surfndirt

Hya, my Mrs is from Mount Gambier - will find out for you. We spend heaps of time in that town and I love the joint. Big enough to have everything you need (and I mean everything from a full size motorbike race track to a velodrome) and small enough to be a small town i.e. easy. There are a couple of car dealers at the south end of the main street, usual stuff in Mitsubishi / Toyota etc. We have just bought an NX Pajero and MQ Triton and really like them both. We are actually in the process of reviewing a move to Robe (just up the road).....

Yep, 100%. Bit biased though as never, ever, ever liked big cities anyway.....

And you ended up in one of the best spots in Australia. Good on ya's.... We have 6months left in SmellBum (Melbourne) then we are free of the city. Very different situation now as we have basically invested all AUD$ in international positive cash flow assets so are pretty much retired at 37. Turned up at Tullamarine in 2006 with $300 in a Westpac account, suitcase and surfboard and knew not a single soul. Goes to show as you say - hard work, and anything is possible. Bestest bit - now that we don't have to cater for work, it is just awesome looking at where you WANT to live, rather where you HAVE to live..... i.e. the city. Sydney and Melb are just rubbish.

Is it feasible to live in Brighton and work in London?

$720 tax a year for it in Victoria now...... No, that's not a mis type - it costs 720 Australian dollars to tax your bike for 1x year.

Fair enough, must have been here too long then... I find once I escape the city it's just like being back in the North East really. Normal people, normal prices, normal drug problems, normal people pissy in the pub, normal scallywags nickin stuff. It's just the main 2x cities that are like some kind of US / Asian / Bladerunner B movie!

Melb is a massive city - think LA but without (as much) gangs n' stuff.... If you don't like big cities then I wouldn't move to Melb. My advice in terms of places; - Ballarat - Bendigo - Geelong - Newcastle - Tamworth - Toowomba All great regional cities that are really good places to live with good climate (Ballarat does get cold though). Making friends - easier in these places than in the cities, for sure. Don't for a second think that the rat race does not exist down here, Melb and Sydney are FAR worse rat races than any large town / city I lived in the UK with the obvious exception of that big horrid mess that is London. Concentrate your efforts on a regional city and you will love it.... Great lifestyle and cost of living etc. Cowboy type country stuff up north and very UK like down south.

Agree with the weather thing in Perth. There's a good few months where you can't actually ride - just too hot. If you are that into it then Tassie is now ground zero for Mountain bikes in Aus. Other thing to look into if you are of that bent is the motorized version...... WA is pretty awesome for dirt bikes and heaps going on through winter. With the weather - just think of it like the UK but the other way round, winter is outdoor activity time and summer is in-doors / beach / chillin. And no, you will not be going MTB on a hot summers day in Perth - no matter what you may think now. Tassie never gets boiling - go there; it's awesome.

Sounds like you've fallen for the UK based Australia propaganda.... If you've never been here then just imagine the north of England spliced with the USA. Only way you're gonna get what you want champ is to either; 1) Move to a proper regional town (Mount Gambier, Bendigo, Tamworth etc) 2) Move to anywhere in Tasmania 3) Move to the south island of NZ Australia is, in many ways, now MORE of a rat race than the UK and even the certain parts of the US. It's all to do with demographics and unreal hyperinflation of some asset classes (mainly houses). That combined with an unhealthy concentration of activity in the state based cities.............. Surfndirt, telling it like it is since 2012

Don't move to Sydney... Move to; - Wollongong - Newcastle - Geelong - Ballarat - Bendigo - Torquay Trust me, if you can - try very had to get set up in one of these places and I swear you will thank Poms in Oz one day :-) Sydney is complete rubbish unless you are a multi-millionaire.

I have heard some stupid stuff in the past but this little nugget of investment gold takes the complete and utter biscuit. Can only assume this person is in some way affiliated to the real estate industry? Some concepts to research and understand; - Central banking credit expansion policies 1990 - present - Relationship between the Iron Ore price bubble and (bank created) credit availability in the Aus banking system 2004 - 2012 - Ponzi schemes - The correct definition of an asset and a liability (hint - speculating on capital growth related to a liability is not investing, it is gambling) That should at least give people some kind of rational grounding in money management - rather 'houses double every ten years'.

Did that - for a year whilst in Newcastle. Money is not tight, at all.... Just not even remotely interested in being ripped off at every, single, turn. Me and the Mrs just wait for our bi yearly trip to the USA for any kinda consumer stuff (inc eating out).

Hya, in Melbourne again now... Was in Newcastle, NSW for the last year. I see you are in Gods country. Tassie is great hey.

Yeah, I have basically stopped going to; - Pubs - Bars - Cafe's - Bakeries We have our little tipple on a Thurs night (1x six pack lasts me the weekend now) and that's about it. Yes Manc, a six pack of something nice is $20 plus.

MancGeek, sounds like you've got your head screwed on champ. Don't bother with it over here mate. There's no chance of scoring a $1500 a day contracting gig really (I'm sure there are some, but very very rare). For what it's worth... Stay in the UK, buy a 911 turbo (no chance of that over here also) and get a little holiday pad in Spain or Portugal. I am telling ya, Aus is not at all what the UK TV propaganda says it is and, frankly, it's changing for the worse on an almost weekly basis at the moment. If you really want to whole American freeways, square grid, intersection kinda vibe then get off to Texas or sommat for a jolly for 400 quid return. There is nothing here you can't get cheaper and better where you are (or in your immediate area geo). This joint was great for the boomers who came over on the boats and bought a house for 20,000 quid - set up a job and had a whale of a time. Now it is basically a police state with a cost of living that'll make eye's water..... Sounds like you've got it good there dude - tick off the Aus thing as a bad job and enjoy!