What is Darwin like

[roxybear]

My boyfriend is in the army and I am considering moving to Darwin with my 2 kids.

I am going to visit in August but was curious what it is like up there. Are there good schools and is it a good place to bring up children etc

[Miss_Vicki]

expensive to live ive heard , Look up .realestate site an have a look ;)

[Ralli]

I lived in Darwin for most of my life. Moved down here to Brissy back in Apr.05. To be honest I miss it. I miss the laid back lifestyle, the weather etc. I went back in may this year for a holiday, and I didnt realise till then, at how expensive it really is. :( Which is actually quite sad. Compared to Brisbane that is.

The schools are good, and the weather is fantastic..I think it is a great place to bring up kids.........but the expense thing might get you down.. :(
:wave:

[trouble]

I spent a lot of time in katherine, then moved to darwin, I love it and dont care how expensive it is, which I didnt really notice that much, but I didnt have kids then.

I would move back in a heartbeat.

My family have a uisness in katherine, and if I can convince DH to move there and work, we are off.

I actually started nagging him to think about it, after how cold it was in brisbane last night.

[Queen]

:wave:

Lived there for three years! Its hot:laughing:

Where are you planning on living? I would not say it was 'expensive'? You get used to it. the only things I did not like, was expensive fruit and vege, sometimes, BUT then you get cheap stuff from the markets..

I love it, love it, would move back in a heart beat if my family were there.

Post again, if you want to know more, or PM me:hugs:

[KJEmum]

DH is in the Navy and we spent 2yrs in Darwin and left 6mths ago. Darwin is great for kids and families. The weather can be a bit taxing but .. no water restrictions woot woot. Take advantage of the community houses on base and you'll make friends easy. If you haven't got a copy of the TopEnder, you can find it online at the DFA website under the Darwin posting option. You can email or phone them to send you a copy. It's a great defence community once you get in and as you have kids, I'm sure you'll be fine.
Schools .. will depend on where you live and the zone you're in.

I didn't find it expensive. When I compare prices here in WA to up there, can't see a difference and I certainly don't save any $$ shopping here. Watermelons are yummy .. and i've not had a good one since leaving Darwin.

It's definitely worth the experience !!

[roxybear]

Thanks guys
Im not sure where abouts I will be moving to yet
My bf is in the army so somewhere near the army base.

It cant be much dearer than perth I think every where is expensive now Im a bit worried about the heat tho :(

I am going up in August for a week to visit and staying at the Starcity.

I have heard therre are markets on the beach to go to and bf is excited to show me around. He grew up in Karratha so I think thats why he loves it there :)

[KJEmum]

Yep Mindil Beach Markets on Thursdays and Sunday evenings. My neighbours would go there each thursday evening .. take their chairs, sit and drink with their friends. There is a variety of asian food so if you're into Thai .. you'll like it. The actual non food market is ok, but i'm more of a craft market person with hand made / home grown stuff which is why it didn't wow me. However it's still a place to say you've seen the beautiful sunset and experienced Mindil Beach Markets.

There are heaps of former Darwin residents and heaps of current residents around on the net especially on the defence spouse forums so if you need help with anything and aren't registered on them .. I can give you the links.

[Ralli]

I miss the markets in Darwin.
AND I MISS PAW PAW SALAD and good ole LASKA.
I have not found anywhere in BRisbane yet that makes them as good as up there.
mmmmm its making me hungry just thinking about it.
mmmmmm
the good thing about darwin is the weather. Yes it can get hot sometimes, but you can go out at night or during the day in shorts and t-shirt and thats it. None of this heater ****, and your hands being cold. hahahaaa :ecomcity:

[Queen]

I miss the markets too. Ooo the octupus juice (8 fruit puree:)) and the NOODLE HOUSE mmm lurve their chinese. Umm love the storms and and and I could go on *sighs*

[MoonstoneMumma]

ooooooo i love the mindil beach markets!! and the magic wok - is that still there?

i used to live in darwin for about 7 years - i loved growing up there. it is so laid back. if he is in the army, i believe the army base is just outside of palmerston, so the odds are you will be there. there are some really nice suburbs in palmerston, but some really dodgy ones as well (skip moulden and grey)

however, after kids leave high school, there really isn't much work wise or uni wise. there is one uni and when i was there last it had a shocking rep. there was also a big drug issue. alcohol is a way of life up there - you always feel like a drink cause its so hot.

but i do truly love it up there. its like a completely different country. i am talking to my dh about going up for a holiday soon. enjoy your holiday

[amandariley]

I don't mind Darwin, we visit every so often. The markets are great, not really with kids though. We stayed at skycity, it was the best, but pricy. Apparently the golf links is not really that great, and we'vealso stayed at something or rather on Pandanus, a new one, which is so far from child friendly, they asked us to go for a walk cause our son hit his head on the table and screamed, only for a few mins while we comforted him. They dont do room service either which is a necessity with a 13 month old. Im a ressy RAAF from katherine, and my DH is a reg RAAF. We've been here 6 months now, the weather is great, the people are a bit hard to deal with. As soon as they find out your defence, they dont want to know you, and the defence wives are very strongly clicky. Anyway, my ***** for the evening. Darwin sunset rocks!!!!! Sit outside the casino and just enjoy!

[Ralli]

I miss the markets too. Ooo the octupus juice (8 fruit puree:)) and the NOODLE HOUSE mmm lurve their chinese. Umm love the storms and and and I could go on *sighs*
OH YEH THE NOODLE HOUSE :eek: we used to go there all the time. my parents still do... hehee
the thunder storms were awesome. I loved sitting at Casuarina cliffs or at nightcliff jetty watching the storms roll in.

[Ralli]

i used to live in darwin for about 7 years - i loved growing up there. it is so laid back. if he is in the army, i believe the army base is just outside of palmerston, so the odds are you will be there. there are some really nice suburbs in palmerston, but some really dodgy ones as well (skip moulden and grey)



Yeh Roberston Army Barracks are about 5 or 10 mins from Palmo. I used to live in Durack - Fairway waters actually. Really nice house. Grey was a bit dodgy, the southern part of moulden wasn't too bad. :goodvibes:

[roxybear]

Thanks for the info
Skycity is where im staying when I go up there

It is expensive but looks nice

[KJEmum]

I don't mind Darwin, we visit every so often. The markets are great, not really with kids though. We stayed at skycity, it was the best, but pricy. Apparently the golf links is not really that great, and we'vealso stayed at something or rather on Pandanus, a new one, which is so far from child friendly, they asked us to go for a walk cause our son hit his head on the table and screamed, only for a few mins while we comforted him. They dont do room service either which is a necessity with a 13 month old. Im a ressy RAAF from katherine, and my DH is a reg RAAF. We've been here 6 months now, the weather is great, the people are a bit hard to deal with. As soon as they find out your defence, they dont want to know you, and the defence wives are very strongly clicky. Anyway, my ***** for the evening. Darwin sunset rocks!!!!! Sit outside the casino and just enjoy!

amandariley
My friend has said similar about HMAS Cerberus down in Victoria. She said it's very clicky there and rank orientated. It must have been awful for her and awful for you too. I can't stand that sort of **** going on. It's a shame you're in Tindal and not Darwin cos there's a great community in Darwin.

We left Darwin 6mths ago and had gained 1 cat, 1 baby and .. Matilda our pup who came from Katherine. The owners drove all the way to us from Katherine with our new pup when she was 8wks old. She's a Border Collie Mastiff X Lab .. we call her our "Darwin Special".

Re the accommodation, it sux when it's not kid friendly and the same with restaurants. When we moved to Darwin 2yrs back, we stayed at the Quest and enjoyed yourselves and found it reasonably kid friendly .. in that it wasn't uppity and you don't feel you're being naughty when you let the kids walk in the place wiht bare feet lol. We requested the Quest when we moved in December too. Very exy if we had to pay so thankfully it's paid by Defence lol.

[Queen]

OH YEH THE NOODLE HOUSE :eek: we used to go there all the time. my parents still do... hehee
the thunder storms were awesome. I loved sitting at Casuarina cliffs or at nightcliff jetty watching the storms roll in.

Noodle House, Cripsy Beef in Chilli Plum sauce, with Chicken and Pineapple Fried Rice mmm:rolleyes:
We used to go to the wharf and watch the storms lol


Thanks for the info
Skycity is where im staying when I go up there

It is expensive but looks nice

I used to work at SkyCity. ;)

[Ralli]

i am amazed at how many people used to live in Darwin.
Actually no I am not.. hehee
I guess if your in the defence, you probably get posted there at least once... :yes:

[earthfairy]

:wave:Hi!!!

My DH & I have just been posted back to Darwin after 6 years. I am loving being back here!!!

We are living on Larrakeyah Base & i have to say that i dont find it "clicky" at all! Although, i dont like to get into my neighbours business or anything, all my neighbours are friendly & we always say hello.

I work in teh city & have my own friends so i dont really see many "defence wives" iykwim?

We have just moved back here from living in Perth for 18 months. I have to say that living in Perth was far more expensive than living here. Groceries were through the roof & if youre concerned about petrol - dont be - you dont really have to drive very far here which is great.

If you decide to live here you dont have to live out at palmerston - you could live on Larrakeyah base, RAAF Base or even Coonawarra (which is now Defence Base Berrimah)

The only thing i miss is good shopping, we're a bit strapped for good shops here in Good Ol' Darwin.

Im sure you will fall in love with the place when you get here.

Enjoy!:hugs:

[Bambibambino]

I moved from Brisbane to Darwin this year. The 'dry' season is heavenly and I couldn't think of a better place to live for those 4 or so months. But OMG is it awful during the wet, apparently I will get used to it, but you really do need your air con in those months!!

The only expensive part is housing and if your defence it should be ok - don't they subsidise?

Hope you enjoy your holiday, just remember you're coming at the best time though, not like this all year :rain:

[maisymum]

Hi there :wave:, I wasn't to sure about Darwin then I went up in April to visit a friend, we stayed a week and it was great! lovely weather ( friend has aircon going 24/7, their last power bill was $900 ) Friends moved for work with the company paying all house bills and rent ( they rent in Parap which is one of the nicer suburbs at $860 a week! ) It is quite pricey up there eg: rent and the freshness of the fruit and vegies really do get her back up. It took them about 6 months to really settle in and the kids go to a really sweat little catholic primary school. It would be a good thing to fly up first and check it all out!

Maisymum :flowerz: xx

[KJEmum]

Our electricity bill was $700 in the wet season.. I'd put it on for when the kids come home from school and we'd have them on most of the night. Thankfully as we lived on the RAAF Base, we could pay it off in installments. I think that was for a quarter and my electricity bill here in Rockingham WA is $201 for 36 days lol cos of the rain I've been using the dryer almost daily.

DArwin takes some getting used to but it's a great place to live.

[dee26]

Well, i came in aug 07 to check it out adn drove up with fiance who is in army. It was just before the wet season so not bad. I moved up in 2nd week october and it was HORRIBLE cos it was humid- but im talking from a gal who thought 25 ws hot!! 12mth on- its ok. our living costs are not bad- defense priv rental so cheap for us. Palmerston a gr8 little place- in a new burb and 80% defence but u tend not to get clicky with the wives- well, i havent! Food isnt bad- markets best bet for fruit and vegies otherwise expect to pay alot- tip for markets- GO EARLY IN MORN!!!! our power bills in the wet at $350ish and dry is about 250. Not alot really. no wherenear the 700 others have. but we are smart and can get thru the day without it and being just us 2, can cope better as no kids to winge. Mind u, it went all night in the bedroom and there wld be days it went all day too. so we were happy with this!

If i had my way though, we wld be back in adelaide in heart beat- always home for me. cos u have kids, it makes it easier to make friends- play group, school etc. I have made 1-2 but im not able to work due to a work injury and undergoing surgery in sydney in 4wks. Thats another issue- health care professionals are minimal here and if its more complex then a appendix or simple fracture, ur in a little bit of trouble unless u can utilise visiting private specialists every coupl of months, usually from Ad.

Gd luck. It is nice to have the family all togethr in teh end.

[ExpectantKatie]

Darwin is great. I grew up here on and off and my fiance and I moved back 10 months ago... Rent up here is a little bit expensive (as is buying) however I imagine it is about on par with Perth at the moment and through defence that will be subsidised anyhow. The lifestyle is wonderful for kids. Plenty of sport and parks and swimming. It's never too cold to play outside. There are some wonderful schools up here and pretty much whereever you live you will find a good school.
While the weather is hot you get the relief of rain in the wet and cool nights in the dry... Almost every house has a pool and/or air conditioning so that makes it bearable... Definately have a look and see what you think but I love it here!
Good luck - hope you like it!
Kate