SAPOL Country locations

[Guest kimnjamie]

Hi there. I'm Jamie and this is my first post on PIA. (Been monitoring it for months mind) I'm married with a twelve year old son and two dogs. I'm just applying to SAPOL for their 2011 recruitment campaign in the UK and I'm looking for some advice about areas outside of Adelaide. I have to put three preferences down for locations to live. I've lived and worked as a cop in city centres in the UK for years and fancy a complete change if accepted by SAPOL.

Kim (wife) and I have been researching areas to live for months and we've come down to these choices - 1. Victor Harbour, 2. Whyalla, 3. Port Lincoln.

 

However, I like the hills and places like Clare appeal to me as well as Mount Barker.

 

Before i finally put our choices to paper, please can someone offer us some advice about living, working, schools, socialising (lots of wine), golfing, hospitals etc in these areas? Or indeed if we're missing a trick and there's somewhere else we should be considering?

 

Looking forward to receiving some insider knowledge.

 

Many thanks

 

Jamie and Kim

[Diane]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Can't help you much with Port Lincoln but if you havent already found it, one of the posters on here has recently moved to Whyalla and has a great blog about life there : here is a recent thread of hers with a link on http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/forum/news-gossip/22531-whyalla-blog-update.html

 

My boss lives up near Clare (Burra) and loves it up there, has found the locals really welcoming and her kids are really enjoying school. You;d certainly have no shortage of wines in that region either!

 

Another option I guess is Mount Gambier, where yet another member (Damien) has recently moved so have a search of his posts and I'm sure he'd be happy to answer any questions.

 

Diane

[Louise EP]

Hi Jamie,

 

I've lived in Port Lincoln for 3 and a half years. It's a nice little town with two fantastic National Parks. The two largest industries are fishing and agriculture. I think it would be a great place to bring up kids. There is a hospital, couple of high schools, few pubs and restaurants and a golf course (though not sure how good it is!?). Also lots of sporting clubs, so if you get involved with these activities you will be sure to meet people. There are a few of us pommies here now. However, it does feel isolated here and if you feel like a trip to somewhere different (apart from the beach) everywhere feels miles away. You can fly to Adelaide which takes 30 minutes, but it will cost you min. $200 return each person so that is by no means cheap. Personally I would pick Port Lincoln over Whyalla, it is much prettier - Whyalla is an industrial town and I could not be comfortable living with the red dust (from the iron ore). I have not been to Victor Harbour but it looks appealing to me as it is much nearer to Adelaide and other places. I am meeting a lady from England for lunch on Friday whose husband recently moved to Port Lincoln with SAPOL, I will ask her is she is happy to make contact with you and offer some insight. Anthing else I can help with re Port Lincoln please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Good luck, Louise

[Louise EP]

You can also keep up with all the Port Lincoln news online:

 

Port Lincoln News, sport and weather | Port Lincoln Times

[Anne B]

All I would say is that Whyalla and Port Lincoln are a long way from Adelaide so may seem very remote, if you are used to city life. Places like Victor Harbor, Mount Barker, Clare, Gawler, Murray Bridge are far enough away from Adelaide to have a country town feel and an identity of their own but are close enough that you are not stuck out in the sticks. You can easily get into Adelaide for decent shops etc.

 

Victor Harbor is a lovely spot, colder than Adelaide and a favourite place to retire - it has the highest median age in the whole of Australia. It is also a popular seaside destination, so attracts lots of holidaymakers and day trippers in the summer (think Devon?), with wineries and hills nearby and spectacular coastline. Whyalla (pop 21,000) is remote (4 hours from Adelaide), hot and dusty, very industrial, I can't think of much else to say about it, and Port Lincoln is a nice country town, big on fishing, but small by British standards (only 13,000 population) and a long way from anywhere big.

 

Australia is a big country and places that are called 'cities' and look like they are near each other on the map, can in reality be much further apart than you think and also much smaller than we are used to in Britain. I remember visiting places for the first time and expecting them to be bigger and dare I say it, more exciting, and being disappointed. It's a different ball game here, plus there isn't the network of villages across the countryside, there can be vast stretches of nothing between towns. If that's what you fancy then go somewhere remote, but if you want to keep in touch with modern city life then don't go too far from Adelaide.

[ratters2005]

Get a few opinions before you put your choice down, they will not change it without a fight.

Country has it's ups and downs, certainly think about being away from the Uk away from your support networks and on your own for a while. Those social ties take timeto build on. You may enjoy the change the wife may hate it.

Gambier not a good feeling in the job, Lincoln great location, hard spot to get good luck with that one. whyalla the first three letters gives most people the clue, why!

Having said that one mans opinion is never enough

Ask on the police forum enough opinionated people on there who may give you a balanced view.

City centre is crap, terrible shift patterns and you get to deal with drunks, lots of people trying o get out.

River land ood option but over 3 hours away from the city..

[Guest kimnjamie]

Many thanks for all of your replies. You will remember how difficult it was to make such difficult decisions without personal experience. It's looking like somewhere nearer the city is more sensible right now, so we're dreaming of Clare and Victor Harbour.

 

Keep em coming!!