Marisawright Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 On 06/02/2020 at 22:51, shy_guy said: I'm a brit thinking about moving to Oz and I have a potential job opportunity at ANU. Unfortunately I get the impression Canberra is not that great a place to live, as it can be quite quiet, quite cliquey, and just generally difficult to make friends. ..... Ideally I'd like to live somewhere on-par with say Bristol or Edinburgh. Bristol - population 460,000. Edinburgh - population 450,000. Reading - 160,000. Canberra - population 390,000. So you can see, population-wise, Canberra is very much more like Bristol and Edinburgh than Reading. Canberra gets bad-mouthed a lot by the rest of Australia but I spent a lot of time there for work, and always liked it. In fact, I found the people in our Canberra office far friendlier than in Sydney (where I lived at the time). Aussies have a long tradition of slagging off other cities, anyway: when I lived in Sydney, everyone told me what a dump Melbourne is. I live in Melbourne now, and though it's not gorgeous to look at like Sydney, it's actually a nicer place to live in many ways. And of course, now I get Melburnians telling me what a s***hole Sydney is, which is absolute rubbish too. Canberra is a government/university town, so it's full of degree-qualified professionals, many of whom grew up elsewhere and have moved to Canberra for work, and are therefore open to making new friends. Having been married to such a person, I've experienced how clique-y and condescending they can be to those with a lesser education, so I can understand how some people have got that impression of Canberrans. But if you're part of that cohort, you should be fine. https://www.thecrag.com/en/climbing/australia/river-crags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 On 15/02/2020 at 14:04, rammygirl said: Ok so a long way from the coast, more of a weekend away than a day trip Bateman's Bay is only 2 hours' drive from Canberra. I've known people in Sydney who'd happily drive 2 hours to get to the beach so I bet some Canberrans do too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Marisawright said: Bristol - population 460,000. Edinburgh - population 450,000. Reading - 160,000. Canberra - population 390,000. So you can see, population-wise, Canberra is very much more like Bristol and Edinburgh than Reading. Canberra gets bad-mouthed a lot by the rest of Australia but I spent a lot of time there for work, and always liked it. In fact, I found the people in our Canberra office far friendlier than in Sydney (where I lived at the time). Aussies have a long tradition of slagging off other cities, anyway: when I lived in Sydney, everyone told me what a dump Melbourne is. I live in Melbourne now, and though it's not gorgeous to look at like Sydney, it's actually a nicer place to live in many ways. And of course, now I get Melburnians telling me what a s***hole Sydney is, which is absolute rubbish too. Canberra is a government/university town, so it's full of degree-qualified professionals, many of whom grew up elsewhere and have moved to Canberra for work, and are therefore open to making new friends. Having been married to such a person, I've experienced how clique-y and condescending they can be to those with a lesser education, so I can understand how some people have got that impression of Canberrans. But if you're part of that cohort, you should be fine. https://www.thecrag.com/en/climbing/australia/river-crags I have thought about doing a short contract in Canberra when my youngest is doing his A levels. It would be a good way to see the east of the country, and my IT skills are in demand in Canberra. I remember visiting it as a child. It's like the Australian Switzerland. Edited January 9, 2021 by newjez 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chardonnay Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Hi , We have just moved to Canberra and love it , no traffic , lots to do , near to Sydney , the snow and beach are nearby . The weather is a bit cool in winter but the sky is nearly always blue , bit different to Reading !! You only make friends if you put yourself out there ! We lived in Melbourne for 10 years and can't believe how laid back Canberra is !! Give it a go what's the worse that can happen !! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freemantle Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 When we move back over east, Canberra is on my bucket list, I would love to see all the embassies also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulya Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 3 hours ago, chardonnay said: Hi , We have just moved to Canberra and love it , no traffic , lots to do , near to Sydney , the snow and beach are nearby . The weather is a bit cool in winter but the sky is nearly always blue , bit different to Reading !! You only make friends if you put yourself out there ! We lived in Melbourne for 10 years and can't believe how laid back Canberra is !! Give it a go what's the worse that can happen !! Far better than Melbourne. 4WD almost mandatory for getting to the good areas in the Brindabellas. And having lived in Reading (Tilehurst) there is no comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 I've been there on work trips, as well as every major City and a lot of smaller places like Townsville, Darwin. It's my least favourite place I've ever been, has nothing that we came to Aus for and reminded me of Milton Keynes. Having said that there was plenty going on and decent pubs and restaurants. I'm not sure but there may be some good climbing as there are some fairly serious mountains not too far away. At least on par with the pennines, so if climbing is what you like it might suit you. Also you can get to ski areas not too far away. Not for me and the family but some people like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 21 hours ago, chardonnay said: Hi , We have just moved to Canberra and love it , no traffic , lots to do , near to Sydney , the snow and beach are nearby . The weather is a bit cool in winter but the sky is nearly always blue , bit different to Reading !! You only make friends if you put yourself out there ! We lived in Melbourne for 10 years and can't believe how laid back Canberra is !! Give it a go what's the worse that can happen !! Worst that can happen is you don't like it, think that that is all Australia has to offer and it puts you off looking somewhere else and you go back to Reading. To say it's close to Sydney and beaches is a stretch of the truth. 20 mins from a beach for me is 10 too far, if you have to take the car to get to a beach it's too far. To get to a Sydney beach, find somewhere to park, pay, it would be a days treck. Still probably better than Reading mind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulya Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 On 09/01/2021 at 09:57, FatCat said: Well years ago I read this about Canberra from travel writer Bill Bryson...... "Canberra, why wait for death? And certainly back in the 1990s; I would have agreed with him. But recently visited again for the first time since 1995.......and absolutely loved the place. It had a really good vibe about it, and there was lots to see and do. Active local arts scene. Great wineries, eateries and bars too. Very easy to get around and rarely any congestion on the roads. I stayed in Kingston for six weeks and loved the area On the downside, it can get very icy cold in winter (as in British cold), and very hot in summer due to it being inland away from the coast. I believe it can get very quite when parliament is not sitting (but I would like that), and rents can be very expensive. Plus the layout was a little confusing and reminded me of Milton Keynes in that respect. Of course, visiting and living somewhere are totally different. Still I was very impressed on how much it had improved over the years. Cannot comment about cliquey, but it is basically a country town and I would imagine that may impact somewhat. That was a long time ago. And he didn’t have a mandatory guide which one really requires here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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