TL;DR: Middle 30s, have been lived in Sydney for the last 11y, I am tired of buildings and chaos, I am after greener places with rent that doesn't feel robbery.
I have been living here in Sydney for the last 11y, a lot of things changed to the worse and since I bought a Suzuki Jimny and started exploring around, I realised how bad things are, these are some of my points:
Toll: I went North just before Newcastle and the toll device beeps like a mf.
Going west isn't any better if not worse, I went to Glow Worm Tunnel and holy molly, the toll device goes "beep" "beep" "beep" "beep"Rent: Increased to $800 a week. No words are needed.
Lack of nature: There is no many places you can go here to really enjoy nature. I mean, there is a park here and there but it is not the same as having Royal National Park as your neighbour.
Light Pollution: This has to do with above, for some time I have been trying to get into amateur astronomy/astrophotography, it is virtually impossible to do this here. You usually need 2-4h drive to get to "dark sky" place.
I went to see Parkes Telescope over Easter brake, just wow, I am so done with city sky.Job: I work from home although offices are moving back to the office, urgh.
There is train in there will take ~2h everyday lost with transport but better life style and that matter.
Yes, I can drive/ride but I don't wanna depend on that unless you are telling me that it is faster to drive/ride to station X and then take the train from there. I will accept that if I cannot find a WFH role.
I am in my middle 30s, couldn't care less about the lack of parties, pubs ( I prefer to drink at home, it is cheaper and better quality cocktails ), I also have my hobbies so.
Supermarkets, I have pretty much ditched them, I prefer to buy meat from farms and veggies and stuff from open market, you can buy everything in bulk and cheaper from Amazon AU or stores like Sydney Solvents.
I am aware that Amazon Next Day delivery will be no more, and deliveries will take longer, that is fine.
I first thought about Newcastle area but if you have to drive to Sydney, there are endless tolls and the rent isn't much different, plus 3h or so by train give or take. A big no.
Also, it felt like forever to drive to The Entrance, Newcastle is another 1h or so further haha
I went past Wollongong over Easter, Kiama Heighs, once you reached Royal National Park, everything is so green, I cannot remember how many tolls I crossed if any meaning it was not even close compared with going west/north.
I just loved how peaceful things look and green in case I have not said green enough haha
Yes, I will take a weekend and spend there to feel the vibe but so far, it checks all the boxes.
Thank you very much.
Sounds ideal for you.
The biggest consideration is having to travel to Sydney for work. The few people I know in the same situation drove and none of them could hack the drive 5 days/week long term. They didn't take the train because their office was not near a train station.
If you can WFH or get a job in the area, you'd be set.