hawkmoon1704 Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Earlier this year we Spent a few days in Melbourne then drove up to Brissy via Sydney and the gold coast but we skipped Newcastle, I wish we had dropped in to take a look. Can any one give a feel for the place, like suburbs industry beaches the people and the lifestyle? Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Earlier this year we Spent a few days in Melbourne then drove up to Brissy via Sydney and the gold coast but we skipped Newcastle, I wish we had dropped in to take a look. Can any one give a feel for the place, like suburbs industry beaches the people and the lifestyle? I have never lived there but I have spent time there for work. It's fashionable for Sydneysiders to roll their eyes when they talk about Newcastle and Wollongong, and dismiss them as suburban and working class. However I think Newcastle is quite a nice city, big enough to have most facilities but small enough to be friendly and easy to get around. There are a few "cafe society" suburbs for the young trendy set. In Newcastle you'll be able to afford a home near the great beaches, unlike most of the bigger cities. I have friends in Newcastle who wouldn't live anywhere else. There is a rough element in Newcastle and they had a lot of trouble with drunken hoons a few years ago. I probably wouldn't go into the town centre on a Saturday night but other than that, you'd be unlikely to encounter the hoon element if you live in a nice suburb - which you're more likely to afford in Newcastle than any of the big cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkmoon1704 Posted July 3, 2014 Author Share Posted July 3, 2014 Nice one, we dont do city life on a Saturday night here so it sounds perfect. :0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloe Emerson Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 I'm moving to newcastle at the end of this year. It's a lovely city. I think the beaches are better than the ones in Sydney. People are very friendly. There are rough parts but you get that everywhere including uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oppyddrum Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 I have lived in Newcastle for the last 3 years, and i did not like it at first, but that was because i did not know what was where then. I have grown really fond of Newie (as some of us call it :smile:) The beaches are spectacular (look for merewether, bar, Nobbys and Newcastle Beaches). Merewether beach also has an ocean bath, the largest in the southern hemisphere i think. the view at Merewether is really nice and there is a nice cliff right there for paragliding (if you are into that sort of thing). Stockton beach for awesome dunes and lots of activities to do there (Downhill tobogganing, Quad biking, Horse and camel tours, 4wdriving). you can actually take your own 4WD into the dunes and have a really good time testing the limits of your vehicle (good luck if you break it. lol) There is also Dolphins and whales coming through here in the early winters... you can sometimes see them from the beaches. awesome! if you have dogs, there is Horseshoe beach specifically for dogs, and redhead beach which allows dogs on as long as you pick up after them. There are a lot of nature parks that have really extensive walking and biking trails, look up blackbutt reserve. Blackbutt also has enclosures with lots of the native Aussie animals as well as playgrounds and the like for kids to have a great time on a Sunday afternoon. The Hunter Vineyards are a short drive away for amazing wine and cheese tours. The city is not as good looking as you would expect a CBD but it has its charms and there is a revitalization effort going on at the moment to sort of bring the CBD into the 21st century, but preserving the heritage buildings which are quite a few. lol. Lots of good places to eat and have a good evening out in the city and in some of the neighboring suburbs, there is a very active night live in the city, lots of the suburbs are ghost towns past 8-9pm on weekends though lol. 2 Westfield Malls within say 15 minutes of each other (no idea why lol), and they are both pretty nice with a wide variety of regular and high end stores for your shopping fix. We have got a major NRL team (Newcastle Knights) that you can barrack for as well as a major soccer team (Newcastle Jets). the sporting life in Newie is pretty live. lol Cost of renting in the city has increased a bit lately, and you are mostly restricted to older buildings (with more character and heritage :wink:) and for an old 3 bedroom in or close to the CBD you are looking at about 390/week or more. but if you moved out say 30 mins from the CBD to the newer suburbs, you can get brand new 4 bedrooms for 360/week and on, depending on what you are looking for. There are a lot of new developments as well, so if you are looking to buy, there is a lot of that happening at the moment. There are a lot of good schools at all levels, public, private and catholic. and we have a university (university of Newcastle) which is ranked pretty high, as well as several campuses of NSW TAFE. The job market was really strong because of the coal industry until about 1.5yrs ago when things started to look not as great so there have been a lot of job cuts in the area lately, so you might want to have work organized before you get here... we are hoping for things to pick back up as it is being said that this happens every few decades and then picks right back up, just market fluctuations they say. The people are mostly nice, welcoming and friendly. Yes there are some nasties around the place but not more than you would find in any other major city. As long as you stay int he right neighborhoods, you will usually be around good people. I have seen a bit of discrimination and some racism but again, not more than exists in any other major city. the nastier element are on the minority by far. the drivers in Newcastle are not raging mad like the "Sydney-siders" or even Melbournians. The weather is mostly great, summers are not too hot and winters are not that cold... it gets really rainy at the beginning of winter though, but the sun stays resolute the whole time. and the water temps are usually warmer regardless of the actual air temps. For the most part, weather wise, really good. We are just 2 hours from sydney, an hour from the central coast (beautiful beautiful coastal region), about 12 hrs from melbourne, 10hrs from Brisbane... Wow, i can not believe i have said this much about a city i did not want to like. i guess 3years and counting will do that to ya! lol Let me know if you have any specific questions though. Note to self: speak to the city council about becoming a city ambassador. :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 The centre is a bit depressing and some of the locals on nights out seemed pretty rough. But the beaches are nice was my experience. Hamilton (I think) was a nice area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkmoon1704 Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 @oppyddrum hey thanks for that its really informative and you paint quite a nice picture of it. I think this could be the place for us too if I can get work before we land. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.