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Living in the Blueys

neald

18-Sep-2010
11:13:10 AM

I've been living in Sydney for a couple of years now and spend most weekends travelling up to the Blueys to climb so I'm figuring it might be better to move up there. I know what the commute is like so would probably look around Lawson area to make it a little less tedious. Coming from the UK I have no idea what to expect in terms of community life, people, things to do (outside of the obvious) etc in 'rural' Australia. Any opinions/ experiences/ advice on moving away from Sydney?

devlin66

18-Sep-2010
11:33:35 AM

Just move there and live the life. It is a little less busy than Sydney and you'll find teh people generally a bit friendlier. Others will chime in with some more tips etc.

J.C.

18-Sep-2010
12:49:48 PM

I find it's easy to get bored if you dont make sure theres always something to do, but that possibly just my personality.. there is plenty of climbing if you can find a good group of reliable mid week climbing partners, but I find I actually prefer living in the social hubs and making the trek once a week to the mountains. Unfortuntately now I live (temporarily) in Bathurst so now I'm trying to find something sharp enough to hurt myself with but nothing is very sharp out here. Anyways everyone is different, move up there and find out if its for you!

costa

18-Sep-2010
6:00:37 PM

If you plan on renting than hell just go for it, you can always move back.
I've been looking at property out there lately and Id love to live there but traffic through wenty and lawson is too unbearable for the everyday


nmonteith

18-Sep-2010
6:31:18 PM

I moved to NSW two years ago with the intention of living in the Bluies and commuting to Sydney CBD for work (in my line of work i don't have an option to work away from the CBD). After a few trial runs I decided it was just going to be too tedious with all the commuting. Traffic banks up on the motorway 30km from the city and runs at a crawl all the way in - you could easily spend 2+ hours one way driving to work. I wasn't interested in living in the lower mountains as there isn't any climbing and it always seems to be boiling hot in summer. In the end I choose to live in the Sutherland Shire as there is nearby climbing and bushland, and its only 35 minutes on a train to the CBD. It's also slap bang in between Nowra and the Bluies so depending on the time of year its 1.5 hours to each area. The real-estate was also much cheaper than anything in central west as well.


nmonteith

18-Sep-2010
6:33:57 PM

p.s. The Bluies isn't rural Australia by any stretch of the imagination!

costa

18-Sep-2010
10:58:42 PM

But he's going to need a passport to get into the shire so thats a minor setback

hipdos

19-Sep-2010
12:52:32 AM

Used to be pretty racist in the Shire too, might still be. Best if you ain't Muslim unless things have changed. Good chance you're not Muslim tho I guess.


pmonks

19-Sep-2010
8:27:55 AM

On 18/09/2010 costa wrote:
>But he's going to need a passport to get into the shire so thats a minor
>setback

Do you still need a mullet and a southern cross / star of federation tat, or were those restrictions lifted?

hargs

19-Sep-2010
8:33:05 AM

On 19/09/2010 pmonks wrote:
>Do you still need a mullet and a southern cross / star of federation tat,
>or were those restrictions lifted?

These days you need a waterfront and European car. Passport and visa restrictions still apply though.

climberman

19-Sep-2010
9:05:46 AM

neal, it's nice, 'cept Lawson is the 'burbs, but with trees. Frankly, so is most of the mountains possibly with the exception of Bleackheath. The commute is a soul-destroyer. There are better things to do with four hours of every single bloody live-long working day.

I have lived in Glenbrook, Hazo, and the 'heath.

The 'heath is the pick, but is forkin far from Sydney. After three weeks of a commute to Burwood I moved to Leichhardt.

Glenbrook to the city is OK by train but I find Glenbrook to be mindless conservative new aussie battler small icky. YMMV.

Hazo, like Lawson and most of the mid-mountains, is just the 'burbs. Luckily the last of the last housing boom meant that capital gains allowed me to sell and move the family to the coastal Illawarra..... Hazo to Central is 1:45 on the train, plus any commute either side of that to and from your station.

Like the late '60's, the best thing to do is aim to get high and stay high ! if I had had a working life in the upper mountains I would probably still be there. Bathurst is as close to the heath as Parra but a nice country drive (ok, small bit of hyperbole). The 'heath IS lovely, and wonderfully seasonal, and has a pretty nice feel.

I dunno what you do for work but I used to get up early to beat the traffic, and leave late to beat the traffic, and be so fokking shagged from all the commuting, and devoid of time to do the life things (clean, wash, buy food, etc), that it would end up I could only do them on the weekends... when I shoulda been climbing or mtb'ing. It's a killer if you have family (sounds like you don't).


evanbb

20-Sep-2010
8:03:39 AM

I've just moved from the Blueys, after about 20 years on and off.

The commute into the City every day drove me mental. It was 1.5 hours each way (from Lapstone) and that was if everything went smoothly. Some days it would take 3 hours to get home.

I also find (Lower Mountains in particular) that it's dead once it's dark. I keep telling people it's like living in a National Park: 'Beauty' they say, 'it must be very beautiful'. And yes it is nice, but think about how many pubs and cafes there are in an NP... I found the suburbs I lived in (again Lower Mounts) closed minded conservatives who didn't speak to their neighbours much.

The living is much nicer the further up you travel, but you're balancing that against a longer commute. And forget about catching trains on the weekend, when they often run trackwork, which will totally ruin your day.

NealD

20-Sep-2010
10:49:26 AM

Thanks to everyone for the responses. It does seem like the daily commute would be a killer. I do get to work from home quite a lot but it's not guaranteed as I often work on customer sites around Sydney. It's a shame the train is so slow and there are no fast trains running up there. So many stops! But then again, maybe that would ruin it anyway.


regdog55

20-Sep-2010
11:43:29 AM

Hi Neal,

We moved up about 15 years ago for pretty much the same reasons that you mentioned. We bought a house in Lawson and we're pretty happy there. We both commute: I'm currently doing the trek to UNSW via public transport, which takes a while (4 1/2 hours per day, with a following breeze) but it's quite doable. The train is generally reliable, with the earlier services (e.g. the Fish) being pretty good, and you always get a seat if you get on before Emu Plains. good community, bugger all night life, great climbing - depends what you can cope with in terms of commuting via train. On the morning train most people sleep or read or watch movies on their laptops, but earplugs or MP 3 players are a must, to tune out unwanted conversations/snoring.


nmonteith

20-Sep-2010
12:00:53 PM

My problem is that working overtime is normal for my industry - so if i finish at midnight then a two hour commute has very little appeal! On a good day I normally finish at 7pm - that would mean I would be home after 9pm...

widewetandslippery

20-Sep-2010
12:11:20 PM

I hope you are getting paid penalty rates for every minute and not being a scab Neil.

bradc

20-Sep-2010
2:04:46 PM

the other option is a motorbike, which gets you from Blackheath into the CBD in about an hour and a half. You also need to invest in serious warm weather gear though!


nmonteith

20-Sep-2010
2:36:39 PM

On 20/09/2010 bradc wrote:
>the other option is a motorbike, which gets you from Blackheath into the
>CBD in about an hour and a half. You also need to invest in serious warm
>weather gear though!

Doesn't it snow with some degree of regularity in winter? Riding a bike with ice on the roads sounds like serious death!


cruze

20-Sep-2010
2:37:52 PM

On 20/09/2010 bradc wrote:
>the other option is a motorbike, which gets you from Blackheath into the
>CBD in about an hour and a half. You also need to invest in serious warm
>weather gear though!
Another option is find/make alternative employment closer to where you want to live?

bradc

20-Sep-2010
2:51:24 PM

yeah, i don't consider or recommend the bike commute a long term option, just an intermediate in getting work established in the mtns. Having said that there appear to be quite a few people around who started with that intention and it's not eventuated. Talking to the people on the train that have been doing it for 10+ years is scary.

There are 21 messages in this topic.