Port Pirie anyone?

Hi having recently moving to Adelaide as an Electrician I managed to find myself a job as a stop gap but I have just been offered an amazing job problem being it is in Port Pirie. Since moving over we have settled in really well and we like our life close to the amazing beaches and beach suburbs. In order for me to take the job it would require relocating to port Pirie or a suburb near by. Does anyone live in port Pirie or know much about the city. It looks really nice on the pictures and we are going to have a trip up maybe next weekend. Any information or help would be amazing as I'm very torn on what to do

I'd not want to live that far from Adelaide personally. It's a small town also (tho they call it a city I think) don't think it's even 20,000 and it's not like the UK where plenty of other towns, cities and villages are within easy reach for variety. If you have young kids you may find schooling options and other facilities not as good or as many as in Adelaide.

When i said to my husband (an aussie from SA) about it, he said 'It's the lead town' and lo, it is. Not sure that it helps its appeal factor reading up on the high blood lead levels in the local population.

Visit it and see what you think. You may like it, in which case research we'll all the facilities etc you will want and see if it can tick your boxes. Also if it is a means to an end job and you plan to keep looking for something closer to Adelaide then do that.

Hi snifter thanks for the response. Ideally we would like to stay near the city and we are looking at some houses in the west lakes area tomorrow. We love it down here and is easy access to everything we need and realise that moving out there would be a massive move. If I could have the same job opportunity in Adelaide it would be amazing just the fact that jobs like I have been offered doesn't happen very often. Oh well some tough decisions to make

Hi snifter thanks for the response. Ideally we would like to stay near the city and we are looking at some houses in the west lakes area tomorrow. We love it down here and is easy access to everything we need and realise that moving out there would be a massive move. If I could have the same job opportunity in Adelaide it would be amazing just the fact that jobs like I have been offered doesn't happen very often. Oh well some tough decisions to make

What would you prefer? Stay unemployed in Adelaide or work a couple of years in Port Pirie, make money and then plan your next move? It would take years to be significantly exposed to any lead poisoning so I wouldn't even factor that in. Be practical and ignore the snootiness from others. You can make a home anywhere you want to, many of us have done so. Good luck!

Hi snifter thanks for the response. Ideally we would like to stay near the city and we are looking at some houses in the west lakes area tomorrow. We love it down here and is easy access to everything we need and realise that moving out there would be a massive move. If I could have the same job opportunity in Adelaide it would be amazing just the fact that jobs like I have been offered doesn't happen very often. Oh well some tough decisions to make

If it works for you, you like it when you visit and you feel you could be happy in a remote town for a while then go for it. Its not forever and as I said you can then look for something back in Adelaide if you would prefer to be here in the longer term.

Personally, being that far out does not appeal to me but it might tick your boxes when you visit. I've been to a few small town places out that way and honestly, I would struggle to live in them, not because they are horrible places but because they are smaller and while I don't mind living in a small town and have lived rurally in the UK for many years, rural in Aus is a whole other ball game and even a few hours drive away from Adelaide is too far for me. I like the choice of facilities, more options in my spare time, more people and places to visit, sports facilities and so much more that Adelaide and its surrounding areas give me. A country town here just can't compete for me, not to live in, defo not when I have a young child and other things to factor in.

If the job offer is that good and you want to take it, go for it. I have a family member who sometimes works out that way but travels up Mon-Fri or for as long as the job requires him. He won't move up there and prefers to return to his home in Adelaide on weekends or between jobs and works locally in Adelaide as and when also.

I think I understand now why the traffic on this site has slowed to a crawl.

Curly, it would be prudent to talk to someone who has lived in the bush or Port Pirie in this case and not rely on someone's personal preferences, which is oft the case, otherwise it's similar to reading someone's Facebook page.

There are a few posts online that will give you more info than here. The only thing I know about Pirie is that they have Woolies where we stopped in to buy food before we headed out to the Ranges!

All my best.

Emmie, the OP doesn't have to take anyones input on here to heart or act on it. It is just a personal POV I gave and one that some might not share which is fair enough. I'd try not to get so het up about it. I didn't post to be snooty but to give a POV as to why I'd not want to move a fair few hours away from SA's major city having lived here a few years now and visited a number of towns and having an understanding and appreciation of the distance, space and also the differences in living here. Migration is tough and small town living isn't for everyone but it does suit some. Just because its not for me doesn't mean it won't suit the OP and his family. I'm sure they'll find out for themselves where it all fits

I don't expect anyone to blindly follow something said on a forum, be it this forum or any other. I would hope people do far more research than simply read a forum. There are very few migrants I can think of over the years on PIA that actually moved to country towns or more remote areas as most do settle in and around Adelaide for whatever reason. So I doubt the OP would get much feedback from migrants settled in Port Pirie on here although someone may pop up and surprise us, they would be more than welcome to post if they wished.

I did say a few times that if the OP feels its the right move for them to take it and to research well if they do think they want to go ahead. I am sure the OP is capable enough of doing his own research and making up his own mind as to if the move would be right for them I gave a POV as to why being a few hours out would not appeal but as I said, that is a personal POV and one the OP may not share when he visits Port Pirie. And yes, I agree, there are other places to do research, read up and find info about the place and living there that would be helpful and I would think the OP has probably been doing that already.

OP, I really hope your visit to Port Pirie goes well and that if you like it and can see yourselves living happily there, that you take the opportunity. Emmie does have a fair point about work and if you don't have a permanent job in Adelaide as yet, are working casual or not a great job or some such but the chance of a good one in Port Pirie, it may be good to take it rather than have the uncertainty. End of the day, its your call as to what you feel is best for your family

Port Pirie's not remote in Australian terms - Roxby, Coober Pedy, Ceduna they're all remote! and I would love to live in any of them for a short while but not with a family of teenagers... so we compromised and are 'rural-ish' (whilst being heavily flanked on all sides) down here in McLaren Vale.

A move to Port Pirie would be another change though; it's definitely small town and I imagine you'd be visiting Adelaide every 6 weeks/couple of months to do stuff and buy things but that might be part of the charm. We've stopped in Port Pirie a handful of times on our way up or down to Port Augusta and beyond and to be honest it didn't strike me as the prettiest of towns but if you'd be living there you look beyond the pretty eventually and need the practical. And it's proximity to the Yorke peninsula is a definite plus - an easy ride for a great Cornish pasty!

If it's offering a stable job in an industry that's not really doing too well at the moment I think I'd be hard pushed to turn that down. Like you say - tough choices, let us know what you think of Port Pirie after your drive up there.

I used to travel to Pirie fairly frequently for work. My personal opinion would be don't do it!! Whilst it may be 'snooty' I would never consider living there unless it was for a very short term contract and/or my visa depended on it or similar.

It is a small place by most British people's standards - I would describe it as a 'small town'. Things that would really put me off:

- Distance from Adelaide - I would happily live somewhere with a more rural outlook, but wouldn't want to be further out than you could travel eg for a good restaurant, theatre, special event, see friends etc. Pirie is definitely past this point!

- Culture of small country towns in Australia - wouldn't suit me as I'm not at all interested in sport and I think I'd find it hard to find things to do / things to talk about as the culture is very focused around football, netball etc. If you and kids are really into sport then it'd be totally different as I imagine playing / watching sport would take up a lot of your weekend.

- Way too far from the beach! For me I love the beach and being close was a big factor in where I chose to live.

- Can't imagine what I'd spend my time doing outside of work - I don't think there would be much on socially (again, unless you're into sport and therefore local pub and playing watching / sport would be a suitable social life).

- Honestly - and I'm sure some will frown upon this or call me snooty, but you asked for opinions - I think the place is a bit of a dump. Definitely a place we would drive through and say 'urgh, imagine having to live here.'

Definitely drive up one weekend and see it before making a decision! For me an afternoon would be enough to exhaust all recreational possibilities. However - what one person loves another hates - so we could give you 20 opinions here but only you could decide if Port Pirie is paradise or your idea of hell or anything in between.

Hi all and thanks for the responses. Just for the record I don't think there has been any snooty comments made just opinions by what people want and like about the places they live. I appreciate all the comments made and we will just have to drive up to Port Pirie to do reccie ourselves. We love the life we have in Adelaide and all the facilities that it has to offer like going for a walk around west lakes, a trip to Henley beach, New Years Eve in Glenelg and just going to the oval to watch the cricket and that's what would really put us off by moving so far away. As some have said if it's a way of getting my licence and gaining the experience I need to then find a job closer it might be the option we need and house prices are quite cheap up that way so maybe a few investment opportunities before moving back. I will let you all know the outcome of our visit and what I decide. Thanks all

Hi all. We had our visit up to Port Pirie over the weekend and as a family we decided we would not be making the move up there. As a place it is very pretty and seems nice enough but it is quite isolated. It was a very nice drive up there and lovely views and a good look at the pink lake. It is just a long way out and doesn't have much around other than the town itself. When we come back to Adelaide it makes you appreciate what we have around us and what we may also take for granted at times. Hopefully I will get an opportunity with work around this area soon enough. I'm glad I went for a look though and if it was just me and my wife we could probably make the move and be happy but with a 19 year old daughter I just don't think there would be the same opportunities as in Adelaide.

That wouldn't be for Robin Johnson Enginerring at the lead smelter would it?

Glad you went and saw it for yourself; worth the drive out anyway and if you've seen a bit more of SA then that's a bonus. Good luck with finding a stable job closer to home.

Hi KennyKen no it wasn't a job working at the lead smelter just a local electrical company up there. And Flossybeth yeah we are glad we went to have a look ourselves as we would never have known otherwise and was definitely worth the drive up and got to see some of the sights of SA.