Does/has anyone lived in Cobar, NSW

[goingdh]

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone one here has/is living in Cobar NSW, I was wondering what you thought of the town.
I've been offered a job working in Cobar at one of the mines and had a site/town visit last week.  While the job would be interesting, I didn't spend much time in town as I was in and out on the same day so didn't really get much of a feel for it.  I've done about 4yrs of residential work before but the town was evenly split between mining/farming though so I sort of know what I'm getting myself into, but every town is a bit differnt.
Any opions would be appreciated.
 

[Pebble]

Yeah I've lived in Cobar, I think we were there 2 years. My neighbors were pretty nice, I think that's the key, if you can meet a few people you get on with then the town will be just fine.
From a womans perspective I love how the supermarkets did free grocery deliveries, it's nice especially since I had a couple of young kids (Hubby worked in the mines while I was home with the kids). The daycare and preschool there was good, school seemed ok as well. And hey they've got a swimming pool at least, no such luck with the little town I live in now....Nannup.

We mainly left because we wanted to go back to fifo type work, just suits us better than Mon-Fri, and we wanted to settle the kids in one spot while Hubby can work wherever he likes.

Oh you won't find much DH riding there though lol (assuming your a downhill rider by your user name here). There are a few nice trails though from where people ride motorbikes, just watch all those goats heads (double G's).

Yeah not a bad town really, a bit isolated, hot / desert like I suppose. Dubbo is a 3 or 4 hr drive from memory for your KMart type stores. We lived in a company house with subsidised rent which was pretty good.

I reckon I'd probably rate it about the same as Norseman in which we also lived for 3yrs, Cobar is bigger than Norseman though I think.

We were never affected by crime there but did read regularly in the local rag about break ins and what not, probably by known people most of the time. I think potentially more of a problem in the center of town close to the pubs lol.

That's about all I can think of anyway

[Tracey family]

We live in Narromine but my Scott (hubby) works and lives in Cobar on a 4 on 4 off roster. He doesn't mind the place and the only reason the family base is still in Narromine is because I have a daughter in year 12. It's a pretty friendly town with all the facilities you need. We are 2.5 hours east of there and Dubbo is another half hour east of us. Scott works for CSA mine and they look after their workers really well. He's also worked at Endeavor and Peak on a contract basis so feel free to PM him if you have any questions - he'd be more than happy to help.

  Glenyse

[Barry G]

On the assumption that 'first impressions can be accurate' ... came through Cobar on the way back from the Corner, travelled there from Bourke and then to Lake Cargelligo in one day.
Did the lunch break and shopping for supplies thing.
It is 'a long way from anywhere else' but seemed a real 'oasis'.  Green and leafy, seemed to have well maintained community facilities (I'm in local gov't, so have an eye for that sort of stuff) and choice of shops.
Of course that doesn't tell you about schools etc, but my thinking was it would be worth a look if I ever do an inland change.
As far north west inland as I'd consider.  Unfortunately couldn't say the same for either Bourke or Wilcannia, for example.  (But both smaller & more isolated than Cobar.)

[goingdh]

Thanks for the replies so far guys, gives us some more food for thought, will pass them on to the wife too as she is curious too having not been through Cobar either. It did seem a lot better than I expected, from the limit driving around we did, by the size of some places some must like Cobar a lot judging by some of the rather substantial homes that were around.  Personally I don't think I would ever settle in a mining town, but reckon we could live there for 3-4 years before needing to be back by the sea

Sounds as though we'll be in the same boat as you were Pebble,  with company house and all, they took us to see the house that comes with the job, its on Jones St on the southern edge of town, the area didn't seem to shabby at all.  I already know a couple of people that I've worked with that live nearby (I think only a couple of doors down too) so blending into town should be much of a problem. Learnt to deal double G's while I was in Southern Cross, DH tyres, 2 DH tubes split down the inside and a set of thorn proof tubes, made a for a heavy wheel set but good for training. May have to trade the downhill bike in for a moto though , otherwise might get known as Pushbike Pete again, then again could be called worse I suppose.