Advice on Darwin

Hi,

My wife has been offered a job in Darwin out of the blue and whilst Darwin was not our first choice the offer is very attractive so we are seriously considering it. We've never been to Darwin/NT and would really appreciate some inside advice on what life in Darwin is like on a day to day basis. We know it's not Sydney or Melbourne, but we also know these offers don't come along very often.

We have a 10 year old daughter and she will be paramount in making this decision as we want to ensure we provide the best opportunities and education for her ahead of ourselves. If we move we will be looking to buy a house rather than rent and have a budget of about $650-$700 so any advice on good suburbs and schools would be most welcome.

I'd really appreciate the real pros and cons of living in NT so please all comments would be most welcomed at this stage.

Thanks so much.

Suggest you have a look at sites about Darwin. It has a very Asian feel these days as its close to Timor and Indonesia.

Although its 30 odd degrees most days for a lot of the year its very humid there. So the heat is harder to bear, well it is for me I hate humidity.

Winter is probably the nicest time of the year. You will not be able to swim in the sea due to stingers (jelly fish) although there may be times you can so best to check on that. Also lots of salt water crocodiles around. Most of northern Aus is like this.

So it just depends you will either love it and a lot do or hate it. If you can have a visit before making up your mind.

The only advice I would give is to forget buying for 12 months. Rent for a year to make sure you are happy there. The weather / climate doesn't suit everyone.

The he climate is tropical so split between a wet and dry season with the temperature never moving from between 30 - 35. But the humidity changes a LOT. The build to the wet can be "interesting". (Can send people a bit stir). It is also prone to cyclones.

f i may throw in my own experience, i have now been in Darwin for 2 years. I originally came out to Canberra but relocated to Darwin after being offered a job up here. Overall i can highly recommend it, its a great (if quiet) town and there are very good opportunities here. I live in the CBD with my wife and we have an excellent standard of living, renting a 2 bedroom penthouse in a 10th floor apartment for $645 per week in an apartment with a gym and pool. We both walk to work and it takes less than 10 minutes. We don't have kids yet but i am told the schools here are pretty good. As i say its pretty quiet but its very safe for families and there are lots of sports activities for kids. As for suburbs, there are not that many to choose from but Malak or maybe Karama are worth checking out, or alternatively what they call the 'Northern suburbs', Fannie Bay and Nightcliff (they tend to be more expensive though).

However i would offer the same advice as other people to consider renting rather than buying to begin with, for two main reasons. One is the climate here is incredibly oppressive in the build-up and wet season (Nov - May). Also, Darwin is not for everyone, if you are fond of the outdoors life and can bear the heat it could be a winner. People who like camping or fishing or shooting, that sort of stuff tend to love Darwin. My wife and i are not into any of that stuff being from big cities (London and Hong Kong) and we find it a bit dull (especially during the wet season when a lot of stuff shuts down). We remain here due to the professional opportunities it has offered me, which have been amazing. I would say its a place to come and experience, but not commit to until you have been through the wet season and know you can stick it. The Dry season on the other hand is like heaven on earth, beautiful conditions and lots of cool stuff to do, if it were like that all year round it would be a city of 4 million, rather than 130,000!

The second main reason to consider renting first is though that house prices are going through a major slump here due to oversupply, and we are by no means at the bottom of the market yet. There is a major recession coming this way (for lots of reasons, cuts in GST allocation, ending of a major project, general slump heading for Australia) and you are likely to get a much better deal in 12-18 months time. There is massive oversupply of housing here, primarily in the Unit market but houses have been affected as well. if you are here for the long hall you can buy now and get a good price i should say and not lose out, but you are likely to see a drop in value for the next year or two.

Hope this helps, happy to provide any more info if you have any questions, overall it is a pretty good place and i have enjoyed my time here

Thank u Maxil,

I am a Chinese. I am applying the 489 Visa and have paid the VAC, that is the English training fee for my wife. Now it is on the process of last assessment. If succeed, we will move to Darwin. I like quiet city, but I don't know whether we can bear the climate. I had been in Philippines for a month in dry season, but had no idea about the wet. Hope we will like it.

For me, the rent is not cheap in Darwin. I have to rent a cheap one before I get a job.