Sell Me Tass!

[Herbster]

Hi Everyone, especially Tasmanians: (Or X-Poms New Tassers)

We currently enjoy a quiet life in a farming area. Moving to Oz, hopefully means a better quality of life; we'd like to be able to grow more fruit & veg, be close to the beach AND enjoy a happy, healthy life there. Neither of us are great fans of HEAT or crowds! But British weather does get very boring; not, that that's the main reason we want a life change!

Sell me Tass; the best places to live, visit... Name YOUR 10 Fab things about life on this beautiful island. Is it a good Picnic Location?!
List 10 downsides to Oz's smallest state - are tax's high, poor employment chances, lousy food or restaurants, no DIY stores, big bugs or power cuts??!

It's just the 2 of us to please, but we'd love to hear your stories, positives/negatives, paint a real picture of the place you now call home. Your insights will really help with our decision.

Filed Independent Visa App at the start of June, 07 keeping everything crossed!

Thank you
Herbster Bear

[brasilcon]

hi, i am applying to move to tas mainly because of the education; there you can place kids in afordable public schools and you can choose catholic or parent controlled christian schools. My boss is from tas and said it has the best reputation university of Astralia!

[wendy parfitt]

Having recently visited Tas and have applied for Visa

Best things
1.

[wendy parfitt]

Having recently visted Tas and subsequently made visa application
Best things
Natural beauty of the State
Wonderful empty white beaches with aqua seas
friendliness of the Tasmanians
Low crime rates
Attitude towards education
Space
Weather - clear skies (even in Winter)
Cleanliness
Cost of living and price of real estate
Outdoor lifestyle
Cheap wine
Really good food (Meat is cheap)
WORST THINGS
Roadkill
Some areas are really remote
Television
Beasties (though we did not experience this)
Missing family & friends - distance from England
Lack of amenities (such as icerinks)
thats all I can think of

[brasilcon]

Originally Posted by wendy parfitt

Having recently visted Tas and subsequently made visa application
Best things
Natural beauty of the State
Wonderful empty white beaches with aqua seas
friendliness of the Tasmanians
Low crime rates
Attitude towards education
Space
Weather - clear skies (even in Winter)
Cleanliness
Cost of living and price of real estate
Outdoor lifestyle
Cheap wine
Really good food (Meat is cheap)
WORST THINGS
Roadkill
Some areas are really remote
Television
Beasties (though we did not experience this)
Missing family & friends - distance from England
Lack of amenities (such as icerinks)
thats all I can think of

Hi Wendy,
thanks for that, but what do you mean by clear skies even in Winter? I heard that in the winter tas has only 3 or 4 hours of sunshine! So I thought that most of the time we would be in the darkness of the night.
And how about the television, they don't have sky or cable? Do you know about broadband?
Thanks !:)

[jenny79]

Originally Posted by brasilcon

I heard that in the winter tas has only 3 or 4 hours of sunshine!

definitely untrue... was in Tas for 6 months (winter months)... it does have showers practically every day BUT (at least when i was there) these always took place either between 11pm and 3 am, or between 4am and 8am...

in 6 months, if there were 5 rainy days (during the day), there were too many... also, in 6 months i only experienced one thunderstorm (the kind we get in Malta) and they are so rare, that everyone locked himself inside and wouldn't go out.

as for the university, i studied at the hobart campus. it has been the best experience in my life... very good standard of uni education, nice, helpful, and knowledgable lecturers...

to be honest, the only thing that puts me off Tassie (in my case) is work opportunity. otherwise, i'd be heading that way myself.

i was there in 2002... 5 yrs down the line, i still miss it.

[wendy parfitt]

we went end of may first week in june and the skies were clear practically everyday, the sunset at about 4-5 but couldnt fault the sunshine - think it was particularly good weather for winter whilst we were over - 22 degrees on one day, it was certainly warmer and brighter than its been in birmingham recently!

they do have foxtel and a few other satelite/cable tv companies with bb and phone, they do have foxsport channels and an english channel, bbc news etc. but no sky one, sky sport etc. i dont know whether all regions have access to this - certainly the places we stayed didnt have additional channels.

[SAVTA]

We have visited Hobart and loved the scenery when we took a catamaran cruise. HOWEVER, I must say that after 7.30 - 8pm everyone in town seems to disappear - and it was like walking around a ghost town.

Still sticks in our memory how the locals seem to hibernate in the evenings

[Herbster]

Hi Everyone - from a very wet, damp , dismal & dreary Northumberland! (And YES it is High Summer! Ha Haaa I bet it's not much better today in Hobart, where it's winter; rain & 11C here!)

Many Thanks for all the responses to the +-'s of Tassie. Really interested to read first-hand experiences and how positive most of you were & how you would love to return, or are even doing so. It does sound as thou' Tass would suit us very well, but my partner & bread winner is worried about career opportunities - he's in specialist electronics,developing his project management skills, is very good at IT & would like to escape from a routine production environment to something really dynamic & interesting, whether that be agriculture, massive machines, guided missiles... Any suggestions/offers!

Tassie would probably provide us with the perfect lifestyle, yet be risky regarding job opportunities, which would be a real drag; so reluctantly may have to re-consider the Mainland.. . Say it ain't so?

It all sounds a bit like The Lake District used to be, when all the restaurants in Kendall closed at 7:30pm & how it generally was in the UK, when there were no supermarkets out of London, shops shut early one day/week, plus Saturday pm, and every day at 5/5:30 - mind you in Dartmouth, during the winter most shops are shut by 17:00 - there's no one around so no point in keeping the place open & wasting electricity!

So with Broadband, is that generally available as here, & what options are there if you are off the beaten path, which tends to appeal to us? We're on the edge of reg BB here, so we are well used to rural, but I don't think we could survive these days without BB.


I'm relived to see they have a few KMart's there, which will remind me of America, but does anyone know if they have good DIY outlets/hardwear stores in case you need to insulate & upgrade your facilities?
Were there any areas you didn't like, or wouldn't fancy living? I can't imagine crime is a big deal?
Also for those Poms now there, what do you wish you'd bought with you - that's legal? And what do you really miss - apart from Family?
So it's really true Ozzies tend to be bad drivers? Hence all the dead things? Parts of Portgual are like that, horrid.

Thanks for keeping this thread alive, Good Luck to all in the Visa process;- we've had our money taken, now awaiting validation & assignment of Case Worker....

A begrudging G'Day from Herbster, who's trying to look amused... (He's getting to be a bit of a grumpy bear on account of the persistent dreadful weather & lack of picnicking opportunities; Oz is looking O-so appealing!)
Byee for now....

[brasilcon]

Hi Savta,

Thanks for sharing with us.
Would you know if the restaurants are open till late like in Uk, how about Salamanca, is only day time?
thanks.