Living in Surfers Paradise is like going on holiday and never having to leave!!?

[MARYROSE02]

Walking along the water's edge this evening about 6 pm and about 21 degrees Centigrade, I suddenly thought of all the holidays I used to go on to Spain and how I wished I did not have to go home. And now it has come true!

I only came up here for a short break because my brother was already living here and i did not want to endure another lock down on my own.

I cannot see any drawbacks to living here.

[MARYROSE02]

7 minutes ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Walking along the water's edge this evening about 6 pm and about 21 degrees Centigrade, I suddenly thought of all the holidays I used to go on to Spain and how I wished I did not have to go home. And now it has come true!

I only came up here for a short break because my brother was already living here and i did not want to endure another lock down on my own.

I cannot see any drawbacks to living here.

Apart from the trauma of living in a place where all the buildings are younger than me.

[rammygirl]

[rammygirl]

Glad you like it up there.  You seemed very settled and happy before though.  It does sound ideal to me.  I do like local shops and cafes and not having to drive everywhere. We have always lived within walking distance of a village/town centre in UK and here.  Never been one for splendid isolation. I thought I would enjoy city living but I like to get out into the countryside and have more space on my doorstep.

 

[Toots]

1 hour ago, rammygirl said:

Glad you like it up there.  You seemed very settled and happy before though.  It does sound ideal to me.  I do like local shops and cafes and not having to drive everywhere. We have always lived within walking distance of a village/town centre in UK and here.  Never been one for splendid isolation. I thought I would enjoy city living but I like to get out into the countryside and have more space on my doorstep.

 

Maryrose always seems happy wherever he lives but it sounds like he has found his forever home now though.  

I live on the edge of quite a big town.  Suits me fine as I'm a hop skip and jump from the open country and I can walk to the shops, cafes etc and also the river and beach.  

[MARYROSE02]

5 hours ago, rammygirl said:

Glad you like it up there.  You seemed very settled and happy before though.  It does sound ideal to me.  I do like local shops and cafes and not having to drive everywhere. We have always lived within walking distance of a village/town centre in UK and here.  Never been one for splendid isolation. I thought I would enjoy city living but I like to get out into the countryside and have more space on my doorstep.

 

I just had coffee with my brother,  still sitting here ruminating.  Another tram has just come in at the Cavill Ave stop 25 metres away. There are two Woolies supermarkets about 150 metres away, one of them in the Paradise Centre where the chemist I went to earlier is located. And the beach is 250 metres away. I went for four walks yesterday at various times along the promenade or on the sand.

But what if my brother decides to move on as he will if they open the international borders. He loves it here too but he does like to travel. I'm not worried about living on my own, which has been my life in OZ anyway, but what if I'm ill?! I guess that can happen to anyone or any couple without close family around?

My house in England is 150 metres walk from the village shops, bus stop, pub, church, doctors, and the countryside- the New Forest is a mile away - albeit it on the wrong side of a vile bypass which acts like a Berlin Wall. The beach is the compensation for the lack of countryside on my doorstep here. There is a river too - Nerang River??

Two or three trams have gone by in both directions whilst I have been typing.  Two big shopping centres are 15 minutes either way. 

Imagine if I had said "I've come on holiday to Benidorm and decided to stay." What kind of reaction then!?

 

[Wanderer Returns]

15 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I cannot see any drawbacks to living here.

Please don't say that too loudly! For decades we Queenslanders have endured ridicule from Sydneysiders and Melbournians about our state - most of it totally unjustified. Now they are starting to realize that Queensland is 'the place to be' and are moving up in droves!  

Edited November 5, 2020 by Wanderer Returns

[Tink]

Luv reading your posts 

I think you’d find the good and the enjoyable wherever you where .

sometimes it’s just attitude , looking out the good in a place , ty it’s wonderful to read . Living on your own , I have a dog , good company travels with me an never argues 

[MARYROSE02]

6 hours ago, Toots said:

Maryrose always seems happy wherever he lives but it sounds like he has found his forever home now though.  

I live on the edge of quite a big town.  Suits me fine as I'm a hop skip and jump from the open country and I can walk to the shops, cafes etc and also the river and beach.  

Where do you live? You have probably told me before!? I've been pondering/ruminating, not so much having second thoughts as wondering if I'm burning my bridges. My brothers are pushing me along to sell my flat in Sydney, which is not necessarily a bad idea. It is old now, needs modernising and has a nasty set of stairs,

Perhaps there is a disconnect between two lives and two locations. On the other hand I've hung on to my house in England for 12 years, more out of sentiment than for practical purposes. I've no intention of going back to England nor any great desire to head back to Sydney.

[MARYROSE02]

5 minutes ago, Tink said:

Luv reading your posts 

I think you’d find the good and the enjoyable wherever you where .

sometimes it’s just attitude , looking out the good in a place , ty it’s wonderful to read . Living on your own , I have a dog , good company travels with me an never argues 

Yes, dogs are marvellous company and, unlike humans, never in a bad mood and always pleased to see you. I have a cat actually and not sure what to do about her. One of my friends is house sitting and being a cat she does not really care who is there. I 'inherited' her from a neighbour who had to move suddenly and now, if I sell my flat, I am in the same boat as my former neighbour (who did say, if I can't find a home he might take her back.)

I never actually left my job though I'm on a casual contract. Covid has meant that I'm just sitting out the virus at home but I don't think I want to back to work now.  Occasionally I think about my duties and the office and my workmates. At 66 I don't need to feel guilty about retiring!  I can't say I'm bored - got my Open Uni degree and teaching myself Japanese. (Pressed a key without knowing which one and started in italics!)

I can see the sea and the churning waves from where I am sitting. I don't think I ever had a sea view before. I think I shall have a nap! Typing makes me tired.

[Toots]

2 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Where do you live? You have probably told me before!? I've been pondering/ruminating, not so much having second thoughts as wondering if I'm burning my bridges. My brothers are pushing me along to sell my flat in Sydney, which is not necessarily a bad idea. It is old now, needs modernising and has a nasty set of stairs,

Perhaps there is a disconnect between two lives and two locations. On the other hand I've hung on to my house in England for 12 years, more out of sentiment than for practical purposes. I've no intention of going back to England nor any great desire to head back to Sydney.

We live in Devonport on the north west coast of Tasmania.  On the map, we live  on the left side of the river just where it joins the sea.

 

 

[Wanderer Returns]

21 minutes ago, Toots said:

We live in Devonport on the north west coast of Tasmania.  On the map, we live  on the left side of the river just where it joins the sea.

 

 

Noice! 

[MARYROSE02]

2 hours ago, Toots said:

We live in Devonport on the north west coast of Tasmania.  On the map, we live  on the left side of the river just where it joins the sea.

 

 

Looks very nice. I guess you are referring to the big river and not the small one to the west of the town? How long would it take to walk from the big river to the small one? Is there a bridge over the big river? Ive never been to Tasmania.

I just had dinner then went to beach for a paddle and now sitting on promenade. 

[Toots]

9 hours ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Looks very nice. I guess you are referring to the big river and not the small one to the west of the town? How long would it take to walk from the big river to the small one? Is there a bridge over the big river? Ive never been to Tasmania.

I just had dinner then went to beach for a paddle and now sitting on promenade. 

The big river.  That's the Mersey river and the other smaller river is the Don river.  There is a bridge over the Mersey and also a very small ferry.  It takes about 30 mins to walk from the mouth of one river to the other.

[Skani]

On 05/11/2020 at 00:40, MARYROSE02 said:

I cannot see any drawbacks to living here.

Maybe stay there until April  before making a decision.  The summer humidity is a killer for me (and others) but may not worry you.

[rammygirl]

Surely there is a ferry cross the Mersey

[Toots]

1 hour ago, rammygirl said:

Surely there is a ferry cross the Mersey

Here is the wee ferry.  It takes about 5 mins and a few people who live in east Devonport and don't want to drive use it most days to get to work in town.

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Toots

[rammygirl]

Do you sing every time though? I would even if just in my head.

[Toots]

1 hour ago, rammygirl said:

Do you sing every time though? I would even if just in my head.

Of course I do.    Well usually hum it.

[MARYROSE02]

14 hours ago, Skani said:

Maybe stay there until April  before making a decision.  The summer humidity is a killer for me (and others) but may not worry you.

The sea seems to cool everything down in the evenings. I wonder if Surfers Paradise avoids the mega hot days in Sydney followed by southerly changes which drop the temperature so suddenly?

[MARYROSE02]

6 hours ago, Toots said:

Of course I do.    Well usually hum it.

For some weird reason I started to hum Concrete and Clay by Unit Four Plus Two. What has that got to do with Gerry and the Pacemakers?

[MARYROSE02]

On 06/11/2020 at 07:03, Skani said:

Maybe stay there until April  before making a decision.  The summer humidity is a killer for me (and others) but may not worry you.

So far, I've noticed some hot days when I prefer to stay in but even on the hottest of evenings the sea breeze brings the temperature down and I always take a top with me, or regret not having it with me if I forget.

I went for a late morning walk today (Sunday) after breakfast, along Cavill Ave to the promenade and straight onto the sand and up the beach towards Main Beach for about a km - past two of the lifeguard towers which I guess are about 500 metres apart (?) It was overcast and pleasant and I hope I did not get 'fooled' and thus sunburnt, though I wore my broad brimmed hat. I noticed that walking on the waters edge gives an illusion of coolness but as soon as you cross the sand up to the promenade you realize how strong the sun is?

I think the bottom line is that I prefer too much heat to too much cold.

[Wanderer Returns]

On 06/11/2020 at 21:38, MARYROSE02 said:

The sea seems to cool everything down in the evenings. I wonder if Surfers Paradise avoids the mega hot days in Sydney followed by southerly changes which drop the temperature so suddenly?

Up here it rarely gets to 40C on the coast because of the humidity, but it doesn't cool off at night time like it does further south which can be oppressive during the summer months, but very pleasant for the rest of the year. When that southerly is blowing, which it often is, S E Queensland is divine, but when it switches around to a northerly it can be stinking hot in the summer. That's what's forecast to happen this weekend - the first bit of real summer - so let's see how you like it  

[Paul1Perth]

On 05/11/2020 at 12:06, MARYROSE02 said:

I just had coffee with my brother,  still sitting here ruminating.  Another tram has just come in at the Cavill Ave stop 25 metres away. There are two Woolies supermarkets about 150 metres away, one of them in the Paradise Centre where the chemist I went to earlier is located. And the beach is 250 metres away. I went for four walks yesterday at various times along the promenade or on the sand.

But what if my brother decides to move on as he will if they open the international borders. He loves it here too but he does like to travel. I'm not worried about living on my own, which has been my life in OZ anyway, but what if I'm ill?! I guess that can happen to anyone or any couple without close family around?

My house in England is 150 metres walk from the village shops, bus stop, pub, church, doctors, and the countryside- the New Forest is a mile away - albeit it on the wrong side of a vile bypass which acts like a Berlin Wall. The beach is the compensation for the lack of countryside on my doorstep here. There is a river too - Nerang River??

Two or three trams have gone by in both directions whilst I have been typing.  Two big shopping centres are 15 minutes either way. 

Imagine if I had said "I've come on holiday to Benidorm and decided to stay." What kind of reaction then!?

 

I felt like that about Benidorm when I went with mates in the 70's. I don't think any of us would have gone back to the UK if someone had said would you like to stay here. Problem was we all had jobs we had to get back to.

We still feel the same about Perth, or at least where we live. Like you, been down the beach for a surf ski paddle and swim at 7:00am, coffee with friends, mates 70th birthday so he got the coffees in. What could be nicer. Summer just round the corner too, only going to get better.

[MARYROSE02]

6 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Up here it rarely gets to 40C on the coast because of the humidity, but it doesn't cool off at night time like it does further south which can be oppressive during the summer months, but very pleasant for the rest of the year. When that southerly is blowing, which it often is, S E Queensland is divine, but when it switches around to a northerly it can be stinking hot in the summer. That's what's forecast to happen this weekend - the first bit of real summer - so let's see how you like it  

I will see what happens this weekend then! So far, there have only been a couple of warm evenings and I always take my cardigan with me, more of  "just in case" than because I will need it. Sometimes there is a draft, sometimes air con too high.

It's odd because walking by the waters edge is pleasant but then walking across the sand to the promenade I'm thinking "This is SO hot."