Living in Tasmania

[cheezelkat]

I'm in love with the idea of living in Tasmania, as I *hate* summers in Queensland with a passion. However how practical is it to get up and move down south? My partner works for a bank and is trained in credit card work and call centre stuff, so how easy would it be for him to get a job? Whats the weather really like, and how much do you like living there? Is there plenty of rental housing available? Does it rain often?

Any info would be great!

[scorpio]

LOL, wow, we are doing the exact opposite of what you are considering!!!

Our family are moving to South East Qld and the sooner the better!!!...we are born and bred Tasmanians but have just had enough of the cold cold weather, especially in Winter..which is right now!!!!!...its cold, very cold!!......the day temps hardly rise above 10oC. We are sick and tired of having a Summer thats maybe 2-3 months long if we are lucky and the rest of the year yearning for a bit of warmer weather again!!! lol

So my dh is looking for a good job up North and as soon as he gets one we are off. We have 2 schoolage children, 10 and 12, and we have no qualms about starting them at a new school half way through the year.

To answer some of your questions though..........yes, it rains heaps, probably a bit less down Hobart way but its hell cold all over!!.........some times the rain can go on for a week!!!.....and if its not raining its just plain cold!!

There seem to be a few rentals about down here in Hobart which is where we live, but its not cheap!!.....rentals in Hobart can be expensive and so is buying a house!

There are a few contact centres in Hobart.........Centrelink, Qantas, various Telcos, Aurora Energy, RACT, and probably quite a few more Im not aware of.........there is a bank contact centre but not sure which bank, I think Commonwealth......so I wouldnt imagine there would be too much trouble gaining employment in a contact centre down here. You would have to search careerone.com.au to find out employment options in the Hobart area. Not sure about the North and North West of the state, maybe jobsearch.gov.au???

How practical to move here????......well, we are doing it, only in reverse to you! lol Its going to cost us around $4000 to move our stuff via a shipping container which first has to cross Bass Strait to Melbourne, then be railed up to Brisbane!!...its our cheapest option as none of the car/truck rental places will allow one-way rentals from Tassie!!........we will take the ferry Spirit of Tasmania from Tassie to Sydney to get our vehicles over (we have 2) and then drive from Sydney to Brissie, so thats also an added cost......such is life on an island state!! lol

Good luck with whatever you decide.....we are looking forward to a warmer climate and realise we may suffer during the Summer months, thats why we plan to rent a home with a pool!!! And we will also look forward to living in a place thats not so isolated from the rest of Aust.......its expensive to fly/ship across Bass Strait every time you want a change ie., shopping in Melbourne, catching the footy....etc.....

[Ponyboy]

My husband and I also have a plan to move to Tassie - although not for a few years - have to finish the renovations on our house here in Goodna, Qld.

I'm an almost qualified Librarian and he is a forklift driver with aspirations to be a full time artists once in Tassie - should I manage to get a good paying librarian position and then he can stay at home and do his art and look after our daughter - although I think little art will be done.

His mother lives in Sisters Beach and tells us how beautiful it is in the Northern Tassie region. My husbands work has a branch in Longford so it is possible to get our foot in the door through him getting a transfer and then going from there. So we will be looking to move in the Launceston region - although I'd prefer to live on the north coast.

We will be planning a holiday down there sometime this year or early next year to test the waters!!

[Hokey Pokey]

Hi all
Well we left QLD earlier this year to come back to Tassie (lived in QLD for 4 years)
The hot weather is so overrated in my experience, nothing can prepare you for the heat. It can make life just as hard as living in the cold, infact I prefer the cold as you can always rugg up, but you can't always cool down!

[Kaileysmum]

Hey there,

I live in Tassie, and there are plenty of rentals around. As for the job thing it really depends on where yoou want to live. There are a few call centres in hobart as someone else has said, also there is 2 in Burnie and 1 in Devonport (both NW coast), which all deal with different things. I used to work for one and I got the job very easy and there are always plenty of jobs going in them. Also there seem to be jobs advertised for banks all the time too.

I love living in Tassie, its wonderful. The cold weather can be annoying, but Id rather be cold than hot all the time. Anyways good luck with your decision.

[neans74]

Tassie is a beautiful place, however we are seriously considering moving back to Melbourne. We've been here five years now and we have found it hard to make friends, we miss our families and we are really tired of the cold. We live in Ranelagh (southern tassie) and most days the fog is soo thick and doesn't lift until 12pm!
We are also thinking about opportunities for our kids, we think there would perhaps be more in melbourne.
My husband absoulutley LOVES the trout fishing spots here though and the scenery etc, I guess it depends on what your looking for..if you want great views, cold weather etc then come on down!
it's always good to give things a go!

[julz_06]

The weather isn't that cold down here this morning was freezing but the suns out now and the sky is perfect blue.

Summer it can get hot but it's a different heat to QLD thats for sure. I've noticed its more of a humidity heat over there where here it's more of a burning heat. I find it funny how people are always wondering about the weather it's not that bad it's no worse than Melbourne in fact melbourne is often colder. Hobart is very cold in winter.

I think it depends what type of job your hubby is looking for.

scorpio we haven't had any rain for about three weeks it's not that bad and getting to melbourne etc is cheap as on Jetstar

[Hokey Pokey]

There is also a call centre for vodaphone right over my back fence hehe!!

[scorpio]

Yes, you can always use Jetstar or Virginblue IF they have a sale seat on the day you wish to fly AND IF you can get a return flight on the day and time you wish to return. We are so over being at the mercy of the airlines and their timetables for cheaper flights out of Tassie, but thats just our family.

We also have older children, 10 and 12 and we have begun to wonder about their career opportunities and future prospects. They will be limited as to what they can pursue in Tassie. We have 3 older girls, all in their early twenties now, and only one still lives in the state. They needed to leave to follow career paths.

Honestly, it really is a very personal decision for a family to make. Their reasons for doing so are varied and unique to that particular family. If you have travelled a bit, as we have, you begin to realise that there is so much more out there to explore and experience. The world is a very big place and we feel we dont want to spend it tucked away in Tassie any more. Sure, Tassie is very picturesque and can offer a great life for kids, but for us, the weather has worn us down, we are ready for a change, and as I mentioned earlier, we would like to be able to offer our children a little more in the way of career options down the track.

All our family live in Tassie so we will be returning to visit, but we are looking foward to a change in weather, scenery, jobs and life in general.

To all those looking foward to a move down to Tassie, I hope you truly enjoy the experience. A move is what you make it I guess.

Cheers

[poppet]

Tassie is great to bring up kids. It has excellent schools, with fantastic sports facilities. I live at Lauderdale, which is a beach side suburb just east of Hobart, and we haven't had any rain for at least 3-4 weeks, and when we do get rain it is only for about an hour at a time, and it alsdo mainly overnight (Ihave lived on the gold coast, and to be honest with you it rains more there than in Tassie). Yes it gets cold, Average temp over winter would be 12 degree's, but it doeas have clear blue skies with sun, so you can still go for a walk.

Rentals you shouldn't have a problem, just depends on what price range your after average $300 a week should get you a decent house.

Now jobs, I'm a manager for Vodafone, and we have a huge call centre down here, there is also a CBA, Qantas, and heaps of Government department call centres in Town(Hobart).

Just to finish we love living here