Lol - you took the words out of my mouth Everchanging
I'm a cop and moved to the country for work - and I loved it. I was 23 at the time and found a great social network - not just of other police, but as I'm a fitness instructor I started working at the local gym too and made heaps of non police friends too...
I think it really depends on the size of the community - I went from Adelaide, to a town of 18,000 - and then loved it so much I went to a township of about 1,000 - and loved that just as much!
I only returned to Adelaide as the next posting I wanted was there.
I would certainly consider returning to the country one day - not too remote though
Depends on where it is. There is remote and then there is remote!!! In a small town (about 3000) without too many *issues* it is usually friendly but it takes a while to fit in. More than 5000 gives you more options with getting to know people and more connections to your husbands work
If you belong to a church it often creates connections quicker, as do the children. My family are 5-6 hours away in different locations and my sister has more support in her local community than I do in Sydney. On the other hand, she is 150km from decent shopping and 100km from a *bigger* supermarket like IGA. It really does depend on what your personal interests are.
If you have any more specific questions ask or PM me for specific rural locations. My connections run far and wide, both in the job and out
This was a long time ago but we moved from city to country when I was 15 for my father's job. It was pretty much the same deal as you, house was owned by the company and they paid very little to rent it. It took a LONG time for my family to adjust but we did move to a very remote area where the nearest shop was a 30 min drive. My mum is a teacher and found it difficult to get work but we did move at the time when primary schools were being closed and teachers were offered 'packages'. My brother and sister were in primary school so it was a little easier for them. I missed things like being able to jump on a train and go where ever I wanted to go and I couldn't have friends over after school becuase we lived so far away. I hated living here with a passion and always vowed I'd move back to the city but when I had kids of my own I realised this was a fantastic place to bring them up so I stayed. Now, almost 20 years later I absolutely love 'small town living' and would never go back to the city.
LOL, yep girls, I am a coppers wife. Thankyou for all of your replies.
Mel, I'd love to move to the sunny coast! But these postings are only in NSW, since DH is a NSW copper I did think about the BB community. But I just don't know how big these communities are. If there's like 200 people, or 2000. Obviously the more people, the more chance I have of making friends!
It's just a bit scary for me because I have never moved out of my comfort zone. THough a tree change does sound lovely. I'm not sure how remote these places actually are. I mean, I'd say they are pretty far from much, with only one or two cops for the area? I don't know. DH was just thinking out loud and I'm not sure if he was serious, but it really got me thinking. It's not really something we have discussed or anything. I don't really have anything keeping me here besides my family. It's not as if I love the area we live in. I hate it actually. So going somewhere pretty, or just different would be a positive thing I think. But the biggest hurdle for me is the personal support. Although it's not like I get that much at the momnet. But mum and my brothers are just up the road and if I need it they can be here in 10mins. It's still something DH and I would have to discuss anyhow!!
Another coppers wife here but in QLD - when DH graduated from the academy his first posting was Maryborough, about 2-3hrs drive from Brissie where we had both lived all our lives. I had a 6wk old and no family but it was great - met so many nice people and the slow lifestyle was perfect. Next move was to Mt Isa a mining town out near the border to NT.Loved that even more - still miss it to this day. Also spent some time in Boulia for about 6 wks - Tiny little one street town - fantastic!!!! Dh would have loved to taken a permenant position out there - as would I but we were expecting #2 and had complications so had to move to a more central location. . Now living in Townsville, although here is more hectic and more traffic then we have been use to it is still a small city and it has grown on us but the time has come to move back ome to brissie for family support so we are in the process of transfering again - neither of us are looking forward to the rat race again.
If you have the opportunity do it - but take it on as an adventure, yes it is a pain not to have big shops to go shopping in but they mail order and you get to drool over the catalogues with your friends and you are the envy of the town when you have a new shirt that doesn't come from the 1-2 stores in town It is a fantastic experiece. Do your research and find out what the population is like - all the places we have moved to have been very family friendly. Google it and find out how many schools are in the area - this will give you an idea of whether it is a young community or an older community. One of our rules at frst was not to move toa town without a maccas - this was our measure of how big/small a place was- although Boulia didn't have a Maccas and it was lovely
We moved from Sydney to Darwin with the army which was a huge hange for me. I made friends quickly partly because I worked and I did love Darwin but I hated being so incredibly far away from my family. I also missed decent shopping LOL
Kim on here has moved to the country with the police hopefully she will come along, I know they love where they are.
K Nate's just done a big poo, but I want to post here. We did it and we're doing it again. Tell your DH I'm the EDO where we are and if he's serious I'm happy to have a chat......
Registered User
It is a fantastic experiece. Do your research and find out what the population is like - all the places we have moved to have been very family friendly. Google it and find out how many schools are in the area - this will give you an idea of whether it is a young community or an older community. One of our rules at frst was not to move toa town without a maccas - this was our measure of how big/small a place was- although Boulia didn't have a Maccas and it was lovely
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks