely the right place, right time for us - and we're here two years in April.
A holiday first is definitely a good idea - you need to get a feel for distance and atmosphere yourselves before you commit to living here.0 -
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