[bec6]

Hi


Have applied for a transfer in my job to Darwin, just interview and medical to go. Was really excited when I applied but have started to have second thoughts. Its so far from where we live and I just don't know what to expect.

I have never been to the Northern Territory and neither has DH. What are some good and bad points about living there. (ie, schools, health care, cost of food etc) Housing issues aside as this will be free with the job. I would like to hear from people that actually live there not people that have only visited or heard bad or good things.


Is it really as hot as people say?

Thanks in advance

Bec

[smelliecat]

It's Damn hot!

We moved here 6 years ago and probably won't ever leave, we love it and have made some amazing friends who have now become our "family".

I personally would not have liked moving here without ever visiting and my husband spent a lot of time here over the space of 4 years with work so we were prepared.

The weather is beautiful from April through to now, but it is now the build up and can be almost unbearable. It is the humidity that sucks though. Last week I went outside to grab some washing and it was almost like it was too hard to take a breath lol! In saying that though, you go from your AC house, to your AC car, to your AC work etc, so isnt too bad. This year they have predicted it to be a bigger Cyclone season but sigh, they say that every year.

We live rural (well less than 30 minutes from the city and only 8 minutes to the main shopping complexes at Palmerston) and the kids go to a great little school. The high schools are a bit iffy though and we will be sending them to a private school when the time comes.

Health care, there are only 2 hospitals, the public and the private with the public having the only ED. The cost of seeing a Dr is around the $80 mark unless you can be squeezed into one of the very few BB practices.

Food is expensive, I spend at least $350 a week for 4 kids and 2 adults and on a recent trip to Sydney, I could not get over how much cheaper it was down there!

[shereem]

We've been here two years now, and are also in the rural area. I agree with g - you really should visit before moving - although that being said - if you visited now you would probably withdraw your job application! It's damn hot!

The things we love most about living in the Top End include:

The endless summer
The relaxed atmosphere
It's quite family friendly
The small-town feel
The amazing natural environment - including the contrasting "seasons" ie the wet and dry, and the incredible lightning displays

The things that frustrate me the most about living here include:

The Territory is behind the rest of Oz in some aspects, for example the child restraint laws, environmental responsibility (ie soooo much litter here, we still pump raw sewage into the sea) and smoking inside pubs and clubs laws were only introduced last year.

The cost of living is quite high as most things need to be "imported" from interstate - but wages are somewhat higher than interstate too, so it's all proportionate.

Another personal gripe is the massive drinking and smoking culture - you can drink just about everywhere, including the markets! As a non-smoker it seems as though most of the population smokes and just tosses their butts on the ground. I see parents smoking in cars with kids almost everyday! (Sorry about the whinge - it's a pet peeve of mine! lol)

The thing I find most frustrating (I am slowly learning to adapt!) however is what is dubbed "Territory Time". Don't expect things to be done quickly, and don't expect the same level of customer service as you may get "down south". There is a phrase up here that NT stands for Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Not Tuesday and probably Not Thursday either!

Oooh that's my gripe for today! But seriously, the good things outweigh the bad. We won't be moving for a while yet - perhaps when DD is ready for highschool as I also don't have too much faith in the secondary schooling system here as gentlyguided mentioned (we have also sent DD to a private primary school, and DS at a private preschool).

Hope this helps!

[blissfulqueenb]

I don't have time for a really long post now, but I lived in Darwin for 4 years. Thought it was OK. Liked it for a while, but once I was over it, I was well and truly over it and couldn't wait to leave.

I lived in Darwin itself (Cullen Bay) as well as out in Palmerston and worked around the place including the city centre (?) and Winnellie. I also lived in Kakadu (Cooinda and Jabiru) for a while.

I'd say it's a good spot for visiting or to live for a few years. I could never have done it for years and years on end.

Oh yes: NT = Next TRUCK!!!

This post has been edited by blissfulqueenb: 25/10/2011, 12:07 PM

[heidi's mum]

My best friend lived in Darwin for awhile and we visited many times.

It was very hot and humid at points in the year and other times very pleasant.

The cyclone fencing in the yard (see through wire type fencing) meant little privacy from neighbours - even with the hedging stuff on it.

Electricity cost was high - due to a/c in bedrooms at night

Ants permanently in the kitchen.

Loved the free outdoor waterpark
Loved the bicycle to school lifestyle
Found people very friendly and as PP said most places very family friendly
Loved Tim's surf and turf restaurant where he would do little magic tricks for the kids

My friend had defence housing so not much choice in the style of home she got.
hope it all works out for you. My friend said Darwin was a place she never hoped they would get posted to...but i think she enjoyed living there after awhile. The kids certainly loved the year round swimming etc.

[Allymeg69]

Hi Bec,
I had never been to Darwin before I came up here on the January long weekend in 2003 to attend some job interviews. It was wet and hot, I knew no-one, was moving away from everything I had grown up with and achieved in Sydney, but I decided to take the challenge. Fast forward to now, and I am married to a wonderful long-term Territorian (originally from Perth), have a darling son and three darling step-children, 2 boats, 2 houses and a dog! We live in Palmerston, my step-kids attend local public schools, hubby works from home and I work in Darwin city centre.

For me, the good points are:-
Ease of getting around - it takes me generally no more than 25-30 minutes to get to and from work in what are the "peak hours", parking is relatively cheap and just generally getting from place to place is pretty easy.
Relaxed lifestyle - I contrast it to the frenetic pace of Sydney - you can decide to do things without planning months in advance, and where we live, the kids can freely play in the parks nearby, ride their bikes, head off to the lakes or jetty to fish etc with no worries
The weather - the Dry Season (if it's a good one) is so enjoyable, guaranteed dry, sunny days and pleasant nights for months, allowing you to camp, picnic, do outdoor things generally, I never would have believed I would be sleeping under a feather doona with no fans or aircon on, but that's just what we did for a large chunk of this year's dry season it was just so nice. The Wet Season is also great in its own way, the massive thunder & light shows, the pouring rain cooling everything down, the days of monsoonal rain and breeze under cloudy skies - but you will either HATE the weather very quickly or adapt fairly quickly, I was in the second category and even though times like now can be unpleasant - it's the humidity more than the pure heat because the max is always around the low 30s, you just turn on the aircon!
Fishing - we LOVE fishing, it is our main shared passion - but there are lots of other activities too, all sorts of sports catered for, pretty much any sporting/recreational activity you are into you can find here and the facilities are pretty good.
Opportunity - I have been able to access more opportunities and achieve more in my career here than I ever would have back in Sydney, because it is a small place with a small population you can really make a go of things and stand out if that's what you want to do.

I suppose we are fortunate enough to be fairly well off and we're privately insured, so I've had access to very good medical care over the last few years for pregnancy and other issues, my OB was nowhere near as costly as what I see some down south charging, and when I was in need of urgent medical treatment I had my referral and was seeing the relevant doctor the next day. We also have been able to access what I consider to be very good childcare at a rate that I believe is quite a bit lower than my friends in Sydney are paying.

I second some of what Shereem says about the NT being somewhat behind the rest of Australia, but we are catching up (slowly). I miss some of the "culture" I was able to access in Sydney (I love classical music and we get very little of that live up here, although when artists do come, it's not hard to get in to see them). I agree also that schooling could be better, we are considering sending our eldest to a private local school for senior years if things don't improve at the public school, and yes, I think things are more costly in some respects (food, petrol) but for instance, electricity - I don't believe we would have cheaper bills for what we use if we were down south - and we have no water restrictions or excess water charges.

Apologies for the essay, it is hard to describe what it is like here in limited space. It's also hard to get a proper impression just on a short visit although I think it might be worth you doing that before you finally commit. Feel free to PM if you want to talk further about anything.
Best of luck
Ally

[bec4]

Thankyou for all the replies. It is starting to do my head in now. DH and kids are no help as DH changes his mind depending on the day he has had at work and the kids don't care.

I am definately having second thoughts but as I don't have to make a decision until March next year I think I will keep my options open.

The heat issue freaks me out, we are used to heat here in SA but it is a different kind of heat and we still have winter.


Thanks again

Bec

[bec4]

Thankyou for all the replies. It is starting to do my head in now. DH and kids are no help as DH changes his mind depending on the day he has had at work and the kids don't care.

I am definately having second thoughts but as I don't have to make a decision until March next year I think I will keep my options open.

The heat issue freaks me out, we are used to heat here in SA but it is a different kind of heat and we still have winter.


Thanks again

Bec

[chipsy]

I have moved away from Darwin and miss it immensley. I have lived in the NT for 12 years and spent the first five or so longing for the city but now I could never go back to it.

Darwin weather is hot and sticky. no denying that. thats the down side. but the upside is living in a small city so no long commutes no matter where you live or work, there is an easiness and a relaxedness a sense of community and friendliness. theres is endless things to do with kids. Primary schooling was fantastic IMO. easy access to fabulous national parks and beautiful places. I would not hesitate to move back.

the buildup is possibly the worst weather on earth, but the dry season might be the best.

[Sharlie2878]

Hi Bec,

I actually grew up in Darwin, I have lived in Brisbane, Mumbai India, Melbourne, and Toowoomba. I have also worked long term (commuting style) in Sydney and Adelaide. I am going to have my first child soon and my partner and I are planning to move back to Darwin as we both feel it is the best place either of us have lived to raise kids. My partner has also lived is several places as he spent 10 years in the Navy and has also worked in a few fly-in, fly-out jobs since leaving the Navy and he actually grew up in a small country town in Queensland.

My personal belief on the weather is basically Darwin is around 30 and dry or 30 and wet. For about 2 months it is humid as all hell and almost unbearable for a lot of people. For me, that is a small price to pay compared to somewhere like Toowoomba, where in 12 months I experienced 2 weeks of anything approaching pleasant weather.

I want to raise my children in Darwin mainly because anywhere else I have lived, there has been noticeable covert racism and sexism. Darwin definitely has racism and sexism, however it is very rarely covert or 'politically correct' style racism, which does make it a hell of a lot easier to challenge.

I also have to say the cost of living is really only higher in Darwin if you don't allow yourself to acclimatise to the weather (I worked with people who got $1500 power bills because they ran air conditioning 24 hours a day) or if you shop only at the major grocery stores. We used to shop at markets for the majority of our fruit and veg and have not found it any cheaper since leaving Darwin last year. If your housing is taken care of you have removed the most ridiculous cost of living factor in Darwin and this was the reason my partner and I left as we couldn't justify the cost of a house there.

And I will say that nowhere else in Australia have I been able to get a decent chicken noodle soup or Tom Yum, and certainly nothing like the ones you can get at Asian Pot in the city, or at pretty much any market stall!