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Quoll · 16-02-2008, 12:46 AM

OK, I'll bite. I live in Canberra - not apparently much regarded by most (except for the most discerning of course!) migrants. Canberra is known as the bush city and the one downfall for you would be that we are not on the beach - although you can get to some very nice beaches within a couple of hours and many Canberrans have vans or second houses down at the beach.

Canberra is a new city, there are a couple of buildings here built in the 1800s but the rest is planned and built around several man made lakes (big lakes). It comprises a series of satellite town centres (several on the lakes) and is somewhat sprawling but from anywhere you can see the bush - there are mountains to the West of us and 3 significant hills on 3 sides. Because it is planned, there are lots of open spaces and parks and the roads are wide, the place is generally "clean" looking. The houses are a mix - from very (very) expensive macmansions to humble weatherboard or brick places. We are 2 miles from the cenre of the city and have a quarter acre block with vegies and chooks and fruit trees. (our house is humble weatherboard - no pool!!!)

We have a great range of opportunities for kids sport and arts wise. We have more 50m pools in the ACT than in the whole of UK, of which many are recreation pools and that's where kids go in the summer.

We have defined seasons which is great. Pretty much any day of the year there will be blue skies and even in winter when we get up to -7C frosts, it is a crisp cold and the sky is blue and the day heats up to +10C. Summers can be hot but usually only a few concentrated weeks of 30C+ not humid so easier to handle the heat.

We have some very nice restaurants, nice alfresco cafes with good quality coffee, a range of professional and amateur theatre, some great local concerts but we even feature on some of the big name music tours. Good libraries, nice range of retail (except cross stitch shops are a bit thin on the ground, we only have 2)

We have all the national buildings so you can always occupy any guests for a few days doing the tourist thingie!

Our bus system is not bad and we have a network of cycle paths that are great for getting to anywhere via the scenic route.

Our schools are as good as any in the country (so the tables say) and alongside the government system we have a very healthy private system which allows parent opportunity. There are jobs everywhere - unemployment here is very low and you would have to be very unlucky not to pick up something. However, the biggest employer is the government - either local or federal and you do need to be a citizen or eligible to be a citizen to be employed by them.

We are a 3 hour drive from Sydney, 7 hours from Melbourne (but most of us try and take the flying option to Melbourne). We dont get floods (though a bit more water would be lovely!!!) or cyclones and we have recently had our 50 year bushfire so you should be OK with that one!

One of the people who emigrated here quite recently said we are "the hidden gem". There you go, that's the good bits!

16-02-2008, 12:46 AM	#2 (permalink)
Quoll PomsInOz Chatter Box Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Canberra Posts: 1,970 Thanks: 50 Thanked 132 Times in 88 Posts My Mood:	OK, I'll bite. I live in Canberra - not apparently much regarded by most (except for the most discerning of course!) migrants. Canberra is known as the bush city and the one downfall for you would be that we are not on the beach - although you can get to some very nice beaches within a couple of hours and many Canberrans have vans or second houses down at the beach. Canberra is a new city, there are a couple of buildings here built in the 1800s but the rest is planned and built around several man made lakes (big lakes). It comprises a series of satellite town centres (several on the lakes) and is somewhat sprawling but from anywhere you can see the bush - there are mountains to the West of us and 3 significant hills on 3 sides. Because it is planned, there are lots of open spaces and parks and the roads are wide, the place is generally "clean" looking. The houses are a mix - from very (very) expensive macmansions to humble weatherboard or brick places. We are 2 miles from the cenre of the city and have a quarter acre block with vegies and chooks and fruit trees. (our house is humble weatherboard - no pool!!!) We have a great range of opportunities for kids sport and arts wise. We have more 50m pools in the ACT than in the whole of UK, of which many are recreation pools and that's where kids go in the summer. We have defined seasons which is great. Pretty much any day of the year there will be blue skies and even in winter when we get up to -7C frosts, it is a crisp cold and the sky is blue and the day heats up to +10C. Summers can be hot but usually only a few concentrated weeks of 30C+ not humid so easier to handle the heat. We have some very nice restaurants, nice alfresco cafes with good quality coffee, a range of professional and amateur theatre, some great local concerts but we even feature on some of the big name music tours. Good libraries, nice range of retail (except cross stitch shops are a bit thin on the ground, we only have 2) We have all the national buildings so you can always occupy any guests for a few days doing the tourist thingie! Our bus system is not bad and we have a network of cycle paths that are great for getting to anywhere via the scenic route. Our schools are as good as any in the country (so the tables say) and alongside the government system we have a very healthy private system which allows parent opportunity. There are jobs everywhere - unemployment here is very low and you would have to be very unlucky not to pick up something. However, the biggest employer is the government - either local or federal and you do need to be a citizen or eligible to be a citizen to be employed by them. We are a 3 hour drive from Sydney, 7 hours from Melbourne (but most of us try and take the flying option to Melbourne). We dont get floods (though a bit more water would be lovely!!!) or cyclones and we have recently had our 50 year bushfire so you should be OK with that one! One of the people who emigrated here quite recently said we are "the hidden gem". There you go, that's the good bits!