Printable View
Ok so dh really wants to rent our Melbourne home out and move further out. I am not sold on the idea and would love to hear pro's and cons with country life. We have four boys under 4 who will need kinder and then schooling with in the next few years what are country schools like? What we we do for work? Will I miss the city? Where would or did you move to? Do you regret it?
Thanks?
How 'country' are you talking? Like with anything there are pros and cons - biggest con for me is having to drive everywhere all the time if i want to get something and there is no 'nipping down to the shops' for bread or milk if you run out. But overall the pros far outweigh any cons for us because it's a complete lifestyle that you get yourself into by living rural. The other thing in regards to school is that you may not have much choice depending on where you go and if you go somewhere with only one school and it's not brilliant, you just have to make do kwim? But in my experience country schools are fantastic and they have a real sense of community and family. not saying that city schools don't have that, but rather that country schools do too. As for work, I guess you will have to look at the areas you are considering and see what they have to offer? And you will probably miss the city at first - I know I missed living in town and walking to the newsagents to get the paper everyday and grab a coffee etc, but that's a pretty small thing to miss ITMS. I didn't miss the drunks walking past my window at 3am and banging on them or the general noise of town thats for sure!
We moved a bit country but still commuting distance to the city I miss being able to walk to the shops and see my friends by just dropping past. But the fresh air and beautiful views from my house and no neighbors on my doorstep is amazing. It took a good 12 months to adjust but now I would never move back to the suburbs :)
We are on a "lifestyle" block 10 minutes outside of a major regional centre. So we get the country bit, no neighbours, paddocks, bush, animals etc, but are only 12 minutes drive to a shopping centre.
Even though we are not that far out, it is perceived to be down here. So sometimes we can't get tradies out or we have to pay more or wait weeks till they are in the area. Some locals are funny about the drive to visit us. We are used to it now, but it can be frustrating at times.
Town has most things we need, except for decent sushi. Coffee is pretty good. Everyday food is more expensive than in Melbourne. Really surprising the cruddy meat we get, considering the area.
We moved down as DH got work. It took me awhile to find work. There were probably jobs I could do, but the wages were awful and not worth the cost of childcare. I stuck it out though and have now found a fanatastic job, that never thought would be down this way.
Schools are quite good, same with kinder, but kinder can be hard to get into due to numbers. Childcare is going to be harder with the change in ratios that is happening, they do struggle to find workers. The thing I find hard is after school care. Whilst there is some for the city schools (they go by bus), there is none out our way. So it does limit working. There is vacation care in the city, which is great. Our school is half way to the city in a small town.
There is a lot more community spirit in smaller towns. I lived in Brisbane for 3.5 years and made 1 friend the whole time. I have now lived in rural NZ for the same amount of time and I know dozens of people - every supermarket trip I bump into at least 3 people that I know! There are heaps of other SAHM's around (because there aren't many jobs lol) so there are heaps of kid activities and a lot of parent participation in the kindy and school.
Downside: supermarket is small so it doesn't have a full range i.e. only the expensive brands so we pay more for groceries and the fruit and veges never get really cheap during the season like they do in the city. Can also be a bit boring when the weather is bad because most of the stuff to do here is outdoors - bush walks, river, 4wding, camping, fishing etc but you can't just go to the mall if it is raining here. Kid sports is a bit of an issue too, the town has teams but they need to travel over an hour for any matches.
Obviously the job front is something you would need to look in to and would depend on your DH's profession.
South Gippsland has it all!
Schools, kinders, VLine coaches regularly doing Melb trips, town living, or more rural living with fantastic district communities...
We bought our farm last year and moved in January and haven't looked back. I tapped into the ABA network early on, transferred fire brigades, joined the kinder committee and it's been a great year - the people couldn't be more welcoming.
I'm only half an hour from a nice surf beach and I meet new people all the time - I joined a local surfing group of mums and am learning more names ;)
The two main shires here organise heaps during the year for people to do - special events and programs.
Anyhow, there is a drive recently to bring people to Korumburra that's worth checking out, and places near it.
Where we used to live I worried that we'd still be there by the time DS needed to go to school, because I was very uncomfortable with the choices available. There's about as much choice here (just distances are further, but not that much) and the schooling seems to be much more conscientious, especially primary. And there's a Village School starting next year, as a back up, should the Developmental Play program not suit our boy...but I doubt I'll need it! We know we've done the right thing by the kids, at the very least, by moving them to a childhood in the country.
As a newbie to country life I've got all pros and next to no cons, and I am definitely biased.
I get to live with my horse, I get to see all the stars in the sky and all the meaningful people in our lives came to the fore this year, because they've come to visit :)
ETA: And if that doesn't sell ya, what about Farmers Markets? Every weekend there'll be something within driving distance to get fresh farm food!!
Jobs - a lot will depend on what skills you and DH have. Do you have an area in mind that you could start looking at what sort of jobs are available?
Health care can be an issue too in regional areas - it takes us a month to get into the doctor usually and have to travel to another centre for some appointments.
I miss the shopping - but I get a good dose when I go back to the city to see my family and with online shopping these days a lot of stuff is just a click away.
But I don't regret moving here.
We moved from about 6km from Melbourne (Northcote) to about 65km from Melbourne (Woodend).
Best thing we ever did.
Woodend is beautiful, very community-oriented and there are heaps of treechangers who've moved from the city in the last couple of years so basically most people you meet are up for making friends or are friendly. The cafes are better than in Northcote (I thought I'd miss them) and we have an awesome playground. We've always got an appointment with the GP on the day we've called. We have everything we need in terms of supermarkets and for basics (Target). Our DDs don't go to school yet but apparently both primary schools here are excellent.
In terms of jobs, there are a few options. The commute to Melbourne is about an hour BUT this is on a VLine train with a big, comfy seat. Nothing like commuting on a suburban train where you are crammed in like a sardine. We are also about an hour from Bendigo. If neither of those options appealed, then it's worth keeping an eye out on council jobs - we have about five councils that I would consider as they are within about an hour commuting distance. Some are a lot closer than that - the local council has jobs 10 mins away for example.
I guess the only cons are that we're a bit far from a big shopping centre if that's your thing, but I'm really happy to make that sacrifice.