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Trying To Connect To Some Darwinians!


Rover

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

Please share!

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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.com/groups/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 :))

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

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

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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 :ilikeit:

Listening to the Thunder now as I type ( With my laptop unplugged just in case )

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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

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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. :blink:

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

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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

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Did anybody have state sponsorship (NT)?

How long did it take from application to approval/decision by the NT government?

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  • 1 year later...

We did our LSD trip to Darwin this month- totally loved it! It is not a big busy city but also not a small 'onderdorp' town. The scenery is absolutely amazing. We actually enjoyed the weather, it allowed us to swim in Autumn :D . We are now considering moving down permanently. The people are just so friendly. Never have we had cashiers actually asking us how our day is and start a conversation as if they have known you for years! People still greet in you in their cars aswell. We were really pleasantly surprised.

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Yup, that's Darwin...

We've settled in very easily, except for the humidity and cost of living, which is scary high compared to the rest of Aus. We cannot afford to settle here, so were heading South soon.

Darwin's people are some of the most awesome I've ever had the pleasure to live amongst.

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  • 4 months later...

@Rover - if the cost of living is higher than in the rest of Aus, what would a liveable salary be? Asking because my husband was contacted this morning about a role in Darwin. We're nowhere near having a job there yet, just wondering.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi everyone , after much planning on moving to perth it's all changed to Darwin now. I'm a bit concerned army hubby and I finding work in such a small place. I'd also like to hear what a good salary is due to the high cost of living...

My husband has a bad condition called - heat mood. I really hope he can handle the weather you are explaining.

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  • 2 weeks later...

NT has lots of jobs! We are in Alice. I started work about a week and half after we landed and other half already got an offer before arriving.

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Hi,

Initially were on the Perth state sponsor skills list. Now 3 months later are no longer, but rather on NT skills list. Was a bit disappointed, so would love to hear some positives about this move please..... Thanx

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  • 1 month later...

NT really needs to be given more credit. Darwin is lovely and green and the people are so friendly and helpful. We also had our doubts, but after being there, we decided to rather settle in the NT. Life is at a slower pace and less traffic.

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  • 1 month later...

Darwin is fantastic. Have only holidayed there on a few occasions, but know so many people up there and they all love it. If it's your start, go for it!

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Wow maybe it's time to plan a trip to Darwin (in winter, haha) to check it out. I looked at it 3 years ago for a holiday but then it ended up cheaper to go to Fiji, so we went there...

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  • 2 months later...

NT looks a lovely place to stay, were in Durban so used to the humidity not sure if Darwin would be the same.?

Were also looking at all possible options, we already have our Visa's so we are looking around at all states. For some reason I prefer the quieter places than big cities. To be honest if we can land a job before moving im considering moving anyway, me and my husband are fairly flexible on destination, if later on we feel we have to move then we can. Im also thinking that maybe Darwin give people from overseas a better chance of employment? is this the case?

When you mention high cost of living is anyone in a position to give me an idea of exact amounts

Month rent etc

And what would you have to earn in Darwin to be consider moving there i.e. average wages etc

Any advice always appreciated

Thanks

Emma

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  • 3 months later...

Hi, We're in the process of getting our 190 to the NT. At first we were a bit skeptical of moving to Darwin but the more we research it the better it looks. We'd love to make contact with any South Africans there so that we can ask a few questions about decent schools, neighbourhoods, etc.

We know that it isn't the most popular destination for saffers but we'd love to talk to anyone who could help steer us in the right direction,

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