Possible move to Sydney - where would ya live?
As you're gonna have to commute regardless.. I'd flag the Eastern Beaches (closer, but reduced surf options), so it's a choice between the Northern Beaches or Cronulla. Depends what kind of waves you're after I suppose, and also whether you'll have transport (as this is a must for surfing on the NB, but not essential in Cronulla).
Living in Sydney and having to be in the city daily is about compromise.
Northern Beaches, allow an hour commute by bus/train/light rail to get to USyd
Cronulla, allow an hour by train/bus to get there.
Eastern Beaches, say 20-30 minutes but the surf is lower quality and way more crowded.
Which area are you moving from?
Personally id live down Cronulla way variety of good set ups and IMHO a nice area for Sydney and pretty easy from there to head south even just to Stanwell park area or further south and drop in on Stunet or head further south past the Gong for the weekend.
If not North Shore area.
Depends on how much time you'll need to spend on campus too.
Are you doing something lab based, or something that would require a lot of face-to-face time, or a lot of time in the library? Might want to stay closer to campus if so.
Depending on what part of the northern beaches, it can be a lot more than an hour to get in (I did the trek from up the northern end for 5 years, tended to take an hour and a half on average each way. Spend a lot of time sleeping on busses).
congrats on being accepted into the phd program.
newtown area will have you close to uni, and fairly close to maroubra, decent surf. i don't like the area. no sea breezes
cronulla has the train, so is better than the northern beaches. but it's still a long, long commute to u syd. and the good spots are still pretty localised.
bondi junction/eastern suburbs area is an easy commute. but if by water time you mean committed to catching waves, then nope. but if you mean going for a swim, snorkel and somewhere you can paddle a board out for the odd wave, then bronte and tama will suit.
...i have to get back to marking essays
If you have a car then i would suggest you live close to Manly and catch the ferry into the city and train or bus to the Uni.
Still a commute but at least on your days off you can surf the NB's without battling city traffic and have a bit more variety in surf options.
Otherwise live near the Uni and put up with the drive to whichever beaches you want to go to.
Its a numbers game in Shitney....
I lived in Sydney for four years and lived primarily in the inner western suburbs (Leichhardt, Petersham, Annandale etc.). Close to USyd, heaps of great food/booze options, relatively cheap rent (this was almost two decades ago, mind you) and access to public transport. I did the majority of my surfing at the 'Bra - a very interesting cultural experience - and had a full network of rat-runs and back streets worked out to minimise the traffic stress from home to the beach and back. I also did heaps of weekend strike missions north and south.
If I had the chance to move back there I'd still live in SA though. Fuck living in Sydney, I was so glad to escape when I did.
Agree. Somewhere between Syd Uni and Maroubra. That way you can get wet easily before or after work. As much as I loved the inner west when I lived there, if it was me now I would be looking at being able to walk or bike ride to Maroubra. At a pinch I could go the other way and be a walk or ride to Syd uni, and drive to Easter Subs beaches.
My ethos when it comes to cities is to be able to walk or ride as much as possible and avoid cars.
All that time you would spend commuting from Cronulla or the NB you can save and use for bigger trips to the Shire or further south when it makes sense.
Key to surfing eastern suburbs is to take up bodysurfing, that way you always have a plan B.
What ever you do id go get a taster before you make a decision, beaches & waves all sound good when you are thousands of miles away, but in reality you might not even want to get wet at some of these places.
Ive done two stints out West Sydney only about 6 months or so before, personally id rather not surf than surf around that Maroubra-Bondi stretch, just the waves, vibe and whole scene.
My approach was to fully focus on work during the week and then come knock off time on Friday i was out of there and down the coast and back late Sunday.
Was like hell all week but felt like total heaven on the weekend's.
But yeah like
Well done on the PHd offer N.D and commiserations on your surfing life having to be based there.
I hate the increase in crowds where I live on the Vicco Surfcoast but Sydney crowds and hassle factor would be next, next level.
If I was in your situation Id just go to Indo during Uni holidays and Spend time in Sydney doing other shit.
No waves in Cronulla mate and super crowded heavy and nasty locals
Ugly women no decent night clubs or pubs no restaurants or decent
take away food joints. Trains run late and break down every day the place
just sucks and did you hear about the riots every weekend.
Dead set dump
You forgot Evo slow internet, can't get a decent haircut, no craft brewery, corrupt cops, dog walkers don't pick up their pooches shit, crap rugby team, gangs of roaming youths, onshore 364 days a year, toxic waste seeping up through the cracks in the paths and only one private school (Lutheran).
Have I forgotten something?
...and Scotty from Marketing!
How good is Cronulla?!
Of course, how could I forget.
But, the locals love it even though fathers day is a bit of a shambles.
I'm potentially moving to Sydney to start a PhD next year, will be at USyd and honestly the move makes me very anxious as there seems like there is a lot to balance out: costs, traffic, commutes and everything else.
Imagining I had to be at USyd's main campus 4 days a week but otherwise not interested in city/nightlife/enterainment, where would you Sydney siders recommend to live for someone who wants to be getting in the water as much as possible?