Back From Adelaide!!!

[Damms]

Hi Everyone

I know I haven’t posted for a long time so many of you might not know me but I have been very busy getting ready for our recci to Adelaide and having 3 weeks out there. Well we have now returned, it was great to finally see the place and we were really relieved to actually love it!!!

We rented a 2 bed apartment on the beachfront in Glenelg called Baybeachfront apartments over the internet for a week so that we could have a base and then decide if we wanted to move to another area.
We picked up our hire car from the airport and drove to the apartment. There was a great map in the car and I have to say the road layout and driving is a dream most of the roads are dual lanes and the driving is so relaxed, nearly everyone keeps to the speed limit you can overtake in both lanes, we didn’t witness any road rage at all, in the 3 weeks we were there we only got cut up once and that was by a bus in the middle of the CBD in road works. Its deceiving when you look at the map you think you have a way too go but the suburbs are close together and no real distance so we had fun a couple of times as we had gone past the junction we wanted really quickly!!! But even then it was no real drama finding your way again.

Houses and areas, I will post more in depth info on our thoughts under the housing real estate section otherwise this will be a really long item and I don’t want you all to get bored!! The first morning we arrived we got the Adelaide Advertiser and looked for all the open houses that weekend we looked at 5 houses on the Saturday and 6 on the Sunday you just turn up and look round with everyone else, I must say this is the only time I didn’t witness the Australian friendliness, no one was rude but it was all business you really felt the competition!!! It’s a great way to look at all the suburbs and see which one’s you like and don’t like.

People are great they are so friendly and want to have a little chat to pass the time. The beaches are lovely and clean and a good place for the kids to find new friends. One night we were having an early meal in a lovely café in Brighton when about 10 women jogged up and put out exercise mats and started doing their stretches by the pier!!! How great is that!!! There are so many parks for the kids even right next to the beach and lots of green reserves so you are never too far from an open space.

Shopping: We found that most areas were covered by smaller speciality shops i.e. butchers, bread shop, fruit shop etc. I must say the first morning we arrived we went to the local Coles in Glenelg and I was a bit shocked as they didn’t seem to have as much choice (apart from milk which there was just loads of!!) anyway when I went back a few days later perhaps a little less jaded from the flight it didn’t seem quite so bad, loads of fruit, fresh meats etc and the choice is just different brands really, BUT I don’t think I saw one ready meal which really says it all, life here is just healthier the nearest I saw to one was marinaded chicken skewers !!! For those shopaholics don’t worry we did find some really big shopping centres dotted around, so if you need your big supermarket fix you can get it.

We went to open our bank account and thought we would have to make an appointment and fill out endless forms, but the lady saw us straight away, I will admit that we went into ANZ bank which is the bank giving us our mortgage so they did already have our address details but it only took 15 minutes.

Well I could go on for hours but all I can say is for the lifestyle and to bring kids up it is a fantastic place, when the time came for us to leave and go home we already felt like we were home and we were just going back to England to pack up and prepare for our new life. Needless to say we have bought a house in Blackwood a lovely leafy suburb and found a great day nursery. We have decided to Emigrate on 15th August. I know there will be family to miss and little hic ups along the way but I am very excited about it all it’s a lovely place to be.

If you have any questions, I’ve missed loads of info out I know, just let me know or PM me I’m happy to help if I can.

Good luck everyone!!! :lol: :lol:
Kim

[likesshopping]

Hi Kim

Great post - lots of info and lots of postives...I like that.

I have pm'd you.

...Shouldnt you get back to work now? :lol:

Sarahx

[chippie74]

good post..just the sort of thing i want to here!! im only 2 weeks behind you ..we land in adelaide september 2nd....good luck with it all

[Jane.Mason]

Hi

Great post

when the time came for us to leave and go home we already felt like we were home and we were just going back to England to pack up and prepare for our new life.

totally agree it's the one place we've been that we were crying when we left, and felt totally lost when we arrived back in the UK took 5 weeks to recover.

Great choice of area, we have freinds who live that way.

Jane and Andi

[cribber]

Hi Kim,

Glad you had a good time and that your reccie was positive.

I arrive on the 22nd May on my reccie. Most of my time will be taken up job hunting and seeing family, but can you recommend some 'must see' places whilst i'm there?

Cheers,

Paul.

[Bex & Nick]

That sounds really positive, Kim! I'm so excited I could crush a grape :D not long now

[Damms]

Hi Paul

Are you taking Elliott and Lily?? The only reason I ask is that we centred all our free time around activities for Acacia (our little girl) as the rest of the time we were looking at houses and areas!!!

We went to a great wildlife park I think it was called the Gorge wildlife park where you can walk through pens with animals and Kangaroos in them to pet and feed them. You can also hold a Koala which was very cute. We went the main road/most direct route from Glenelg and then came back on the gorge road which was very scenic; it took about an hour maybe less. Adelaide Zoo is also a nice day out and close to the CBD if you fancy a visit there. You can get the tram from Glenelg to the city as well.

Victor Harbour is also a nice day out we took the horse drawn bus across to Granite island and they do a penguin tour at 6pm. This is also near to where you can see the whales migrating (but I think you may be a bit early in the year for this??). On the way down you touch on the wine region. You could stop off but if you go further into the region you can do wine tasting tours which looked good but I cannot say we did this having the little one with us!!!

Glenelg has a lot of cafes/restaurants and coffee houses its nice but could be a bit touristy we ate some lunches here and they have a Mexican but nothing to write home about. We went for an Indian along the main road (upstairs) in Glenelg we found it really disappointing (plastic tables inside) so not really our scene cant recommend the food at all I’m afraid, when we spoke to some locals they said the Thai restaurants are really good but they don’t do Indian as well as the English!! :shock: what about the indians!!
If the weather is not too good (It did rain about 5 days when we were there) there is an indoor amusement arcade on the beach with rides for young children and some for adults including water flue slides and bumper cars on water, and an old fashioned horse merry go round, it also has a big indoor climbing/activity area. Mike had a problem with his neck when we were out there and we found a really good massage place just next to the arcade they were really good so we recommend this.

For a nice evening meal that’s not too pricey with good wine selection and excellent service try the café by the pier in Brighton. I cant remember what it was called but if you drive down the road towards the pier it is the Café on the left hand corner It doesn’t look that special but the food is great, the owner has an English wife and two children, very friendly and the café has a big picture of Brighton pier in UK on the wall. In fact most of the cafes on the left hand side of the road did really good food. :D

For a nice upmarket Sunday brunch we went to Glenelg marina (again Ive forgotten the name, I’m useless with names) If you go to the marina area walk past the surf shop and the boat sales shop when you go past the real estate agents it the restaurant there with the open coffee area nice breakfasts and nice spot to relax and read the paper next to the sea. (sorry to sound vague but you will understand what I mean when you see the area!!!!) We had a couple of meals along this stretch but it is a bit pricey.

Sorry there isn’t too many adult things to do apart from eating and drinking (I guess you can see what kind of people we are!!!) but we were so busy with houses and looking around areas that we had to keep little one amused as well, and to tell the truth I liked going on the horse merry go round!!! :oops:

Any way I hope you have a great trip and that it is successful.
Take care
Kim

[The Bowmans]

Hi Kim

Great post, full of good tips. We are going for our reccie at the beginning of July and the open house tip is a really good one, we'll certainly be grabbing a copy of the paper as soon as we arrrive.

I'll keep checking the real estat forum for your update on suburbs.

Thanks again.


Deena

[mOZzy]

hi kim
what a great post! i do love reading all these 'first' impressions.

so should you have some spare time on your hands don't worry to 'bore' us ... here is lots of willing ears/eyes :D

[Yicker]

Hi Kim

Lots of very useful info there, thanks. :-D

Nice to get an idea of what Adelaide and the surrounding areas are like to help decide which areas to look at for property etc.

We'll be doing some research when we go over there in June/July for our honeymoon.

Scott.