Things you like about Adelaide

[Mazza227]

We are in the early stages of looking into our move. Just wondered what the things you prefer/or don't like as much about living there compared to the Uk? I guess weather is on most people's lists?

[Blossom]

I love the weather. I hate the weather. :-)

I love the people, I miss british people.

I like the food, I miss far more foods.

Work, I Personally preferred the UK.

[Guest Claire-n-tel]

Blossom!.......change your sig mumma!

[Rammygirl]

Overall not better not worse. Just a different place to live

As with many things pros and cons

 

depends on what you are comparing it with. We all lead different lives in the UK.

[Guest Pop]

The people of Adelaide are really very good. But the weather, houses and the job environment is the worst. The HR staff in private workplaces only knows how to cheat others. Initially they promise you a lot to get a staff then they break the promises.

 

i hope you will understand.

[Blossom]

Blossom!.......change your sig mumma!

Ha ha. Will do. :-)

[jim and adel]

It can be far colder in winter than many expect (particularly because the vast majority of houses are insulated about as well as a garden shed) and summer can be harsh. After seven years here I find more things that I miss than those that I enjoy here; perhaps it's just time to think about moving on!

[Toneless]

As a prospective migrant the reply's don't sound like anybody is living the dream that people think it's going to be. Could some people put some positive posts to make a balanced view. We hope to move in the new year but keeping positive is hard sometimes when you read so many negative posts.

[Blossom]

I would say these are exactly a balanced selections of views. There is no 'living the dream' it's same ****, sunnier location.

[NicF]

I love the weather. Except in winter when it gets a bit wet.

I love that you can use the school grounds outside of school hours.

I love that there are lots of parks and kids playgrounds around. Many with free BBQs in them.

I love being really close to a conservation park and feeling like I'm on the edge of the countryside and still being just 9km from the CBD.

I love having been able to buy a block of land and get a house built on it. And being able to make changes to the house plan and specifications to suit us.

I love all the variety of different shops, particularly coffee shops. I especially love that Starbucks aren't here and that there isn't just three or four dominant large chains. I also love that you get gelato shops here.

I love that the CBD is a large area but that the main shopping part is in one spot and easily navigated.

I love that I can get around easily on public transport. I love the metro card system, and especially the auto renew feature I don't like that some of the buses have been around since forever and don't have great heating or cooling. I also don't like the fact that the drivers seem to be living in a different climate and often have the air con on the bus when it's freezing outside so I get to work feeling like a nice block.

I don't like the lack of places to buy kids clothes from.

I miss having the large supermarkets that pretty much sell everything.

I miss working part time.

I miss having two cars. We had two cars in the UK but can't justify the cost to run two cars here due to the cost of rego and insurance. I only really want two cars on the weekends though and we barely use the one we have during the week.

I love that my OH can, and does, cycle to work in the CBD most days. I don't like that a lot of drivers here seem to resent the fact that cycles are allowed on the road at all.

I love that the CBD is surrounded by parklands. I don't like that some of them are just vast expanses of green/brown land.

I like the AFL and being able to go and watch matches at the Adelaide oval. It's a bit expensive but it's a great space and I love that it's right on the edge of the CBD. And I love the footbridge over the river.

I love the SANFL and being able to go and watch our local team pretty cheaply. And my youngest loves being able to go and kick a ball on the field during quarter and half time.

I love that we are going to go and watch the cricket at Adelaide Oval on New Year's Eve.

I love a warm New Year's Eve.

I'm getting used to the warm, light Christmas but I do miss the dark evenings with Christmas lights on.

[Guest Claire-n-tel]

As a prospective migrant the reply's don't sound like anybody is living the dream that people think it's going to be. Could some people put some positive posts to make a balanced view. We hope to move in the new year but keeping positive is hard sometimes when you read so many negative posts.

 

Hi Toneless!....people often comment on posts on here where people voice their views on Adelaide that they are not sounding like they are "living the dream"

 

Moving countries is a huge thing for many people and I would hope that some views on a forum that you perceive to be negative would not affect you positivity one way or the other to any extent and if it is doing then maybe you need to rethink what you are doing.....

 

FACTS FOR MOST PEOPLE:

moving to australia will cost a lot, you will be many years before you will be back to the financial place you are now.

you will get up every morning still and go to work (well when you have found a job anyway)

work hours are ofter longer than the uk

it will most likely be a while before you own your own house again, you'll be paying someone else's mortgage now

the weather is not 30c and sunny all year for lots of the year it is too hot or too cold to be outside

your friends and family are not here and dispute what they have said most will not visit

supermarkets are more expensive and have less choice.

 

Despite these and many more differences I would say that most people would not move back and are happy living here.

 

Where ever you live you pave your own way and make your own happiness. We have personally gone through experiences here that had you told us about beforehand we would have said we would never survive, but we have not only survived but are hugely and truly happy here.

[NicF]

 

FACTS FOR MOST PEOPLE:

moving to australia will cost a lot, you will be many years before you will be back to the financial place you are now.

you will get up every morning still and go to work (well when you have found a job anyway)

work hours are ofter longer than the uk

it will most likely be a while before you own your own house again, you'll be paying someone else's mortgage now

the weather is not 30c and sunny all year for lots of the year it is too hot or too cold to be outside

your friends and family are not here and dispute what they have said most will not visit

supermarkets are more expensive and have less choice.

 

I agree with most of what Claire-n-tel said apart from the bit in bold. It never gets too cold to be outside here if you have warm clothes. Sometimes it gets too cold inside, but outside?

[Rammygirl]

I love the fact that even on a summer weekend you can park at the beach and it isn't crowded. One sunny Sunday in the UK I gave up after an hour sat in traffic still 3 miles out from Lytham! If I had got there there would have been nowhere to park left anyway.

 

Also can pick OH up from work and go straight to the beach in the week, swim, relax and watch the sunset.

 

Love the wine regions and just driving round tasting wine with friends.

 

But it is all relative, we left a beautiful house in a lovely (but damp!) part of Lancashire now we rent. To buy a similar house here in Norwood would cost $millions, luckily we want to downsize but even a two be townhouse can cost more.

 

if you want to live further out it is much much cheaper but it isn't like the UK with lots of big towns and cities to choose from, more like sprawling suburbs, all of the action is in the centre. I love Norwood as we can walk to lots of shops and restaurants on the Parade and many are cheap. We can also walk to the CBD easily but we pay the price.

 

Sorry OP but it isn't the land of milk and honey anymore where people could sell up in the Uk and buy a bigger house here and be mortgage free in a few years etc. Property prices have gone up here and down in the UK and the exchange rate doesn't help.

[Lazy Cow]

Claire is right, however leaving all the truths no one seems to want to hear (lol) to one side, these are three of the things I appreciate regularly:

 

I love being in the city and being able to see the hills in the distance. Beautiful.

 

I love the way we can go to the footy, or a concert or whatever in the city - and not have to leave hours beforehand! Adelaide isn't the 'twenty-minute city' anymore, but things are still (IMHO) more accessible. I am not including travelling on South Road in the morning, because when I had to travel in for a course it was the WORST traffic ever :0!

 

i love the wide blue sky, the beaches (whatever the weather), the green fields in winter and the gold in summer, the amount of noisy birds, koala poo, catching sight of an occasional roo who has found itself in the 'wrong' place, the way people tend to say 'hi' when you pass them, the way kids are treated as part of the family rather than an inconvenience, sharing a plate, chatting to the checkout person, honesty, the heaviness of the air and the quiet streets on a hot day, being down the beach at 6am (ish lol) so the dogs can exercise before it gets too hot, Australia Day on the beach when the beach is packed with people sharing, soft fruit and the Pageant heralding Christmas in, the Lions selling Christmas cake door to door accompanied by Father Christmas in his 'sleigh', primary school graduation, high school formals, the zombie walk, sharing terms of reference, demonstrating against injustice and unfairness, the expos and festivals, the Vegan Festival, not being judged if you want to go out in your pjs, trakkie daks or barefoot, bagging Victorians, moonlight cinemas....

There's so much I enjoy about our life here, but there are things that majorly suck too. Guess that's just life, hey?!

 

LC

[Rammygirl]

We are not being negative just honest.

 

go into it with your eyes open.

 

those who think marriage is all romance and roses are bitterly disappointed when it isn't, those who expect it to be a mixed blessing with ups and downs are generally happier.

 

i believe in marriage but would advise anyone to go into it with their eyes open and to assess all the pros and cons beforehand AND to discuss your dreams with your partner along with your future aspirations.

 

i guess you should do the same for migration. It is a big decision and needs to be taken seriously.

[Mr Technical]

Things I like about living in Adelaide.........

 

The lifestyle

Straight talking Aussies

Driving my classic car all year round

More disposable income

The climate

The healthcare system

Living the other side of the world to my family!

[Daviesfamily adelaide]

It will never be a case of 'living the dream' you will always have bills to pay, work to do, and people that annoy you. However having said that I am confident in saying that I am a lot happier with my life here than it was in the UK. I have been here for 4 months, I don't earn the money I used to earn, I don't have the luxuries I had in the UK and I don't yet have as many friends as I did in the UK. But

seeing my young children flourishing out here, loving their new environment, the views of the coastline, not having a house that is overlooked and joined to another house and the cleanliness of the area make me extremely grateful that I had the confidence to see through my convictions. You will get out of it what you put in. You will get job rejections, you might not get the house straight away you wanted, you will miss family, but if you stay positive and reflect on what you have got and the new/ different opportunities available to you, hopefully you will be as happy as myself and my family.

[Guest Guest75]

Moving here gave us an opportunity to do different things, new challenges and so on.

No living the dream, just treading a different path...

 

Adelaide suits us as it is not too big, great access to the country and beaches.

 

Ditto on gone are the days of coming over with huge wads of cash,it's much harder to do now.

[Diane]

What I like

 

Spring, Summer and Autumn weather

Proximity to City centre for comedy shows, restaurants, market, sports events, kids' activities when they were younger and employment and study opportunities now they're older

Variety of nationalities meaning great choice of foods

Friendliness of strangers

Quality of education at reasonable prices

The Adelaide Hills scenery

Good public transport into and out of the city

The parklands, the festivals, and being able to park right in the centre of the city at weekends for just 20c.

The Torrens Linear Park, all the way from the Hills to the Beach

 

What I don't like:

The lack of decent employment opportunities in so many lines of work

Prices of holidays and limitations of international flights from Adelaide airport

Traffic lights, speed cameras everywhere, demon drivers, people parking (legally) in bike lanes and on the sides of main roads

The fact that Adelaide/South Australia is considered a second-class citizen compared to other Australian states and cities (particularly by those that have never been here, but also fairly understandably as it is not really a place that offers traditional holiday attractions)

The limitations of mainstream media mainly controlled by one man/political view so you can never trust what you are told in the paper/on the news without looking into it yourself

The layers of bureaucracy in the whole of Australia - every city (council area) has a mayor and a board of councillors, the State has a Premier and a full Westminster-style parliamentary system, then the Federal Government has it all over again, so everyone blames someone else!

The Federal Government treating South Australia badly (and being allowed to get away with it) because (at the moment) we are the only state whose Premier is from a different party

Bad public transport if you want to get anywhere other than into and out of the city

[Toni]

I pretty much agree with everything Diane has said. Even the politician thing - but I think the politician thing is probably in most countries. The fact that federal doesn't like our State government makes our government more appealing I must say.

 

I don't like the winter much, once you rug up and take the plunge to go outside then we have some beautiful gardens to walk. Love the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens and a hot chocolate in the restaurant/cafe at Mt Lofty Look out.

 

Don't like that it is so expensive to go overseas, although China, Thailand and some of those countries are quite cheap. Unfortunately most of my family live further afield. But I do love travelling around Australia in car and caravan and being in our beautiful outback with our beautiful wildlife. I even like that people from other states think that there isn't much to do here because it keeps it for us.

 

And in winter if you get sick of the weather then you can travel to Darwin or Queensland to get some respite.

[Toneless]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for all the reply's. I'm sorry if I got anybody's back up it wasn't my intention.

Moving to Adelaide for us is the dream of a better life. I know it won't be easy we have researched a lot about it, and have found this site an invaluable source of information. When we were there on our reccie we absolutely loved it and thought Adelaide would be a great place for our kids to have a better life than they have here with better job prospects. We're unfortunate to come from the economic black spot in the uk. All our families and friends kids move in the search of jobs as soon as they are finished uni. A lot end up in Australia. We know that the job market is very challenging in Adelaide at the minute and that there's no guarantee the kids will stay there but think it's good to give them that opportunity to choose.

 

Thanks again for all the replies

[KathCats]

Things I like about Adelaide:-

 

It feels like England in many ways.

Fruit and vegetables taste a lot better, especially the apples and carrots.

Petrol is ridiculously cheap.

The meat is gorgeous.

You can drive right up to the beach and parking is easy and FREE.

Libraries and Public Spaces are just how you want them to be.

Australians laugh a lot.

Seeing koala bears and lizards and lots of parrots.

 

Things I don't like about Adelaide:

 

Seeing people watering lawns.

Middle-aged men living on the streets and eating leftovers in food malls.

Television viewing is dire and adverts cut in with no warning.

Policemen have guns.

 

My advice is to get yourselves over here and make your own lists...x

[Reena1991]

Everyone seems to not be impressed by winter over there, can someone tell me how long the horrid bit of your winter lasts? The bit when you are really uncomfortably cold at home or out and about? Last winter in the uk, where we live anyway, was unbearable, it literally rained constantly from October-March non stop! So I'm hoping the answer to this question isn't 5 months!! I am slightly worried about winter time in south oz after having read things on this forum, especially as we will be renting for a couple of years and therefore perhaps the insulation/windows/lack of heating will be quite hard to deal with as I really do HATE being cold!!

[Rammygirl]

Apparently this was the worst winter for years here. I have had worse spring weather in Lancashire.

It lasts weeks not months. Down near the city we could raise a breath outside on a few mornings and no frost. More blue skies too. Although it can be 5 degrees colder in the hills.

[RachaelOs]

Only been here 6 months but so far......

 

I like the beaches - lots of them and have quite a different feel to them dependant on what sort of day you want.

i like the wineries - love that you can go to the cellar door and try the wine then sit in beautiful surroundings drinking your favourite and that a lot of them are child friendly so it's actually a fab family day out.

i like that there are loads of parks for the children to play in and explore

I like that there are lots of beautful walks to do - my 4 year old moaned after walking for about 5 mins when we first got here then after about 2 months she did the 5k waterfall hike at Belair park and loved it.

i like that the large majority of people I meet are really friendly

i like that as far I'm concerned there's never any real traffic (I lived just outside London before)

I like the weather - there were some cold days and a lot of rain in winter but not nearly as cold as winter or even Autumn in the UK - Biggest problem was the house we're in just isn't built for cold days. And I get the impression not many peoples houses are.

 

I don't like the fact that my friends and family aren't here to share the adventure but I do like the fact we had the courage to do it anyway and not just be one of those people who talk about it but never go for it. Apart from money I don't see there's much to loose in giving it a go xxx