Gippsland as a first place to live

ollsbolls · 25-09-2009, 08:59 PM

My wife and two kids (2 and 5) have the opportunity to work in Gippsland. Our family and social connections are in Sydney. Can anyone advise on if this would be a good place to start off. Part of our thinking is to avoid Sydney (and cities in general) for a while. Anyone have experience of the area and what we could expect?

Petals · 25-09-2009, 09:43 PM

Gippsland is a large area and I love it. Its very nice and parts of it are close to Melbourne. There are a lot of nice towns in Gippsland, Leongatha, Foster, Inverloch, Wonthaggi, Korumburra and more. Parts are very hilly and parts are flat, lovely beaches and its milk and beef country.

Country towns usually have a good social life but it is usually centred around the local sporting clubs of which you can become non playing members.

If I did not live here where I love, I would consider living in Gippsland for the peace and quiet away from the hubub of Melbourne.

Quoll · 25-09-2009, 11:18 PM

I guess it all depends on where you can get a job. There are some really beautiful spots but the chance of getting a job get slimmer the further east you go. There are also some areas to avoid - Moe never really appealed to me for example. The closer you are to Melbourne obviously the better your chance of employment unless you have a particular in demand skill set - doctors and nurses for example are pretty much ok wherever they want to go. Watch out that you dont settle in an area that gets flooded - check out the floods and bushfire history of the area (although with the recent bushfires you should be ok in some of those areas for a while) as they have had some nasty flooding especially along the Mitchell, Macalister, Thomson and Avon rivers over the recent past. However, dont let that put you off, it is a beautiful part of the country and fortunately much greener than the west of the state.

moving2melbourne · 26-09-2009, 01:53 AM

Hi and welcome to Pio.
There are some stunning places in Gippsland and I could definately move there no problem at all. However, as a family we prefer the peace and quiet and do not enjoy city life. I think if you are city people you may struggle and feel quite isolated, however, if you like the village life then you will be fine.

Melway · 26-09-2009, 03:06 AM

Gippsland is a very, very big place so it depends what you're looking for. I live in South Gippsland and love it close enough to Melbourne for a city fix but not too close. Somewhere like Warragul in West Gippsland is on a direct train route to Melbourne and people commute to Melbourne to work on the other hand go out to East Gippsland and you get the best countryside in the State but it is quite remote. If you love beaches and the sea then we have the most unspoilt and undeveloped coastline too - until the Desal plant at least..

pauli77 · 28-09-2009, 09:49 PM

I have also been offered a job in the Gippsland region. We were overwhelmed by how huge the area is and based oursearch on my husbands profession and where he would have the most chance to get a job (he is a greenkeeper). We weighed up what we wanted from the area we were going to live in and we decided on Leongatha, which is where we will go first. This willl give us a chance to see if we like the area or if we would like to be in one of the other towns (i use that term loosely!!). I went on a web site www.travelvictoria.com.au/leongatha/, this gives you some idea about the areas. Hope it all works out for you guys.

Petals · 08-10-2009, 08:13 AM

I was in Foster yesterday at a funeral and the countryside is lovely this time of year. It was a huge funeral as my friend's father was a well known cattle breeder and farmer. Fantastic country people so nice and friendly down to earth love it.

starlight7 · 08-10-2009, 11:59 AM

My daughter and family live in Gippsland and they just love it. They lost their home in the bushfires and the local folk were so good to them they decided to stay and rebuild on their block. You get used to the travel - they are in a remote area but they love all the kangaroos, echidnas etc that come on their property.

Quoll · 08-10-2009, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starlight7

My daughter and family live in Gippsland and they just love it. They lost their home in the bushfires and the local folk were so good to them they decided to stay and rebuild on their block. You get used to the travel - they are in a remote area but they love all the kangaroos, echidnas etc that come on their property.

Sorry to hear about your daughter losing her home but you are right, the sense of community down in Gippsland was amazing and the community support was right there. I am surprised that there werent more fire affected blocks for sale in the months after but many of the folk I spoke to down there were preparing to stay and rebuild because of the community.

whydidyoudothat · 12-10-2009, 01:12 AM

My Parents have a house in South Gippsland and I have spent quite a lot of time there. It's big, very big and whether it will suit you depends on what your expectations are and whereabouts you are actually going to stay. Some places a little far out and can be quite isolating (which I guess could be good if you like that sort of thing).