Guest kylee1 Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Hello everyone, My husband ,daughter and I are going on a 3 week reccie trip to Cairns in October. We have chosen Cairns mainly because some very close friends of ours have recently moved there. I wanted to ask those of you heading to or living in Cairns what made you decide on this area. Also if you are living in Cairns it would be nice to know your positive/negative views on the realities of living there. What sort of weather can we expect for our trip?, heading out on 16th October, with a short stay in Sydney on the way. Is there good employment opportunites for my OH who is a carpenter? Sorry, lots of questions, but all your comments/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wardy Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 I was told that October is the best month to visit Cairns the weather is perfect. There is a lot of house building happening there and all kinds of tradies are needed. look out for posts by asylon she lives that way on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pinhead Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Hello everyone, My husband ,daughter and I are going on a 3 week reccie trip to Cairns in October. We have chosen Cairns mainly because some very close friends of ours have recently moved there. I wanted to ask those of you heading to or living in Cairns what made you decide on this area. Also if you are living in Cairns it would be nice to know your positive/negative views on the realities of living there. What sort of weather can we expect for our trip?, heading out on 16th October, with a short stay in Sydney on the way. Is there good employment opportunites for my OH who is a carpenter? Sorry, lots of questions, but all your comments/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks I was there in 2002 so I'd expect it's grown a lot since then. There isn't a beach actually in Cairns but there are beautiful beaches along the coast (Trinity Beach, etc). Cairns is a base that people go to for outdoor adverturous activities such as white water rafting, skydiving, scuba diving etc. The town is focussed around the tourism industry with endless places to book trips, eat, etc. The town itself IMO isn't that good a place to live day to day as it's not that practical for everyday needs. Cairns is in the tropics so the weather is humid & is very wet Nov-Mar but sunny the rest of the year. Personally I think it's a great place to visit Mar-Nov as a base but I'm not sure I'd want to live there or in the Nort QLD area unless it was to retire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asylon Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hellooo, Yes, I live up here, Port, 1hr, 63 Km North from Cairns. It's simply fabulous darling! We chose Cairns because a. we had been before and travelled all over Oz and liked it the best. It has a bit of old town charm, less of your highrise. We came from London, last thing we wanted was another city and associated commuting hastles. b.houses were a lot cheaper than the south, although they are on the up as everyone from the south is moving up here to escape the drought and get some of our tropical vibe. c. traffic? what traffic? And you can park just about anywhere for free. ( I note you come from Cambridge so this wil be a big bonus for you) d. we are mad keen divers and wanted to be near the reef Probably some other reasons that I can't remember. On arrival, we ended up in Port as my husband got a job up here. Climate.... hot and then hotter. In October it was in the high 20s, sometimes hitting 30. Probably won't be much by way of storms then, they tend to arrive a little later. October is the "build up" to the wet.Highest it got was 36 degrees. It doesn't cool down much at night. I wear jeans and long sleeve tops all year round to keep the sun off, which is fine. Should you wish to risk life and limb by putting your skin in the sun, you will be fine in shorts and vests. The UV levels up here are BAD news. April now and it's cooling down. We actually have a sheet on the bed at night. June July it gets down to about 25 degrees daytime, 10 degrees at night. I'm told it will be too cold to use our pool (bummer) The wet is very wet. Jan- March. We havn't had any cyclone activity this year but still had 647 ml of rain in one 24 hr period. The roads flood, houses seem not to. The drainage is amazing. We were house bound for a few days as it rained for maybe 5 days in one stretch and the water just kept coming. All roads out of Port were closed. Once it stopped raining it drains away realy quickly. I love the wet. It's cooler and realy dramatic. We go out and dance in the river flowing down our street and ride bikes around in bikinis and generally have fun. It's not gloom and doom all the time, even in the wet most mornings are sunny, and often days on end. Even when it's 36 degrees its Ok though, everywhere has aircon. You will find you stay indoors more than you expected, but the houses are HUGE so it's not such a pain. You will need a good 4x4 to realy get out and about and cope with the flooding. Or not, if you mostly stay in town. 4x4 ing is awesome fun up here. Loads in Cairns for the kiddies. The lagoon is fabulous, Muddies kids playground is the best I've seen in the world, and it's free. Cinemas, fast food, restaurants, whatever, it's there. There is also always something happening. There was a brill new year's eve party down on the esplanade, very family focused. There are many Australian type "zoos" and a real zoo with lions and stuff up on the tablelands. There is a rodeo up there in july, looking forward to that. Negatives... Stingers, Nov - May mean no swimming in the sea. There are stinger nets at most of the beaches but they don't keep out the Irukandje jelly fish as they are teeny tiny and cause death. There are also crocodiles . One in the stinger net on Easter Sunday at Trinity beach. Also the water turns the colour of the Bristol channel and pongs a bit after heavy rain as all the junk is washed out of the mangrove swamps. We swim in fresh water swimming holes instead, croc free ones. There are also Mozzies in the wet that carry horrible diseases. Dengue fever at the moment. You have to be very careful. It is extremely tedious applying sunblock and mozzy stuff day after day. Especialy as combinations of particular types are carcinogenc. Another reason I wear jeans and long sleeves all the time.They go away in the dry. We don't have so many flies up here as in the south. Very few acshully. There are also tropical ulcers, ringworm, nits, nasty viruses of many varieties and at the moment worms. Health care is crap. There are brilliant markets and all manner of tourist attractions to keep you entertained. You need to like tourists, Japanese mostly. They are very funny. We go up to Mossman gorge for a swim and to watch the bus loads of backpackers on their "hardcore jungle adventure" trips. Endlessly amusing. There can be a bit of trouble in Cairns, bashings, gangs, that sort of thing. I'm sure not as bad as most places in Oz though and it's very easy to avoid if you are sensible. Lots of jobs in construction, this place is boom town. I reckon the cost of stuff is higher than in the south, petrol/diesel is more, food is more, although if you shop at the markets you'll get bargains. No ikea Not many decent shops at all, but adequate, and nobody cares what you look like up here anyway. Start your own fashions. The most deadly snakes in the world are found here (coastal and inland taipan). There are a lot of snakes. Not a problem though. There don't seem to be as many spiders as in the south and we have gorgeous tree frogs and geckos. Don't come if you don't like geckos, they are always in your house. lots of them. Eating spiders I hope. All of that being said, I now hate going into Cairns, I'm used to the peace and tranquility and quieter pace of Port life. The only thing that drags me back is the fruit and veg market and the lagoon. And it;'s all just so beautiful up here, mountains, rainforest, reef, wildlife. The fresh tropical fruit and veg will blow you away, you can pick mangos from the trees at Christmas. Brilliant place for kids. Not so good to retire...see crap health care. ( admittedly not so bad in Cairns itself, there is a hospital, but no oncology dept within a 4 hour drive) does that just about cover it? Good luck and feel free to ask questions A x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Els-Bells Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi, WEre heading to cairns on 14th june and cant wait!!! WE have been researching the area for months and months and feel for us it is the right place to be, though you will find with anyplace there is pros and cons no place is perfect but taking into consideration, job opps for both of us, schools seem great, house prices reasonable, weather good, laid back lifestlye etc etc, we decided on Cairns, plus it looks absoloutley Gorgeous!!!!!. We will hope to settle in Trinity Beach which is one ofthe northern beaches, near enough to cairns city but far enough away not to live the City life. The only thing that put us off was the humidity, heard that at times it feels like ur walking around wrapped in a wet blanket.....my hair doesnt do humidity, but if its as laid back as I hear then who cares!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kylee1 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi, Thanks for your replies. Its great to see some good honest opinions wether they be positive or negative. Asylon - Thankyou for your interesting detailed reply, Im sure I will be throwing a few questions your way. We do also plan on visiting Port Douglas whilst we are there. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asylon Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I honestly don't notice the humidity, I can't "feel" it. You probably will when you first get off the plane I s'pose. You just sweat a lot. You get used to it. And don't worry about your hair, it'll mostly be all ratty from swimming and sweating. Chuck out your straighteners and hairbrush and invest in a hat or a bandanna. ( lost my hairbrush months ago) I just love it here. I feel realy priveledged to be this close to nature and all this beauty. But yes ,there are lots of crap things about it too. Ax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YorksfamilyRobinson Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi, I love Cairns too. I spent last summer there with the hubby and 2 kids. We are itching to get back there asap. I can't add any thing to asylon's reply. There are ups and downs with everywhere especially when you live there and see it "warts and all" but there are definately more ups, in and around Cairns, from what i saw. i stayed with friends who have just moved back there from England and are in love with the place again. Enjoy your trip and good luck the the visas. Lx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bohlesover Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Hello everyone, My husband ,daughter and I are going on a 3 week reccie trip to Cairns in October. We have chosen Cairns mainly because some very close friends of ours have recently moved there. I wanted to ask those of you heading to or living in Cairns what made you decide on this area. Also if you are living in Cairns it would be nice to know your positive/negative views on the realities of living there. What sort of weather can we expect for our trip?, heading out on 16th October, with a short stay in Sydney on the way. Is there good employment opportunites for my OH who is a carpenter? Sorry, lots of questions, but all your comments/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Kylee, We chose Cairns for the perfect weather, apart from feb/march which is rainy season and very humid, the rest of the year is perfect, with october possibly one of the best months. We live in the city (renting until we build) and its okay, close to everything, walking distance, we will be looking at palm cover area to build, which is a 20 min ride out of town, but plenty of shops restaurants around with a great beach. Cant really give you any downsides to living in Cairns, but the humid weather in summer doesnt suit everyone. any questions feel free to ask. Karen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest damon79 Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Cairns is amazing, no doubt, but there are some things you need to know before moving there. I have a few friends here that moved from the UK and they all love it. There's a good site to learn more about Cairns and what it is like living in Cairns. Cairns Life covers all the basic topics, plus many issues that you would encounter if you move there. Issues that are often overlooked or not discussed. It's getting quite a bit of talk at the moment, worth checking it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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