I am pretty new to the site. My partner and i and our 2 children (girl15, boy2) are in the very early stages of looking in to emigrating. We are looking to find out about the different areas. So i was wondering if anyone could share any info they may have.
We are looking for somewhere that is family friendly, My daughter is very much into her drama and musical theatre and will be looking to persue these both in school and out of it. My little boy is obviosly only 2 and mainly into saying NO! However i am hoping that oz will be able to offer have a more outdoor lifestyle than the uk and am looking for him to have lots of sporting oppertunitis. I just hope he shares my plans.
We would like to be by the sea, but also not to far away from the main city. We are looking for greenery and park land as well as the beach lifestyle.
Would love to here from you, tell me what's great and what's not so great about where you are.
Are you just looking at Queensland Adam (as you are in the Queensland forum)
Any bits in particular?
I'm just up north of Cairns with 2 kids, extremely family friendly, the very mach "great" barrier reef on our doorstep and more green than you can shake a stick at.
But does Cairns count as a big enough city for you? It is for us, but it's not everybody's cup of tea.
If you are interseted in this bit of paradise just ask!
Alyson
Hi Adam
You havent' said which state in Oz you want to move to? We are in Sydney and I can highly recommend it - we live 10 minutes from nearest beach and it's about a 15 minute car ride into the City - if that isn't best of best world's don't know what is!!!! There are lots of open spaces, parks all over the place and you would never know you were so near to a major world City....so that's one vote for Sydney!!
Karen
Adam, I think you cross posted because I am sure I wrote a treatise on why Canberra is the place to be. Usually a good idea to just stick to one forum:)
We are no where near sure which area we want to go to, it's all very confusing and everywhere sounds great. We are proberly at this stage most attracted to Queensland. We have mainly looked at the Brisbane area, but would love to know more about Cairns and it's suberbs. How big is Cairns i know its not as big as some of the main cities. I am very greatfull for any info anyone is willing to share with us. How old are your children, I am worried if we go somewhere to small my daughter who is 15 will find it to quiet or boring.
No way would I bring a 15 year old up to Port Douglas, no cinema, no fast food, no shopping centre, nothing to do at all realy. Too much of a shock to the system for your average pommie kid. But it's great for the tiny ones (mine are 3.5 and 1.5 years). Endless playing on the beach, swimming in water holes, exploring the rain forest, fishing is a big hit with my elder one. 4 wheel driving is a big hit with my husband. They are both in swimming lessons and we do playgroups and clubs with them. Theres a real community feel, I think we must know just about every child in Port and Mossman and we've only been here 6 months. Going to get them diving and snorkelling ASAP. Lots of mucking about in boats to do too once we scrape the cash together.
Look into Cairns and don't be put off by the climate, it's not too hot at all and it hasn't rained much this wet season, but then there's been an unusual lack of cyclone activity. But some people struggle with the heat, even the locals. Loads of mozzies at the moment but there were none in the dry season and we don't seem to get the flies that plague Sydney and Canberra ( I was down there recently ) I reckon there are less spiders up here too. Not sure of population of Cairns, about 130000 maybe, Liddylou lives there, it's where we originally intended to go but ended up up here because of work. Only 3000 of us in Port.
Lots to do in Cairns though and it's only 1hr down the most beautiful road in the world. Plenty of shops, cinemas, eateries, tourists and lots of stuff we havn't discovered yet. And they've got a zoo with lions and stuff, not just kangaroos, not been yet. Amazing kid's playgrounds and swimming lagoon, all free.
And this part of the world is so beautiful you wouldn't believe.
House privces are good down there too.
You've got a lot of thinking to do. Good luck with it.
I also think Perth is great by the way. And Sydney is amazing but a bit sprawling with bad traffic.
We decided against Brisbane because of the traffic too. I like it though.
Don't ask me about Canberra, can't stand the place, my husband grew up there and he wouldn't go back, but he had a ball as a boy scout there with all the outdoor activities. Cold too.I have to go there a lot to see family.
Melbourne too cold for me , I thought it was rather like Manchester culturally, which is good. A lot of people up here go down there for holidays to get a city fix. They love it.
Big decision to be made, and one man's paradise is another man's living hell. It's all personnal opinion, have fun researching it!
Ax
Location: From Bury,Manchester To Jimboomba, Brisbane
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Hiya have you looked inland from the Gold Coast ,we are behind the Gold Coast hinterland ,about 40/45 min from the city(if you ever have the joy of going,not!) and about 40/45 min from the beaches of surfers,we live on a family friendly acerage estate ,that also does smaller plots,schools (primary,high and child care) and shops(spar,takeaway,video,newsagents) are in the middle so easy access for everyone(school bus is big here if you dont fancy the school run).There are lots of after school clubs within a 10/15 min drive(too many to list),we drive 5 mins to Jimboomba ctr for the weekly big shop!! and the place is expanding at a rate of knots.Its 15 mins to the big shopping plazas with cinema,fastfood outlets etc,you dont normally have to travel much further for anything.We feel we have the happy medium ,property reasonable compared to most areas,work availble in most trades within a 30min radius,not to closed in and not too far from anywere,good luck in your seacrh its a tough choice!!
Cal x
hi Adam
We're on the sunshine coast about 75 mins north of Brisbane. We moved over on Xmas day with our 2 boys 13 & 14, where we are seems to be very central for all our needs. We are in the catchment area for the renowned Mountain Creek High School which the kids love. We were concerned with the level of education before we arrived, the 14 yo is studying the International Baccalaureate Diploma which he is breezing through, the 13 yo loves the school and feels that he is actually learning something. Both have settled in very well and have loads of friends, 14 yo goes to school 7:30-1:00 so after school rides down to the beach at Mooloolaba to attempt to surf with his school mates. There seems to be so much for the kids to do to keep them occupied, they aren't even missing their friends back in the UK.
There is tons of construction going on in the area, so i would of thought for a tradesman there will be jobs a plenty. Similar to Port Douglas, which is a beautiful part of the world, it has been very wet over the past 7 weeks orso that we have been here but you just get on with it and don't let it dampen your spirits, after all it still warm.
If we can offer any assistance or further information - just ask.
