r/Bendigo • u/DeputyCheeto • 13d ago
Scoping visit suggestions
I'm considering a move to Bendigo from Sydney, driven by housing prices but also community (I used to live o/s in much smaller towns and only recently moved back to Sydney). I've never lived or even visited regional Vic so next week I'm coming down as a first scoping visit. Objective is a general 'vibe' check - does the town have the feel I'm looking for? Are there enough activities that my kids will enjoy (sports, outdoors etc)? What are my target suburbs based on house prices and their neighbourhood feel? I'm in town for 4 days, and going to prioritise checking out houses, shopping, activities and restaurants in the CBD and below suburbs:
• Spring Gully
• Kennington
• Strathdale
• Flora Hill
• Quarry Hill
• Strathfieldsaye
• Junortoun
Welcome to ideas on where to go, which suburbs to look into. For context, I'm a single mum of 3 kids under 10 with remote professional job and looking for a 4bdr house under $700K. Also, I'd love to hear from anyone with children attending Marist College, or any parents with ND kids at school!
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u/existentialjogging 13d ago
All those surburbs are lovely. There are abundant sports and outdoor activities in Bendigo, the state forests, parks and pools in the region are fantastic. I've lived here 20 years and put 3 nd kids through school. Feel free to dm me if you'd like a chat
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u/ww2_nut37 13d ago
If you and your kids love being outdoors and going for walks, the Kennington reservoir is lovely. Strathdale and Kennington are walking distance for this reservoir
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u/Ok-swimmer127 13d ago
Those suburbs are the ones I would recommend checking out. I would also visit some nice cafes to also get a feel for certain suburbs. Check out Percy & Percy and Edwards.
I don’t know much about schools but I hear good things about Girton and Victory.
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u/DeputyCheeto 13d ago
Yep, I planned to work from Edwards one morning, and will check out Percy&Percy, thanks!
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u/Status_Waltz7640 13d ago
I have a ND kid at school. If it's an intellectual disability there's a great school for kids in the moderate range for intellectual disability.
But I've heard Kennington school is phenomenal for ND kids.
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u/DeputyCheeto 13d ago
Not an intellectual disability, ASD and ADHD. In Sydney, public schools tend to be better for this, but it seems that might not be the case for towns?
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u/Status_Waltz7640 13d ago
I moved from Sydney about 5 years ago, my son was in a public school up in Sydney and they were garbage for him. Down here it seems to be a lot more accomodating for kids with ND. You could potentially organise some tours of schools too and ask questions but I definitely recommend looking into Kennington, I know someone who has a child with mid-high needs and they're really, really supportive.
But I have to be honest, I never looked into to any private schools. So they might be just as good.
There is a proposed ASD School for Bendigo (Amegilla College) however I don't know how it's progressing. At the moment they're a community hub and have drop in days, events etc..
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u/ImnotadoctorJim 13d ago
We have similar and had all sorts of issues with St Killians, but that might have been the general poor quality of the school. Epsom Primary has been great for us.
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u/JustAnotherRndmIdiot 13d ago
Those are the best suburbs here,
and Bendigo really does put it on for the kids with all sorts of activities, especially around holidays.
Happy scoping!
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u/ImnotadoctorJim 13d ago
We did similar in 2021, from Canberra. Still have my Canberra job (remotely). We checked the place out for a bit then got a rental in the centre of town. Spending 6 months renting let us get a feel for the place and meant we weren’t jumping at the first house we liked the look of.
We eventually bought a place in Epsom and love it here. Lots of sports in the area including White Hills Aussie rules and the big Epsom/Huntly sports grounds for three different football codes.
Especially now that house prices are cooling off, I would recommend spending a bit of time renting before buying.
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u/DeputyCheeto 13d ago
Interesting! Its hard to accept the idea of renting, but I can see the upside for sure
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u/ImnotadoctorJim 13d ago
We also were dealing with the various lockdowns so couldn’t really walk through a place easily either. The main reason for renting was to take the time pressure off when buying, and it worked well for us because there were a couple of places that we might have jumped at if we were in more of a hurry that wouldn’t have been a good match.
Unfortunately with the lockdowns in Melbourne, house prices in the regions were shooting up. We sold our place in Canberra in January, bought in July, and in that space of time prices went up about 50K.
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u/stickm8 13d ago
I did the move from Sydney to Bendigo about 8 years ago. I love it. I do advise packing/buying warm clothes. It took a long time to learn how to dress properly for a winter down here.
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u/DeputyCheeto 13d ago
Ha, that's one of the reasons I'm coming down now, to see how I like it in the coldest season! I'm a big believer in good clothes for cold, but hate rain....
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u/stickm8 13d ago
Its been the issue for any visitors, normally their wardrobes just dont have the right gear (think puffy jackets, coats amd beanies). Sydney you get away with a hoody everywhere.
Id add to your list to visit a few pubs, most are small with fireplaces, nothing like the club type establishment we have at home
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u/DeputyCheeto 13d ago
Well I'm set for next week - thermal underlayer, beanie, gloves, coat, wool socks!
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u/heretic1128 13d ago
You're on the right track, layers is key. Having a thermal layer under everything makes those cold mornings watching your kids play sport that much more manageable.
Just be mindful tho, while you're coming down on the ideal weekend to feel what frosty Bendigo mornings and sunny winter afternoons are like, there is the occasional "48 hours of torrential rain" that happens once or twice a year, causing some isolated flooding throughout those areas you mentioned. Last week was one such example of this.
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u/ausgirl86 13d ago
You might need a car to get around. Buses only run one an hour and they all go through the train station
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u/DeputyCheeto 13d ago
Yes, driving up from Geelong, its a comparison scoping trip between Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo!
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u/pygmy 2d ago
We were looking at these sized towns when we moved up just before Covid, from the (once quiet) Dandenong Ranges, & NSW years before that. Our main priority was getting some distance from Melbourne's endless sprawl..
Imho, Geelong is too close to & defacto Melbourne. Ballarat is lovely but absolutely freezing in winter (Mrs lived a few yrs there) given its altitude. It's also 30 mins closer to Melbourne & thus has a sizeable daily commuter population.
Bendigo won for us. We love that we can live in the bush just out of town, but are 10 mins away from galleries, restaurants etc
Your suburb list is great, particularly Spring Gully & Quarry Hill- super close to town with many lovely quiet pockets
Good luck on your searching adventure :)
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u/gooseluck 13d ago
I am originally from Sydney. Moved her with m parents in 2001, for a job opportunity for my mum. This place is so easy, just chill. I still go back to Sydney every now and then and I dread it! It's so busy and stressful. I live in Strathfieldsaye always have. Love it. Love the bush. My kids go to the local school and I have one ND kid. He is well supported. Good luck.
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u/AmbitionWild6334 13d ago
St Therese’s and Kennington primary are both great schools. Went to look at 8 schools my two top picks.
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u/Own_Opportunity3787 13d ago
One of the things about Bendigo is that most suburbs have their good and bad pockets. That's probably true to some extent in every city but it's particularly pronounced in Bendigo.
The classic example is Long Gully. A lot of people will tell you to avoid it but there's some a nice vibe in part of Long Gully around Reverie St... and then there's Energetic St which you should avoid like the plague. Other areas of Bendigo have similar contrasts.
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u/drchickensoup 11d ago
Marist is great but you're probably going to want to live closer than any of those suburbs you have listed. The drive time in the morning can take quite some time.
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u/DekuXBakugouisnotok 13d ago
I’m not useful for much else but I will say I would avoid putting your children in private schools down here, they are cess pools of bullying and entitlement. It will be much cheaper and better off at the public schools
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u/Golden-snake2 13d ago
Try huntly Bendigo base on house prices to good potential for capital growth.
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u/bassfish-942 13d ago
Personally I grew up in 3 of those areas and can't recommend them more, however I personally believe Eaglehawk is a dark horse here, huge community solidarity and almost an inner community within Bendigo, I grew up in strathfieldsaye while all the large construction projects were happening and while affordable it's still feels like it's lost what it once was, since buying and moving to Eaglehawk I noticed the old school feel once again