Hi everyone, we are home from our 2 1/2 week reccie trip to Melbourne. I have loads of photos and when I get time I'll sort them out and anyone interested in the places concerned can have a link to the album. Watch this space... The places we considered were Mornington/Mount Martha, Berwick, Geelong, Ocean Grove and Torquay. For those that want the short answer, we have chosen Mornington - reasons and observations below... Given the sometimes negative/sensitive/snipy posts that sometimes arise when there is any criticism implied or otherwise, of certain areas please can I stress that our observations are personal views only and coloured by what we are used to in the UK, our personal preferences and what we want out of life. That said and got out of the way, here goes suburb by suburb:
Berwick - we loved Berwick, the village feel to the centre and the houses and streets were lovely particularly on the North side (have I upset someone already?). But the whole area was just too built up for us - maybe because where we live now is semi-rural.
Geelong (Highton area) - lovely area but once again, too built up for us. I know before anyone points it out, there are some lovely parks and green areas but for us it felt wrong.
Ocean Grove - for us felt too much like a seaside town, there really wasn't much going on in Winter. Also, beaches are fantastic but not what we want as we don't surf. Most of the houses were set back away from the beach because of the dunes.
Torquay - if we were to live on the West side, it would definitely be in Torquay. It came a close second to Mornington.
And the winner is...Mornington has everything we are looking for. It is actually bigger than I thought with some really good shops - you can get everything you need there. It has a fantastic library (the library has a lovely cafe and sells divine sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce!) and a really good book exchange shop. This is important to me because I am an obsessive reader and books are expensive in Australia! There is a good choice of restaurants from Fish and Chips to Italian, Afghan, you name it. Despite my best efforts we didn't try them all! I think we liked it because it reminded us of where we live now, with a proper 'High Street' and attractive green residential areas. The beaches are lovely and it is ideal for gentle swimming and paddling or for an evening walk along the beach. Frankston is only 20 minutes away if you need the train or an even bigger town for some reason. Mornington feels like a 'proper' residential place to live but with beaches and the surrounding inland countryside is beautiful - very much like England, maybe because it does rain a bit more there apparently. You can drive the length of the peninsula in around 40 minutes and across it in about 20 minutes but in that small area is everything you need.
People were so friendly there - we almost learnt not to ask for help if we didn't have lots of time to spare!
As soon as we arrived we could totally imagine living there. Mount Martha is lovely too - it sort of merges into Mornington so really there is nothing to choose between them. Mount Martha has it's own little shopping area with everything you need day-to-day but only five minutes from Mornington.
Anyway, enough for now! If anyone has any questions let me know or pm me. I am still jet-lagged but if I think of anything else useful, I'll add it later! (Our journey home is another story altogether...)
X
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Hi, glad you got back in one piece. I for one would love the link to your pics when you have done them please. Everywhere you have been to on your reckie is where we want to go. Thanks for the reply to Hillside too.
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"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Quote from Ferris Bueller.
Glad you liked our neck of the woods!!
In the 22 months we have been here, I still haven't managed to visit every shop on Mornington's Main st'.
Lesley
Hi EvieB
What a great post and I am sure people are looking forward to seeing the photos. In regards to Berwick did you drive up Harkaway Road as this is where Berwick really opens up with some beautiful countryside and lovely acreage property. That is one thing I love about Berwick, you have the old style houses, the modern new houses, and acreage properties there is something for everyone. Here are a few properties off Harkaway Road, umm out of my price range but I am sure there are some millionaires on PIO 20 CASERTA DRIVE BERWICK
It is good to have a look around and everyone has different views on where to live.
I think you have made a good choice with Mornington.
I have just driven my dogs down to the dog groomer who lives in Balnarring and its a lovely drive at this time of the year only 20 mins from my place and lovely lush green countryside all the way.
Great post Evie!! Sounds like you had a great time and fitted a lot into your 2.5 weeks!! Like you say Mornington is great and has everything here for everyone!!
Hi everyone, we are home from our 2 1/2 week reccie trip to Melbourne. I have loads of photos and when I get time I'll sort them out and anyone interested in the places concerned can have a link to the album. Watch this space... The places we considered were Mornington/Mount Martha, Berwick, Geelong, Ocean Grove and Torquay. For those that want the short answer, we have chosen Mornington - reasons and observations below... Given the sometimes negative/sensitive/snipy posts that sometimes arise when there is any criticism implied or otherwise, of certain areas please can I stress that our observations are personal views only and coloured by what we are used to in the UK, our personal preferences and what we want out of life. That said and got out of the way, here goes suburb by suburb:
Berwick - we loved Berwick, the village feel to the centre and the houses and streets were lovely particularly on the North side (have I upset someone already?). But the whole area was just too built up for us - maybe because where we live now is semi-rural.
Geelong (Highton area) - lovely area but once again, too built up for us. I know before anyone points it out, there are some lovely parks and green areas but for us it felt wrong.
Ocean Grove - for us felt too much like a seaside town, there really wasn't much going on in Winter. Also, beaches are fantastic but not what we want as we don't surf. Most of the houses were set back away from the beach because of the dunes.
Torquay - if we were to live on the West side, it would definitely be in Torquay. It came a close second to Mornington.
And the winner is...Mornington has everything we are looking for. It is actually bigger than I thought with some really good shops - you can get everything you need there. It has a fantastic library (the library has a lovely cafe and sells divine sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce!) and a really good book exchange shop. This is important to me because I am an obsessive reader and books are expensive in Australia! There is a good choice of restaurants from Fish and Chips to Italian, Afghan, you name it. Despite my best efforts we didn't try them all! I think we liked it because it reminded us of where we live now, with a proper 'High Street' and attractive green residential areas. The beaches are lovely and it is ideal for gentle swimming and paddling or for an evening walk along the beach. Frankston is only 20 minutes away if you need the train or an even bigger town for some reason. Mornington feels like a 'proper' residential place to live but with beaches and the surrounding inland countryside is beautiful - very much like England, maybe because it does rain a bit more there apparently. You can drive the length of the peninsula in around 40 minutes and across it in about 20 minutes but in that small area is everything you need.
People were so friendly there - we almost learnt not to ask for help if we didn't have lots of time to spare!
As soon as we arrived we could totally imagine living there. Mount Martha is lovely too - it sort of merges into Mornington so really there is nothing to choose between them. Mount Martha has it's own little shopping area with everything you need day-to-day but only five minutes from Mornington.
Anyway, enough for now! If anyone has any questions let me know or pm me. I am still jet-lagged but if I think of anything else useful, I'll add it later! (Our journey home is another story altogether...)
X
Great post - thank you..
You didn't by any chance visit Mt Eliza when you were there did you??
Cheers.
hey you must have been in the library at the same time as us, even possibly having a coffee at the milk bar in mount martha. we returned sunday after a 10 day reccie - exhausted now.
we are also consider mornington area although prefer the houses in mt eliza ( however the word 'toffee' was used to describe it).
we are off to live there january 09 all being well. we will rent to start with so that will dictate where we start off - car a necessity so not such a problem
for our 14 year old son - mornington secondary college has said we don't need to live in 'the zone' or provide proof of residence ( unlike frankston high)
lets keep in touch
cath
