7 replies to this topic

[Moffitt4]

Hi all. Well I have ooooo'd and arrrrhhhhh'd for several years and have decided to shift from Hobart to Queenstown this winter. I saw the bad points and I have seen the place in winter . I fell in love with the old buildings and the slow atmosphere. We lived in Blayney NSW for six years and I feel the weather and conditions are very similar there. I am fed up with the price of living in hobart.
I have a few questions for you locals of Queenstown..

* Is there really a sunny side of Queenstown and a side that doesn't get much sun in winter? if yes, which is which?
* Is there bad areas? if yes pls advise what areas as we will have to rent initially till we decide where to live, is there certains streets not to rent?
* The water..... polluted? do you have to get bottled? can you grow vegies or is the soil polluted.. pls dont laugh, i read stuff on internet which says its all poisonous.
* VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION.. how is the internet.? Broadband ADSL2+ is it good? fast, no probs and what providers do you use.. we are kinda inside people that love internet.
* Do many people have big dogs there as we have big german shepherd that is part of family and just wondering what people there think of big dogs as in hobart area they all seem to have useless little lap dogs.
* If we rent house with wood fire.. ?? how much is wood there to buy by tonne? is it better to get alternate heating.

That will do for now.. thankyou for anyone that reads this from Queenstown.

[Mystic]

Hi, and welcome to Real Tasmania, and also to Queenstown.

First off, Queenstown is a very friendly little place, and am sure you will find it makes for a very nice home.

North Queenie is generally more sunny than South, and also the eastern side gets more sun too, If you can find a place on the high eastern side, then you will get the most sun. I live on the western side of the south and get about an hour less sun per day than Shane who is high up on the eastern side of central Queenie.

Bad areas??? None that I know of. the evil is spread evenly in Queenie

Water...Each part of Queenie gets water from different sources, with there being a number of small resovoirs, rather than one large one. I find that after rain the water tastes a little dirty, but is good otherwise. Up where Shane is, the water looks yellowish, but is fine to drink and has no taste. The soils is fine and lots of people grow vegetables in the ground here.

Broadband is ADSL1, 8Mbps. Shop around for your provider to get the best deal. I use Dodo and very rarely have any drop outs. Spin are also good value and quality.

Plenty of big dogs around here, and also nice little snack type ones for your German Shepherds.

Wood is expensive to buy, anywhere up to 150 a tonne, think about alternatives.

Search the forum, especially the Questions and answers section, you will find a lot of info on Queenstown. Feel free to ask any questions you like, we know this place well

[Moffitt4]

Thanks for answering so quick.

Alarm bells about internet, I asked someone who lives there - he is on facebook somewhere... he said you guys got adsl2+???? so its only slow net there?

Will have to print off map and work out what direction is what hey.

Good that there is snacks for our dog.

$150 is lot for wood.. yes will get somewhere with heatpump ay.

Thanks again and yes will look around this site when I work it out.

Cheers.

[Mystic]

No worries, glad to help. ADSL2+ in Zeehan and Rosebery, but definitely not here. Trust me, I LOVE my broadband, and do a lot of downloading and try for the best possible speeds. If we had 12Mbps I would have it in a flash, but the best we can get is 8Mbps. This website is currently running at just under 5Gb and I back it up every week, internet speed is important to me. That is still good speed though, and definitely not slow.; The difference between 8Mbps and 12Mbps is hardly noticeable in practice. I can stream live video without a hitch, and watch live rugby league games each week. Herein lies the difference between Spin and Dodo...Shane (Spin Internet) cannot stream live games without lots of pauses, where I can stream perfectly. Though he gets unmetered ABC Iview, whilst mine is metered.

Feel free to ask anything... am sure Shane will also respond when he recovers from his current hangover

[Moffitt4]

thanks again for replying.

The internet thing - my 20yo son - it will kill him! He is IT Gaming Freak! - just finishing his diploma in IT in few months and me! I lie in bed and love watching shows free off net, (chronic divorced movie junkie!) i think it would struggle with movies and tv shows on there...

The public school? is it good? The primary school I mean?i looked on education website etc and it has a good wrap statistically.

I still have to find place for rent - but its too soon yet. - July / Aug thinking for shift to really grasp the meaning of winter in Queenie.

D

[Shane V]

hi Moffitt and welcome I think Mystic has covered your questions. I will add a couple of things though...

Look around for wood prices, 150 is about the norm but if you ask you might be able to get a load for a bit cheaper. You could also get a wood license and go and collect your own wood. I'm not 100% sure how that system works though.

I don't think you will have too many problems with internet...it is still very fast. Sure my connection can't handle live games but I watch a lot of Iview and very rarely does it skip a beat throughout the show.

I have friends with kids who go to the school and from what they say, it is a good school. I would even say it was a typical school. Not really sure of the academic side, but from a social side the kids, well most of them, are all very friendly and very laid back.

[Moffitt4]

I think getting permit to get wood is funny - for me anyway - I am not very 'handy' female. So heatpump it is! Do you have 'Pay as you Go' electricity or is it die of shock when bill comes in mail? Thanks D

[Mystic]

I don't think you are going to find too many problems with internet speeds here. I was hopeful we would be upgraded to ADSL2+ but with the NBN plans in place now, it is unlikely to happen until the fibre roll out comes to town.

You are unlikely to be able to get pay as you go power on a rental property here, but it could be installed if you wanted it. From my understanding though, that system results in higher prices being paid for electricity anyway. One option is to have regular amounts automatically transferred from your bank account to Aurora so that you cover your bill before it arrives.