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Coming from Cape Town: would Melbourne or Sydney tick these boxes?

Guest spreadingwings

By Guest spreadingwings
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Guest spreadingwings

Guest spreadingwings

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Coming from Cape Town (South Africa), Melbourne and Sydney are where the jobs are in my industry (about 2:1 in Sydney, but Melbourne still very possible, and I may have to end up choosing based on job offer - but if I have a choice, I'd like to know which ticks these boxes).

 

I'd be interested to know which of the cities would offer the most in these categories:

 

 

 

  • Spacious housing (detache 2 beds, 2 baths) with garden closer to the city
  • Easy access to lots of nature: birds, animals, gardens, rivers, wetlands, parks, national parks
  • Easy to navigate traffic and public transport, especially for people in a new country
  • Cosy feeling - not urban sprawl - a place with villagey types of towns without easy reach of other
  • Beautiful surroundings
  • Food markets (Queen Vic looks amazing in Melbourne) and access to fresh food or farms
  • Cultural events, things to do (we're not beach people, but having the sea nearby is great), great road trip options
  • Things being closer together / easy to access
  • The city that you'd least likely run out of things to do in is ... ?
  • Affordability in terms of cost of living - other than rent, is day-to-day living much of a muchness?

 

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Marisawright PIO Chatter Box

Marisawright

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Coming from Cape Town (South Africa), Melbourne and Sydney are where the jobs are in my industry

 

I'd be interested to know which of the cities would offer the most in these categories:

 

 

 

  • Spacious housing (detache 2 beds, 2 baths) with garden closer to the city

  • Easy access to lots of nature: birds, animals, gardens, rivers, wetlands, parks, national parks

  • Easy to navigate traffic and public transport, especially for people in a new country

  • Cosy feeling - not urban sprawl - a place with villagey types of towns without easy reach of other

  • Beautiful surroundings

  • Food markets (Queen Vic looks amazing in Melbourne) and access to fresh food or farms

  • Cultural events, things to do (we're not beach people, but having the sea nearby is great), great road trip options

  • Things being closer together / easy to access

  • The city that you'd least likely run out of things to do in is ... ?

  • Affordability in terms of cost of living - other than rent, is day-to-day living much of a muchness?

 

 

 

You will get much closer to the city centre in Melbourne than Sydney, for the same money. A spacious inner-city detached house in Sydney will cost you over $1 million in the inner west, over $2 million in the Eastern Suburbs.

 

Both Sydney and Melbourne are urban sprawl, there is no getting away from it. There are a few suburbs in both cities with a village-y feel but you have to search for them!

 

Public transport in Melbourne is better than Sydney because of the trams.

 

Sydney is, hands down, more beautiful than Melbourne but Melbourne has the edge architecturally.

 

Melbourne has more arts and cultural activities than Sydney.

 

Yes aside from rent, day-to-day living costs are much of a muchness.

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Marisawright

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Thinking more about it - for road trip options, I'd pick Melbourne. Take a look at a map - you'll see Victoria is far more densely populated than New South Wales, meaning there are more small towns within driveable distance. Daylesford, Bendigo, Ballarat, the Dandenongs, the penguins at Port Phillip Bay, the Great Ocean Road, to mention a few. Whereas from Sydney you'd have to drive quite a bit further to see the same number of attractions.

 

One thing against Melbourne, of course, is the weather. I'm not a sunlover so it wouldn't worry me, but I see a lot of people complaining about it on these forums!

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have you thought of somwhere regional maybe 1 - 2 hours away from either sydney or melbourne. NSW has the edge for me.

 

 

Coming from Cape Town (South Africa), Melbourne and Sydney are where the jobs are in my industry (about 2:1 in Sydney, but Melbourne still very possible, and I may have to end up choosing based on job offer - but if I have a choice, I'd like to know which ticks these boxes).

 

I'd be interested to know which of the cities would offer the most in these categories:

 

 

 

  • Spacious housing (detache 2 beds, 2 baths) with garden closer to the city
  • Easy access to lots of nature: birds, animals, gardens, rivers, wetlands, parks, national parks
  • Easy to navigate traffic and public transport, especially for people in a new country
  • Cosy feeling - not urban sprawl - a place with villagey types of towns without easy reach of other
  • Beautiful surroundings
  • Food markets (Queen Vic looks amazing in Melbourne) and access to fresh food or farms
  • Cultural events, things to do (we're not beach people, but having the sea nearby is great), great road trip options
  • Things being closer together / easy to access
  • The city that you'd least likely run out of things to do in is ... ?
  • Affordability in terms of cost of living - other than rent, is day-to-day living much of a muchness?

 

 

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Guest spreadingwings

Guest spreadingwings

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Now that you guys have mentioned it:

 

- just how humid is Sydney? I see the climate graphs only indicate about 50-60% humidity?

- just how little sun does Melbourne get? Is it often grey? Is it often cold?

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Guest spreadingwings

Guest spreadingwings

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In terms of getting out to explore nature - would weather conditions in Sydney (with more rain, I think?) be more restrictive than Melbourne?

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Marisawright

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In terms of getting out to explore nature - would weather conditions in Sydney (with more rain, I think?) be more restrictive than Melbourne?

 

Actually the reverse would be true. Sydney does get more rain per annum, but it arrives in huge thunderplumps which are over quickly (the first time I saw rain in Sydney, I thought it was a monsoon!), and then you'll get several days of dry before more rain arrives. Coming from Scotland, I find it amusing that the weather forecast calls them "showers", but if you get caught in one, you'll be drenched in a few minutes.

 

Whereas Melbourne is more likely to have gentle rain which continues for longer.

 

This year, Sydney started getting humid in early November and will stay that way till the end of February. It's not nearly as bad as further north but I'm not good with humidity so I find it trying.

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buzzy--bee Platinum Member

buzzy--bee

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Sydney has more rain, but Melbourne has more rainy days I think, in other words Sydney gets more torrential storms. Melbourne is much more temperate but the biggest weather issue even in Melbourne in terms of getting out and doing stuff is the heat.

 

Melbourne's spring, autumn and winter are mainly sunny, winter is cool (10 - 17 degrees). Summer can be hell, 40 degrees +, but this lasts for normally only 1-2 days at a time. And as mentioned before it is a very dry heat, it doesn't feel as hot as say Sydney might on a 30 degree day because of the humidity.

 

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Marisawright

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Sydney has more rain, but Melbourne has more rainy days I think, in other words Sydney gets more torrential storms. Melbourne is much more temperate but the biggest weather issue even in Melbourne in terms of getting out and doing stuff is the heat.

 

Melbourne's spring, autumn and winter are mainly sunny, winter is cool (10 - 17 degrees). Summer can be hell, 40 degrees +, but this lasts for normally only 1-2 days at a time. And as mentioned before it is a very dry heat, it doesn't feel as hot as say Sydney might on a 30 degree day because of the humidity.

 

 

So true! The last few days in Sydney have been very humid, so even though the temperature has been only about 28/29 degrees, I've spent every day indoors in the air conditioning. Last night it was still too sticky to go out for a walk at 7pm

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Guest spreadingwings

Guest spreadingwings

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After all the feedback it really seems that both cities have a lot to offer. It's just up to me/you/us to decide what is that we're after!

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buzzy--bee Platinum Member

buzzy--bee

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After all the feedback it really seems that both cities have a lot to offer. It's just up to me/you/us to decide what is that we're after!

 

Why not ignore the weather as a factor and concentrate on income/affordability of living as without these everything else is just a dream regardless of the weather.

 

We ruled out Sydney early on as the house prices meant we could not achieve what we wanted. We considered Brisbane, but the job market wasn't big enough. So we chose Melbourne, where we can afford to live in a nice house in a nice neighbourhood, a short walk to a gorgeous beach and a reasonable commute to the city.

 

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Quinkla PIO Chatter Box

Quinkla

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  • Spacious housing (detache 2 beds, 2 baths) with garden closer to the city Melbourne

  • Easy access to lots of nature: birds, animals, gardens, rivers, wetlands, parks, national parks Melbourne

  • Easy to navigate traffic and public transport, especially for people in a new country Melbourne

  • Cosy feeling - not urban sprawl - a place with villagey types of towns without easy reach of other Not great in either, but Melbourne is better

  • Beautiful surroundings Sydney has bridge and opera house, Melbourne has prettier country

  • Food markets (Queen Vic looks amazing in Melbourne) and access to fresh food or farms for all things food - Melbourne

  • Cultural events, things to do (we're not beach people, but having the sea nearby is great), great road trip options Melbourne except for the sea

  • Things being closer together / easy to access Neither

  • The city that you'd least likely run out of things to do in is ... ? Both are finite

  • Affordability in terms of cost of living - other than rent, is day-to-day living much of a muchness? Melbourne

 

 

 

Based on these criteria, Melbourne is the easy winner.

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buzzy--bee Platinum Member

buzzy--bee

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Only if you count the bay as sea. Real sea is about two hours away.

 

Well it depends what the OP wants from the sea. If they want nice beaches to walk on and safe sea for the kids to play in then its right here in the city. If they want 8 metre high waves with commercial trawlers and container ships crashing around then it is indeed further away.

 

:D

 

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Marisawright

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The Sunshine Coast of Queensland would suit you perfectly - lots of South Africans here and they love it!

 

 

Cultural events? You'll find concerts and plays etc on the Sunshine Coast but compared to Sydney and Melbourne, it's much rarer and often at a less professional level. Also if you're not into the beach (which the OP is not) then I'd say running out of activities would be a big risk.

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