SteveandKirsty

The far south of Adelaide is also known as 'Little Britain' - so many expat Poms and Onkaparinga Park has many Kangaroos. If you are looking for somewhere to live - the south of Adelaide is a good shout.

Aldinga is set to be the next growth area - for better or worse - with a lot of building set to be going on, added to that which is already taking place just down the road at Maslin, Seaford Meadows and Seaford Heights. Chances are, working in your trade you would not need to look in the northern half of Adelaide anyway and could even find constant work on the doorstep. That said, there are a lot of "tradies" already pitched up in the area as I am sure you will appreciate. I have been working in a job that has seen me out in the public and even I have been surprised by the number of expat Poms in these southern suburbs. Hallett Cove is possibly less British than it once was but Port Noarlunga, Seaford area and Aldinga most certainly so. As for being safe? As stated above in comparison to a lot of suburban areas of the UK and other parts of Australia, Adelaide is a lot safer. You might feel less so but that is because the local media here cover "crimes" that would hardly get a look in in the most part in Britain. Yes there is petty crime, where we live in Seaford Meadows, it is a new suburb that is not completed yet with a mix of housing from private owned, private rented and what is known as public housing here (aka housing association as per UK) and a vast mix of people have all found themselves living side by side. The same now happens with new developments in the UK too.

Unless you want to have advise (yes, sales pitch) on bank accounts, money transfer, removal companies etc. Might be worth it if it is not far from where you live though.

Yes little point in bringing a car across - too expensive to consider on a number of levels, unless it is something rare or classic. Yes, purchasing a car is expensive in Australia (or rather, perhaps too cheap in the the UK?) but as noted above, vehicles appear to last longer in Australia and often have less km's on the clock too. Also as a tip, do not purchase a car via one of the car sale websites in Australia, which has become the thing to do in the UK a lot more. There are lot of hidden dangers with it all. There are various second hand car dealers in every town and just as with the UK and elsewhere, dealerships have trade ins for sale and those would be a first point of call, even if it is purchasing something to get you going. We don't intend on keeping our 2010 Mazda 2 and 2011 Ford Fiesta for very long but they are suiting as just fine for now.

I did find it strange that Channel 10 managed to totally overshadow the grand final of one of their own flagship shows! Suddenly few were interested in Larissa, who was the youngest ever winner.

I did apply to the University of Adelaide, in such a role yes which was advertised on their website and in the Advertiser. I did not hear anything though. But it is an avenue I will continue to look at.

Yes, of course - plus other states have now tightened up considerably. The question was initially asked by a guy from Iran at the seminar, he said he had been searching for work (in, I think, IT) for eight months and had found little and said he had a job offer in Sydney. I then counter asked the question, to cross check the reply. I do not doubt that they hear it all the time, yes. Other than perhaps WA, we would not be interested in moving interstate anyway. Onwards and upwards.

Agree with that and over the past three weeks I changed my strategy towards this and have applied for various roles in various industries.

We are newbies to Adelaide having been here three months now, and I (Steve) have been to every capital city of Australia and every state including Canberra, where a distant relative of Kirsty's was actually one of the original settlers of. Adelaide is certainly worth a visit and yes, in a number of ways it does have an English/British feel to it but that is deliberate given it was planned by Colonel Light as a British colony.... The English style cathedral and bells in the city centre can make it feel a home from home. Yes there is a strong contribution from other countries and cultures too, notably more German than anywhere else in Australia but it has that feel about it and even Bill Bryson described it as "forever Sussex" in his book. The thing with Australia is that every State and capital city is different. All the rest of the comments on Adelaide above I pretty much agree with. I have lived and worked in Melbourne and Cairns, albeit 20 years ago and whether it is that I am in my 40's now rather than 20's making a difference, but I met people far easier there than I have here, so far at least anyway and the job situation is now starting to worry me. I have done and continue to do everything I can - applying for jobs I see, contacting agencies - who so far have bluffed me off or simply given me an honest "no", putting my CV through doors, trying word of mouth through the limited number of people I/we do know here but all to little avail so far. What I have learnt is that many places in different industries are looking to decrease their staff rather than increase which doesn't bode well. We cannot move to another state as we are on SN PR and the SA Immigration have already shut me down when I asked the question they didn't want to hear, largely owing to Kirsty being the named applicant and she has a job. When I attended the jobs seminar the state government put on they as good as admitted that the job situation for newcomers is hardly great, and there were others there from countries such as India, Iran and Egypt who have been unemployed since their arrival over 8 or 9 months ago. Not good. Kirsty on the other hand settled into the job she got soon after we arrived very well, and is making friends and contacts, albeit slowly and she has noted how inefficient South Australia appears to be in many ways. Note SA rather than the country itself as we are both convinced that there are some things (will not bore with details) that are not the case in places like Sydney or states such as Victoria. And yes, 12'c in winter feels every bit of it given that the houses in SA are geared up for the 40'c heat of summer, almost forgetting that a third of the year can get quite chilly...

Sometimes too it is worthwhile looking a bit beyond as it is a bit cheaper, more space. We have ended up living in Seaford (well, Seaford Meadows to be precise) right in the far south of Adelaide. But, we live a 3 minute walk from the train station (which can get us into the CBD within 35 minutes, depending on the train but tops is 50) We have a good size shopping centre here and also a smaller one. Both have a Woolworths and the larger one has a Drakes. There is also a new-ish Aldi. A few kms up the road, 5 mins by train or 10 by car is the Collonades Shopping Mall which has a lot, including three supermarkets and the usual chain stores and the Nourlunga Centre itself has everything from a cinema, theatre, Centrelink, Hospital and so on. And that's before getting to the glorious beaches... Interesting note from rammygirl above about aircraft noise, we do get that down here, some days more than others - but, we lived right on the Gatwick flight path and stacking route (something which doesn't exist here!) in the UK and so are used to it. It really is not an issue, even if it appears to be a relatively new thing going by some comments on the local Facebook community forum.

I/we joined one, a local dining club but with over 150 members most restaurant visits are limited to 20 and by the time they are posted there is already a reserve list... However, that said, we are a member of the British and Irish group and joining them for a "Christmas in July" event in a few weeks. Like anything it is what you make it - anyone could start their own if they are confident that they could maintain it.

Not great.... But remaining positive.

When we traveled from SA to ACT last year I got chatting to a lady at the airport who was flying from Adelaide to Canberra. Said she "hated Canberra" but had lived there 11 years, so yes... Members of Kirsty's family were actually among the early settlers in the Canberra area. Blundell's cottage was where they lived and Ginns Gap was named after them.

I would say it is the same for all.

Something that I did overlook, slightly - but shouldn't have. When I was on my WHV 20 years ago the one place, and state that I visited where I couldn't find temporary work..... Adelaide/SA. What did lull me into a what was ultimately a false sense is that I very ran close to securing a job back at the end of last year. I went to the final two in the interviews (via Skype) and appeared to lose out because the other person made a pitch to base themselves in their home state of WA rather than relocate to SA coupled with the fact I found out later he was already contacts with one of the interviewing board and they went with that. What this person is actually doing over there (it should be a visible role) I do not know, but that is beside the point. The SA side of things was suggested would be left open to discuss in the coming months, which have now passed but, despite me attempting to make contact with them since I have been here, I am now getting the silent treatment. They had a forum weekend at the Convention Centre over the weekend just gone and if they were interested in hiring me at some point in the future, I think I am not being too arrogant in thinking that they would have invited me along, even as an observer. That is life, but never the less disappointing we all live and learn. But, I will keep pressing on. Kirsty's boss has passed my CV on to a couple of his own contacts and I am using my own path such as linked-in and instagram to put my own route down as much as the "job search', and HR departments who are more looking to see whether a candidate has a Certificate IV in something rather than proper experience, be it life or work. I am also looking at some volunteering roles that may or may not lead somewhere with regard contacts too and if that fails, pondering on whether to invest in a franchise but that is a gamble on a gamble and I/we are not quite at that stage yet. Much the same as with your neighbour, the saving grace is that Kirsty has managed to find a decently paid job - but one wage is not sustainable long term, obviously.