How is life in Regional Victoria? Particularly in Mt Alexander Shire

[Rampa]

My husband and I are thinking of relocating to Victoria. We prefer living in regional areas. So far we have been looking at areas such as Bendigo and Castlemaine.

We have 2 baby girls (5 and 1y6m). How are schools and day-cares in such areas?

I have been searching for houses to rent and I like what I am seeing so far. I am quite excited about moving. 

With most of the posts that I have read here, people live in capital cities and we really do not like such areas. We prefer something laid back and peaceful.

 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

I like Bendigo, although I do think you will feel totally isolated. Do you have to go regional due to visas? If not you have some lovely rural areas which are within an hour of Melbourne CBD. 

Also living rural think of things like health. It’s ok if you are all A1 but with us we moved to Cairns and although they had two hospitals there weren’t the specialists capable of complex cases like mine, I ended up having surgery in Sydney and was down there for 6 months and then we moved to Townsville after being advised the professor at the hospital there could cope with my complex case only to learn after we made the move it was too complex for him and we ended up having to move to Brisbane (well we live rural about an hour and 30 from the CBD). If you do need anything major you are likely going to have to get to Melbourne especially if the children are taken ill (god forbid) as they would be sent to the Royal.

The other thing I would have said if the children were older and that would be to consider what they will do when they leave school. Most want to head to the city especially as there is more work and a lot more choice in uni courses. However I don’t think you need to worry about this just yet.

School wise, if you can afford private (I don’t mean private like in the UK where you need to take out a second mortgage, but the church schools are excellent and although they give priority to those who follow that faith, they aren’t strict and often let you enrol even if you aren’t church people. My boys have been at Catholic or Lutheran schools and we have never spent one Sunday in church since we arrived in Australia. What I also like about the church and other non government schools is that they usually run from prep straight through to Yr 12 so your child never has to change school or friends. 

‘A Great School in Bendigo is https://www.creekstreet.vic.edu.au/ they also offer pre kinder for 3 year olds at $1800 a year (usually paid per term but can be paid weekly/monthly etc) and Kindy for 4 Yr olds at $2600. Prep is approx $3,000 a year. This way both of your girls could stay at the same school from the age of 3 onwards.

Government schools I’d look at Camp Hill or Spring Gully Primary. Remember though most government schools are zoned which means you need to live in a certain area, sometimes street to be able to attend. So don’t just think my child is going to this school but I’m going to live in this area. You need to first look at schools, zones and then houses. 

[Bulya]

6 hours ago, The Pom Queen said:

I like Bendigo, although I do think you will feel totally isolated. Do you have to go regional due to visas? If not you have some lovely rural areas which are within an hour of Melbourne CBD. 

Also living rural think of things like health. It’s ok if you are all A1 but with us we moved to Cairns and although they had two hospitals there weren’t the specialists capable of complex cases like mine, I ended up having surgery in Sydney and was down there for 6 months and then we moved to Townsville after being advised the professor at the hospital there could cope with my complex case only to learn after we made the move it was too complex for him and we ended up having to move to Brisbane (well we live rural about an hour and 30 from the CBD). If you do need anything major you are likely going to have to get to Melbourne especially if the children are taken ill (god forbid) as they would be sent to the Royal.

The other thing I would have said if the children were older and that would be to consider what they will do when they leave school. Most want to head to the city especially as there is more work and a lot more choice in uni courses. However I don’t think you need to worry about this just yet.

School wise, if you can afford private (I don’t mean private like in the UK where you need to take out a second mortgage, but the church schools are excellent and although they give priority to those who follow that faith, they aren’t strict and often let you enrol even if you aren’t church people. My boys have been at Catholic or Lutheran schools and we have never spent one Sunday in church since we arrived in Australia. What I also like about the church and other non government schools is that they usually run from prep straight through to Yr 12 so your child never has to change school or friends. 

‘A Great School in Bendigo is https://www.creekstreet.vic.edu.au/ they also offer pre kinder for 3 year olds at $1800 a year (usually paid per term but can be paid weekly/monthly etc) and Kindy for 4 Yr olds at $2600. Prep is approx $3,000 a year. This way both of your girls could stay at the same school from the age of 3 onwards.

Government schools I’d look at Camp Hill or Spring Gully Primary. Remember though most government schools are zoned which means you need to live in a certain area, sometimes street to be able to attend. So don’t just think my child is going to this school but I’m going to live in this area. You need to first look at schools, zones and then houses. 

Off topic, but I got the impression you weren’t that keen on Townsville after Cairns?

[Guest The Pom Queen]

15 hours ago, Bulya said:

Off topic, but I got the impression you weren’t that keen on Townsville after Cairns?

I hated Townsville, but I think it was more my mindset than Townsville itself. I wanted to stay in Cairns forever, but my health forced us to move and when they then told me they couldn’t operate there as I was too complicated I hated it even more. I need an op every 3 months to redo my tubes so rather than having to keep flying down to Brissy we moved closer, although it wasn’t until we moved we realised how ill I was otherwise we wouldn’t have bought acreage so far out of Brissy. 

I have one son who has gone back to Cairns and the eldest is still in Townsville he will have been there nearly 5 years now, as he moved there whilst we were still in Cairns. He loves it there.

 

[Bulya]

20 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

I hated Townsville, but I think it was more my mindset than Townsville itself. I wanted to stay in Cairns forever, but my health forced us to move and when they then told me they couldn’t operate there as I was too complicated I hated it even more. I need an op every 3 months to redo my tubes so rather than having to keep flying down to Brissy we moved closer, although it wasn’t until we moved we realised how ill I was otherwise we wouldn’t have bought acreage so far out of Brissy. 

I have one son who has gone back to Cairns and the eldest is still in Townsville he will have been there nearly 5 years now, as he moved there whilst we were still in Cairns. He loves it there.

 

All makes sense now.  Tks for update 

[Rampa]

On 02/09/2018 at 17:19, The Pom Queen said:

I like Bendigo, although I do think you will feel totally isolated. Do you have to go regional due to visas? If not you have some lovely rural areas which are within an hour of Melbourne CBD. 

Also living rural think of things like health. It’s ok if you are all A1 but with us we moved to Cairns and although they had two hospitals there weren’t the specialists capable of complex cases like mine, I ended up having surgery in Sydney and was down there for 6 months and then we moved to Townsville after being advised the professor at the hospital there could cope with my complex case only to learn after we made the move it was too complex for him and we ended up having to move to Brisbane (well we live rural about an hour and 30 from the CBD). If you do need anything major you are likely going to have to get to Melbourne especially if the children are taken ill (god forbid) as they would be sent to the Royal.

The other thing I would have said if the children were older and that would be to consider what they will do when they leave school. Most want to head to the city especially as there is more work and a lot more choice in uni courses. However I don’t think you need to worry about this just yet.

School wise, if you can afford private (I don’t mean private like in the UK where you need to take out a second mortgage, but the church schools are excellent and although they give priority to those who follow that faith, they aren’t strict and often let you enrol even if you aren’t church people. My boys have been at Catholic or Lutheran schools and we have never spent one Sunday in church since we arrived in Australia. What I also like about the church and other non government schools is that they usually run from prep straight through to Yr 12 so your child never has to change school or friends. 

‘A Great School in Bendigo is https://www.creekstreet.vic.edu.au/ they also offer pre kinder for 3 year olds at $1800 a year (usually paid per term but can be paid weekly/monthly etc) and Kindy for 4 Yr olds at $2600. Prep is approx $3,000 a year. This way both of your girls could stay at the same school from the age of 3 onwards.

Government schools I’d look at Camp Hill or Spring Gully Primary. Remember though most government schools are zoned which means you need to live in a certain area, sometimes street to be able to attend. So don’t just think my child is going to this school but I’m going to live in this area. You need to first look at schools, zones and then houses. 

This information is really helpful. 

We do not have to live in a regional area due to visas, it was just a personal preference as we are not city dwellers. We prefer something relaxed and laid back.

I will most definitely take your advise on looking for schools first before looking for a home. 

[starlight7]

Bendigo is a great town.  Plenty of lovely countryside round there.  It can be a bit dry though and hot.

[Quoll]

Bendigo is OK. Ballarat is closer to Melbourne by about an hour. Bendigo has some good second hand bookshops and the owner of one said he chose Bendigo for its easy access to cricket events (dunno about that but that was his rationale).

Castlemaine probably has less going for it on the surface, it always seems a bit single streetish to me and whenever I go there, I’m done within half an hour. Bendigo has more to offer imho and my brother in law has lived there for about 25 years and he quite likes it but he doesn’t have kids and nor do we any more. I think for range of education options I’d probably go for Ballarat if I were looking at a regional Victorian town.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

20 hours ago, Rampa said:

This information is really helpful. 

We do not have to live in a regional area due to visas, it was just a personal preference as we are not city dwellers. We prefer something relaxed and laid back.

I will most definitely take your advise on looking for schools first before looking for a home. 

You could look at the Dandenong Ranges https://visitdandenongranges.com.au/

Macedon Ranges https://www.visitmacedonranges.com/village/mount-macedon/

and out Warrandyte way. 

‘The Mornington peninsula is also lovely and has a mix of new builds and acreage 

 

 

[Beffers]

5 hours ago, The Pom Queen said:

You could look at the Dandenong Ranges https://visitdandenongranges.com.au/

Macedon Ranges https://www.visitmacedonranges.com/village/mount-macedon/

and out Warrandyte way. 

‘The Mornington peninsula is also lovely and has a mix of new builds and acreage 

 

 

I live in the Dandenong Ranges and it's a great area. It takes about an hour to get to CBD on train. Our township is green and leafy, and it feels more rural up here but we are still classed as Melbourne Metro, but the city is a world away. 

In terms of regional Vic, I loved Ballarat and could quite happily live there, and I like it out Gippsland / Bass Coast way too. 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

2 hours ago, Beffers said:

I live in the Dandenong Ranges and it's a great area. It takes about an hour to get to CBD on train. Our township is green and leafy, and it feels more rural up here but we are still classed as Melbourne Metro, but the city is a world away. 

In terms of regional Vic, I loved Ballarat and could quite happily live there, and I like it out Gippsland / Bass Coast way too. 

Yes I love the Dandenong Ranges it’s a shame people get it mixed up with Dandenong as they are like chalk and cheese lol. 

‘For people who haven’t been to Melbourne it’s hard to comprehend that there are lots of rural suburbs that are still classed as Melbourne metro without having to live Regional.

My favourite I think is Olinda, we visited the Cuckoo every Sunday

 

and the houses are amazing

Totally different to Dandenong

[unzippy]

14 hours ago, The Pom Queen said:

 

Totally different to Dandenong

However Dandenong does have a butcher that sells excellent Black Puding
I think it's just to the left of that pic.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

3 hours ago, unzippy said:

However Dandenong does have a butcher that sells excellent Black Puding
I think it's just to the left of that pic.

Yes we loved Robs Butcher, his pork pies were delicious and Hubby liked his Cornish pasty

[starlight7]

Dandy market is great,too.

[starlight7]

Personally I'm not a fan of Ballarat, always seems run down to me except for Sovereign Hill of course.  Superficial impression I guess because I know a few who have bought the old houses and done them up who seem to like it. The Dandenong ranges are really nice, especially those areas like Ferny Creek where you don't have to put up with tourist invasions at the weekends.Same applies to Warrandyte- great during the week but a bit annoying at weekends.

[Smith casa woop woop]

I’ve lived in Bendigo for 8 years now, my children are grown up - one of which attends local university. This is a great place to raise your kids, access to Melbourne in a couple of hours on the train but rarely go as everything I need is here. Property is reasonable, city is growing, hospital has recently been expanded and provides great paediatric service with access to helicopter straight to Melbourne. I believe this is important living regionally with children although many don’t agree and bring their children up quite remotely. 

Of many families I know that  that have moved into bendigo, there is still a sense of community and it hasn’t taken them long to fit in and find their feet, having kids actually is a bonus to achieve this. Schools have sessions where parents go in and help out too which helped socialise. 

Castlemaine, is a beautiful town with a strong sense of artisan and somewhat eclectic styles. A great place to go to do something different. It is only 20minutes form my property so that’s great.

It’s easynhere to live a simple, yet rewarding lifestyle but also can accomodate a cafe culture which is popular here too. Tourism is quite large especially around Easter but it’s not like the Motorway travel. Summer in the parks is something to look at, always some sort of activity at the weekend and i notice lots of dance classes, sports, choirs, swimming to name a few for kids to be part off. 

Maybe im a little biased growing up in a small pit village and the city isn’t for me I don’t know lol.

Inregards to the weather, we have the 4 seasons but yes it can be hot and dry. But so much to do inside it’s all good and soon get used to it

all in all, I love this country and would recommend it here especially here to bring up your children. 

Alison

 

[bayside]

The Mornington Peninsula provides the most ideal semi-regional lifestyle with easy access to the city and some of Australia's best costal beaches. Just look at the pictures of Mornington below.

 

[GEMS1984]

On 05/10/2018 at 02:39, Smith casa woop woop said:

I’ve lived in Bendigo for 8 years now, my children are grown up - one of which attends local university. This is a great place to raise your kids, access to Melbourne in a couple of hours on the train but rarely go as everything I need is here. Property is reasonable, city is growing, hospital has recently been expanded and provides great paediatric service with access to helicopter straight to Melbourne. I believe this is important living regionally with children although many don’t agree and bring their children up quite remotely. 

Of many families I know that  that have moved into bendigo, there is still a sense of community and it hasn’t taken them long to fit in and find their feet, having kids actually is a bonus to achieve this. Schools have sessions where parents go in and help out too which helped socialise. 

Castlemaine, is a beautiful town with a strong sense of artisan and somewhat eclectic styles. A great place to go to do something different. It is only 20minutes form my property so that’s great.

It’s easynhere to live a simple, yet rewarding lifestyle but also can accomodate a cafe culture which is popular here too. Tourism is quite large especially around Easter but it’s not like the Motorway travel. Summer in the parks is something to look at, always some sort of activity at the weekend and i notice lots of dance classes, sports, choirs, swimming to name a few for kids to be part off. 

Maybe im a little biased growing up in a small pit village and the city isn’t for me I don’t know lol.

Inregards to the weather, we have the 4 seasons but yes it can be hot and dry. But so much to do inside it’s all good and soon get used to it

all in all, I love this country and would recommend it here especially here to bring up your children. 

Alison

 

Thanks Alison for this. We are relocating to Castlemaine in the coming months and really looking forward to it. So reassuring to hear other people's happy experiences! Gems 

[Quoll]

8 hours ago, GEMS1984 said:

Thanks Alison for this. We are relocating to Castlemaine in the coming months and really looking forward to it. So reassuring to hear other people's happy experiences! Gems 

Castlemaine has a nice little second hand bookshop with an eccentric owner who tends to not like browsers just buyers. IIRC it was where the iconic Blue Heelers was filmed (that's probably its only claim to fame!).