olly

Yes Paul, any of those Nepean Highway beachside suburbs are all pretty good, Mentone being nice with lots of shops. Although the Mornington Peninsula are my favourite beaches, but of course you have the commute which doesn't suit some people. It all depends on how close you want to be to work once again.

Canberra is an acquired taste, but I have known people who whinged about going there for work, then say they love it and wouldn't live anywhere else. If you can accept that Canberra is far more than a political capital, I believe it can be a nice place for families. If you can dodge the politicians at the restaurants that is !!! There are worse places to live in the world - but that's only my opinion.

You are right about Clayton, it is not the best suburb, there are is a lot of industry out there, headquarters of big companies etc and also the second biggest ( I think) University in Victoria. There are some okay parts and not so fantastic parts - however, it is very accessible to other parts of Eastern and South Eastern Melbourne due to its proximity to major Roads and Freeways/Tollways (although these can be busy !). Some nice suburbs (and can be expensive to buy though) not far from Clayton include Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Oakleigh, Mulgrave, Burwood, Blackburn, Nth Blackburn. People I know commute from the outer South East to Clayton on the Monash Freeway (from Berwick, Pakenham etc). Good luck with it.

It is a nice town, and if you are doing any kind of social work down that way (in East Gippsland) it is very busy !! Not sure what your line of work is, but just thought I'd mention that. My brother lives in Paynesville, which is about 10 minutes out of Bairnsdale, he lives on the Gippsland Lakes, gorgeous spot, affordable and also only a run up the road back to Bairnsdale for shopping and Bairnsdale Hospital. The whole area is very pleasant to live, although a fair way from Melbourne - takes me 3 and a half hours but if you don't need to be in Melbourne, it is a nice country lifestyle (not big city as petals says) but pleasant all the same. I haven't heard any negative feedback about Gipps Grammar, should be fine.

A family member (we're Aussie) went there for work to Gladstone. Being, as you know, a mining town, it is all geared around that - that is the fact of life. As mentioned above, my family member spent some time in Tannum Sands, which is a nice suburb. My family member also was in a share house in Barney Point I think its called, and there are lots of shared houses with people working shiftwork and renting rooms in central Gladstone. I know people who have moved up from Melbourne to make their money, pay their houses off, put money in the bank and retire early.......if this is their goal then Gladstone will serve its purpose. With every thing in life, it is what suits you at the time. Good luck with it all I hope you find someone that suits you. My family member and her housemates were mechanics and service industry personnel on Curtis Island - she said the Utes pull into the town, catch the ferry across, then come back and all the Utes go out in the afternoon. She also told me that I should move up there and open a good coffee shop/takeaway place and have dinner meals ready to pick up as they come off the ferry, lol !! Maybe better than my job at the moment !

Costco has just opened their second store in Melbourne - there is one in Docklands (city) and one in Ringwood (eastern Melbourne). There are heaps of Aldi stores nearly in every suburb now and also Coles (which is being run by the Brits at the moment) are changing some of their stores to accommodate homewares (the 24 hr Burwood Kmart complex Coles has some including clothes). We have much more choice now that 20 years ago, I shop at Aldi then go next door to Safeway at Forest Hill. No dramas. Also there are farmer's markets for speciality items - I especially love the farmer's markets which have popped up in some suburbs in recent years.

Wow, when was that? I think my Uncle left it in the early 70's - they bought property in Pearcedale after that. They got fed up running it as a caravan park, and sometimes all the trouble that went with it (so I remember my Dad telling me). Lots of memories for me from there though, and there were no freeways down there it was quite a long drive back then to Carrum Downs. Yesterday I drove to Mornington on Peninsula Link and drove right through that whole area, remembering how things have changed - I had visitors from England and they couldn't believe it was all farm land where Peninsula/Eastlink is now.

One of the things that really peeved me off when I returned home to Aus after several years living in the UK/Europe was that there was hardly any recognition of my work experience over there, and I am led to believe that is something that people coming to Aus to live find their experience/qualification are often not recognised/known. I found coming back to apply for jobs after several years in a fantastic job in the UK, it was more or less the attitude "whatever" by some laid back interviewers. I could have jumped up over the chair and shaken them saying "Have you ever actually travelled outside your own city, or your own chair for that matter ?" For me, spending quite a while away, I saw my own country in a different light - the laid back attitude doesn't always mean that is a good thing. The pull of family drew me back here, and it is my home and I love it, but I do see some of the drawbacks.

In Melbourne its a better idea I have found to have an outdoor spa undercover, that way you can jump in a hot tub in the winter and still use it in the summer to cool down. You have to heat it in the winter too, but much easier to look after than a pool, as we had one under big trees and my dad spent most of his day fishing the leaves out. Some people had pool people to look after it, fine if you have that money. At least with an outdoor spa you can cover it from fallen leaves etc. The house I live in at th moment has one which was put on gas rather than electricity, so that helped with heating it. A pool in Melbourne has little use in the winter, too feckin' cold !!!

Devastating for the whole family, it's hard to believe something like that can happen so quickly.

If you are inclined to like it, as others say that is important - try refrigeration mechanic - there are some good well paid jobs (one of my immediate family is in the industry). Only if you like it though ! Just a suggestion.

I whacked a cockroach with a bat this morning, they rarely were seen in Victoria years ago, now they have made their way down from Queensland, heck I wish Queenslanders would have kept the damn roaches to themselves !!!!!

My brother is in East Gippsland (Paynesville), such a lovely part of Victoria, I saw that ELVIS the chopper was on the way down there, thank goodness we have ELVIS to help out with the fires.

As Bobj would say Petals : "BUGGA" The local council is telling me to put all these plants in the house I am building, I fear they will all keel over if there is another drought. Don't suppose we could take our clothes off and do a rain dance???

A good question Adonna re the people serving fish and chips: for the past 40 years in Melbourne we have had post WW2 Greek migrants owning many of the fish and chip shops and doing a fantastic job. More proper and real people you will not get - chatty, eager to please and always gave you extras. To the original poster, glad you are happy, that is the main thing to be where your heart is.