Hi to you all,
We cant make our mind up to go to Brisbane or Townsville they both look nice places to live,and work wise for me it doesnt matter i will find work as a carpenter any where. Its the kids ,we have a 15yr,13yr,and a 2yr old and i want to move to a place where there is plenty of surf for the kids.
Does townsville have plenty of surf is the real question because that was the first place we looked at to move to.
Can anyone help who lives in Townsville or has been there.
No townsville doenst have any surf at all because of the reef. It has plenty of amazing diving but you dont get any surf that far north. Brisbane itself isnt on the coast either so only has a river and hence no surf. But brisbane is about 1hour away from the sunshine coast to the north and gold coast to the south both of which have excellent surfing and they are all surf mad. But you are looking at about an hours drive to surfing from brisbane. Sydney, around the northern beaches has surf and plenty of it. But no, townsville isnt the place for you. Im moving there and its v annoying it doesnt have any as the weather is perfect for it. Whereas the weather in sydney quite often means no-one feels like taking to the water.
Hope this helps
What put us off going further North from Brissy was the climate, we were told it's much more tropical and a lot hotter there. We visited the reef and Port Douglas about 2 years back and it was beautiful, but very hot. A sticky humid heat which I couldn't live in. That's what put us off the tropical North.
I'm told there's not a great deal in Townsville by comparison to Brisbane. We loved the city there and if you have wheels, there's so much to do all around you. It's fantastic. Townsville for me seems too rural and more of a mining engineering economy. That's not to say it wouldn't suit your lifestyle, everyone's different. Depends what you want for yourself and as a couple to share I guess.
BFN
EMMY
__________________ "It's Easy to be pleasant when life flows bye like a song, but the friend worthwhile is the one that can smile when evrything goes wrong"
Hi Helen,
Thanks for that , it looks like we will be heading for north of brisbane then. may be somewhere like caloundra cos that looks quite nice .
how far are you on with your visa application or are you already living in oz.
Hi Emmy,
Thanks for that. Good to speak to someone who has been to townsville, personally i worked in surfers paradise as a carpenter 18yrs ago but i guess things would have changed and even back then as a young lad i loved every minute of it.
Now we are going to look at caloundra, hopefully that will be the area we will move to.
How far are you with your application.
Hi Guys,
yes for sure Surfers Paradise has changed in the last decade or two, I have a cousin there (though I don't really know him that well) and he went to Oz to live 20 years back. I met him in january when he was in the UK and he was telling us how the place changed so much from virtually one road passing through to a fantastic resort and area. We visited there this year and loved the Gold Coast.
Our Visas were granted back in August and we should be on our way in january if the rate of exchange picks back up, at present we are on hold because of that.
hope all goes well for you
EMMY
__________________ "It's Easy to be pleasant when life flows bye like a song, but the friend worthwhile is the one that can smile when evrything goes wrong"
Yes caloundra is lovely. But there is an amazing place called mooloolaba which is gorgeous too and v good surf there !!. I personally prefer the sunshine coast to the gold coast because surfers paradise and all round there is a little like benidorm now, very built up with high rises. Yes they have great beaches and waves but they are exactly the same at the sunshine coast just the sunny coast doesnt have great big high rises. I spent pretty much every weekend for 18 months at mooloolab and was surfing pretty much all the time. Its beautifiul. I would move there in a second but the type of visa Im going on means I have to go live in Townsville with my aunty for a couple of years.
I was in townsville for 2 weeks in September though and its changed so much. I was there in 2000 and I agree It was like a mining community but now it was unrecognisable. There is so many bars, restaurants etc that its the fastest growing city in Australia now. The strand is the main area to hang out and its lush. The weather is awesome in townsville too, it does get v humid around jan / feb time but all through winter its about 27 degrees and not a cloud in the sky (usually). You would adapt to the humidity, however you could be there for 50 years and there will still be zero surf.
You are making the right decision I think with the sunshine coast. Especially for kids. The gold coast (surfers paradise etc) is fun all the way and great for food and clubs and holidays etc but if its the stereotyical aussie lifestyle you want, id head north to the sunny coast.
I am currently just waiting for my visa. Have submitted everything. Am going over on a 475, so its provisional at first as I didnt have enough points. Have to live there for 2 years and work in the same job for 1 year and then I can apply for permanent residency. Apparently the waiting is a little less for provisional visas so hoping I will there sooner rather than later. Any other questions about the sunny coast or gold coast just ask, i spent 18 months living in brisbane and all my friends were from the sunshine coast so I may be able to answer something.
Good luck
Brisbane gets my vote
