Hi all, thank you in advance for your help. I am considering moving to Darwin in August this year and since I have never been to Darwin, I would really appreciate little guidance from people who are either living in Darwin or have lived there in the past. I would be working at RDH and my main concern is securing accommodation in suburbs that are good to live in. I hear the weather is very warm and humid all year round which I am okay with.
Cheers.
Any particular reason why?
The weather is crazy (it's not warm and humid, it's bloody hot and the air feels like it adds 10kgs to you) and outside of the tourist stuff there's not much to do.
I love visiting Darwin, but I'd hate to live there.
Lived here all my life and still love it. Darwin (and the NT in general) is the land of career opportunities. The transient but small population means you get more opportunities to advance your career or expand your skillset, work on a wider variety of projects etc than interstate - especially if you're working in government. I know this because I got a well-paying govt graphic design job straight out of high school with no formal qualifications, and I'm still doing that same job 8 years later but for a much higher salary. Almost all of the students from the online graphic design course I just completed are complaining about lack of job opportunities in Melbourne/Victoria, or are taking poor paying internships and working in only one specific section of the graphic design field. NT Govt jobs come with lots of attractive allowances, like 6 weeks annual leave, automatic 4% salary increase each year (last I checked, percentage may have changed slightly), study leave provisions, generous salaries, job security etc.
Tiwi (the suburb around the hospital) is fairly safe and affordable. Avoid Karama, Nightcliff, Malak and the satellite city of Palmerston as they have a bit of a negative reputation. Let me know if you have any more specific questions.
the land of career opportunities
and I'm still doing that same job 8 years later
LOL. We have a different take on the word "opportunity"
But in all seriousness, OP take an umbrella. Actually take ten.
You took my words out of context. I said "same job 8 years later, but for a much higher salary". I also said it was already a well-paying position when I got the job with no qualifications, and that I get to work on a variety of projects instead of one specific section of my field of work. Try getting that interstate.
Thank you for your advice. I will visit darwin before moving to get the feel of it.
Just ask yourself, do you like 1) fishing 2) the outdoors and 3) hot weather…if yes, you'll love Darwin, if no, stay where you are.
In last night's repeat of Territory Cops Ch 10, a policewoman called Darwin the 'Bogan Capital of Australia'. Or maybe it is just that all of the petty crims that she encounters are Bogans!!
My advice is to go there and check it out before you commit to actually moving there. I went there once on a holiday, and it remains the best holiday I have ever had in Australia. I love the kind of weather they have there, the peeps are very friendly, and personally I'd like to live there. Another bit of advice I'd offer is to rent for the first year or so / don't be too hasty to buy a house. Much of the housing there is prone to major mould problems (particularly the older houses) due to the humidity, so do a bit of research into that before buying a property there.
Never had any mould issues in my properties, or growing up in Darwin either. The key is to use ceiling fans and less airconditioning. Humid, still air = mould. Also with Darwin's transient population there is a very real opportunity to make a lot of money, quickly, in real estate. Not so much at the moment because the market is slumping, but from 2009 to 2015 my property increased in value by 20%.
How much you like Darwin really depends on where you are now. There are a lot of people originally from Adelaide, Brisbane or smaller towns etc, however if you are used to a bigger city like Melb/Sydney, you may find the transition tough.
My suggestion would be don't move to Darwin