How dangerous is the wildlife in Queensland?!? 🐍🦈🐊🕷

[Cobs_Ahoy]

Just got off the phone with my sister who lives in Melbourne and am now having a bit of a wobble.....

She said it’s not safe to go in the water in most places in QLD, mentioned the bullsharks in the waterways, loads of crocs, jelly fish etc.... she had been planing to move to the Sunshine Coast but said she would never have dared go in the water so ended up staying in Victoria. These are things that I was aware of, but maybe I minimised them?!?!

Now I’m not sure if I’ve been sucked in by glorious Instagram pictures that ignore the dangers, or whether my sister has just been told too many horror stories and is disproportionately scared! But as the beach culture is a big factor in my planned move I’m now questioning whether I’d ever be able to relax with my kids on the beach!!!!!

[Bobj]

And, what are chances of being hit by a vehicle as you step off the kerb? We are all very blasé about that, but still do it.

Where I live in the Mackay Region, we have 2 swimming enclosures, within 8km and most kids only swim/paddle in the winter months and wear stinger suits. Many people go skin diving and use wetsuits.

Yes, we have irukanji and box jellyfish, stonefish, blue ringed octopusses, poisonous seashells, sharks etc, but still manage not to get killed, maimed. disfigured etc. as we take precautions and are sensible about the water. Our own little beach has bottles of vinegar at each beach access, but as far as I know, they have only been used by tourists for fish and chips!

Cheers, Bobj.

[Bulya]

Utter nonsense.  

[Eera]

Swim between the flags and you'll be fine.  The most dangerous things in the sea is the rip and people who overestimate their abilities in the water.  

[Marisawright]

7 hours ago, Cobs_Ahoy said:

Just got off the phone with my sister who lives in Melbourne and am now having a bit of a wobble.....

She said it’s not safe to go in the water in most places in QLD, mentioned the bullsharks in the waterways, loads of crocs, jelly fish etc..

Ahem, could it be that she wants you to live closer to her?

If you were thinking of Far North Queensland, she'd have a point.  They have crocodiles and marine stingers.  But you won't find any crocodiles or marine stingers on the beaches of the Sunshine Coast, it's too far south.   They do get bluebottles (Portuguese man o'war) sometimes, but we got them in Sydney too, and I lived there for 30 years and never got stung.  Occasionally there's a wave of them but in that case, you'll see them on the beach and know to avoid the water.  The bull sharks - that is true, but I'll leave it to Sunshine Coast people to comment how much of a problem they really are.  

in general, in Australia the further south you go, the fewer dangerous animals/insects there are.  Don't assume you  have to go to Queensland to get the beach lifestyle.  The beach lifestyle continues all the way down the East coast as far as Bateman's Bay.   If you don't have to live in a big city for work, you could look at places like Port Stephens, Lake Macquarie and have the beach dream with fewer nasties.

[Cobs_Ahoy]

3 hours ago, Bobj said:

And, what are chances of being hit by a vehicle as you step off the kerb? We are all very blasé about that, but still do it.

Where I live in the Mackay Region, we have 2 swimming enclosures, within 8km and most kids only swim/paddle in the winter months and wear stinger suits. Many people go skin diving and use wetsuits.

Yes, we have irukanji and box jellyfish, stonefish, blue ringed octopusses, poisonous seashells, sharks etc, but still manage not to get killed, maimed. disfigured etc. as we take precautions and are sensible about the water. Our own little beach has bottles of vinegar at each beach access, but as far as I know, they have only been used by tourists for fish and chips!

Cheers, Bobj.

Maybe it’s familiarity. To use the kerb analogy, precautions are second nature as I do it so often (look, listen, don’t step out between cars etc), whereas the precautions around crocs/sharks/jellyfish are so unfamiliar they seem bigger somehow. 

[Cobs_Ahoy]

 

30 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Ahem, could it be that she wants you to live closer to her?

If you were thinking of Far North Queensland, she'd have a point.  They have crocodiles and marine stingers.  But you won't find any crocodiles or marine stingers on the beaches of the Sunshine Coast, it's too far south.   They do get bluebottles (Portuguese man o'war) sometimes, but we got them in Sydney too, and I lived there for 30 years and never got stung.  Occasionally there's a wave of them but in that case, you'll see them on the beach and know to avoid the water.  The bull sharks - that is true, but I'll leave it to Sunshine Coast people to comment how much of a problem they really are.  

in general, in Australia the further south you go, the fewer dangerous animals/insects there are.  Don't assume you  have to go to Queensland to get the beach lifestyle.  The beach lifestyle continues all the way down the East coast as far as Bateman's Bay.   If you don't have to live in a big city for work, you could look at places like Port Stephens, Lake Macquarie and have the beach dream with fewer nasties.

Thanks for that info Marisa, reassuring to hear, although will wait to see if anyone else comes along with bull-shark horror stories before I get carried away.....

My sister isn’t aware of our plans to emigrate yet!!! We don’t want to tell anyone until we are able to give timeframes and things are more certain, visas seem like a nightmare at the best of times and the pandemic hasn’t helped. My sister has had a rough couple years since arriving in Melbourne, various issues getting a partner visa and needing to do a years post-grad study (while working full time) in order to registered as a teacher. And the lockdowns, obviously! So didn’t want to get her hopes up until we had firm info to give her. 

I have the Sunshine Coast in mind because I liked the sound of the the sun-tropical climate, national parks, beaches and the fact that it seemed less developed/more laid back than other bits of the coast. I guess it’s one of those things that you can’t know for sure until you’ve explored, and we might find we prefer NSW. However, due to visa points I’ll have to stake my colours to the 190 mast and take a bit of a punt. 

[ramot]

8 hours ago, Cobs_Ahoy said:

Just got off the phone with my sister who lives in Melbourne and am now having a bit of a wobble.....

She said it’s not safe to go in the water in most places in QLD, mentioned the bullsharks in the waterways, loads of crocs, jelly fish etc.... she had been planing to move to the Sunshine Coast but said she would never have dared go in the water so ended up staying in Victoria. These are things that I was aware of, but maybe I minimised them?!?!

Now I’m not sure if I’ve been sucked in by glorious Instagram pictures that ignore the dangers, or whether my sister has just been told too many horror stories and is disproportionately scared! But as the beach culture is a big factor in my planned move I’m now questioning whether I’d ever be able to relax with my kids on the beach!!!!!

Well I would never live in Melbourne because you never know what the weather will be’4 seasons in one day’ or always either very cold, very wet or occasionally 40’ so too hot, if you believe everything you’re told. No offence Marisa.

Ive lived on the Sunshine Coast almost 19 years and still alive, having successfully missed all of your fears. The beaches are beautiful, water sports enjoyed by by many, but like anywhere in the world take sensible precautions, eg respect the sea, swim on patrolled beaches between the flags. No crocodiles this far south, except in Australia zoo, or jellyfish apart from blue bottles occasionally as mentioned. I have seen 3 snakes in our garden, all tree snakes, and believe me I check. Yes there are bull sharks in the rivers and canals, doesn’t seem to stop people water skiing at all, you hardly ever hear anything about them or to be honest any of your sisters scare stories. Lots of Children cycle to school carrying their surf boards to school to go straight to the beach after school, 

I have no intention of leaving the Sunny Coast, this is the 5th country I have lived in, so plenty of experience of different places, and I’m not moving again. The reality of life is of course that no one place suits everyone, so we all have to decide where we hope we will be happy, and live without fear.

[ramot]

17 minutes ago, Cobs_Ahoy said:

 

Thanks for that info Marisa, reassuring to hear, although will wait to see if anyone else comes along with bull-shark horror stories before I get carried away.....

My sister isn’t aware of our plans to emigrate yet!!! We don’t want to tell anyone until we are able to give timeframes and things are more certain, visas seem like a nightmare at the best of times and the pandemic hasn’t helped. My sister has had a rough couple years since arriving in Melbourne, various issues getting a partner visa and needing to do a years post-grad study (while working full time) in order to registered as a teacher. And the lockdowns, obviously! So didn’t want to get her hopes up until we had firm info to give her. 

I have the Sunshine Coast in mind because I liked the sound of the the sun-tropical climate, national parks, beaches and the fact that it seemed less developed/more laid back than other bits of the coast. I guess it’s one of those things that you can’t know for sure until you’ve explored, and we might find we prefer NSW. However, due to visa points I’ll have to stake my colours to the 190 mast and take a bit of a punt. 

Depending on your occupation, finding work on the S Coast can be a problem, and commuting to Brisbane to work is not much fun due to the heavy rush hour traffic, 

[Parley]

I'd be more worried about the snakes up around sunshine coast.

Particularly the Eastern Browns and Red Bellied Black snakes. They find their way into people's houses too.

The carpet pythons are probably okay.

[Cobs_Ahoy]

7 minutes ago, ramot said:

Well I would never live in Melbourne because you never know what the weather will be’4 seasons in one day’ or always either very cold, very wet or occasionally 40’ so too hot, if you believe everything you’re told. No offence Marisa.

Ive lived on the Sunshine Coast almost 19 years and still alive, having successfully missed all of your fears. The beaches are beautiful, water sports enjoyed by by many, but like anywhere in the world take sensible precautions, eg respect the sea, swim on patrolled beaches between the flags. No crocodiles this far south, except in Australia zoo, or jellyfish apart from blue bottles occasionally as mentioned. I have seen 3 snakes in our garden, all tree snakes, and believe me I check. Yes there are bull sharks in the rivers and canals, doesn’t seem to stop people water skiing at all, you hardly ever hear anything about them or to be honest any of your sisters scare stories. Lots of Children cycle to school carrying their surf boards to school to go straight to the beach after school, 

I have no intention of leaving the Sunny Coast, this is the 5th country I have lived in, so plenty of experience of different places, and I’m not moving again. The reality of life is of course that no one place suits everyone, so we all have to decide where we hope we will be happy, and live without fear.

Thanks Ramot, that’s really helpful. Are most of the beaches around there patrolled? 

 

3 minutes ago, ramot said:

Depending on your occupation, finding work on the S Coast can be a problem, and commuting to Brisbane to work is not much fun due to the heavy rush hour traffic, 

I’m a nurse (mental health),from my internet research it seems there are a couple of hospital and community mental health teams up there.

[ramot]

1 minute ago, Parley said:

I'd be more worried about the snakes up around sunshine coast.

Particularly the Eastern Browns and Red Bellied Black snakes. They find their way into people's houses too.

The carpet pythons are probably okay.

Sensible people keep their screen doors shut, and have screens on their windows, but yes you are right it does happen,, they are around if you are careless, or seems to happen if your cat brings one in through the cat flap, but we don’t live in fear of them.

[ramot]

4 minutes ago, Cobs_Ahoy said:

Thanks Ramot, that’s really helpful. Are most of the beaches around there patrolled? 

 

I’m a nurse (mental health),from my internet research it seems there are a couple of hospital and community mental health teams up there.

Not all beaches, the main beaches are.

[JetBlast]

To be honest you will be more likely killed on some of the bizarre road layouts in Melbourne CBD. 

When I was in Queensland I only saw pythons and they won’t kill you. I am now in South Australia and saw 2 brown snakes in one day. Both in a nature reserve not out in the city of suburbs. One of the browns was a baby in a creek. The other was in the grass on the edge of the path, I came less than 1 Meter of it before I spotted it. The snake actively avoided me and changed direction. 

In Australia many popular beach’s have shark nets I prevent them getting close to humans. They also have helicopters patrolling the area looking for them. 

[Tulip1]

6 hours ago, ramot said:

Sensible people keep their screen doors shut, and have screens on their windows, but yes you are right it does happen,, they are around if you are careless, or seems to happen if your cat brings one in through the cat flap, but we don’t live in fear of them.

Does that mean people can’t leave their doors into the garden open so the kids (and pets) can run in and out playing.  Not a criticism, just curious as I can’t imagine not being able to have the door wide open on a nice day. 

[Parley]

19 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

Does that mean people can’t leave their doors into the garden open so the kids (and pets) can run in and out playing.  Not a criticism, just curious as I can’t imagine not being able to have the door wide open on a nice day. 

Melbourne is fine. But I get all these videos on Tik-Tok of the snake catcher taking snakes out of people's gardens and sometimes in their bedrooms.

[Blue Flu]

23 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

Does that mean people can’t leave their doors into the garden open so the kids (and pets) can run in and out playing.  Not a criticism, just curious as I can’t imagine not being able to have the door wide open on a nice day. 

One has pet flaps. Doors left open rarely. An invitation to cockroaches and flies, mosquitos and bugs. We have inner fly screen doors  that allow a cooling breeze to enter . Seldom the entire door. 

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Tulip1 said:

Does that mean people can’t leave their doors into the garden open so the kids (and pets) can run in and out playing.  Not a criticism, just curious as I can’t imagine not being able to have the door wide open on a nice day. 

You have a "screen door" as well as an ordinary door (a door made of flyscreen mesh).   Yes, it's going to bang annoyingly every time the kids run in and out, but if you don't have a screen door, you'll have a houseful of mosquitos, cockroaches and spiders.  I never thought about them keeping snakes out, since I've always lived in very urban areas where snakes are rare.  In fact the only time I've ever seen snakes are in country Victoria and Noosa.  

I'm living in Melbourne now and it's the first place I've lived in Australia where I don't have flyscreens on the windows and doors.  Luckily thanks to Melbourne's climate, it doesn't have as many bugs as the rest of the country.      

[calNgary]

17 hours ago, Cobs_Ahoy said:

Just got off the phone with my sister who lives in Melbourne and am now having a bit of a wobble.....

She said it’s not safe to go in the water in most places in QLD, mentioned the bullsharks in the waterways, loads of crocs, jelly fish etc.... she had been planing to move to the Sunshine Coast but said she would never have dared go in the water so ended up staying in Victoria. These are things that I was aware of, but maybe I minimised them?!?!

Now I’m not sure if I’ve been sucked in by glorious Instagram pictures that ignore the dangers, or whether my sister has just been told too many horror stories and is disproportionately scared! But as the beach culture is a big factor in my planned move I’m now questioning whether I’d ever be able to relax with my kids on the beach!!!!!

We have lived in QLD 15 years now, part of the reason for our move was to be outside more, preferably in or near the water, with nice weather. We live on acreage and enjoy the water, be it fishing or out on the boat. The only sharks we have seen have been wayyyyyyy off shore and despite having land all around the house ,ive seen only a handful of snakes in all the years here.

I worried about similar things prior to migrating,especially with having 2 little ones at the time and after a few months of being here you stop thinking there is a killer creature lurking around every corner waiting to pounce! If you keep up the pest sprays both inside and around the outside of your home ,you wont have many issues at all. Make sure any house you rent long term has fly screens too.

 The stats of a shark getting you are so low ,bear it in mind, but dont stress about it. You soon lean the rules of the water, avoid swimming dawn and dusk, swim between the flags etc etc

The Sunny coast is lovely and booming right now, finding work as a nurse should not be too hard for you. Have a look on realestate for property prices etc as they have shot up lately with many houses going for above the asking price, it may help give you an idea of affordable areas for you.

           Cal x

[ramot]

2 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

Does that mean people can’t leave their doors into the garden open so the kids (and pets) can run in and out playing.  Not a criticism, just curious as I can’t imagine not being able to have the door wide open on a nice day. 

We get more fresh air in the house, because doors and windows can left open all day, with mesh keeping the bugs out, with little fear of anyone breaking in through a wide open window in the front of the house while in the back garden. We have security mesh so can leave windows open all night safely, and keep the house cooler. Children bought up here just accept the mesh doors as normal.

[Cobs_Ahoy]

26 minutes ago, calNgary said:

We have lived in QLD 15 years now, part of the reason for our move was to be outside more, preferably in or near the water, with nice weather. We live on acreage and enjoy the water, be it fishing or out on the boat. The only sharks we have seen have been wayyyyyyy off shore and despite having land all around the house ,ive seen only a handful of snakes in all the years here.

I worried about similar things prior to migrating,especially with having 2 little ones at the time and after a few months of being here you stop thinking there is a killer creature lurking around every corner waiting to pounce! If you keep up the pest sprays both inside and around the outside of your home ,you wont have many issues at all. Make sure any house you rent long term has fly screens too.

 The stats of a shark getting you are so low ,bear it in mind, but dont stress about it. You soon lean the rules of the water, avoid swimming dawn and dusk, swim between the flags etc etc

The Sunny coast is lovely and booming right now, finding work as a nurse should not be too hard for you. Have a look on realestate for property prices etc as they have shot up lately with many houses going for above the asking price, it may help give you an idea of affordable areas for you.

           Cal x

Thanks Cal, your set up sounds idyllic and very much what we had in mind, I guess that’s the Australian dream for a lot of British families, particularly in the depths of winter!

Sunshine Coast house prices seem astronomical to be honest, we will have an ok deposit as we live in an area of the East Midlands that has seen house prices rise 30% during the pandemic, but still lots of the areas are way out of our range.

[Bulya]

3 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

Does that mean people can’t leave their doors into the garden open so the kids (and pets) can run in and out playing.  Not a criticism, just curious as I can’t imagine not being able to have the door wide open on a nice day. 

Can’t think of anything worse.  Blowies, mosquitoes and more 

[newjez]

25 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

You have a "screen door" as well as an ordinary door (a door made of flyscreen mesh).   Yes, it's going to bang annoyingly every time the kids run in and out, but if you don't have a screen door, you'll have a houseful of mosquitos, cockroaches and spiders.  I never thought about them keeping snakes out, since I've always lived in very urban areas where snakes are rare.  In fact the only time I've ever seen snakes are in country Victoria and Noosa.  

I'm living in Melbourne now and it's the first place I've lived in Australia where I don't have flyscreens on the windows and doors.  Luckily thanks to Melbourne's climate, it doesn't have as many bugs as the rest of the country.      

This is probably going to blow everyone's mind, but, we have a screen door in the UK.

[Parley]

12 hours ago, ramot said:

We get more fresh air in the house, because doors and windows can left open all day, with mesh keeping the bugs out, with little fear of anyone breaking in through a wide open window in the front of the house while in the back garden. We have security mesh so can leave windows open all night safely, and keep the house cooler. Children bought up here just accept the mesh doors as normal.

Don't you have air conditioning? I'm sure most people use that rather than leave doors and windows open.

[ramot]

4 minutes ago, Parley said:

Don't you have air conditioning? I'm sure most people use that rather than leave doors and windows open.

Of course we have air conditioning, but perhaps a strange concept to you like many here we  prefer fresh air in the house. Fresh air is free! You might not be aware unless you live here on the Sunshine Coast, that most of the year the weather is lovely, there is absolutely no need for aircon, so most people only use it during a few months in summer Have hardly needed it yet this year,  fans and fresh air more than adequate.