Hi From Australia - Seeking advise

Paleo_Gardener

Hi,
I am planning to retire in Ireland before Christmas 2012.

I am impressed that most country properties have more that half and acre of land which seems ample to grow a few veggies. I have seen a few properties of a few acres with established gardens, poly-tunnels etc which are very attractive to me.
I am interested in buying a country property on the West coast and am seeking advise with regard to growing conditions in terms of; soil, climate, rainfall etc.
I realise that it would be almost impossible to give advise regarding micro-climate issues.
I have been researching various web sites - I am not sure if I am allowed to include links to web sites but here goes - http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/3rd-+-4th-class/geography/food-and-farming/soils-in-ireland/ A ve.ry basic level site aimed at school children I think but good enough for my needs.
Are there any counties on the West coast that I should specifically target or specifically avoid?
I am planning to erect a poly-tunnel and perhaps a greenhouse too and I know that I could improve the soils for these limited areas of cultivation but I would prefer to buy in an area that is reasonably fertile.
When I arrive we will be heading into Winter so I do not think I will not be able judge how well gardens are doing in various areas. Maybe I am wrong on this count, I am coming from a warmish place where I can grow. something all year round.
I am interested in knowing how close to the coast I can live without suffering any adverse effect from salt carried in the wind.
I do not need to live close to a centre of employment and prefer to find somewhere rural. I do not know if I should avoid Gaeltacht regions as I only speak English.

Heaps of other questions too.

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds

Michael

Bigcheeze

Paleo_Gardener wrote: »

Hi,
I am planning to retire in Ireland before Christmas 2012.

I am impressed that most country properties have more that half and acre of land which seems ample to grow a few veggies. I have seen a few properties of a few acres with established gardens, poly-tunnels etc which are very attractive to me.
I am interested in buying a country property on the West coast and am seeking advise with regard to growing conditions in terms of; soil, climate, rainfall etc.
I realise that it would be almost impossible to give advise regarding micro-climate issues.
I have been researching various web sites - I am not sure if I am allowed to include links to web sites but here goes - http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/3rd-+-4th-class/geography/food-and-farming/soils-in-ireland/ A ve.ry basic level site aimed at school children I think but good enough for my needs.
Are there any counties on the West coast that I should specifically target or specifically avoid?
I am planning to erect a poly-tunnel and perhaps a greenhouse too and I know that I could improve the soils for these limited areas of cultivation but I would prefer to buy in an area that is reasonably fertile.
When I arrive we will be heading into Winter so I do not think I will not be able judge how well gardens are doing in various areas. Maybe I am wrong on this count, I am coming from a warmish place where I can grow. something all year round.
I am interested in knowing how close to the coast I can live without suffering any adverse effect from salt carried in the wind.
I do not need to live close to a centre of employment and prefer to find somewhere rural. I do not know if I should avoid Gaeltacht regions as I only speak English.

Heaps of other questions too.

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds

Michael

There are gardening and farming forums on boards.ie. You might get better answers if you post your question there.

You don't need to be able to speak Irish anywhere.

aujopimur

Ireland is a great country for growing things, if you look closely you will see stuff growing on cars, walls, roofs and concrete to name a few.

Lyn256

I have family living in Connemara in a very boggy area half way up a mountain and they grow a lot of veggies in their polytunnel and outside the polytunnel in raised beds-so I'd imagine that you can grow stuff pretty much anywhere . . .

riclad

Everyone in ireland speaks english, even in the gaeltacht some countys on the west get very high rainfall ,IF i had a choice i,d buy
near galway city .IF i was going to the west .
i think for employment prospects ,you could buy a house with land in county dublin,
weather is much milder ,much less rain fall.
IF you are growing in polytunnels you could just go anywhere in ireland.
the gaeltacht is more an idea, ie set aside an area to encourage irish language revival.

Henry Ford III

riclad wrote: »

Everyone in ireland speaks english, even in the gaeltacht some countys on the west get very high rainfall ,IF i had a choice i,d buy
near galway city .IF i was going to the west .
i think for employment prospects ,you could buy a house with land in county dublin,
weather is much milder ,much less rain fall.
IF you are growing in polytunnels you could just go anywhere in ireland.
the gaeltacht is more an idea, ie set aside an area to encourage irish language revival.

Op is retiring here.

Weather is similar all over the country. Lots of rain everywhere. Makes the countryside green.

I reckon the West Coast would be best too. Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway. All lovely places to live.

Growing veg. should be handy enough in a polytunnel almost everywhere in Ireland.

blackdog2

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Op is retiring here.

Weather is similar all over the country. Lots of rain everywhere. Makes the countryside green.

I reckon the West Coast would be best too. Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway. All lovely places to live.

Growing veg. should be handy enough in a polytunnel almost everywhere in Ireland.

One thing to consider for the mature gentleman is access to health facilities - Dublin or Galway might be worth considering, especially if he will be needing health insurance.

JustAThought

Hi Michael from Australia!!!

I have an allotment ( for 3 years or so!) and as a city person doing the " home grow " I can assure you that it is cheaper to buy the stuff in Lidl/Aldi than to go out digging & planting them !! Thou that's not the fun of it I know !!

No-one her has burst your bubble yet about the west; the BOGs, the houses built on dreadful land that you'd be lucky to stick a goat into; or about the nonstop rain that has us all in dispair & farmers around the country tearing out their hair cos they can't get heavy machinery intothe fields!

My tuppence worth ; don't be buying a place off the Internet before you get here!!! Come, have a look, RENT First & see!

You'd be shocked at some of the land & if it's the fun if planting you should be able to organise that with a landlord in many places. If it's cost efficiencies you'd want to take another look at your figures if they're based in savings/profit from the land.
Last year; me; 300+ lettuces. Chomped away by merry slugs.
This year; 300+ assorted plants; devoured by armies of slugs & snails ; mega pellets down!!
Potatoes; BLIgHT :0
Madness!!!

At least I'm in the city & not in Patrick Kavanagh land.. O Stony Grey Soil...

You might find all the wet a buy hard to take if you're used to Auzzie weather... Met up with these guys at the NationalCountryside Fair in Borris over the weekend.. Might be handy..
Www.wellies.ie
!



I like your little dream : ) I hope you have lots of fun planning it but don't buy until you try.. There's loses that would love to offload a place to someone over the Internet but it's not a god idea sight unseen..

Best of luck with your plans!

riclad

Weather the same everyone ,
Well thats like saying oz is abit warmer than france,
I spent 4 weeks in sligo ,rained about 5 days out of seven,heavy rain.
i would find it hard to live there ,
dublin area. some weeks it might rain on 2days.
east coast ,dublin, much milder weather .
ITS like going to new york, and saying everyone in the usa is a hipster,poet ,writer , journalist or artist, singer.
i,m not an expert ,i presume such heavy rain effects plants ,gardeners etc
IF its cold in dublin its much colder in the west.
the closer you get to west coast ,the more rain you get.
Go onto a forum for galway,etc or a gardening forum, see is there any comments re cold,weather ,rain etc
i think its a political idea,re gaeltacht ,theres grants and subsidys for irish schools,arts ,irish radio, tv,stations
ITS an industry ,eg
theres maybe 1000s of people employed depending on their ability to speak or teach irish.
ITS like in the usa government contracts go to companys in certain states .

For someone from oz,the weather,cold ,rain in the west would
be abit of a shock, i understand oz has a drought in most states the last 2 years.
i dont think i could live in the west as its too cold,wet
compared with dublin,
i lived in westmeath ,midlands ,8 years, ,its not as cold,wet as the west of ireland,though not as mild as dublin.
Theres a dramatic difference between dublin,meath ,#
and galway , sligo in regard to rainfall,
temperature,
in the summer its no so bad in the west .
TO say the weather is the same all over ireland is simply wrong.
IF you were here for a week,
as a tourist you might not know,or notice the difference.
if you are living somewhere and it rains 4 days in a row
well it will effect your lifestyle ,plus your heating bill
will be higher if you live in the west.

anto9

Hi , i live in Thailand now but before i had a bungalow with half an acre just outside of Wexford town in the very South East of Ireland near Rosslare Port .The weather in Ireland is dryier all along the East coast ,but still has more than enough with no water shortages .
The Climate ,and rich soil ( Wexford is called the garden of Ireland ) would make me advise you to consider Wexford .House prices with large gardens tend to be cheaper down there than many other parts of Ireland also .Wexford also has many great sandy beaches .Good for walking but the sea water temperature around Ireland makes swimming difficult even in Summer .
Much of the land in the West of Ireland has poor soil ,and unless sheltered can suffer wind damage .
I was in Perth Australia a few months ago and high prices there blew me away .Even compared to Ireland which used to be expensive ,less so now .
If you have an Aussie Pension or Investment income ,then moving to Ireland could be a good move for you .

P.S. To get an idea of house prices around Ireland check out www.daft.ie ,also www.myhome.ie

jmayo

Paleo_Gardener wrote: »

Hi,
I am planning to retire in Ireland before Christmas 2012.

I am impressed that most country properties have more that half and acre of land which seems ample to grow a few veggies. I have seen a few properties of a few acres with established gardens, poly-tunnels etc which are very attractive to me.
I am interested in buying a country property on the West coast and am seeking advise with regard to growing conditions in terms of; soil, climate, rainfall etc.
I realise that it would be almost impossible to give advise regarding micro-climate issues.
I have been researching various web sites - I am not sure if I am allowed to include links to web sites but here goes - http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/3rd-+-4th-class/geography/food-and-farming/soils-in-ireland/ A ve.ry basic level site aimed at school children I think but good enough for my needs.
Are there any counties on the West coast that I should specifically target or specifically avoid?
I am planning to erect a poly-tunnel and perhaps a greenhouse too and I know that I could improve the soils for these limited areas of cultivation but I would prefer to buy in an area that is reasonably fertile.
When I arrive we will be heading into Winter so I do not think I will not be able judge how well gardens are doing in various areas. Maybe I am wrong on this count, I am coming from a warmish place where I can grow. something all year round.
I am interested in knowing how close to the coast I can live without suffering any adverse effect from salt carried in the wind.
I do not need to live close to a centre of employment and prefer to find somewhere rural. I do not know if I should avoid Gaeltacht regions as I only speak English.

Heaps of other questions too.

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds

Michael

Firstly have you ever been to Ireland ?
If not then you need to come for a period to see what it is like before you committ to any long term move.

What part of Oz are you coming from ?

The Irish climate is mild in that we don't have freezing temps in winter nor very hot/humid temps in summer.
We did have some snow & ice for a coupe of weeks two and three years ago but that was it.
It is not like Scandanavia, Canada, Eastern Europe which would have places on same latitude as us.

What we do have is lots of rain.
We may not get tropical downpours, but we do get persistent rain.
Drizzle and misty days are normal.
BTW you won't see much of the sun either.

And contrary to what some say around here there isn't all that much of a difference across the country.
We are a small island.

riclad wrote: »

Weather the same everyone ,
Well thats like saying oz is abit warmer than france,
I spent 4 weeks in sligo ,rained about 5 days out of seven,heavy rain.
i would find it hard to live there ,
dublin area. some weeks it might rain on 2days.
east coast ,dublin, much milder weather .
ITS like going to new york, and saying everyone in the usa is a hipster,poet ,writer , journalist or artist, singer.
i,m not an expert ,i presume such heavy rain effects plants ,gardeners etc
IF its cold in dublin its much colder in the west.

Ehhh wrong.
If anything it is warmer in winter on West coast due to Gulf stream.
If you are right on the coast then there is less chance of frost and snow than in the East.
True you can get more rain, but not very cold weather.
Historically most of our cold weather has come from the East or the North not the West.
Of course climate is up it's own ass over last few years.

riclad wrote: »

the closer you get to west coast ,the more rain you get.

True.

riclad wrote: »

Go onto a forum for galway,etc or a gardening forum, see is there any comments re cold,weather ,rain etc
i think its a political idea,re gaeltacht ,theres grants and subsidys for irish schools,arts ,irish radio, tv,stations
ITS an industry ,eg
theres maybe 1000s of people employed depending on their ability to speak or teach irish.

I must tell a few people I know in Gaeltacht that they should get jobs just based on their ability to speak Irish.
BTW where are the 1000s employed teachign Irish ????

riclad wrote: »

For someone from oz,the weather,cold ,rain in the west would
be abit of a shock, i understand oz has a drought in most states the last 2 years.

Speaking as someone from the West who has lived in the East, the East gets a lot more crappy weather than most places in Oz so please stop this cr** that just the West would be a shock.

mel.b

riclad wrote: »

.

For someone from oz,the weather,cold ,rain in the west would
be abit of a shock, i understand oz has a drought in most states the last 2 years.
i dont think i could live in the west as its too cold,wet
compared with dubli.

As an Aussie living in Ireland (in the west!) nearly 5 years now, the weather isn't that much of a shock, esp if you come from the southern states. In fact, despite the lack of sunshine i prefer the irish weather and don't miss the days and nights of 30c + where you can't sleep.

Also the southern states have had some of their wettest years in the past long while. The Vic goverment commissioned a desalination plant when the water situation was really bad and it is coming on line this year. Guess how much water they have had to order from it for the irst year? Zero. Not a single litre! How's that for a billion dollar white elephant!

riclad

I,M saying there,s a big difference between the weather
in dublin,meath versus say galway .OF course
to a aussie anywhere in eire may seem colder,wetter
when you are used to constant sunshine even in winter.
I,D hate to live in a place where its just sunny and hot every day so for me i actually like the variation, i like when it rains.But i would not be able to live in sligo or galway.
so say you are buying a house for 90k ,id recommend
somewhere near the east coast .
OF course houses ,cottages with land are much cheaper in the west .
Compared with oz most european countrys would seem colder with high rainfall.

I understand the government is letting many teachers go in all countys ,and just because you speak irish is no gaurantee of a job anywhere now .
But there are many jobs eg tg4 that would
not exist without government support .
ie tg4 would not survive without the money it gets from rte .
to say Ireland is just cold ,wet is a simplification.
thats like saying the weather in texas is identical
to the weather in boston .

anto9

>>Are there any counties on the West coast that I should specifically target or specifically avoid?<<

Wherever you buy there are a few things to consider.Property prices in Ireland are falling and are not likely to increase again outside of the big Cityies for maybe the next 10 to 15 years .Take your time looking for a place and it would be a good idea to rent for at least 6 months first .Once you buy a place you may be stuck with it for good or bad .If you did need to sell it could be difficult .
Be very careful with checking you neighbours .In rural areas if you see a couple of caravans in a field nearby ,it should raise a red flag .( it would be delicate to explain why here ) .

anto9

double post delated .

Marcusm

anto9 wrote: »

Hi , i live in Thailand now but before i had a bungalow with half an acre just outside of Wexford town in the very South East of Ireland near Rosslare Port .The weather in Ireland is dryier all along the East coast ,but still has more than enough with no water shortages .
The Climate ,and rich soil ( Wexford is called the garden of Ireland ) would make me advise you to consider Wexford .

Hate to break it to you but Wexford is "the model county", Wicklow is the Garden of Ireland!!

OP, rent first. Different parts of the country have different advantages. The soil in the west can be perfectly adequate for market gardening and draining or improving the soil in a domestic vegetable garden can give you extra occupation. That said, the west is more sparsely populated and that can be a positive or negative depending on your perspective.

anto9

>>
consider Wexford .

Hate to break it to you but Wexford is "the model county", Wicklow is the Garden of Ireland!!<<

Anyway to me Wexford is the Garden of Ireland ,but you are right in your common classification .Wexford is full of market gardens ,and has its famous strawberries .On my half acre i grew many vegetables including great tomatoes both indoor and outdoor .I come originally from Dublin City but people down there were very friendly to a blow in like me .

Lantus

There are significant variations across Ireland for its weather. Met Eirans site is a good place to start for historical data and general weather patterns.

http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/climate-of-ireland.asp

Perosnally I'd be looking at the South East like County Wexford if growing food was a key issue. It's where a lot of fruit is grown and has typically the mildest and warmest climate on average.

RATM

Some good advice by other posters for the OP.

I'd just tend to say that you should rent in an area first before buying. Your gardening plans sounds all good and well but another factor to consider is becoming part of the community you live in. If you spend day in day out tending to the garden without talking to anyone things will get boring (and lonely) very fast. Some areas in Ireland are known for their friendliness and will welcome you with open arms. Others will always keep you at a guarded distance, it is not that they don't like outsiders its just they are not used to them. It is probably much the same way that if I upped sticks and emigrated to the Northern Territoty in Oz I'd probably face some wariness, it might last 2 weeks or it might last forever. So this is a key consideration in where you choose. A lot of German retirees have settled very well in west Cork and get on with the locals. The same can't be said for every part of Ireland though.


So I would advise you to rent in an area before buying later in that same area. As you'll know there has been a property crash here so there is no lack of vacant houses to rent with decent gardens outside of the Dublin Metro area.

Another consideration you should have is access by air for visitors from Oz. Nothing worse than ending a 24 hour flight and having to face into a 4 hour car drive to the back of beyonds.

handlemaster

anto9 wrote: »

The Climate ,and rich soil ( Wexford is called the garden of Ireland ) would make me advise you to consider Wexford .

Its Wicklow thats called the garden of Ireland

anto9

handlemaster wrote: »

anto9 wrote: »

The Climate ,and rich soil ( Wexford is called the garden of Ireland ) would make me advise you to consider Wexford .

Its Wicklow thats called the garden of Ireland

This has been corrected already .See above posts .

Paleo_Gardener

I am such a goose. I was expecting an email prompting me that someone had added to this thread/post and did not check back adequately. Thanks to all for all of the really useful replies, which I am about to read through in more detail. Obviously I need to learn how to use this site properly.
Arrived UK on the 18th of October and am staying with my sister and BIL in South West Wales. Decided to swap my drivers licence for a UK one (I could do this because I was born in the UK and hold an Australian licence) so that I can buy a car in UK and bring it to Ireland rather than renting one in Ireland to start with as it will be a while before I have an official place of residence in Ireland in order to be able to register a car there. I think that I will be able to re-register, tax and insure the car (yet to be purchased) in Ireland as soon as I settle down.

Planning to visit old friends in the UK and then head off to Ireland middle to late November.

aujopimur

Unless you can prove residency in the UK ptior to bringing a car to Ireland you will be liable to VRT.
All the information is a available on the Revenue website.
It might be easier to buy a car in Ireland.

Paleo_Gardener

Thank you very much for this information. Lots to read from the Revenue and a few other websites.

tom_thumb

riclad wrote: »

Weather the same everyone ,
Well thats like saying oz is abit warmer than france,
I spent 4 weeks in sligo ,rained about 5 days out of seven,heavy rain.
i would find it hard to live there ,
dublin area. some weeks it might rain on 2days.
east coast ,dublin, much milder weather .
ITS like going to new york, and saying everyone in the usa is a hipster,poet ,writer , journalist or artist, singer.
i,m not an expert ,i presume such heavy rain effects plants ,gardeners etc
IF its cold in dublin its much colder in the west.
the closer you get to west coast ,the more rain you get.
Go onto a forum for galway,etc or a gardening forum, see is there any comments re cold,weather ,rain etc
i think its a political idea,re gaeltacht ,theres grants and subsidys for irish schools,arts ,irish radio, tv,stations
ITS an industry ,eg
theres maybe 1000s of people employed depending on their ability to speak or teach irish.
ITS like in the usa government contracts go to companys in certain states .

For someone from oz,the weather,cold ,rain in the west would
be abit of a shock, i understand oz has a drought in most states the last 2 years.
i dont think i could live in the west as its too cold,wet
compared with dublin,
i lived in westmeath ,midlands ,8 years, ,its not as cold,wet as the west of ireland,though not as mild as dublin.
Theres a dramatic difference between dublin,meath ,#
and galway , sligo in regard to rainfall,
temperature,
in the summer its no so bad in the west .
TO say the weather is the same all over ireland is simply wrong.
IF you were here for a week,
as a tourist you might not know,or notice the difference.
if you are living somewhere and it rains 4 days in a row
well it will effect your lifestyle ,plus your heating bill
will be higher if you live in the west.

while the west is certainly wetter than the midlands or dublin , the west is actually warmer on a year round basis than dublin and certainly warmer than the midlands which is the coldest part of the country on a year round basis

windy and wet does not equal cold

tom_thumb

Lantus wrote: »

There are significant variations across Ireland for its weather. Met Eirans site is a good place to start for historical data and general weather patterns.

http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/climate-of-ireland.asp

Perosnally I'd be looking at the South East like County Wexford if growing food was a key issue. It's where a lot of fruit is grown and has typically the mildest and warmest climate on average.

property in wexford is about 25% more expensive than anywhere in the west

Paleo_Gardener

mel.b wrote: »

As an Aussie living in Ireland (in the west!) nearly 5 years now, the weather isn't that much of a shock, esp if you come from the southern states. In fact, despite the lack of sunshine i prefer the irish weather and don't miss the days and nights of 30c + where you can't sleep.

Also the southern states have had some of their wettest years in the past long while. The Vic goverment commissioned a desalination plant when the water situation was really bad and it is coming on line this year. Guess how much water they have had to order from it for the irst year? Zero. Not a single litre! How's that for a billion dollar white elephant!

Pretty much the same thing happen with the desalination plant in Sydney.
Also looking to avoid excessive heat especially at night.
Good to hear that another Aussie has acclimatised without any problems.

Paleo_Gardener

I have now had time to read through all responses in more detail - thanks to everyone.
Can anyone tell me what "OP" stands for I am guessing at Old Person or Original Poster?
I am very interested in a comment stating that property prices in rural Ireland will not rise at all for 10 or 15 years. If this could be guaranteed then it would probably influence my strategy.

kupus

OP=original poster, you may be thinking of OAP which means old age pensioner.

Nothing is certain Paleo, but the projected outlook regarding economy is bleak, so you can even wait a year or two more and the property prices in the west should fall even further, as more taxes are being heaped on homes and property.

Another thing is you say you are retired so dont take this up the wrong way but you should consider being near a hospital for emergency sake.
No point being out in the middle of the boonies and taking 2-3hrs to get to any sort of medical facility, there is a few places along the west coast where that is possible:

Letterkenny in Donegal,
Sligo in sligo county
Castlebar in county mayo
Galway in county galway
Ennis in county clare
Tralee in county Kerry

eg in donegal carndonagh, falcarragh and buncrana are nice secenic areas
in sligo you have bundoran, easkey, enniscrone(plenty of surf here)
in mayo you have westport, newport louisburgh, and achill which is a beautiful island.
In Galway, you can choose from clifden, roundstone, carraroe spiddal.
in Clare you have from ballyvaughan down to kilrush all nice areas.
and lastly Kerry which has ballybunnion, fenit dingle and cahershiveen


You can get property on the coast and be in these towns and cities that Ive mentioned in BOLD within 40 mins- 1hr.
All of these towns have theaters and cinemas and shopping, restaurants and other stuff to do, should you find yourself bored at home on a cold damp night!!

P.S.
Also on the main newspaper sites for Ireland Irish times, and irish independent they are saying that prices for property are slowly rising, please do not be sucked into that as there is some hidden agenda for trying to artificially inflate the market for their own purposes......Every so often they will have a puffpowder piece on property going for x amount over the asking price.......They never have a comment section on these pieces......That should be enough to set off alarm bells.

If you have any questions Boards.ie should be your starting point for property sales and even then you have to separate the wheat from the shaft.

Paleo_Gardener

Thanks Kupus for a really insightful post. I will definitely take proximity to local hospitals into account (had a joyride in an ambulance a few months back [all fixed now] and I was glad that it was only a short journey then).
You seem to have indicated that West Cork is not well served with hospitals, as this area was within my target area I will have to do further research.

Bannasidhe

Paleo_Gardener wrote: »

Thanks Kupus for a really insightful post. I will definitely take proximity to local hospitals into account (had a joyride in an ambulance a few months back [all fixed now] and I was glad that it was only a short journey then).
You seem to have indicated that West Cork is not well served with hospitals, as this area was within my target area I will have to do further research.

It depends on how far west you want to go in Cork. My great-Uncle (now aged 93) retired to Inishshannon which is less than an hour to Cork city with several hospitals including Cork University Hospital - one of the country's 'centres of excellence'.

Bantry has a general hospital -http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Find_a_Service/hospitals/bantry/

I also know many people who have retired to areas around Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Bantry, Baltimore etc. who are doing exactly what you want to do.

West Cork is well used to 'incomers' and is very open and welcoming.

I lived in Oz for 2 years - NSW and QLD - and although we may have rain more consistently I have never encountered downpours here to compare to the Wet in either State, nor do we get the 80+% humidity, nights so hot sleep is impossible or interesting wildlife that will kill you in a second.
Climate was a huge factor in my decision to return to Ireland - at least in the cold/rain one can wrap up, there is little one can do about high temperatures except run air conditioning constantly.