Where on the NSW coast would be a good location for wind all year and reasonable property prices. Wearing rubber is no problem for the cooler months. Getting sick of the tropics and need a change. Looking for flat water and smallish waves. Cheers
Nowhere on the NSW coast has consistent winds all year round.
Lots of places fit the other criteria such as Toukley on the NSW central coast.
If I had to move from sunny South West Rocks- and stay in NSW- I'd probably live in Port Macquarie. You have some decent flatwater (Queens Lake), and some fun waves (Middle Rock) all within a 30 minute drive. For ocean / bay blasting with occasion good waves, SWR's is pretty hard to beat. Next location for me would be down Forster way- some good lakes and a few ocean wave riding spots. But as Karl touched on, consistent wind is a problem. It's all fronts in winter, and seabreezes in summer. Autum sucks...
Newcastle is a great spot, coming here from Sydney was a top move for us. Plenty of affordable houses near the lake. Great weed free flat water/bump and jump in Lake Macquarie and some good wave sailing apparently off the beaches. Plenty of city things to do but not much traffic and not far if you want to go bush.
Plenty of options for work as well. Good luck and don't worry there are plenty of Maroons supporters around to keep your company come state of origin.
I've spent weeks and weeks during summer at Port Macquarie. Got the impression that the seabreezes are far and few between up there. Came to the conclusion that seabreezes on the east coast get stronger and more frequent as you move south, peaking at Gerroa but holding pretty steady all the way to Merimbula. Just a theory.
mid north coast prob has best climate & I would say Coffs area windiest part of MNC.
Perhaps Lake Illawarra area would be my vote as best average winds.
Have you considered the Port Stephens area? Plenty of flatwater & some surf options.
If it had to be Sydney then proximity to Botany Bay would be a priority. Depends how
much you want to sail & your range of equipment & family situation etc.
To escape the tropical climate you've got to be south of Sydney so I'd say that the illawarra would be a safe bet between lake illawarra,windang,gerroa, and sanctuary point you've got a killer combination of locations to make the most of the wind conditions from any direction.
Thanks very much for the info, will now have to do a trip down and have a look around in may.
My experience, for what it is worth, is that NE seabreezes in NSW start earlier and finish earlier in the season up north and start and finish later in the season down south. Same in WA. When I lived in the NSW Northern Rivers region the seabreezes started quite early in the season and we would sail Lennox Beach late winter/very early spring, and on the Mid North Coast (MNC) the NE start in early/mid Spring and so on. I've lived in Port Macquarie for 13 years now, and the last 4 years with the weather pattern from mid summer being very wet meant poor seabreezes, but I think this was an east coast phenomenon (el nino/la ninia or whatever). Before this weather pattern the NE seabreezes were great, not mega windy, but 15-20, and this last season there has been plenty of seabreezes up until the end of Jan as well. I've even had 2 NE days this last season where at 93kg I couldn't hold down a 5.7m wavesail on flat water! As a rule if you lived in Port Macquarie you would expect seabreezes from late Sept through to mid Jan, with the odd day here and there outside these parameters. It is not WA regular, but nowhere on the east coast is.
nbr, Port Macquarie is a small but pretty place nestled on the Hastings River and right on the beach. Within a short distance from Port there are quite a few flat water spots (Harrington sandbar/speedstrip, Queens Lake, Hastings River, Town Green) sailable from westerlies through to NE seabreezes, each with their better directions, we have wavesailing spots (Lighthouse Beach, Middle Rock) and also an advantage for a small town, we have Jordan's Boating Centre which stocks sailing gear (East coast retailer for KA Sails, Hot Sails Maui, Patrick etc). Also an hour up the road you have South West Rocks (SWR) a really fun BnJ spot, and 1.5hours south you have The Great Lakes around Forster, so Port Macquarie is a good spot to live and sail, and a good base to sail other great spots on the MNC. I love living here and do both GPS and wavesailing. We have a massive GPS Team, which mind you probably 1/3 of come from the central Coast area, but locally here the numbers keep growing so it is a good vibe. THE CSIRO also state that Port Macquarie has the "best climate in Australia" with mild winters and gentle summers. Although you probably cant go wrong with the weather anywhere on the MNC.
An issue that you may find with Port Mac nbr, depending upon what line of work you do, is that the job market - it is not large, as we only have population in the area (Port and surrounding 20klms) of about 40,000. The realestate is quite reasonable compared to city prices and expect to pay $400-450k to get a 3/4 bedroom brick house not far from town (which also means not far from the river or beach as well). Depends upon your standards and expectations, there are residences far cheaper than this, and some far more expensive too. Our pocket of the MNC is definitely worth a look, come in and say hello if you are passing through and I am happy to show you the spots or give you a map if you want to do a self drive of the area - just PM me on here. Good luck with your decision.
PS: Here is a vid that Glenn put together of Harrington in a southerly, fun racing up and down the sandbar. Harrington is 40mins drive south of Port and we all froth at the gob to sail there in anything from SE-SSW.
www.seabreeze.com.au/Videos/View/7995027/Windsurfing/Speed-Sailing-Harrington-20141229/
PhilSWR has posted heaps of vids of Queens Lake and SWR so have a look at his collection on here. I don't have any on the wavesailing. Lighthouse is cross/cross-off and can be a challenge if a southerly sweep, Middle Rock is plain fun and not nasty at all, just fun ramps and slushy waves on a NE or SE
Select to expand quotenbr said..
Where on the NSW coast would be a good location for wind all year and reasonable property prices.
buhahahaha
Thanks for that AJEaster we have to get down there and have a look around and the work situation is not a worry as after this year I hope to finish full time work and be able to hit the road at the mention of a breeze somewhere. Cheers Nigel
Lake Macquarie, not to be confused with Port Macquarie. Reasonable house/land prices. Brilliant surf beaches if that's your thing. With a lake that's almost 4 times the size of Sydney Harbour, there's always a spot you can enjoy no matter what the wind direction and without all the traffic.
