8 replies to this topic

[Rover]

I'd love to hear your experiences, what you love and hate about Darwin.

Please share!

[Fourie Stephan]

Rover, on 12 January 2012 - 07:54 PM, said:

I'd love to hear your experiences, what you love and hate about Darwin.

Please share!

Hi There

We've been in Darwin now for a year.
1st thing to get used to is the humidity. BUT - All houses have aircons in all the rooms as well as ceiling fans.
If you can - Rent a house with a swimming pool
We don't have winter and summer. We only have Wet season and Dry season. It is always 32-35 degrees
Only difference is - 6 months you have high humidity and 6 months you have no humidity with perfect days every day

It is quite remote so things are a bit more expensive than down south as they have to ship everything up here.
It is extremely relaxed up here and the Ausies are the friendliest bunch you can find
Remember - NT doesn't stand for Northern Territory. it stands for Not Today and Not Tomorrow
There's almost no traffic. We live out in Durack which is about 20km's from Darwin
I leave home at 07:35 and I'm still on time for work at 8

If Darwin is your way into Australia then grab the opportunity with both hands.
DIAC grant visas very easily for Darwin as it is hard to find skilled people over here
Companies are also very willing to sponsor people with Permanent Residency
If you don't like Darwin and you have your PR then you can always travel Aus from here and then decide where you want to settle

There is also a facebook group for South Africans: http://www.facebook....ps/sainnt.news/

If you have any questions or need assistance just shout
We are all here to help

PS - Something I read about Darwin recently :-)

You know your in DARWIN (NT-AUSTRALIA) when
1- The best parking space is determined by shade instead of distance.
2- Hot water comes out of both taps.
3- You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
4 -The temperature drops below 32c and you feel a little chilly.
5-You discover that in February it only takes two fingers to steer yo...ur car.
6- You discover that you can get sunburnt through your car window.
7- You develop a fear of metal car door handles.
8- You break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:00am.
9-Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and get cooked to death?"
10- You realise that asphalt has a liquid state.
11-Gerry Woods (local politician) is feeding his chickens crushed ice to prevent them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
12- The trees are whistling for the dogs.
13- While walking back barefoot to your car from the beach, you do a tightrope act on the white lines in the carpark.
14- You catch a cold from having the aircon full blast while you sleep during the night.
15- You learn that Casuarina Square isn't a shopping centre it's a Temple to Worship Air-Conditioning.
16- The effort of toweling off after a shower means you need another one right away!
17- Standing naked under a cieling fan is an acceptable way to pass time.
18-You look forward to the clouds rolling in and think the sound of distant thunder is music to your ears!
19- You wait till it starts raining to go for a run!
20- It's raining so hard you can't see the end of the bonnet when you're sitting in the car!
21- You listen to Hot 100 (is there any other station?)
22- You wear a jacket when it hits 26 degrees
23- You hear people talking about 'fannie bay' and 'bagot community' in a serious context
24- Well you used to be able to overtake a copper at 180km/h and get away with it!
25- Dickward drive leads into Fannie Bay!! THIS IS ALL SOOOOO TRUE )

[Rover]

:-)

Love that! Sounds like you're enjoying the Top End!

[Rover]

Stephan surely can't be the only forum member up in the Top End?

Where's the rest? Hopefully not taken by the salties!

[Fourie Stephan]

Rover, on 13 January 2012 - 09:39 PM, said:

Stephan surely can't be the only forum member up in the Top End?

Where's the rest? Hopefully not taken by the salties!

Haha - There are some more around here but you will find them on the Facebook group
There is also a Johan&Karen on this forum
They live just around the corner

Best thing about Darwin - The thunder storms
Listening to the Thunder now as I type ( With my laptop unplugged just in case )

[Danie]

Rover.

I totally agree with Stephan if Darwin is your gateway into Aus then use it.
Darwin is 'horses for causes', not everyone wants to or enjoy staying in Durban or Pretoria or Bloemfontein or wherever, but there are people who would move there and love it.
It is always warm, is small in Aussie terms, is very remote, is more expensive (fuel, living cost, flights +) and it is full of bogans (some of the "locals" have less manners than a table & chair)
It is no joke about no winter or seasons, it is just Wet & Dry season. The humidity is high for +6 months of which it rains 4, and it not similar to Durban much worse especially if your work is going to be outside. Last year was wettest Wet season on record – total rainfall of just over 3m from October 2010 to April 2011.

If your kids are small, this is not a bad place to bring them up. There are enough stuff to keep them busy. However, in my opinion high school kids better off in proper high school in bigger city.

Something else - although Darwin is surrounded by water, it is not advisable to swim as there might be saltwater crocodiles and stingers or jelly fish.

I am opinionated about the place - We lived in Darwin for 2 years.

D

[Rover]

Danie, on 15 January 2012 - 10:06 PM, said:

Something else - although Darwin is surrounded by water, it is not advisable to swim as there might be saltwater crocodiles and stingers or jelly fish.

Ironically I was reading about surfing in Darwin just before seeing your post. Can't find the article now, but its basically about taking the chance of surfing with the crocs.

What made you move to your current place of residence (Adelaide, I assume)?

[Danie]

We live in Glenelg, a seaside subburb of Adelaide.

Number of things lined up = work opportunity with same company including promotion + one kid in high school & one late primary + Darwin was always from go a temporary stop + we liked what we saw at LSD / interview, so much so that we want to move here!

For me the weather us similar to the Cape, have blistering hot days (which apparently could last for a week) but cool right down then, also wet in winter. We landed here smack in the dead of winter from a mild Darwin one.

PM me if you have more or specific questions!

D ;b

[Rover]

Did anybody have state sponsorship (NT)?
How long did it take from application to approval/decision by the NT government?