ADAVIDH

Brisbane has several beaches...Margate Beach, Wynnum and (albeit artificial) Southbank. Granted, they are not like the beaches on the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Sydney but I wouldn't say they are much worse than Melbourne beaches in my opinion. It takes roughly the same amount of time to get to the Brisbane beaches as it does to the Sydney beaches if you use the respective CBDs as a starting point.

I'm from Wolverhampton and my partner is from Leicester so that's pretty Midlands! Feel free to get in touch. Been here for 20 years so can hopefully impart some useful knowledge!

Good luck with the search and feel free to get in touch once you arrive.

I live in Noosa and travel frequently through Nambour to go to the hinterland. It does not have a good reputation. There are several boarded-up shops and few restaurants. It's a bit of a nightmare to park in too and it's generally run down. It does have a train station with direct connections to Brisbane. I believe it has a drug rehabilitation centre as well which does not help its reputation. Up the hill from Nambour is very pleasant and you will get the views from there with a wide choice of suburbs. As for price, I believe in the case of Nambour, you get what you pay for. With so much in new housing in and around Maroochydore (and the Sunshine Motorway heading up to Noosa), I would prefer to be closer to your hubby's work rather than having to cross over the Bruce Highway every day for work.