I am going to uni next year for a few years, and though it would be a good excuse for a sea change.
What Uni around Australia would you vote the best for surf/beach/kite lifestyle? Factoring in kiteable days, cost of living, surf quality, warm weather, and generally nice area? Don't particularly care about nightlife or city entertainment.
Recommendations? Short list so far is University of Wollongong, and Newcastle.
Well if warm is one of your ideals we are currently wearing 2mm steamer in Newcastle and will be till about august 
Perhaps that is still warm if you consider dry suit is for cold 
The gong is even closer to Antarctica
sunshine coast uni, griffith or bond on the gold coast, or southern cross uni on the far north coast of nsw (campuses at lismore and tweed).
further north than this list there is no surf. further south it just gets too cold. perth is cold in winter and has crap surf.
Im at JCU in Townsville. Excellent for kiting (i get out 3 - 4 times a week usually) but if you want surf then forget it 
Cheers
Is Townsville kiteable all year round? Whats it like living there? And importantly, where is the closest surf? I could probably deal with weekend trips, but maybe not if it's ages and ages away. Sorry - I am an ignorant NSW boy who knows nothing about QLD.
I don't mind the cold too much if it means good surf and kiting. What about Newcastle V Wollongong? What is the better surf / kite destination? I currently live down at Jervis Bay so am familiar with kite and surf spots down there, but unsure about conditions in Newcastle.
Select to expand quotebennie said...
go the open university and live in gero.
Move to dongara and don't bother with uni
haha, you already live at the windiest place on the east coast, and with uncrowded waves. lol.
what more do you want.
as for townsville, awesome place but no surf.
decent and consistent surf pretty much stops at noosa...
not much further north.
griffith uni on the goldy, or sunny coast uni for lifestyle...
or for something different the Aussie maritme college in tassie...
is the uni work related, what do you wanna study?
Select to expand quotezarb said..
Is Townsville kiteable all year round? Whats it like living there? And importantly, where is the closest surf? I could probably deal with weekend trips, but maybe not if it's ages and ages away. Sorry - I am an ignorant NSW boy who knows nothing about QLD.
I don't mind the cold too much if it means good surf and kiting. What about Newcastle V Wollongong? What is the better surf / kite destination? I currently live down at Jervis Bay so am familiar with kite and surf spots down there, but unsure about conditions in Newcastle.
Yeah it gets pretty consistent wind throughout the year thanks to seabreezes and SE trade winds. As surfingboye said the closest surf is probably noosa... a decent 13 hour drive away . Some of the best kiting opportunities in Australia though (Alva Beach, whitsundays etc). Good uni too depending on what you want to study.
Cheers
If you like waves you'll get bored pretty quick North of the sunny coast. Take into account stingers, crocs and dengue fever and I know where I'm staying! The far north is good in winter and crap in summer, lived there most of my life but wouldn't move back again unless I got rich enough for a winter house in Townsville
Staying put in the Illawarra is starting to look like the most attractive option!
JCU Cairns has a large variety of courses, its about a 6 minute drive without traffic lights to Yorkeys Knob. You can get a 2 bedroom furnished unit for approx $260/week, which is about 30 seconds walk to kite beach, the wind blows from april to october, semesters run from march to november. Which gives you december-feb to get away and kite anywhere else you like.
You can kite 10 months of the year while being productive. boardshort sessions in winter? winner.
I'm at Sydney Uni, and there is a good crew of kiters based around the Uni. If you want awesome conditions all the time though - head north!
Wollongong Uni is 3klms from the beach,most students live in between.Great variety of surf within 10 klms.Kiting reasonable to good in summer,the 15noreasters that don't happen when forecast just drive to 7mile guaranteed to blow.No Kiting in winter...some on lake on S.Westers.Rent is about $140 per bedroom sharing .Uni lifestyle is great ,cruisy and most pass,good luck
Select to expand quotesurfingboye said..
haha, you already live at the windiest place on the east coast, and with uncrowded waves. lol.
what more do you want.
as for townsville, awesome place but no surf.
decent and consistent surf pretty much stops at noosa...
not much further north.
griffith uni on the goldy, or sunny coast uni for lifestyle...
or for something different the Aussie maritme college in tassie...
is the uni work related, what do you wanna study?
Civ Engineering. Current work will no longer be work as of Feb next year
I'm thinking with the kiting in summer, surfing in winter, nice area, good SLS clubs nearby, and an active waterpolo team, Wollongong is ahead at the moment. Cairns and Townsville sound adventurous, but I don't think I could deal with the lack of surf.
University of WA has a kite spot across road at the end of its campus on the Swan River and is 15min drive to coast. Murdoch Uni is 20-25 min drive to Woodman's Point, same to other metro coast spots and has an emphasis on marine studies.
Select to expand quotezarb said..
Is Townsville kiteable all year round? Whats it like living there? And importantly, where is the closest surf?
Your closest break is at the outer reef. Some insane waves out there, no crowds, but you need a boat to get there
Not sure about jellies, i was surfing there during winter months and that's not jelly season. Locals can prolly give you more info on that. Sharks are everywhere, but yes I assume there is a higher chance of spotting a tiger then around coastal beaches. But if it's on and barreling you won't be thinking about that.
Select to expand quotesurfingboye said...
decent and consistent surf pretty much stops at noosa...
not much further north.
What ? ^^^^ , does the place even break ok in winter ?.
Select to expand quoteTractorguy said..surfingboye said...
decent and consistent surf pretty much stops at noosa...
not much further north.
What ? ^^^^ , does the place even break ok in winter ?.
nah,,,,
first point can be sweet.
definitely the best break in noosa...
Select to expand quoteBig eeeZeee said..
what are you studying?
Civ Engineering hopefully.
Pretty hard call... I would say Gold Coast or Lismore is your best bet.
Lismore rent can be really cheap, or you can stay closer to the beach in Ballina or Alstonville even if you want to commute to uni each day.
There is almost always rideable waves on the far north coast, unlike Sunshine or Gold Coast and there are a few alright skateparks if you are into that.
Newcastle would probably be more fun for other things to do but as pointed out it gets pretty cold in winter.
To be fair this is a pretty hard question and having grown up in the region I'm not really the best person to ask. However I know a lot of people who moved here for uni and they really love it.
Moved from Far North QLD to Perth for Uni/ kiting - absolutely love it, kite in summer - surf in winter.
I'm in my final year of mech eng and find it hard to get out a lot during uni due to the work load. Although if you work your ass off you can manage a day or two a week if it's windy in Newcastle (which it isn't atm)
Civil doesn't have as many in class tests as mechanical or mecha but still takes a fair effort past your 2nd year.
However I could be talking to a genius and you don't stress as much as the rest of us 
Newcastle has a excellent engineering reputation, however going somewhere you like also benefits your study a heap. Also civil has the most amount of women on average 5/100 which is good odds if you kite
Select to expand quotezarb said..Big eeeZeee said..
what are you studying?
Civ Engineering hopefully.
Oh, you expect to have free time to go kiting whilst you study Engineering do you?
My first year I was doing 40 contact hours a week, and I had to work 1 day a week, and do some study as well.
Don't base your course choice on lifestyle, base it on the quality of your course.
You get 3 months over summer to go kiting - save your cash and do a mad summer trip.
Select to expand quotelostinlondon said..zarb said..Big eeeZeee said..
what are you studying?
Civ Engineering hopefully.
Oh, you expect to have free time to go kiting whilst you study Engineering do you?
My first year I was doing 40 contact hours a week, and I had to work 1 day a week, and do some study as well.
Don't base your course choice on lifestyle, base it on the quality of your course.
You get 3 months over summer to go kiting - save your cash and do a mad summer trip.
Thanks to the internet though you don't really need need to have many contact hours. All lectures are recorded and everything else is available online. Saying that it really depends on your timetable. I'm currently in 3rd Year of a Civil Engineering and a Finance Degree at Sydney Uni, have a part time night job and still get to kite most days of the week Im sure ill be eating my words in the next few years.
Hi Zarb,
If you are doing civil engineering Wollongong has some good points. I stayed at wollongong with two mates who are doing civil at the moment and are having loads of fun. They really know how to party there and there are loads of young people (although if you are older you might not like this). The Uni is pretty nice except Wollongong was a little to industrial for my liking (I was at the city centre). Surf wise is a bit crowded but better then Sydney for sure, go south and you will have some great waves - the further south the better, just don't go north! Wind isn't great, been a bit off the past two seasons but hopefully this summer is better. Fantastic options south heaps of inlets for dead flat water when the wind is up.
