# Living in Tasmania (Hobart)?



## anders (Aug 11, 2010)

Hello, I am currently living in Europe and considering whether I should relocate to Tasmania for studies and I would appreciate all experiences about living in Tasmania and how you felt about it.

The climate seems to be really cold compared to the rest of Australia but are you still able to wear shorts most of the time or is it simply too cold?
How would you describe getting along with the locals and other social aspects? Thanks!


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

We've not too many posters if any at all from down Tassie way Anders but I've been there a few times, once to Hobart at the height of our summer in February when it was all of 13C one day but that would have been significantly lower than average.
Yes, Tasmania and Hobart in particular can be cooler than the more northern parts of the mainland but it does not get as cold as a European winter and maximum day time temperatures rarely get too far below 10C though it can be zero and minus something overnight but rarely snow in Hobart itself though hinterland heights can get it.
Though the weather could at times be tempered by proximity to the southern ocean, that with wind direction more from the south will also create a wind chill factor too.

But temperature does acclimatise you and someone always living at higher latitude may find a temperature of 15C quite balmy whereas a person living in sub tropics will possibly even think 20C is quite cool.
So if you are of hardier norther European/ perhaps Scandinavian stock you'll probably be OK in shorts for a fair bit longer in the year than most but I would hesitate to say for most of the year.


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## anders (Aug 11, 2010)

Thanks for the response, as a matter I am from Sweden and supposed to be very tolerant but I would say that makes it more interesting to experience a warmer climate for once since you sure are not spoiled with that at home.

I have been to Melbourne once but should I take it as that Tasmania is much cooler in comparison? Did you have any good/bad experiences about Tasmania that made an impression on you or is it besides the climate not that overly different to the rest of Australia? Thanks.


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

I wouldn't call Tasmanian weather a lot different to Melbournes though there can be variations because it is an island and particularly for Hobart in the South as the South westerly weather changes can be stronger though Hobart also has the SW peninsula offering protection, it being a real wilderness area.
The eastcoast is a bit like the eastcoast of the mainland in that it generally has milder weather because of being sheltered from the south westerlies.
As for other differences, Tassie as it is called is quite a bit different to the mainland as a whole as it rarely suffers from drought type conditions and has no deserts though it's inland farmland can be drier at times.
It is probably more like Scandanavia in some senses as you could thing of west side and that SW peninsula as being to Tassie as what Norway is to Sweden, rugged and taking the worst of the weather and inland you have a few lakes up north from Hobart.
The whole island has a miniscule population in comparison to the rest of Australia and Scandanavia with most population being in Hobart/suburbs and region east of there and Launceston, there being a few other small cities such as Burnie and Devonport and a sprinkling of country towns of population less than a thousand to a few thousand.
In some ways the east coast is probably an idyllic region with the main towns right on the coast and the mild weather.
The big difference to the mainland is that there has been very little development though Hobart is a pleasant enough small city if with a limited nightlife.


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## CradleMtn (Dec 7, 2010)

Hi Anders,
I have a mate who has done what you are thinking about doing. He has been blogging about it for a while at Matt Down Under- can't post links yet but it is easy to find in Google!

He has a lot of helpful information there.
Good luck!
Frank


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