South Australia - Where abouts though

[covfan71]

Hi all,

I have just unfortunately been made aware that i do not have enough points to qualify for my move to Perth but i can get into South Australia through the State sponsorship visa. Therefore, i would be very grateful to any of you that live in SA to give me as much advice on the area as possible with regards to where i could live etc
Thanks

[Dolly]

Hi,

Sorry, can't help as I live in Victoria, but Karen lives in SA so I'm sure she'll be able to give you some recommendations.

Dolly

[kaz101]

Hi Covfan1,

Have they given you any restrictions where you can move to in South Australia or is it any where in the State?

As Dolly mentioned I live in South Australia so I'm happy to answer any questions.

Adelaide is the state capital and has a population of about 1.1 million people.
South Australia itself has a population of about 1.3 million so the rest of us are scattered through out the rest of the state.

Most people when they move to South Australia pick Adelaide or around that area since it has the major industries, large parks and everything else that you find in a city. It's not a massive city by any means and is small in comparison to places like Melbourne.

It is close to the sea and regular trams run down to places like Glenelg which is on the sea. Or you live in the hills around Adelaide.

Property prices are much cheaper than the UK (see the links in the "PLEASE READ..." post) both to buy and for rental.

If you don't like cities then there are regional towns still in driving distance from Adelaide such as Murray Bridge.

We are right down south of South Australia in Mount Gambier, only 18kms from the Victorian border and 25kms from the sea and beautiful beaches.
We wanted some where that felt like a town and had good access to other places (we are mid way between Adelaide and Melbourne). We also wanted a community feel to the place and have theatres, cinema etc.

In regional South Australia people tend to rely on cars, coaches and planes for transport. We don't have a working railway down here although that may change in the next few years.

We've been here nearly a year and we love the place!

Regards,
Karen

[kaz101]

One thing I should mention is that anywhere along the Murray River there are water restrictions so you may want to check those out with SAwater when you are deciding where to live. We don't have those issues down here since we aren't supplied by the Murray River.

Regards,
Karen

[covfan71]

Originally Posted by kaz101

Hi Covfan1,

Have they given you any restrictions where you can move to in South Australia or is it any where in the State?

As Dolly mentioned I live in South Australia so I'm happy to answer any questions.

Adelaide is the state capital and has a population of about 1.1 million people.
South Australia itself has a population of about 1.3 million so the rest of us are scattered through out the rest of the state.

Most people when they move to South Australia pick Adelaide or around that area since it has the major industries, large parks and everything else that you find in a city. It's not a massive city by any means and is small in comparison to places like Melbourne.

It is close to the sea and regular trams run down to places like Glenelg which is on the sea. Or you live in the hills around Adelaide.

Property prices are much cheaper than the UK (see the links in the "PLEASE READ..." post) both to buy and for rental.

If you don't like cities then there are regional towns still in driving distance from Adelaide such as Murray Bridge.

We are right down south of South Australia in Mount Gambier, only 18kms from the Victorian border and 25kms from the sea and beautiful beaches.
We wanted some where that felt like a town and had good access to other places (we are mid way between Adelaide and Melbourne). We also wanted a community feel to the place and have theatres, cinema etc.

In regional South Australia people tend to rely on cars, coaches and planes for transport. We don't have a working railway down here although that may change in the next few years.

We've been here nearly a year and we love the place!

Regards,
Karen

Karen,

thanks for your reply. All information is helpful. As of yet we have not been given any restrictions but are still in the very early stages and just had our assessment. Funny enough, a couple of people have mentioned Murray Bridge. Is it an ok place to live. We ideally want similar to yourselves, where we don't want to live too close to the city but be within a 20 min drive. How would you compare where you live with a town in UK. Are all the surrounding town quite small then?? Do you know any property web sites we could look at.

[kaz101]

Originally Posted by covfan71

Karen,

thanks for your reply. All information is helpful. As of yet we have not been given any restrictions but are still in the very early stages and just had our assessment. Funny enough, a couple of people have mentioned Murray Bridge. Is it an ok place to live. We ideally want similar to yourselves, where we don't want to live too close to the city but be within a 20 min drive. How would you compare where you live with a town in UK. Are all the surrounding town quite small then?? Do you know any property web sites we could look at.

I don't know much about Murray Bridge so can't really comment but there is a website at City of Murray Bridge - Home - River activities, primary industry, growth, family lifestyle.

There is a real community feel to the towns which I didn't feel in the UK. We moved from Borehamwood in the UK, which is just North of the M25 near the A1. Around here there is no graffiti and no litter. It's strange since I don't notice that until I go on the train to Melbourne and see it in some of the suburbs around there. In Boring Wood (as we called it ) all the shops had the metal shutters and you don't see that around here.

Mount Gambier is the second largest city in S.A with Whyalla a close second but Whyalla really is isolated and more or less in the outback, so yes the rest of the towns are pretty small around here.

When we were touring S.A we went through one town that was a crossroads, a hotel and a post office and people turned to look at a strange car

There are property links in the "PLEASE READ..." post and that covers all the states.

Just research as much as you can online which is what we did.

We also looked at Gawler and the Clare Valley (north of Adelaide) which is beautiful but can be quite pricey (in SA terms not in UK terms), and also the Adelaide Hills. However we didn't mind being away from a major city since we still have everything we need here and a regional airport so we can fly to Adelaide or Melbourne if we need to.

I've also found that in the smaller cities (towns) here it's who you know and not what you know. Getting in with clubs like Rotary is really good (I found a member and asked how do we get invited into the club ) since you start to find out who you need to know.

We negotiate on most things here and the locals will give discounts since they appreciate that you shop locally rather than travel to Adelaide or Melbourne.

I didn't think that I would say this but I can't see myself living in a big city again!

Enough of my ramblings...

Regards,
Karen

[Halo]

I love Adelaide.... its a bit "behind times" but a great place to raise a family.
West Lakes is a nice place to live.

[northern mover]

Hi All,
just picked up this post, and happy to see so many positve comments on SA!

Halo, dear, a few q's if you don't mind.......
We are looking at rental in west lakes, primarily because of the schools for our kids! Can you give me any info on the area? Fulham was also on the list, but i haven't had any luck researching the area! Can you recommend a rental agent. Aiming for November, but more likely to be January now

Kaz has really got the best of everything; good area, easy access to other places etc.... very green i am! Stiil Adelaide was a fantastically friendly, clean and picturesque place. Being from Liverpool, and used to crowds, we found the city to be relatively uncluttered except for the central market on Saturdays!

Thanks all
Jane

[Halo]

Jane,

Can't offer much more as I only have friends who live there and in North Haven (further north) - From what I can tell its much like any other decent suburb in OZ (Pleasantville comes to mind) but its close to the city/beach and schools like you said...
If I find out anything more I will post but I would live there like a shot if we were to move to Adelaide.

[sgilli3]

West Lakes has the big footy ground (AFL)
Is a nice enough suburb, has a small mall.
Cant offer much more than that. Have been there lots, as hubby grew up in Semaphore (2 mins away)
Nice area of Adelaide though.
We have family friends who live in West lakes and they all love it.