The confused head of a Brighton lass

[scruffystevie]

Hi all,

I've been spying on this forum for ages hoping to find somewhere in the depths some secret advise on where we should or shouldn't be applying to live, any my head was starting to cave in so I thought I should ask out loud and see if some REAL people can steer me in the right direction!

I'm manager of a small jewellers, my partner rory is a freelance illustrator, and with our ages and skills we're looking at SIR visa or nothing. We have friends in Brissy, Sydney, Melbers and Perth - but of course Adelaide is looking like the place we'll have to apply to. Work wise I'll do anything and am very adaptable, Rory works for himself and has contracts with Aussie publishers so he can work from a bin in the garden somewhere if he likes, so with that in mind I think we're fine!

The main thing for us is sanity. We live in one of the UK's most creative cities, loads of music, in the depths of the Brighton festival at the moment and wanting to do open houses ourselves with our art work, I love live gigs, rory love mountain biking and we both love swimming. Ideally we'd love to live in Brissy as that's where our closest friends are and we spent six months there before and found it very amenable. Sadly, it's not an option unless we are happy to live in the outback so it seems.

SO my question is - does anyone think we'll be better off trying to get a regional visa for somewhere near to where we want to be (perth or brissy really) and live 45 mins in suburbia (not knowing anywhere near to these cities this is like throwing a dart board at a map!) or trusting adelaide to give us a helping hand at a new life.

I've done lots of reading but find myself when reading about all the yummy things adelaide has, sounding in my head like clarice starling trying to tempt hannibal lecter to skull island or whatever it was!

Thanks for hearing people, I'm keen for ANY opinions from first handers that I can get! I've never even visited adelaide and it's a long time to take and a lot of money to spend if you're not even 50% sure it's the right thing to do.....

[The.Colebecks]

Hello & Welcome

Good luck with your plans.

Kind regards
Karen & Co

[Shubba18]

Hi

I moved from Ireland many years ago and i will tell ya adelaide is brilliant, adelaide is the place to raise a family , sydney is the hussle and bussle really fast lane sort of place, brisbane is commercial very advertised place with tropical whether lots of tropical whether and perth is the city of choices its just a bit far away form every where else, as for vic its good but not the best state.

I live in adelaide and i love it i grew up here and would never go back i went back for a holiday and i couldnt wait to get back to oz.

Cheers
Shayla

[tracy123]

Hi and welcome to p.i.o
I would have to agree with Shayla over Brisbane with the weather as its very humid, but thats about it. Adilaide calls itself the city of churches so come on, how could it be classed as lively place what a contradiction! great place to visit that saying i could live there. Sydney has the harbour and opera house but things are very spread out. if you want to live in the city you are up for big $$$$. That leaves Melbourne just from your thread id say St Kilda as its full of life, i must warn you though it has a reputation for drugs and prostitution so maybe Albert park???? or the Docklands. in answer to living in the suburbs if you like gigs and going out DONT DRINK as every policecar has a breathalizer, and booze busses are set up all the time. if you drink and drive they will get you! so i would say the city is for you. Just to add a little more about the area the olympic pool is only down the road the beach is on your door step great riding tracks along the beach sorry not the mountain biking as required but the scenery is fantastic, some great places to hear live music and a few English pubs if you get home sick? great market on a Sunday morning and the best cake shops you will ever try, you could go every day for year and not try every cake! I think Jamie Olivers restaurant is in St Kilda as well.
Sorry no idea about Perth but i hope Melbourne is top of your list now? hope this has helped
Good luck Geoffrey

[scruffystevie]

Hi all, thanks for your input - I know melbers is a great place but sadly victoria doesn't have our occupations on it's skills in demand list so we can't live there - basically it's 'regional' australia in the states that MIGHT sponsor us or south australia or outer mongolia for us. We have to apply for Regional Sponsorship or State sponsorship and if it's not SA we have to live in rural parts of the state that sponsors us...so no st kilda unfortunately. Which is a bum coz it has a great tea shop.

I'm just trying to get a gauge on if I'm going to like it enough to get on with life there, I know general opinion from those outside adelaide is that compared to the other cities it's not as interesting.... it's a scary decision to make when you live in one of the most interesting (but most expensive) cities in the UK....

[tracy123]

To be honest and i dont know you so maybe i should say nothing? but from how you describe yourself, Adilaide??????? i just dont know? dont get me wrong it is a great place i would move there in a heart beat (after Melb of course) but its more relaxed, it still has the night life gigs etc. once you get into the slower pace of life you will love it. if i had your choice id go for Adilaide rather than a country town. make the best of life and grab everything with both hands, and as they say "DON'T DREAM IT, JUST DO IT". I dont mean to be personal but do you have the money for a visit? it has a great wine region and some really nice areas just outside of Adilaide. to sum up a great place to live and work but is it interesting enough for you only you can decide?
hope this helps Geoffrey