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| 3 weeks in Victoria...; ..and loved every minute | |
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| Topic Started: 19 Apr 2008, 06:01 PM (906 Views) | |
| Jimma | 19 Apr 2008, 06:01 PM Post #1 |
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BRITVICS RECCIE Well, I’ve read enough of these reports, so he we go. After a very good non-stop flight with Singapore Airlines, (and the first leg on the very cool A380), we arrived in Melbourne late in the evening on the 27th March. It was really weird in the airport though. We’re not sure why, but we were kind of expecting a big “hurrah” regarding the visa thing. Instead it was the typical laid-back “how ya goin, welcome to Oz”. After a short trip to the first site, we got our heads down in what can only be described as “functional” accommodation. Saturday 29th March Woke up to the kids about 5am – bloody freezing. Put on the fan heater and woke the whole site up with the noise. Still, that was soon drowned out by the planes above our heads. An hour later we were having brekkie, and the first person we speak to used to live ten minutes away from us in the UK. Got the train into the city, and to be honest I was a little disappointed to begin with. There was loads of rubbish and graffiti along the track from Broadmeadows into Flinders Street. We headed of into the city, and brought our first item – a brolly! It absolutely pissed down, so we headed off to the Sea Life Centre which was good and at less than £30 for a family ticket – everyone’s a winner. Jet lag kicked in late afternoon, so we headed back to our salubrious accommodation (just as the sun came out). Spent the next few days looking around the city, and was impressed with the prices for the train fares. We were spending about £2.50 each for a 25 minute return ticket, and the trains ran on time! Surely that can’t be the norm? Went up the Rialto Tower, and for the first time we actually began to like the look of Melbourne. We were surprised by how green the city was. I think on the ground, it was a bit like any other big city. I suppose it’s like London. I love the place to visit and nights out, but I wouldn’t want to live or work there. In time, it would probably grow on me! (just a quick apology to obdekpete here on Britvics, as we may have been speaking to you for about ten minutes and not realised it until we left. Although in hindsight, the fact you were working in the observation deck, and you were called Peter should have rang a few bells. Anyway, thanks for your help. We’re not ignorant; I’ll blame it on the jet lag). Tuesday 1st April Picked the hire car up and headed down to Andy Thomas’ place in Tyabb which would be our home for the next 10 days. The weather had turned for the better. The sun was out and it was nice and warm. The drive down was great, and as soon as we left the city and drove down through the Mornington Peninsula, everything changed. This was what we expected it to be like in Australia. We arrived at Tyabb relaxed, and were very pleased with Andy’s place. It’s a really nice 2 bed with all the comforts you could need. After lunch, we headed into Mornington and ended up on Mother’s beach. Jack and Jess played in the sand and the park. Strangers were chatting to us like friends. If we spoke to anyone like that in the UK, we’d be seen as some kind of weirdo’s. From the drive down, this was the “idea” of what Australia all about, the openness, the sunshine and the people. Mornington seemed the perfect kind of place and the spaces for the kids to play and the beaches were fantastic. The 25degrees and sunshine helped, but if this is the place we came to settle, then it’s all good. Wednesday 2nd Ah, the Melbourne weather we’ve heard so much about. From 25 degrees to wet and windy. We decided to take a drive around a few local areas like Somerville, Tyabb, Pearcedale and Baxter. Picked up some house details and did a few “drive by’s”. All of the areas looked nice, but we liked the look of Somerville. We just vedged out in the afternoon due to the storm force winds. Kids were happy though – thank god for Foxtel. It turned out that a few people had died due to the storms, and I think I read on here that someone had ended up in a ditch when a tree nearly took him out. We spent the next few days driving around and visited places on the Peninsula. Mount Martha and Dromana looked very nice, and we just sat on Gunnamatta beach for about an hour with stupid grins on our faces while the kids rolled around in the sand. We went to Boneo maze, and on Saturday, the plan was to get to Healesville Sanctuary early doors, and end up at the Britvic’s meet. Well, due to the sat nav wanting to take us along the M3 at every opportunity - and it not being open yet – the trip took us a lot longer than anticipated. We didn’t get to the meet, but we can recommend a visit to the Healesville Sanctuary. We visited a few schools in Tyabb, Somerville and Mornington. They all seemed really good, but there was one in Mornington that wasn’t great on first impressions. The principle took us around Somerville primary and it seemed really good. Although I’m not sure about playing music to signal the end of break time – is that normal? Went to Frankston to check out prices for the essentials – LCD TV’s, fridge freezers etc and the prices didn’t seem too bad. We also spent some time in Ray’s Outdoors – nice. I just needed a massive power tool shop and that would have been it. We saw our first Huntsman and White tail. I must admit I was happily disappointed at the size of them. This one was about the size of a plug-top. I kind of’ got the impression that the huntsman was humongous. The kind of thing you see on Harry Potter, or Jason and the Argonaughts. I imagined myself taking them on with a dustbin lid and a five-iron. We think we may just be able to cope (unless I wake up with one snuggling up to me on me pillow). They are quick buggers though aren’t they? After a nice day driving round, we got an email from the estate agent. The viewings have dried up, and they have advised that if we want to sell quickly, then we may have to drop the price. So we did. Boll**ks! We were meant to head over to the west side on the 10th, but we were pretty much decided on settling somewhere on the Peninsula, so we extended our stay in Tyabb for a few extra days. We had a look at the properties and land at Sefton Grange in Mount Martha and that was really nice. Expensive – but nice. We did end up in Geelong for a few days, and headed down to Torquay and Bells Beach. There are some great places and fantastic beaches down that way. Grabbed a few bargains at the surf shops and headed back. Does there become a time when you are too old to learn to surf? Visited the adventure golf south of Geelong, and that was a really good place to spend a few hours. Werribee Zoo was good as well. We were lucky there as all the animals seemed to want to come out and play and we saw everything up close. We even got interviewed for local news for a “tourists” view of the proposed theme park. Spent time in Williamstown on our last day, and took the Yarra river cruise from Williamstown to the Southbank in Melbourne. Had a bit of lunch in the square, and a stroll along the river. It was what I expected Melbourne to be – chic and cosmopolitan. It seemed a world away from the north side of the river, but maybe the sunshine helped. We then took the boat back to Williamstown for a play in the playground next to the marina, and some dinner in a half decent Italian restaurant. Drove to Melbourne airport (although it only took us about a quarter of the time we had estimated), and prepared ourselves for the flight back. Things we like about Victoria: :thumbsup: Pretty much everything: People seem really friendly – unless they are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle The different areas, especially south of Frankston and Langwarrin seem right for us as a place to settle General prices weren’t as bad as we thought. Normal bottles of wine (Jacobs Creek etc) were good value The beaches Shed loads of golf courses Trialling the different beers and wines Fuel prices – although strangely seemed to depend on what day of the week There seem to be plenty of jobs for a good sparkie! Things we didn’t like: :crybaby: Some of the beer prices Radio and the majority of television programmes are pretty shocking – almost as shocking as the driving. House prices and rentals Thinking you’re prepared for the weather Recommendations Good days out at Healesville and Werribee The beaches are great pretty much everywhere. If you need a place to stay then contact Andy Thomas on this site. The accommodation at Tyabb was great – a real home from home, and Jack made a friend in Ted (Andy’s youngest). Loads of good advice as well and they can’t do enough for ya. Fly with Singapore Airlines – it was our first time with them and they were great. We know it was only a short trip, and no matter how objectively we look at it we realise we were in holiday mode. Still, with all things considered Victoria certainly seems the place for us. :yeap: All we need to do now is sell our bloody house! :( |
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| NTH SHARMAN | 20 Apr 2008, 07:27 AM Post #2 |
Addicted Member
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Hi Jimma, Thanks for taking the time to write your excellent report. Brought back memories of our visit. Like you, we just need to sell the sodding house to be able to make all this a reality. Good luck. T xx |
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| koalakim | 20 Apr 2008, 02:05 PM Post #3 |
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Hi Jimma Good report and glad you found somewhere you might like to settle. Gunnamatta is an amazing beach isn't it! We went down to Rye back beach the other day and stood for ages watching the waves! Bit different to the South Coast isn't it! Good luck with the house sale! Kim |
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| Kapri | 20 Apr 2008, 08:43 PM Post #4 |
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Great report Jimma. We really enjoyed reading it - thanks. |
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| WithIce | 21 Apr 2008, 12:34 PM Post #5 |
Member
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We felt the same, (we were on the Sandringham line), but then I reminded myself how horrible some of the London train lines are and some of the main stations, like Kings Cross, are pretty grim. I think when you live somewhere for a while your eyes get use to a lot of the bad things and you just don't see them anymore. But when you are new, you can't help but seeing everything, and looking at everything with critical eyes. (You could say the same for people! ;) ) Great reading your reccie, we never got the chance to leave the city but we definitely will on our next trip. WithIce x |
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| le timm | 25 May 2008, 05:55 PM Post #6 |
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Great report, especically for those of us with kids who will need entertaining. Geelong & the west side only got a brief mention - what did you think? We are considering the west side, partly on affordability. |
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| Jimma | 25 May 2008, 06:54 PM Post #7 |
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Hey le timm - where are you at the moment? The west side was fine. We liked the look of quite a few areas over there, but Geelong just didn't feel right for us. We loved the areas further south like Torquay, but you'd need a helicopter to commute. Lara looked nice, and there are a few on here Neil (dj nee) that could give you advice on those areas. I think that if we had spent the three weeks over there and not seen the Peninsula, we wouldn't of had any problems finding a place to settle. It's just that the areas around Mornington/Tyabb etc was exactly what we hoped/dreamed it would be. I know what you mean about affordability though, we accepted an offer on our house this week but had to take a big hit on it. This will certainly have an effect on where we can stay or settle, but hey - thats another story. Good luck with everything, and perhaps we'll share a beer at a Britvics meet someday. |
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| le timm | 11 Jun 2008, 07:27 AM Post #8 |
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Cheers Jimma. In Southampton at the mo, but arriving in Melbourne mid July. Have got 3 weeks on the east side/Peninsula to start with then 2 weeks outside Geelong on the west side, during which time we hope to find a job AND pick somewhere to set down some roots. Nice little challenge for our first month! :wacko: |
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