Retiring to Tasmania

Anyone live in Tassie here that can offer some advice?

If you were going to retire to Tasmania and wanted to live in a small town with others of similar age (eg not Launceston, Devonport, Hobart), do you have any suggestions of any. nice, community feel, towns?

 

Similar age to what?

What are YOUR interests?

 

Why Tasmania?

BTW, where is Tasmania?

 

You need to give more details about your criteria.

 

Wherever you choose, I would suggest renting for a year to really understand the community before buying. And the year round weather.
Marg

 

Id retire to Derby or Weldborough. Some of the best mountain biking in the world and more to come!

cheers,
Inertia.

 

I thought Launceston, Devonport and Hobart were small towns?

 

Sorry, I should have elaborated. Retirement age of 60, so people of similar age.
Enjoyments in retirement - craft markets.
I currently deal with the worse of society - so Launceston, Devonport, Hobart would still have those worse of society I deal with (even though Sydney/Melbourne have it on a worse level)
I’m looking to leave that altogether.
So if anyone has happened to visit a town with a good community feel, I’m keen to know which town

 

Huon Valley is one of my favourite community. Great feel, beautiful farms, not too far from Hobart so still can access good hospitals. Short trip to Bruny Island. Perfect for bush walking, fishing, farming

 

Yep. That area southwest of Hobart is great. Dodger, fly to Hobart and hire a car for a week and explore that pocket.

 

Maybe spend about a month travelling through different areas in Tassie will give you a better idea about life there.

 

Swansea is said to be attracting retirees.
Marg

 

Personally I think that St Helens on NE coast, or better still Binalong Bay on NE coast.
St Helens is the largest town on NE coast, , commercial fishing fleet, regional shopping centre, the NE coast has the best climate in Tassie, milder, sunnier, 750 mm a rain a year.

However St Helens is 3 hours from Hobart, 2 hours from Launceston and it is on Georges Bay. If you go 10 km to the ocean at Binalong Bay it will give you up to 5 degrees warmer winter minimum temperatures, far less frosts.

Local agents tell me that St Helens area is now booming, with 40000+ increase in tourists compared to last year, lots of house sales (relatively) tight rental market.

Close to mountains, lakes, fishing, walking, cycling, historical area. Now has world famous mountain bike tracks centred around Derby (attracting 30000+ mtb riders a year) and these trails are extending south to St Helens.

St Helens has a much better feel than Swansea. They are also building a new hospital and St Helens has an airport for medical transfer to Hobart, Launceston hospital if needed.

Cheers

Kevin

 

Turners Beach . North coastal towns have more moderate climate . Not as hot in summer , warmer in winter . Nice community . Go inland to launnie and the temp variation is higher .

Lots of main land retirees .

Don’t know what opossum bay is like , but it’s looks nice

Cliff

 

This is Binalong Bay census data, town has grown from 200 people in 2011 to 290 in 2016, average age is 60.
2016 Census QuickStats: Binalong Bay

Real estate institute of Tasmania produce summary of suburb average property movements. Binalong Bay has significantly higher property prices than surrounding suburbs and is experiencing much higher capital growth than most localities on the East and NE coast. Can be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view

http://reit.com.au/wp-content/uploads/web-binalong-bay.pdf

Have a good day

Kevin

 

Small country towns within a 30 min drive from Launceston. Real estate and cost of living is cheap

Tassie is gorgeous, too cold for me but absolutely beautiful

 

There will also be some people in the towns or areas mentioned who are also escaping something, so you may never truly get away from some "worse of society" unless you move to a town of 3.
Then there is the isolation......

 

Tasmania is small - you could rent a campervan and spend a bit of time travelling around the island till you find a town you really like.

 

Small by australian standards .

36,000 sq miles

England is 50,000 sq miles

You need to work out what services you need to be near . My understanding is that Hobart and Launceston have fairly comprehensive services in their hospitals . Don’t know about devonport etc .
How close do you want to be to a ” big centre “ .

Is there somewhere you’re going to stay “ forever “ or will you go somewhere else when you get “ old” . Most people don’t think about this .
We have a couple of friends who have sold the family house in the north shore , but have moved to more central units / townhouses etc which are close to everythin , but easy to lock up when they go away travelling when they retire . They’re close to family

We have a weekender at north arm cove which is populated by weekenders , families and retirees . No shops , no nothing . Closest IGA about 10 mins , coles 15 mins , major hospital at Newcastle about an hour .
We have two neighbours who are retirees in thei late 70’s / 80’s who have been living here for 15-20 years . They love it , but they’re now too far away from everything and have their houses up for sale . One is moving back to Sydney to be close to family and the others want to move to the big smoke , karuah , population , 1400 ... but they will be able to walk to the IGA , butchers , doctor , chemist , but most importantly the “ club “ .

Bush or Close to water ?

If you have family , they will be happy to come and visit you on occasional holidays , but if they’re interstate , it’s much harder for them to give physical support .

If you haven’t already had one , have a serious review of what you will need to be near.

Cliff

 

Excellent advice. Really give it some serious thought if you decide to move away from family. Tasmanian's are not your extended family and they are (if capable) invaluable when life hits the curb, and vice versa. Lots of people move here after a holiday full of friendly summer time locals but living here is different to two weeks here. I also would not recommend moving too far from Launceston or Hobart, everywhere else tends to have plenty of people who need a social worker...and these places have reasonable access to services e.g. medical, Centrelink, DVA, shopping.