the good, the bad ...& contentment

[Guest Jim Hill]

Depends what you are after, you can be on city beaches and feel like your the only one living here!At the same time you can be in with the crowd say at one of the many events held in the early winter months, tour down under, fringe, film festival, wine festivals, music festivals.

 

I originally lived in Uk for most of my life then Perth & have been in Adelaide for a a few years.

 

So here's the top five things about Adelaide.

1) Its hot

2) You can swim for 6 mths of the year (gets lovely on those 40c + stints)

3) It has shopping centres, but not on the scale of Melbourne or Sydney

4) Lots of desert approximately 50kms out of the city (excluding the ocean). So you can get away from people, campings great (but the shrub does start to look the same after a while)

5) Cold beer in cartons fresh from the drive thru.

 

Not the worse things, but factors:-

1) Its dry & although it does get green in winter, within a month of no rain its a dirt bowl (specifically outside of the city area - where limited trees grow, mostly scrubland)! We had 10 days of 40c + this Feb, a record of 45.8c, so when your complaining about 10days of 30c day in uk, you haven't seen nothing just get someone to turn a hairdryer on and follow you around for a few days, that hot wind is hitting your face! We actually had blackouts/electricity because of the lack of infrastructure & demand of airconditoner use during those periods (it still a country town with a 1.5million people!)

2) No pub atmosphere (that goes for the whole of australia). only in the uk thats wot we are famous for :-)

3) People hibernate from June to September (but dont forget u have no pub socialising)

4) The city is growing at such a rate that you can spend an hour commuting into the city from north & south suburbs (80miles from North to South is the urbanised area), the trains are appalling & they put this crappy film on the windows so you can't see out, as are the bus lanes and the south australian drivers are the worse in the country so forget the bike.

5) You have limited direct flights out of the country. And apart from New Zealand you won't be doing any cheap holidays out of this continent. Return airfares to LA are in the region of 2K aussie! 14hrs flight from Sydney, so a day by the time you have connected. Okay there are cheaper airlines now but limited specials.

6) You will pay ($3) 2 pounds for a big bar of Cadburys & $1.50 (1 pound) a litre for fuel, as you do a lot driving distance this can be a massive expense.

7) I know alot of people who are still earning only $40,000 a year and the median house price is $400,000 so 10 x your earnings. The rental market is only 1% vacancy rate so you will spend alot of time bargaining for a rental property you like (i.e. more than asking price).

 

But don't forget you can swim in the ocean for 6 months of the year - (longer if your an iceberger - 80yrs + doing the winter months).

 

I'm happy but you know i've realised it doesn't matter where you are in the world, its who you are with, the people that are in your world and contentment at the end of the day. Lifes a journey, you have to try different things, but eventually you realise that things aren't that different.... some people make an effort others just expect...

 

Live the dream

Jim

 

[Guest bishop3912]

Spot on Jim Hill I especially agree with the last paragraph about it doesnt matter where you are in the world, its who you are with. For me this is very true. Life is a journey and so far mine has been fantastic and I have tried many different things and been to many different countries, some I liked, some I didnt lol. Great post.

[chrisfen46]

well said jim totaly agree with you like your ending piece, life is a journey and you got to make it as exciting as you want it to be .. i have a fantastic wife and 2 great boys and we are going to make sure we have some good times life is about what you make it. looking foward to starting our new adventure.

[Guest Woody and Jane]

We had 10 days of 40c + this Feb, a record of 45.8c

 

You must have been living in a different Adelaide to us. It didn't even reach 38 in Feb this year. In fact, I think there were only a couple of days over 40 last summer.

[jim and adel]

I agree with the broad sentiments but as Woody and Jane say, that heatwave didn't happen this year, nor are most of those festivals held in 'the early winter months'.

 

Jim

[Guest loopylisa]

Ok. So its clear you probably meant well by your post but you might want to consider that alot of people here but might be a little bit fond of Adelaide and all that it has to offer. I think some of your negatives were biased and give an unfair representation of the city. People do socialise in winter, the trains are cheap and frequent if you live near a line, petrol is still cheaper than the uk etc etc.... You probably wont agree but I just feel for future readers of this thread it needs some balance.

[Diane]

Hmm, leaving out your negatives, I think you could have picked a lot better positives, so here's MY top five things about Adelaide:

 

1. Everyone is friendly, there is none of that "big city reserve" you get in some of the other capitals- people meet your eyes when you're walking around, and smile and talk to you, rather than looking down to avoid your gaze and treating you like you're not there! Sometimes this can make your shopping trip take longer than you anticipated because you have a real conversation with the teenager on the checkout counter and leave the shop with a genuine smile on your face.

 

2. Everything is so easily accessible - even if you live in the eastern suburbs (opposite side of town to the beaches), you can get to the beach in half an hour or thereabouts: it may not be the 20 minute City it used to be, but if you pick your suburb and are not on the far edges in any direction, you can be at the beach, in the city, in the hills and at the wineries in little more than 30 minutes by car.

 

3. Public transport is actually very good - there are busses, trains, trams and the O-Bahn depending on where you live, and you usually don't have to pay a huge amount to park your car near an interchange and hop on one of the above.

 

4. It's a beautiful green city - even in the height of summer there are wonderful parklands all around the edge of the centre, and throughout the suburbs, especially along the Torrens River and other waterways dotted around in various directions (Onkaparinga River in the south and Little Para River - I think - in the north, for example)

 

5. Family friendly - there are good schools at all levels, state and private, and a huge choice, as well as three Universities and other further education options. In most suburbs, because of the accessibility of everything (see point 2 above) you have a choice of schools to send your kids to, without, them having long and tedious daily commutes. There are lots of free or nearly free things to do with your kids when they are younger, whether it be camping, beach trips, walking in the hills, cycle rides through the parks, picnics by one of the many free bbqs, or a game of tennis on one of the many free public tennis courts.

 

Hope that's helped to balance things a little!

 

Only bad thing I can think of at the moment is the fact that Adelaide tends to be "the forgotten capital" sometimes, and interstate people - most of whom have never been here - and even a few South Aussies with a chip on their shoulder, tend to disparage the place, purely from habit. Was listening to a SA tourist official the other day sighing in exasperation at the still-perpetuated myth that Adelaide is a City of Churches and not a lot else. That title was given to it because the original settlers were church people rather than ex-convicts, but surely after more than a hundred years that should be dropped! City of Wines is my preferred replacement!!

[Guest Squareman]

Thanks for redressing the balance, Diane. Adelaide is just awesome

[The Flinns]

Thanks for redressing the balance, Diane. Adelaide is just awesome

 

I'll second that Squareman and I and my family and friends certainly do not hibernate.

[sueoc]

Sorry,not getting involved in this one.It just looks like a wind up first post to me,from someone who is not over enamoured with the place.Fair enough,some like it,some don't.

[Guest guest3462]

Spot on Diane with the exception that I reckon Adelaide fits the city of Churchesrather well!!

Churchy! :-p

[Guest nickcoumbe]

Well nothing I have read in this thread sounds all that bad to me. Every place has ups and downs, and it is encouraging that the downs aren't all that scary!

 

I think Jim's last point is exactly right. My wife and I were talking about our impending move and we both agree that we are only going to get out of Adelaide what we put in. It is the same where ever you are.

 

One thing we do know is that happiness is about sharing your life with the ones you love. Anything else is just a bonus.

[jtct]

As a wine drinker who never touches beer (except on rare occasions with a curry) I'm not too bothered about a traditional pub atmosphere - Tend to use them for meals and drinks with friends rather than for watching footie and playing pokies! The old Dog and Duck at Coro does a great pensioners lunch deal midweek too! Good post Diane.

[Guest nickcoumbe]

Actually, that lack of a UK pub atmosphere might be a good thing!

 

I spent a few weeks in NZ a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised by the pubs and people; for example when you walk into a strange pub people generally talk to you rather than just stare at you all night. Hopefully Australia will be similar.

[Guest nickcoumbe]

Just thinking about the weather:

 

Reading today is currently 12 degrees and chucking it down. It is lunchtime and it is the summer.

 

Adelaide is currently 13 degrees and dry. It is winter and night time!

 

I've actually caved in and put the heating on today.

 

Please tell me more of these awful temperatures Adelaide gets in the summer

[Guest SA Great]

Just thinking about the weather:

 

Reading today is currently 12 degrees and chucking it down. It is lunchtime and it is the summer.

 

Adelaide is currently 13 degrees and dry. It is winter and night time!

 

I've actually caved in and put the heating on today.

 

Please tell me more of these awful temperatures Adelaide gets in the summer

 

OK here goes. Adelaide averages 20 days a year over 35C (95F) which I personally consider perfect beach weather once you acclimatise!! The sky is clear blue quite often in summer with not a cloud in sight. The "awful" temperatures are the ones in the 40s which I personally really like! but there is an average of only 3 days a year.

All figures are from the Bureau Of Meteorology website.

The summers are fab!!!

[Guest loopylisa]

Yeah the summer here is pretty awful. Im in the southwest and am currently huddled under a blanket

 

When I first came back to the UK from growing up in oz I ended up having an argument with someone at school about how the UK didnt even have 'summers'. Well it doesnt if you judge it by an Adelaide standard... BRING IT ON!!!

 

**dreaming of the heat**