Salegirl

How to describe Sale? It's a small town, where you'll have to wait two weeks to see a doctor, but you can get in any day to one of the 20+ hairdressing salons around town (and I'm not kidding, there really is that many.)

There are some lovely areas, such as Macalister St, around Lake Guthridge, and down along Lower Heart Rd and in the new development areas of Wurruk. But, of course, don't expect to find anything in these areas for less than about $350,000.

For first home buyers, you're normally limited to areas like Dawson St, North Sale and the north end of Wurruk - which, in their own right aren't too bad, but it would be wise to invest in comprehensive home and contents insurance and deadlocks for all your doors, if you know what I mean.

There are a few nice restaurants to eat at, but a lot of them tend to close down in the first 12-24 months of opening and be re-opened under new management, simply due to lack of clientele. However, there are some stalwarts which have been in the area for some years now, with very good reputations, including Wild Honey and Redd Catt (both in the CBD), Tall Poppy, The Star Hotel and Bis Cucina at the Entertainment Centre.

That's a highlight of Sale, for certain, is the Entertainment Centre. Located on Foster St, it brings a much-needed dash of culture to the area. Regular shows include performances from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, touring shows from Bell Shakespeare and the Melbourne Theatre Company, and stand-up comics like Jimoein, Arj Barker, Tripod and Ross Noble.

As for nightlife...well, personally I love it. I'm more a pub person than a club person, but that's not to include everyone's taste. The aforementioned places, Redd Catt and Bis offer a great selection of local wines and cocktails, but if you want to hit the town up, there's several pubs (Jack Ryan's Irish Bar, The Star Hotel, the Gippsland Hotel and the Crown Hotel) all within a few blocks of each other, with Kazbah and the Club Hotel (aka, Ringers) capping off the great Sale pub crawl.

As for other bits and pieces - there are several large parks that are great for walking and running, the most popular being the circuit around Lake Guthridge and Lake Guyatt. During the summer months, there are often outdoor fitness programs being run around there.

There's also the Gippsland Art Gallery, which adjoins to the Wellington Shire Council buildings. While you won't see collections from the likes of Van Gough, Rembrandt or Da Vinci there, what you will find is a fantastic showcase of art that is often from local artists, including Charles McCubbin and Annemieke Mein, offering a unique perspective to this gallery. It's definitely a must-see, with many exhibitions offering free entry.

There are three doctor's offices - Clocktower Medical, Ramahyuck and Mason House. All offer bulk billing, and there are a few specialist services, including hearing, podiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology. There is also a hospital - Central Gippsland Health Service, which covers the majority of your hospital needs - an A&E department, radiology, maternity, surgery and so on.

There's a small independent cinema with three screens, which normally screens all the big-name releases. However, if you're an independant French film buff, you may need to open a Netflix account instead.

Job opportunities are somewhat unique around Sale. We've got a relatively unique setting of being a regional town with several large industrial employers - East Sale RAAF Base and Esso Longford. Esso Longford is a link to the Bass Strait oil rigs, and employs a large variety of people - from cleaners and receptionists to engineers and first-aid officers. East Sale RAAF Base is also home to the famous aerobatic team, the Roulettes - who can often be spotted training over the skies of Sale, and make for a wonderful sight.

There is also a flourishing local dairy industry for anyone seeking work as a farmhand or sharefarmer, and also a timber mill at the nearby town of Heyfield.

Education wise, Sale doesn't do too badly. There are three local highschools which cover the trifecta of education - Catholic (Catholic College Sale), Anglican private (Gippsland Grammar) and Government (Sale College). For tertiary education, there is the large East Gippsland TAFE Campus, which is also in the process of offering associate degrees and diplomas through Deakin University. Monash University also has a campus at Churchill - about a 45 minute commute.

All in all, Sale isn't too bad a place to live in. It has all your basic needs (though for shopping, you're better off driving half an hour to the Latrobe Valley, to be honest), the majority of crime committed in the area is normally a drunken brawl between two het-up blokes, and it's quite a picturesque place with several parks. Sale would be a great place to retire to, or to raise a family in if you're looking to get away from the metropolitan area.

Sale isn't a great place, though, for young people or couples, since tertiary education is limited, and outside of agriculture and engineering, there aren't many other job opportunities.