Missing Adelaide

[victoriasquare]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm an oldie who lived in Adelaide for a very long time, and am now missing it after coming back to Britain.

 

I miss the sunshine but not the summer heat, and I miss the space, wide roads, and parklands surrounding the CBD. It was always a joy to know where the suburbs began, and not merely drift into them.

 

My first job was in an office on the western side of Victoria Square, and it was marvellous to look out across the city to the hills. I could park my little car in the square or nearby, though needed to keep an eye out for "sticker lickers" who put chalk marks on tyres. Nowadays the square is very different and not as user friendly.

 

I've lived at Elizabeth, Prospect, Anzac Highway, the CBD and Toorak Gardens, so it has been quite a journey over the years. I also lived in Melbourne for a few years and had to suffer irritating jibes about Adelaide being a country town.

[Hotrod]

Hello victoriasquare,

welcome to PIA. I hope you enjoy it.

with all your adealaide experience you will be a great asset to the forum.

regards, hotrod

[Blossom]

Welcome. Are you back in Britain for good?

[victoriasquare]

Welcome. Are you back in Britain for good?

 

I returned in November 2011, but despite living in my beautiful hometown things have not worked out too well.

 

Certainly very different from Adelaide which is much more modern. I'm not sure if I could make another big change in my life to go back to Adelaide, but it is always in my mind.

[snifter]

Torquay is lovely but it can be a hard place to live for work as so much relies on seasonal (or commuting elsewhere) and property is pricey (in nicer areas anyways) compared to many salaries. Its holiday town aspect also plays a part as rentals are often 6 month winter lets and you have to move out every spring. Finding longer term rentals is doable but for one person, a 3 bed house isn't always practical and so apartment or one bed living is the way forward and much of those are holiday lets or in demand by locals. I spent my teenage years living not far from there and know it well. Its changed a lot since I left but I still visit my family there.

 

I left the south west coast in my early 20's and have never returned there to live. Its changed so much since then (25 years or so under the bridge) and I never wanted to stay and as it and myself changed and grew, I know I never want to return. I hope you are able to decide what you want for the future in terms of where to settle and live. If you keep hankering for Adelaide it may be something to seriously consider perhaps? Having said that though, the whole grss is always greener thing and even if you did return you may find its not what you remembered or were longing for.

 

I always think you need to be happy where you live, love it hopefully but at least like it a great deal to be able to build and make a life there. It can have a huge impact on your wellbeing and overall happiness. Being stuck somewhere longer term that you are unhappy in or a place that you constantly struggle in (say for work or living), it can sap away at you.

[victoriasquare]

snifter, I live in the Wellswood area of Torquay just a few minutes walk to the harbour, but living on the side of a hill isn't good now that I've retired. I suppose I had become used to the relative flatness of Adelaide which is good for cycling.

 

You are right that things have changed a lot, but I can also say the same for Adelaide. I've seen many changes, and when there are new developments, they can be huge and fast. Contrary to the rule however, you see pockets of indecision and lack of development such as the old Le Cornu's site in North Adelaide which has lain empty for about 25 years. When Jeremy Cordeaux worked nearby, it was one of his pet hates when chatting on air.

[snifter]

Thats the thing though perhaps, you lived through those many of changes in Adelaide, whereas you perhaps did not spend so much time in Torquay over the years to adjust to the changes that have gone on. I know in the time since I moved away much has changed but to my parents who still live there, to them while its changed, its not so jarring or noticeable to them as they have remained living there the whole time.

 

And yes, getting anywhere in Torquay involves going up or coming down a hill.

[victoriasquare]

I came back lots of times during extended trips to England and Germany, so saw many changes, but living in a place is a different kettle of fish.

[snifter]

I think that the living in a place as opposed to holidaying it aspect catches a lot of people out in some shape or form

[milly]

I read your posts on British Expats & so pleased to see you posting on pomsinadelaide!

[victoriasquare]

I think that the living in a place as opposed to holidaying it aspect catches a lot of people out in some shape or form

 

You are so right, yet I thought my experience of England was enough to suffice when I returned. But I've found out that I'm not aged 22 with boundless energy any more!

 

With most people who travel from Europe to Australia, we were generally thrown in at the deep end and expected to cope as best we can, and woe betide anyone who moaned!

 

I first arrived in Adelaide at Outer Harbor when there were just big metal huts to receive us, and the general area was as desolate as you can imagine for those of used to Britain's tight towns and cities. I nearly bought a small old house with land down that way which was cheaply offered for sale, but it seemed so remote I thought it would have been a crazy thing to do. Now the area is North Haven and a desirable place to live!

 

By then I was working at the Weapons Research Establishment in Salisbury, so travelling down Salisbury Highway, Grand Junction Road and turning right at Port Road to go a few more miles, wasn't appealing in the least. There were no expressways, but of course there were no speed traps either, so getting from one place to another was much quicker than you would expect. Journeys that now take 30 to 35 minutes used to take me just 20 minutes, so despite the better roads which can handle more traffic, some progress seems to have retrograded.

 

Nevertheless, Adelaide is a relatively easy place to live compared with Sydney and Melbourne, and I think British bus drivers if they moved there would think they were in heaven!!