Hi everyone,
Can somebody suggest/advise what's Karratha like for family of 4?
Job offered at Karratha and have no clue what city has to offer in terms of work life balance, schools, security etc etc
Really appreciate your feedback about the the area or any other info that's appropriate for me to be aware of.
Regards
Thanks you that's good info, trying to find cost of living but unable get some figures do you know how expensive living in Karatha?
There's a Coles & Woolworths and all sorts of takeaways
Fuel today is under $1.70/L which is only slightly higher than the Perth metro average (Diesel is only around 5c/L more than the Perth metro average)
So in terms of that sort of cost of living, it's not crazy
Due to the distance away from Perth everything is more expensive and if you want something special it is sometimes cheaper to buy it online from the east coast and pay the extra remote shipping costs instead of getting it locally or from Perth.
There's a good reason why perth people fly out of there after their swing…
sounds fun
Great place to get divorced.
No but seriously, for FIFO it's manageable, i.e. get out after your swing.
Would i live there? maybe if they paid $250k a year, the hit to your lifestyle isn't worth anything less.
If it were me i'd FIFO in/out and keep the family in SA.
I lived there for 6 years on a FIFO basis 2 weeks on/2 weeks off. Karratha has all the usual facilities - Coles, Woolies, Target, gyms, coffee shops, swimming pools, etc. Plenty of good housing and modern apartment blocks. Unbearably hot in summer and beautiful in winter. If you love fishing and crabbing and own a boat you'll have something to do on your time off. There's a beach halfway to Dampier - not that great, especially at low tide. Nowhere really to swim near Karratha or Dampier as the water is pretty murky. Not much within reach for a day out - a couple of little towns like Roebuck. Qantas and Virgin had lots of flights each day from Perth, but airfares were pretty steep. No idea about schools. A police station and modern hospital in town. We never had any security incidents. Cyclones were usually a non-event. I wouldn't choose to live there unless I was very well paid, and had an exit plan.
Wouldn't be a fun place for a family of 4.
FIFO or a single guy there's enough fun to be had.
Gotya!!!
Relative works in child care and did some work over there a couple of years ago. Nothing to do, lots of chroming and glue sniffing, alcoholism and child abuse rates off the charts. The childcare center she was contracting to had trouble attracting a center manager even offering a lot of money plus almost free housing. Nobody wants to go there unless they have no idea what's waiting for them.
She would not go back and said it was one of the last places she'd ever live even on fat stacks of cash. As others have said, best bet is to do FIFO and don't take your family anywhere near the place.
What's the pay rate?
It's a council job (admin) $52/Hr
I would not live there. Working there is not too bad, very hot and sticky.
It's hot in Summer and warm in winter. Summer temps get into the 45 and winder into the 30's. On average there are between 1 and 2 cyclones a year crossing the coast Karatha/Dampier areas and evey 5 years one crossing the coast at Dampier or Karatha or between the two. All the houses are cyclone rated and the locals start getting things ready about 1 week before the cyclone hits in most cases as they originate in the same area way off the coast.
It's got very good fishing.
Work life balance depends on the company you work for as the mines, harbour and Pluto run 24/7/365.
See if you can get a place at Dampier as it's nicer and closer to the water than Karatha.
If you are an outdoor person and can tolerate a very dry heat then it will be okay.
For the last few years the house prices have been down allot and you can gut a house compared to years ago.