Hallett Cove - any advice or opinions

[Guest jarka]

Hello, my first time on this forum. We are in the process of moving to Adelaide (Swedish family living in UK), and we are trying to do a bit of research on the internet. My husband will work in Adelaide city and we have 2 children, 12 and 14. Everyone is very excited!

After looking at being close to the coast, good school, ok time to Adelaide city and prices on houses we ended up in Hallett Cove. We are looking for a good family area and we don't need much going on but would like cycle friendly roads to school maybe and beautiful surroundings.

We have noticed the oil refinery at the south end of Hallett Cove and just wonder if anyone knows if that is visible from all of Hallett Cove and if it is disturbing somehow?

Any advice or ideas are gratefully appreciated!

Thank you.

Jarka

[Guest smit]

Oil refinery no big deal, cant be seen from most places, but you would have to choose your area for ride to school. There are not so hilly areas but quite a few hilly, depends what street you go for.

[Guest willfam]

The oil refinery hasn't been operational for years now so no need to worry about that side of things.

[Guest ReadyPenny]

The oil refinery hasn't been operational for years now so no need to worry about that side of things.

 

It is still a bit of a "blot on the landscape" though, in my opinion anyway

[AussieRob]

By and large it's a desalination plant now.... Turning the water in brine.... Lovely....

 

Hallet cove is a decent area, good value for living by the coast, and as it's so hilly, many houses have sea views. It does make going for a nice walk or run more gruelling... Great Transport with the train line and a decent bus service.

 

The only thing i don't like really is if you want to go to a local Pub, restaurant or cafe, they are all in the local shopping centre, it does make it feel a little stark and characterless.

 

As an area though it does have everything you need.

[ian mc]

I would not worry too much about the oil refinary it is getting taken down this year I think it starts in April and will be gone by the end of the year. They are going to open up the jetty as is getting passed on to the council from the oil company which should be a good thing.As your kids are older they would go to Hallett cove R-12 school I have stayed in Hallett cove for the past 12 years and found it to be nice.

[Guest jarka]

Hello again and thank you all so much for your replies. I was very surprised to see how many see this forum and are using it. Super! Before I fell asleep last night I found on Wikipedia that the oil refinary closed 2007 so that was great news and all your messages confirmed that. Thanks again and I will try to be a bit active here. Have a great day!

[Guest Ledges]

Hello again and thank you all so much for your replies. I was very surprised to see how many see this forum and are using it. Super! Before I fell asleep last night I found on Wikipedia that the oil refinary closed 2007 so that was great news and all your messages confirmed that. Thanks again and I will try to be a bit active here. Have a great day!

 

Hi there,

 

We live in Hallett Cove. Bought here 2.5 years ago when we landed. We've never regretted it. House prices have gone up well in comparison with some areas in that time here so its been a good investment too. The beach is very nice to walk along the extensive coastal boardwalk but is rather pebbley and rockey. Sometimes we do swim there but to be honest there are better beaches 5 mins in the car away. We were disappointed with the school...although I know other migrants have been and are still happy with it. If you can afford it I'd recommend Brighton...excellent school and beaches, flat enough to cycle and on the train line.... 25 mins into Adelaide Central. Another good thing about Hallett Cove is the train 30 mins to Adelaide and 2 Hallett Cove stops. We also like McLaren Vale but the travel to the city is longer. Port Nouarlunga is also nice ..plenty going on. Flagstaff Hill...if you don't mind a 10 -15 min drive to the beach. Also Sheidow Park and Trott Park just across the main road from Hallett Cove are nice too.

 

PM me if you want any more on areas of Hallett Cove some important tips...its bigger than most people realise.

[Guest jarka]

Hi there,

 

We live in Hallett Cove. Bought here 2.5 years ago when we landed. We've never regretted it. House prices have gone up well in comparison with some areas in that time here so its been a good investment too. The beach is very nice to walk along the extensive coastal boardwalk but is rather pebbley and rockey. Sometimes we do swim there but to be honest there are better beaches 5 mins in the car away. We were disappointed with the school...although I know other migrants have been and are still happy with it. If you can afford it I'd recommend Brighton...excellent school and beaches, flat enough to cycle and on the train line.... 25 mins into Adelaide Central. Another good thing about Hallett Cove is the train 30 mins to Adelaide and 2 Hallett Cove stops. We also like McLaren Vale but the travel to the city is longer. Port Nouarlunga is also nice ..plenty going on. Flagstaff Hill...if you don't mind a 10 -15 min drive to the beach. Also Sheidow Park and Trott Park just across the main road from Hallett Cove are nice too.

 

PM me if you want any more on areas of Hallett Cove some important tips...its bigger than most people realise.

 

Hi Caroline, thank you so much for your reply. I will look into it, but I am happy with everything I hear from you about Hallett Cove. Happy with such a short drive for good beach and happy with the nice walks. We think you get more space for your money just because you are not right by a great beach? Could I ask you what it is that you are not happy with at Hallett Cove school? Is it educational issues or is other things? Our children are 12 and 14 and they do very well in school, we are in Surrey at an excellent school, and I want them to be challenged and work hard :-) Although they are at an performing art school and they have grown immensely in confidence because of that. So, a combination of interesting education and academic if possible :-)

The description under your message says that you have contacts for furniture lends, I will probably be very interested in that. Could you send me some more info? contact@vagner.co.uk or jaroslava@vagner.co.uk

Thank you again and sorry, how do I PM you? was this the right way?

[Guest Brigitte-SH]

Hi, it's been great being able to read all these forums and it certainly is helping us to try and make decisions - not quite there yet though! We're arriving on the 30th May so not long, does any one know of a temporary or permanent rental property that's reasonably priced? We have a three year old who'll need a good pre-school too. Any recommendations?

 

Thanks

 

Brigitte

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Caroline, thank you so much for your reply. I will look into it, but I am happy with everything I hear from you about Hallett Cove. Happy with such a short drive for good beach and happy with the nice walks. We think you get more space for your money just because you are not right by a great beach? Could I ask you what it is that you are not happy with at Hallett Cove school? Is it educational issues or is other things? Our children are 12 and 14 and they do very well in school, we are in Surrey at an excellent school, and I want them to be challenged and work hard :-) Although they are at an performing art school and they have grown immensely in confidence because of that. So, a combination of interesting education and academic if possible :-)

The description under your message says that you have contacts for furniture lends, I will probably be very interested in that. Could you send me some more info? contact@vagner.co.uk or jaroslava@vagner.co.uk

Thank you again and sorry, how do I PM you? was this the right way?

[Guest NewInOz]

Hello Jarka,

 

You don't say how old your children are. There are a number of good schools all down the coast and you will get a lot more house for your money in other areas than Hallett Cove, and no oil refinery. Noarlunga is a good area tipped to have property price rises, and other areas alon the coast south of Hallett Cover are also desirable with fantastic beaches.

[Diane]

Hello Jarka,

 

You don't say how old your children are. There are a number of good schools all down the coast and you will get a lot more house for your money in other areas than Hallett Cove, and no oil refinery. Noarlunga is a good area tipped to have property price rises, and other areas alon the coast south of Hallett Cover are also desirable with fantastic beaches.

 

I think you said your kids are 12 and 14? I personally wouldn't recommend living too far out of th city with kids of that age. Beaches are great all the way down the west coast, but life is about more than beaches and unless your kids have no interests other than beach life, then they might find it a bit isolated if you are too far out of the city, especially as they get older. Also the further you are from the city, in whichever direction, the more limited your choice of schools. I have kids of 14 and 17 and we live within 25 minutes of the city centre - I definitely wouldn't live any further out than that or they wouldn't have anywhere near the opportunities and options they do now. I think the closest analogy is if you lived somewhere like Cornwall in the UK - great beaches, lovely scenery, but a lot less in the way of employment opportunities, and leisure time options.

[R & H]

Hello Jarka

 

We are also from Surrey and plan to move to Adelaide around July, we too are looking at living in the Hallet Cove - Brighton area. We have been there a few times and we like what we see. We visited the Brighton school and would say without a shadow of a doubt that if your children are doing well in school in the UK; Brighton school would be a great school for them. When we looked around with our 13 year old girl, we were very impressed. If your children like sports, music or IT in particular, Brighton School has a lot to offer.

 

Which part of Surrey do you live?, we live in Horley.

[Diane]

Don't forget that the most popular schools (such as Brighton) are zoned so you will need to be living within the catchment area to get a place. Not sure if Hallett Cove is within catchment area of Brighton, but would be surprised if it is!

[Guest jarka]

Hello everybody

Yes, my children are 12 and 14 and very into beach, nature, photography and animals. That is why a bit outside the city is attracting me, but of course, it is a sensitive age and I want them to have lots to do and especially being able to be outside.

 

Thank you for all your advice and feedback!!! It helps reading about your views. It is really difficult to make a decision from England and I understand that we need to go and see first. But, again, I think it helps to have some idea before and hopefully it will help us making a decision faster as we get there. I don’t want to leave my children out of school too long, so once we arrive, we probably need to look for long term rental within a few days?

 

I have contacted Hallett Cove R-12 School and I know the catchment area, it is on their website as well. So, if we rent in the catchment, I understood that we are very welcome.

I will have a good look into the other areas described here as well.

I thought the train to city from HC takes 30 minutes, which to me sounds ok? Any one who has any experience from the train journey?

 

Hello R & H, we live in Walton-on-Thames. My husband is leaving 7^th of April and I hope to leave end of April. I will book when we have exchanged on our house that we have sold. Hope to see you in HC! as my schedule is so crazy now with all I am sorting. My girls is 12 buy the way, maybe they could support each other in this move J Let me know if she is interested and we could put them in contact over maybe Facebook? My email is Jaroslava@vagner.co.uk and phone 01932247131. I would be very happy speaking to you.

 

Thank you again all!! And hope to hear more from this forum! Kind regards Jarka (Jaroslava in short)