Guest Guest74865 Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 My girlfriend and I have secured jobs in Canberra and are heading out early next year. At first I thought about selling my car here and buying one in Oz, then I thought about shipping my car but now I am thinking do I even need to bother with a car? We're in our mid 20's, have no kids, and we plan on getting an apartment close to the city centre. I love the idea of being able to cycle to work and the only reason I don't do it here is because of the weather, the condition of the roads and lack of cycle lanes. Apart from the daily commute our cars don't get much use. We're thinking for the few times that we would need access to a car (going skiing, visiting Sydney) we could just rent for a day or two? What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 A car or bike is mandatory, unlike most Oz cities, as public transport is limited. You will be very limited if you don't as it's a very large, spread out city approx 40 kms from end-to-end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zman Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I think a car is essential in Canberra. As others have said, it's spread out so even if you're living centrally and close to your work, you'll be stuck come the w/e if you want to go anywhere farther away. As a cyclist you'll find you will be well served by the bike paths here but remember winters are chilly and pretty cold at night so there may be some days when getting on your gear isn't as attractive as it is on a bright sunny day. Where are you likely to end up working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest74865 Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Thanks for the responses. It looks like we're going to be working in Dickson. We had originally planned on renting in Kingston but don't know if I would fancy the long cycle in the winter months so I think we'll try and find somewhere north of the lake, probably Braddon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurls Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 You could get away without having a car, but you will be severely limited to where you can go and visit. You'd probably be fine without a car on a day to day basis if you were working and living centrally, but the moment you want to go anywhere else it would be a right pain. Probably best to budge to have one car between you, which is what all my husband's siblings and friends seem to do. Until they have children anyway, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pntaylor Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 The wife and I live in Isaacs and I've been cycling in to work pretty much every day (18 miles or so round trip). The cycle lines are nice and wide for the most part and go most places though, as many have pointed out, having a car is essential even if generally you use your bicycle. The winter mornings were chilly but to be fair most rides home weren't that bad. If you don't mind cycling in a chilly morning I highly recommended gloves made by a company called SealSkinz I bought a pair of gloves for the UK winter and they keep my hands toasty warm whilst riding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 The wife and I live in Isaacs and I've been cycling in to work pretty much every day (18 miles or so round trip). The cycle lines are nice and wide for the most part and go most places though, as many have pointed out, having a car is essential even if generally you use your bicycle. The winter mornings were chilly but to be fair most rides home weren't that bad. If you don't mind cycling in a chilly morning I highly recommended gloves made by a company called SealSkinz I bought a pair of gloves for the UK winter and they keep my hands toasty warm whilst riding. Coldest winter for nearly ever! Still penty of sunshine though, and expexcted to be a long hot summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slean Wolfhead Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 My girlfriend and I have secured jobs in Canberra and are heading out early next year. At first I thought about selling my car here and buying one in Oz, then I thought about shipping my car but now I am thinking do I even need to bother with a car? We're in our mid 20's, have no kids, and we plan on getting an apartment close to the city centre. I love the idea of being able to cycle to work and the only reason I don't do it here is because of the weather, the condition of the roads and lack of cycle lanes. Apart from the daily commute our cars don't get much use. We're thinking for the few times that we would need access to a car (going skiing, visiting Sydney) we could just rent for a day or two? What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance. It can be done, we know quite a few younger people in the centre who don't have a car yet and don't seem to miss it, but they tend to go from apartment to pub so hardly need one ! Dickson is easy on the bus, you can get a coach to Sydney...but it will hinder you. There is so much to see in and around Canberra, you'll miss out on lots if you haven't got your own transport at the weekend. The good thing about used cars is that they hold value well....you can buy a car that's already well depreciated and not lose much (if anything) in 12 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest74865 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) Thanks everyone for your input. Cycling in the cold mornings doesn't phase me - coming from Scotland I think the winters will be more tolerable compared to what we've had here for the last few years. I'd probably rather jump on a bike for 15-20 minutes than spend 10 minutes scraping ice off the windshield but others may think differently. I think we will see how we go without a car and just hire a car for the occasional weekend were we want to go exploring. This should work out a lot cheaper for us than buying a car, insuring it, maintenance etc. Edited September 24, 2012 by Guest74865 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1977 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 My girlfriend and I have secured jobs in Canberra and are heading out early next year. At first I thought about selling my car here and buying one in Oz, then I thought about shipping my car but now I am thinking do I even need to bother with a car? We're in our mid 20's, have no kids, and we plan on getting an apartment close to the city centre. I love the idea of being able to cycle to work and the only reason I don't do it here is because of the weather, the condition of the roads and lack of cycle lanes. Apart from the daily commute our cars don't get much use. We're thinking for the few times that we would need access to a car (going skiing, visiting Sydney) we could just rent for a day or two? What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance. you can't live anywhere in oz without a car, try and see how long you can live without one, bet you can't make 6 weeks..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest74865 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 you can't live anywhere in oz without a car, try and see how long you can live without one, bet you can't make 6 weeks..! I'll hold you to that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleW Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 There is a chance that http://www.greensharecar.com.au or something similar will be available soon after you arrive, so keep an eye out for that. As for doing without a car in Australia it can definitely be done, I lived in Brisbane a number of years ago without a car, and that was when public transport was not particularly great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 you can't live anywhere in oz without a car, try and see how long you can live without one, bet you can't make 6 weeks..! Rubbish!!! I lived for 7 years in both Adelaide and Sydney without a car. And I certainly know people in Hobart who don't have a car either. In fact, if you live in inner city areas a car can be a problem because of lack of parking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1977 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Rubbish!!! I lived for 7 years in both Adelaide and Sydney without a car. And I certainly know people in Hobart who don't have a car either. In fact, if you live in inner city areas a car can be a problem because of lack of parking. Well without one you won't be going many places, I would say 95% of people than can drive do drive, your always get the hero who says you don't need a car but the huge majority will say otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I reckon I could easily get by in Sydney without a car if I didn't have kids - even living in the outer suburbs as I do it would be possible. As it is I train, cycle, run or walk in to work and the city centre It would make shopping a pain in the bum, but it could be managed. And days out of the city would require a hire car mostly, but as the OP says they're happy to do that If I lived in the inner city then I think living without a car would be easy (again without kids) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pntaylor Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Coldest winter for nearly ever! Still penty of sunshine though, and expexcted to be a long hot summer. So I've heard, makes me even more thankful that where I work has showers given the likelihood of a stinking hot summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 So I've heard, makes me even more thankful that where I work has showers given the likelihood of a stinking hot summer! You'll be looking forward to autumn, and winter if we get a typical hot Canberra summer. Could be a blaster if the forecast is correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I woudlnn't recommend living in Canberra without a car. reasons; My daughter is at Melba college which is a 10 minute drive from our house, or a 45 minute, one change, bus journey. To get to work for me (Woden) is 15 minutes in the car, or 10 minutes on the motorbike, or up to 50 minutes on the busses. Taxis cost an arm and a leg here. Around Canberra you have amazing countryside to explore. Even in a car you are still 2 /12 hours from the coast or mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pntaylor Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 You'll be looking forward to autumn, and winter if we get a typical hot Canberra summer. Could be a blaster if the forecast is correct Quite possibly :laugh: still, the summer will give me a good reason to get a deckchair out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Quite possibly :laugh: still, the summer will give me a good reason to get a deckchair out A deckchair with a shade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bazinga Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 I second what someone else said, one car between you. Yes you can cycle to and from work and get the coach to Sydney but you would be missing a lot of what Canberra & the surrounding NSW area has to offer if you don't have a car. Husband doesn't like cycling in -4 so we have two cars! Braddon has nice bits and not so nice bits so just be wary of that when you move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Manboobs, I too am from Scotland. Edinburgh to be precise. I arrived in Canberra at the start of July in what some are calling the worst winter in years. My take - it started off a bit below zero most days and by 11am the fog had cleared and it was up to around 7 degrees. Most days were crisp and sunny. Rarely strong wind or rain. If that's as bad as it gets, I'm in heaven. Of course, its all relative and I'm sure to a lot of born and bred Aussies it really was a bad winter. But for someone just arrived from Scotland...a beautiful, mild winter. (Actually I came from 2 years in south of China and even then I still think it as a great winter.) Was here on my own for 3 months with no car. Wife and kids arrived Sep and we're just looking around for the right car now. We're close to buses and while they're not very frequent (hourly or half-hourly) they're clean, reasonable price and regular. You'd still have a good life using bus and bike but I'd totally second what everyone else is saying - you'd also miss out on so much that you can really only conveniently discover by car. Both in Canberra and further afield. My take is we've travelled half way around the world and we're going to explore as much of Australia as we can. A car will make that much easier. But we won't be using it to go to the shops that are 10 or 15 mins walk away. Oh and getting to the airport is a challenge from various places without a car. Especially for early morning flights and late returns. Welcome to Canberra! cheers, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamples Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I lived without a car for a while last year and caught busses and just hired a car on weekends when I needed one usually from Thrifty for $30-40 a day (depending on specials at the time) which helped keep overall travel costs down and gave us time to investigate whether to import ours (which became a resounding, no once we added all costs in) and also kept weekly travel costs low which added to savings towards the replacement car when we bought one. Buses are frequent enough but downside was on weekends were they did not start running early enough to get to some social events wanted to join and trips could be long as a few busses had long routes on the weekend. I do know Action busses claim to have made improvements to this since. Dickson and surrounds have a number of busses so walking 10 mins to get to a bus about to another area or avoid waiting helps too. Suggest try it while you look for a car (and if you are going to but a Nissan I highly recommend Bradley Loscher of Nissan, Phillip). Good luck with all your decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethJames Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 We live out in Aranda and I cycle to work in Deakin which is about a 23k round trip each day. I didn't have the chance to cycle in the UK (moved out here about 2.5 months ago) but love having that chance here. I haven't done a winter yet but am taking the mindset that there's no such thing as being cold, just the wrong clothes! Bike paths are great and I hardly touch a road all the way (I have to cross only one road and that has a pedestrian crossing). I do agree that not having a car could be limiting as there are some great parks, lakes and other outdoorsie things to do around and outside of Canberra which you would miss out on if you didn't have a car. In our opinion those parks and so on are some of the best things about living in Canberra. You could get away with a small weekend run around as if you need to get up to Sydney, the Snowies or the coast there are very good hourly coaches (check out Murrays Coaches ...). All the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Gareth, you say you moved out here 2 1/2 months ago but "haven't done a winter yet". I hate to break it to you mate, but the last two and a half months WERE WINTER! (Ps. With a name like yours you must be Welsh?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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