My Mrs and I are planning to move Down Under in a few years time, and are starting to wonder where to live.

Sydney is out on the basis of been there, done that. And WA is not our speed. Probably a No for SA too. Tassie might be too remote?

It’ll be a semi-retirement thing, so we don’t need a city. But we do need good internet and no more than about 4 hours to a big airport.

Our thinking is Noosa and Sunshine Coast, or Bright in the Victorian High Country, or the Byron Hinterland or a leftfield turn: Canberra.

We ride road and mountain.

Where would you go?

Where would you go?

New Zealand.

New Zealand.

Me too

New Zealand

I really loved the biking near Byron Bay. The rides started at Mullumbimby.

I lived in Melbourne for a few years. I’ve been to all the places you mention and the Victoria High Country is by far my favourite (NSW sucks for cycling full stop). Bright and Beechworth are fantastic places – there’s epic gravel and road riding. Mountain biking is on a slightly smaller scale there but there’s a lot to do for an afternoon then have a beer and pizza at Bridge Rd or a beer and burger at Bright Brewery and Tomahawks. There’s a lot of outdoorsy stuff to do in the area and also some great food and wine to explore (King Valley etc).

I guess it depends on how often you want to ride vs do other stuff. A couple of leftfield suggestions might be closer to Melbourne, so you can get into the city much more easily but also make trips out to the high country for weekends etc. In that case I’d consider Warburton, where a new trail centre is being built (same scale as Blue Derby in Tas). There’s road and gravel riding in the Yarra Ranges but you can also take a train or drive into Melbourne easily if you wanted to get around more quickly (ie take a flight to Launceston for Blue Derby). Or just west of Melbourne, the area around Geelong and the Otways is fun (Forrest, Bells Beach) but probably less to do overall.

Don’t rule out Tasmania, it’s got its own thing going on with plenty of once-in-a-lifetime experiences to do (rafting the Franklin, the Road To NoWhere etc).

‘Byron hinterland’…..Nimbin? Mt Hotham’s ok for skiiing but having lived a year in Victoria I’b be hard pushed to recommend many places for cycling. Mates who live in interesting and remote areas are up red roads . Noosa’s a nice spot but inland, not so sure. I reckon you need to do a bit more on-the-ground research and a good look at Numbeo comparisons (I recently read about bunkhouses in Byron charging £100pppn). George Harrison had a place in the next bay to Byron, nowhere round there’s going to be cheap unless for good reason.

I’ve family who live in Melbourne after 25+ years in Tassie. They love Tassie and wish they were still there.

My brother lives in New Zealand and loves it. He cycles everywhere.

Thanks @Corroded – some good insight there. I’m amused by the comment re NSW – cycling certainly sucked hard in Sydney and the surrounds.

NZ is too far, too quiet and with St Jacinda gone, what’s the point?

Also, re the NZ comments, I’ve just spent five weeks cycling around NZ (first time back in 20yrs). My honest and perhaps contrary opinion is that it’s not a patch on Victoria or Tasmania. Not even close. The towns aren’t great in NZ, the drivers and roads are downright lethal, the offroad riding is pretty spaced out (Rotorua is excellent). And there’s a lot less going on. But I still had a great time. I’d just always pick Australia.

If it is MTB you’re after, hmm, Bright is a good shout. Tassie has some good riding, but pretty remote from Launceston or Hobart, neither of which could be said to have a major airport. As others have said, NZ us better. Wanaka or Rotovegas would be my choice there.

The other factor is how important beaches are to you. High Country is a long way from the coast. Victoria beaches are often cold and drab. East coast beaches are incredible but have sharks. Personally I loathe beaches so I was content to leave the sharks to it.

Don’t come to Tassie. There’s nothing to see here.

I lived in Tinonee NSW for a couple of years. The Kirrawak Forest had some of the best trails I’ve ever been on, and there were other great spots a short drive away.

Any riding on the road is awful. Terrible edges to the road, people buzzing you with their huge trucks ‘for a laugh’, ridiculous laws intended to discourage cycling.

I prefer Milton Keynes

I’ve lived in Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Sunshine Coast, spent months in NT and WA, and been to all the cities. I’ve done multi-day walks in all states, but haven’t ridden everywhere. I think it probably comes down to your weather preferences. Further south means there’s going to be cold weather, and some of the best spots in Tassie close in winter. Further north, hot, sometimes it rains too much to ride. But honestly I’ve ridden four or five days a week for the last five years and if it’s torrential I just run instead (maybe 20 times in five years?)

It’s like any country really, good bits and bad. For exercise outdoors, it’s amazing.

This is a snapshot of my local trails, all distinctive in their own way, none are ever busy by UK standards. There’s no epic stuff… but it’s pretty good. And there’s lots more within a couple of hours drive. My favourite spot to ride will be the Olympics 2032 XC host, so there’s a lot of funding coming our way.

Road riding isn’t as bad here as said above, it just depends on where you ride. I would say the gravel riding is amazing. I could ride from my house for days, barely touching tarmac if I wanted.

I would move back to Tassie in a flash – I have a job waiting if I want it, but too cold and far away from family for my wife.

I would move to Margaret River in a flash – too far from family again.

I would move to Sydney or Melbourne.. but only if my body was in a box or an urn.

Oh, and if it matters to you the Sunshine Coast now has the highest proportion of craft breweries per capita in Oz.

…plus Caloundra’s Happy Valley, superb long glassy breaks over rocks and weed in bathtub temps should the OP decide to switch to water sports.

Bathurst? Home of Mark Renshaw who now runs the lbs, organises rides and has a busy enough road and MTB club. Not too far past the Blue Mountains either.

In outer melbourne (warrandyte). This site has some good reviews of places to ride: https://flowmountainbike.com/

Perths actually got a solid cycling scene. Some really good trails around Kalamunda and it’s getting better and better regionally as well. It’s not a huge network but the Margs trails are just fun + the local shop is really sound.  But…. Tasmania is a genuinely magical place so would probably move to Hobart if I could.

But…. Tasmania is a genuinely magical place so would probably move to Hobart if I could.

Magical is the right word.

Population size of Lincolnshire on an island the size of Ireland IIRC.

It’s a big country for sure.

Beaches are nice, but not a deal breaker.

Happily an excuse for a trip soon 🙂