Happy Valley, Aberfoyle park, Port Noarlunga

[Guest Paula H]

Hi all,

 

These are our south Adelaide short list.

 

Any views highly appreciated. Will be coming in Sept, with our three children age 3, 10, 12

 

Cheers

[kildorragh]

Paula,

 

Live in Happy Valley and the kids go to Aberfoyle (2 now in high school, 1 in primary although all started at the primary five years ago).

 

We bought the house after only being here for four days and haven't regretted the decision. Relaxed vibe about the place and no real agg' whatsoever - pretty safe place to bring the kids up in.

 

I work in the city and catch the 6.50am bus - gets into the city centre at 7.25am so commuting not a problem.

 

15 minutes drive to Christies Beach, 10 minutes to Marion.

 

What we really like is the fact that it is not all level - you can actually see Australia from the house. Plenty of fantastic houses around the the centre of Adelaide are on totally flat land - your only view would be next door's roof!!

 

Use the beach/jetty at Noarlunga often but not enough to be able to pass comment on what living there would be like.

 

Good luck.

[Horsella]

Hi Paula,

 

We arrived in Adelaide last November. We had already earmarked Flagstaff Hill (near Aberfoyle Park and Happy Valley) as a place we'd like to live from our previous trip. We love living up hear as it is so laidback but only 20mins drive to the city - fantastic views on the journey to the cbd too! As kildorragh says, the Marion Shopping Centre is 10 mins away (they have a kookai - hoorah!) and beaches are only 15mins drive. We often go to Brighton beach - beautiful and very European in feel.

 

We also love Port Noarlunga, as it has a great beach but I don't know what the schools are like either. We have three kids, 6, 9 and 11 - think you're bringing them at the right age. Our kids love it here and in only 3 months they have blossomed.

 

Good luck with the move!

[jtct]

We're in Aberfoyle Park and bought a house 2 weeks after we arrived (been coming here for holidays to see family near Blackwood for 5 years before that) Love the area - it's pretty, great views, quiet, good local shopping centre, park n ride for city trips and Marion (Westfield mall) Just love the view over the city and sea when coming down Flagstaff Hill Road.

 

We like Brighton beach too but also love further south too - Moana, Aldinga, Silver Sands and take a picnic for the longer trips. McLaren Vale is close by and next door Willunga has a great farmers market on Saturday morning if that's your 'thing'

 

Also shop at Southgate Plaza (Reynella) and Colonnaides (Noarlunga) for variety as we are retired and have time to shop around.

 

Our grandchildren go to Coromandel School and love it there but as we're Seniors and have only lived here 4 months don't know about local schools. The children we have seen out and about seem well behaved and apart from a bit of graffitti (which seems to be everywhere) they are happy and usually involved in sport and outdoor activities, certainly not hanging around in groups smoking or drinking! Good sports facilities and plenty of parks and swimming centres around too.

[niknjas]

Live in Christies Beach, so do not have firsthand experience of the rest but looked around them and don't think you can go wrong with any of them

[Guest shella_n]

Hi

 

Can you tell me what number bus you get cause I'm trying to work out how to commute to cbd and this sounds like a good quick trip. Cheers

 

 

Paula,

 

Live in Happy Valley and the kids go to Aberfoyle (2 now in high school, 1 in primary although all started at the primary five years ago).

 

We bought the house after only being here for four days and haven't regretted the decision. Relaxed vibe about the place and no real agg' whatsoever - pretty safe place to bring the kids up in.

 

I work in the city and catch the 6.50am bus - gets into the city centre at 7.25am so commuting not a problem.

 

15 minutes drive to Christies Beach, 10 minutes to Marion.

 

What we really like is the fact that it is not all level - you can actually see Australia from the house. Plenty of fantastic houses around the the centre of Adelaide are on totally flat land - your only view would be next door's roof!!

 

Use the beach/jetty at Noarlunga often but not enough to be able to pass comment on what living there would be like.

 

Good luck.

[Guest neeks]

we live happy valley side but in o'halloran hill,we love it here its just like the streets on neighbours lol.when we buy our house will still stick to this area

[jtct]

Hi

 

Can you tell me what number bus you get cause I'm trying to work out how to commute to cbd and this sounds like a good quick trip. Cheers

 

http://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/routes/interchanges/aberfoyle Park and Ride G20 or G21 (also look out for G20X) The express route only stops twice then straight into the city via Goodwood Road. Takes 35 - 50 minutes depending on traffic and number of stops and costs $2.40!

[Guest Paula H]

we live happy valley side but in o'halloran hill,we love it here its just like the streets on neighbours lol.when we buy our house will still stick to this area

 

Do you know if there are any schools local?

[kildorragh]

Hi

 

Can you tell me what number bus you get cause I'm trying to work out how to commute to cbd and this sounds like a good quick trip. Cheers

 

G22. Hub to city. Great service.

[Guest ebstar]

Hi, we live in Happy Valley with children 14,11,9. We arrived 7 months ago and rented here for the first 6 months.We loved it and found the perfect house,moving in a couple of weeks ago. Our eldest goes to Reynella high school and has settled and is doing really well.Our younger two go to Happy Valley primary and love it there. The kids loved the school so much when we went to look around,that before i could get a word in they were begging the head to let them start the following morning.(which they did) The school is really friendly,has great teachers and also is one of the lucky schools to have the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden program.Our youngest really struggled with accademics in the UK but his grades have rapidly improoved since starting there. As the other posters have said we are close to shops 2 mins,shopping centres 10mins,beaches 15mins and the city. It really is a great place for us to live.

[trevorpayne]

We live at Port Noarlunga South.

The beach is less than 100 yards, train station 5 min away.

Our daughter has settled in well at Port Noarlunga Primary.

It suits us very well as we all love the beach and are down there most days, saying that all the other areas are nice as well.

[Guest Maria Day]

I like all areas mentioned above. We've chosen flagstaff hill on our first visit when our kids were still toddlers but we came to live second time around, as the kids are now older, they prefer the beachside than the hills so we will be moving to Christies Beach at the end of the month. They go to Port Noarlunga primary and they are happy so far. Good luck in whatever choices you make.x

[Guest Paula H]

Do you think the schools will entertain us from the UK (I mean add us on a waiting list if any) or do we literally have to wait until we are there?

[Elliot]

Hello Paula,

 

We are going on our validation trip arriving in Adelaide on 1st March and have already started to get appointments in the diary to view schools.

 

I just found the Principles email address from the SA government website and mailed them directly saying that we were coming over and could we make an appointment to have a look around the school. They are all so friendly that we already have dates in the diary.

 

Good luck with it all. It's so exciting.

 

Elliot

[Guest Maria Day]

I didn't make an appointment with any schools as it was school holiday when we arrived and didn't registered my kids to any school because we don't really know where we are gonna end up but I have a short list of areas I want to live in. It is best for the kids to have a look around first and get a feel of the new school and ask their opinion what they think of it. I heard good reviews on Hallett Cove R12, Craigburn primary( if you like the hills) and Port Noarlunga Primary. Have you made a short list yet?Try google in School ranking, Adelaide SA and it will tell you which schools are doing well. Schools here are very laid back and principal(Head Teacher) are mostly very friendly and helpful. Best to give them a call when you arrive and ask if there is any available space for your children before meeting them. Must be a very exciting time for you all. Best of luck.

 

Maria.x