jodipodi Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 So me and hubs have started the ball rolling with our visas and obviously we are jumping the gun here but if they're granted we will have to do a validation trip/reccie. We went to Adelaide for a month in 2012 and it was beautiful but I think it makes sense to go somewhere else and see other things....but where to go is what I'm wondering I'd like to go somewhere with a beach, lots to do for families....somewhere that we maybe don't have to drive allover to get to places, so maybe closer to the centre wherever it may be. Money will be tight so could do with minimal cost places to go etc. We are thinking Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne but would love some input from those who've been there done it xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 So you have know idea where you would eventually like to live Jodie ?? whats the line of work you will be basing your search on? how old are the bairns? Do you like it busy busy? sorry just trying to help get a better idea... Although of course I'm biased and would say perth every time :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Gold Coast? Would be like a holiday with the theme parcs, so a reccie and a holiday all in one? Of course, if you would never live in an area like that it may not be practical. I would love to live in the Gold Coast with 3 children but I think my job opportunities are limited there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Gold Coast? Would be like a holiday with the theme parcs, so a reccie and a holiday all in one? Of course, if you would never live in an area like that it may not be practical. I would love to live in the Gold Coast with 3 children but I think my job opportunities are limited there. Agree with this, Gold Coast if you want a holiday holiday!! Could be expensive with all those theme parks too:err: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImageConfident Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 I really fancy Brisbane and Cairns. These are places I would like to suss out if we had chance to xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Very much depends on where you think you will move to. A validation trip is good opportunity to see the areas you are interested in. Of course the other way is not to bother with a validation trip as all and just make the move! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodipodi Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Well, our gut Says Adelaide or Perth is where we will end up at the end of it all.....but in all honesty it will be wherever Lee gets a solid job, I guess that's a main decider for anyone really. Kids are 2, 13, 10 so a year older by the time we go.....Adelaide was lovely, beaches were great, parks with free bbq facilities, Christies was maybe a bit far from the CBD but I will say that we wish we'd tried public transport to get there,as we think this would have made us realise it's really not that far in reality. We asked if Perth might give us that little bit of modern/up to date feel that Adelaide maybe didnt have but there again... we felt very comfortable in Adelaide. I suppose the point is to get a bit more 'holiday' from it this time....last time it was a 'try it out for living' reccie, this time I'd like to see more, have a bit more going on for the kids. We'd love to just make the move but can't do this yet, we need more money behind us and can't actually go until our daughter turns 16, very much doubt her dad would let us now, hoping it will be easier when she's starting to grow up . From what we've gathered I think Perth does sound like it has the things we might have found lacking in SA but when I hear of so many saying about how expensive it is makes me concerned. We do like the simple things though, like beach-this is a must -parks, walks, zoo etc, in uk we like to go to food festivals, museums, farms. I like nosing around shops (sometimes) aswell and don't mind a bit hustle and bustle as long as I don't live in it. I couldn't live in London for example.... but I like to be within 45 mins of a decent shopping area to spend a day mooching about, going for a coffee etc *add Lee is a Youth Worker, I've got lots of experience as a nail tech but going to uni in September to do Nutrition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 "You go where you can get a job later". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 From your post then perhaps you should give Perth a go? It may confuse you though as I suppose everything would seem expensive if you are looking at prices using GB£. It may help you compare Adelaide and Perth though. If you are certain though Australia is for you, would your money be best spent exploring the UK or Europe whilst you have the opportunity? If you have already been to Australia? Many people emigrate without even visiting once. I will be one of them, although my husband has been to stay with family over there. Also, would your daughter find it difficult to adapt at 16? Would it be more difficult to make friends at this age? Again, I don't know the answer to this and if would vary depending on each child but these would be things I would be considering. My ex has agreed for my daughter to move between primary and secondary school as he knows this would be more beneficial for her. We have agreed a plan as to how we will maintain contact that suits both of us and I have had to work really hard over the past 6 years at maintaining a relationship with him even though at times I have wanted to throttle him lol! By working together we were able to agree for my 2 eldest to move over. I suppose if you are going to uni in September though, you will want to complete your course in the UK first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodipodi Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Hi Jac, yeah we wouldn't bother going back for a reccie if we didn't need to validate but it's a distinct possibility that we will (hopefully hopefully!) get our visa late this year or early next year so validation has to happen.. just doing skills assessment gathering now. I'd much rather keep our money towards the move planned in 2017. I'm finishing uni for sure. Lee has a friend in Perth so that would be nice to get his take on things but I expect I already know he will say it's fantastic... They love it there. Hopefully the kids will adapt as we will, you can't really tell these things can you though so I'm not dwelling on it, we're going and we're going to make it work the best we can. So, as for Perth, what's there to do for families, what do people do in the school holidays with their kids? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I would say then that if you have been to Adelaide which is one of your choices, then the logical thing is to visit Perth. Perth is expensive, but not massively more than Adelaide. It has its pluses and negatives as do all places. It is very modern and clean, great for beaches and walks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Out of interest, what was Adelaide lacking for you? Whereabouts were you based when you were here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1cha3la Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 No advice to offer, but we are in a similar boat, so this thread is really interesting. We hoping to do a reccie later this year too as we need more time before we can make the move. At the moment we are focusing on Perth, with a few days in Adelaide. Those are our main two choices to live. Both look amazing from what research I have done, so for us it will come down to how we feel on the reccie, and then ultimately where DH can find work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodipodi Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hi, we aren't actually sure Adelaide was lacking really....I think looking back we just didnt do enough mooching about, most of the things we did outside of Noarlunga meant a car journey ..we should have used public transport more as I think it would have helped us realise that the CBD wasn't as far as we thought. Some of it felt a bit behind the times but if you ask me to pinpoint I really couldn't say what, just a feeling, but it did feel like a good place to be.. we enjoyed our stay, and we miss being there. I don't know if Perth centre may have a bit more going on maybe? Or maybe we didn't get to see the right places in Adelaide...? We looked for a specific Mall/market but couldn't find it? I suppose we just want to see if we are suited better somewhere else and also to get a bit more 'holiday' out of it. For now we'd like to see something different and hopefully get stuck into our surroundings more than our last reccie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hi, we aren't actually sure Adelaide was lacking really....I think looking back we just didnt do enough mooching about, most of the things we did outside of Noarlunga meant a car journey ..we should have used public transport more as I think it would have helped us realise that the CBD wasn't as far as we thought. Some of it felt a bit behind the times but if you ask me to pinpoint I really couldn't say what, just a feeling, but it did feel like a good place to be.. we enjoyed our stay, and we miss being there. I don't know if Perth centre may have a bit more going on maybe? Or maybe we didn't get to see the right places in Adelaide...? We looked for a specific Mall/market but couldn't find it?I suppose we just want to see if we are suited better somewhere else and also to get a bit more 'holiday' out of it. For now we'd like to see something different and hopefully get stuck into our surroundings more than our last reccie. I think where you are can make a huge difference. Out in Noarlunga is too far out for me to ever want to live. It is lovely to visit from time to time but I'd never live out that way down south. We have chosen a suburb nearer the hills, away from the coast but still only 30 mins or so into the city (CBD) when we want/need to make the trip. As for behind the times, depends what you want or are used to I guess. I don't find it any more behind the times than places in the UK in most respects. There are some minor annoyances for me, but they are only minor and don't affect SA alone I am sure. There is a huge mall at Marion, absolutely massive. Just about every main shop and more you could want/need all under one roof. Plus the cinema complex etc. Also the big Central Market in the CBD is fab and I love heading into town and having a fresh food shop round there. Was it one of those two you were not able to find perhaps? Both seemed easy to find to me. I drive to one a fair bit and usually catch the tram into the city for the other. I think Perth and Adelaide suffer from being a long ways from anywhere else of real note. Sure both have smaller towns within a few hours of the city etc but other than that, both are pretty cut off and so activities often need to be based within the suburbs or city. That is the one thing that really stands out for me living here. We drove 5 hours to Mount Gambier a few weeks back, its the second largest town in the state and has a population of 25,000 or so. That is it. We came from a village where the nearest town (8 mins drive) had a population that size. Here we had to drive 5 hours. And in between, while a few small townships are on the route, that is pretty much it. Sure around Adelaide (say within an hour of the CBD) there are plenty of towns and suburbs to choose from, but once past those its fewer and further between. I'd think Perth will be similar. You'd be best of visiting Perth I reckon but try to cover the real life aspect and see it from a POV of living there, commuting and so on. Perhaps not doing so with Adelaide is its undoing for you? Its not for everyone and it certainly isn't as big as Melbourne or Sydney but then having chosen to live here, thats not what we wanted so of course it suits us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Brisbane is definitely worth a reccie, even if you don't like it you can still have a Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast holiday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasepom Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Yeah Gold Coast would be good. The theme parks are great value for money btw and you can get on rides easily. Much better than crowded Alton Towers or ripoff Legoland. The Waterparks are awesome too and if you have kids they will absolutely love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodipodi Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 Maybe we just felt behind the times with it being further from the centre, goodness knows if that even makes sense... You're right though, there's plenty of sights and people around here that seem behind the times. Maybe it's simply because the Australian life and people are so laid back....but that's a good thing so really I'm contradicting a lot of what I say....we do want slow paced living, peace and quiet, but I would also like to have a beach and a CBD within half an hour of me. Yes the fresh food market!!! Why couldn't we find it!!? We got to rundle mall but goodness knows why we couldn't find the main part of it....is it indoors? We just lost our bearing I guess....found the silver piggies though haha. So, people are mentioning water parks....the kids,would live that....so, if we go to Perth and check it out-are there any there?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Central market not at Rundle Mall further south in the city near China Town. About 20 mins amble from Rundle. Great in the evenings too for the restaurants. Agree about living nearer the centre though. We now live 30 mins walk into the city and 30 mins drive to the beach. Or we even cycle to the beach down the linear park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Maybe we just felt behind the times with it being further from the centre, goodness knows if that even makes sense... You're right though, there's plenty of sights and people around here that seem behind the times. Maybe it's simply because the Australian life and people are so laid back....but that's a good thing so really I'm contradicting a lot of what I say....we do want slow paced living, peace and quiet, but I would also like to have a beach and a CBD within half an hour of me. Yes the fresh food market!!! Why couldn't we find it!!? We got to ruddle mall but goodness knows why we couldn't find the main part of it....is it indoors? We just list our bearing I guess....found the silver piggies though haha. So, people are mentioning water parks....the kids,would live that....so, if we go to Perth and check it out-are there any there?? The central market isn't on (or off) Rundle Mall - it's a few blocks further in to the CBD, right next to Adelaide's China Town. Sounds to me like you missed out on some of the best bits of Adelaide, possibly through not really knowing enough about the place before visiting. I always feel that Noarlunga is really far away from everything but if I say so on Poms in Adelaide I get told off. I think you would have been far better off staying in Glenelg on your previous trip - still by the beach but easy access to the CBD by tram and with far more going off. We spent one of our many holidays here before moving in Glenelg and I felt far less isolated than when we stayed just up the road in West Beach. Staying in North Adelaide was even better for me and was what finally persuaded me to move. I can't advise on Perth as I've never been (hope to go at some point though), but if you do decide to visit don't go and base yourself miles out of the city with nothing much around you just because that's where some vocal people on a forum love to live. Stay somewhere central then hire a car and have a drive round the different suburbs and get a feel for the place for yourself. I'd be visiting which ever place you are thinking about moving to with maybe a few days somewhere else for a holiday if you can afford it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest40285 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I would defo check out the East coast, I know theres heaps to think about @jodipodi, decisions, decisions. Brisbane and the Goldy have heaps to offer, I live near Byron Bay so would say NSW North coast, Theres lots to do and Brisbane and the Goldy close by along with Tweed Heads. Any way jodi good luck eh love, exciting stuff eh ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodipodi Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 I was really looking forward to the Market too....there was a few small fruit and veg stalls in rundlemail mall area and I literally said to Lee....no way this can't be it....?! Lol Lol Its funny @Mattw because all the job adverts Lee get at the minute are in Brissy....and the house prices seem canny reasonable but don't you have to be near the centre for jobs ..meaning away from the beach?.... I must must be walking distance from a beach, even if it's a 20 minute walk. It's my most important factor because it's what we do when the sun comes out here....I pack the sarnies, juice, biscuits and just sit there til it's too cold...the kids entertain themselves. Oooooo I so wish I had the money to do say 10 days at each....winning lottery numbers anyone?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodipodi Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 The central market isn't on (or off) Rundle Mall - it's a few blocks further in to the CBD, right next to Adelaide's China Town. Sounds to me like you missed out on some of the best bits of Adelaide, possibly through not really knowing enough about the place before visiting. I always feel that Noarlunga is really far away from everything but if I say so on Poms in Adelaide I get told off. I think you would have been far better off staying in Glenelg on your previous trip - still by the beach but easy access to the CBD by tram and with far more going off. We spent one of our many holidays here before moving in Glenelg and I felt far less isolated than when we stayed just up the road in West Beach. Staying in North Adelaide was even better for me and was what finally persuaded me to move. I can't advise on Perth as I've never been (hope to go at some point though), but if you do decide to visit don't go and base yourself miles out of the city with nothing much around you just because that's where some vocal people on a forum love to live. Stay somewhere central then hire a car and have a drive round the different suburbs and get a feel for the place for yourself. I'd be visiting which ever place you are thinking about moving to with maybe a few days somewhere else for a holiday if you can afford it. West Lakes.....I presume that's near West Beach..... Houses are to die for...... Soooo beautiful.... They were my dream houses......is it on a road towards Glenelg? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Maybe we just felt behind the times with it being further from the centre, goodness knows if that even makes sense... You're right though, there's plenty of sights and people around here that seem behind the times. Maybe it's simply because the Australian life and people are so laid back....but that's a good thing so really I'm contradicting a lot of what I say....we do want slow paced living, peace and quiet, but I would also like to have a beach and a CBD within half an hour of me. Yes the fresh food market!!! Why couldn't we find it!!? We got to ruddle mall but goodness knows why we couldn't find the main part of it....is it indoors? We just list our bearing I guess....found the silver piggies though haha. So, people are mentioning water parks....the kids,would live that....so, if we go to Perth and check it out-are there any there?? I think if you only saw Rundle Mall itself then you missed the fab street down from it full of cafes, bars and so on. Did you get out into the parklands surrounding the CBD? See the Botanic Gardens? All within walking distance from Rundle Mall (which is basically the main street). Lots of little side streets to explore top. Great pancake restaurant, a few fab bars, shops and more. And yes, the market is a walk away. But should be easy to find. The tram stops pretty much right outside of it, you just cross the road and its there. Only a couple of stops from Rundle Mall. Central Market is buzzing, fab place. And in Chinatown which is also great to look round. Hubby used to live a couple of streets away so I know the area well. Sounds like you really were too far out for reccie and seeing what Adelaide itself had to offer. Stuck down in Noarlunga you'd have struggled to see the city itself and the suburbs out down south really are a different feel to them. As NicF said, Glenelg would have been a far better place to base yourself for a trip so you could have gotten around into the CBD with ease, seen all that and had the fab beaches etc and the bustle of Glenelg to boot. Also don't forget Adelaide has things like the annual Fringe festival and entertainment centre with live shows throughout the year. Plus lots of sporting things, Tour Down Under being a big one, Ashes match played there. The usual wildlife parks, plenty of cinemas, fab wine region and other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodipodi Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 No we didn't see the botanic gardens...we went to the Zoo there, saw plenty animals we enjoyed that. Didn't enjoy the drive to get there though......the driving definitely had a negative impact on me. I hate being stuck in a car. We visited hahndorf (sp?) that was good, again...hated the car journey..... Went to Cleland..... Cried real tears driving there, I was sh*t scared of the sheer drops. Most of the days out were a bit of a drive definitely. But Noarlunga was picture perfect, so quiet, beautiful. I think we went there because it had everything (except the CBD) nearby, so it was all handy for day to day living- butcher, groceries, parks, beach, docs etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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