AnitaG

We moved here a few months ago from WA and are loving the cooler weather, undulating hills and mountain vistas. The town has excellent facilities and a ‘proper” high street with a good selection of shops and eateries. People are pleasant and we’re equidistant from the Mornington Peninsula / beach, snow and city. House prices are affordable and you get more bang for your buck. With the prospect of rising interest rates it’s a wise decision to go regional (plus we escaped some of the restrictions due to being regional 😋).

We moved onto this street last year (having previously lived 1km away, near Warnbro Sound Ave). We predominantly chose it for its beachside location - being just 1 street away from the quietest beach in Secrets (the other ones being the patrolled one at the surf club and the dog beach, next to it), and because we needed an extra bedroom. Since moving here we can't believe how quiet it is! (ok so we did live next to the main road previously, but you can sit on your porch (or back yard!) and enjoy a glass of wine whilst listening to the waves, and traffic is quiet with only the odd car passing by. There's a park at the end of the road, close enough for children to walk to on their own.... everyone is super friendly and you can't wear earphones walking the dog because you have to keep removing them so you can talk to passers-by and say hello!

The only downside about this street is its distance from the primary school and college, as now it's too far for my kids to walk. However, most of the time it's too hot to walk, anyway! ;-) I cycle into town to the shops sometimes, and it only takes me 10 mins. The golf club is within walking distance and is a great place to go for a coffee or meal out. Oh, and there's a bus stop a few minutes around the corner (on Bancoura Parkway).

With regards safety, we've never had any problems (touch wood!) and have had many a parcel delivered without it going astray....or things left out the front that don't go 'walkabouts'. This isn't the case in other areas of Secrets, so we feel grateful to be in such a safe area where our kids can wander the streets with their friends, go to the beach or park and play out the front without any concern :-)

We moved to Secrets 2.5 years ago, choosing it for its location (bang inbetween Rockingham and Mandurah, both of which are great places to visit and full of tourists in summer), its beach lifestyle, competitive house prices and the little high street with restaurants, bars, salons, etc. (not many places over here have high streets).

Since moving here we've been relieved to discover that the schools (that we'd prayed were good) are, in fact, excellent... that the people are lovely and friendly (lots of Poms here!) and the area is as safe as you're going to get for a town of over 12'000 people (we've had a few incidents over the years but most of the offenders weren't local and we were merely the unfortunate target of their criminal endeavours). The shops are great (the mall is a great place to escape the summer heat), there are a few beaches (1 patrolled, 1 for dogs and 1 (near us) mostly quiet and devoid of people so you have the place to yourself), health facilities (doctors x 2, dentist, hair & beauty parlours, alternative therapy / massage establishments, etc.), community centre with rhymetime for kids and health visitor appointments for babies, a park and playground around every corner (the new one at the surf club is fantastic), lots of BBQ areas (all of which can be found on the GrillSeekerApp) and of course our world-class golf resort - Secret Harbour Golf Links. It meanders through the suburb and has some houses backing onto it (the Spyglass Hill area). The community spirit in this area is fantastic - from supporting people who've gone through bad times or suffered at the hands of criminals (not a common occurrence, hence why when it does happen it's such a shock), to organising fundraisers for the victims of the 2019/20 bushfires....

We found this place by accident (we'd actually decided on somewhere NoR but came south at the last minute, just to rule it out!) but now we wouldn't be anywhere else. We prefer SoR as it's cooler (by a good few degrees!), quieter with less traffic, and also it's closer to the awesome Margaret River region. If you want to see kangaroos you need go no further than Karnup Road (near Stakehill Winery) or Lakelands, in an enclosed area of bushland opposite the houses near the lake. We get the odd snake, as does everywhere over here, but a quick post on the residents' page will have a snake catcher at your doorstep in a jiffy! Oh, and on the subject of the local residents' page... take what you read with a pinch of salt because some people have too much time on their hands and like to whinge (usually the Aussies rather than the Poms though, strangely enough!).

So come visit our lovely suburb and see why it's been kept such a 'secret' from the rest of the world ;-)