Possible move to Mackay or Townsville

[Wackadoodle]

Hi all,  I am hoping to move back to Australia later this year with my husband and two children (aged 12). I was hoping there might be someone on here who is nursing in either Mackay or Townsville. I interviewed with Queensland health a few weeks back. Interview went well and I was asked to submit areas of interest along with my paperwork. All paperwork is now in and I have put down Mackay or Townsville as my top choices. My specialty area is emergency nursing. 

 

I lived in Mackay a few years ago and would love to move back there. I have some really good friends in the are and my husband would likely be able to find work in the area also. Would love to hear from any nurses working in these areas to get a feel of what the work is like compared to the Irish healthcare system. 

[Eera]

Can't help on the nursing front but just want to say the regions will welcome you with open arms.

At the moment, just be aware that the rental market is very, very tight in both areas so you might have to put out feelers and see if your friends can keep a lookout for you.

What does your husband do for a living? There's a huge shortage of workers so he's likely to find something.

I'll just add that if it's been a few years since you've been here, you'll see a difference due to the amount of investment and infrastructure that's gone on.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Eera

[Wackadoodle]

Thanks Eera, 

Good to know thank you, we thankfully can stay with friends for the first few weeks but will definitely get moving sooner rather than later so on trying to secure a rental. 

My husband is a diesel fitter, he has a few contacts from our last time living there so hopefully he will be able to get work fairly quickly.

 

Oh, Im excited so to see what changes have been made. Keeping my fingers crossed that I get an offer from Mackay, my two girls have been looking at schools and would really prefer it. 

[Eera]

As a fitter he will have no worries at all; there's heaps of town work going if he doesn't fancy the mines.  My husband is also a fitter, he worked for Detroit in town for ages before going to Rio, there's Haynes, Cat, Komatsu among the big names, as well as all the service and build companies.

Good luck with your application! 

 

[safarichick]

We moved from the UK to Townsville nearly 5 years ago and love it here.  My oldest daughter did her Nursing Science degree at JCU and now works at TUH in Neonatal.  There is a rental crisis pretty much everywhere but equally as bad here in Townsville.  If you need more information on the area let me know

[Wackadoodle]

Good to know Eera, fingers crossed will hear which location I am being offered shortly. Would ideally like to have the children moved over and settled in time for the next school year.

Thanks Safarichick, will definitely be in touch if it is Townsville we are moving to.

By the sounds of it housing will be a big hurdle for us where ever we end up

[johndonuts123]

Hey there, in a similar boat. Partner and I are both in healthcare and just recently got an offer from Mackay hospital but have never been there before so a tad bit lost.

Pay and work-life balance for healthcare in Australia is usually heaps better compared to Ireland or the UK. I've found that everyone tends to be a lot nicer and the work structure is a lot less hierarchical. 

@Eera any tips for areas to rent in or what we should be looking out for before moving over? Anything would be helpful because the farthest north we've been is Brisbane.

[Eera]

2 hours ago, johndonuts123 said:

Hey there, in a similar boat. Partner and I are both in healthcare and just recently got an offer from Mackay hospital but have never been there before so a tad bit lost.

Pay and work-life balance for healthcare in Australia is usually heaps better compared to Ireland or the UK. I've found that everyone tends to be a lot nicer and the work structure is a lot less hierarchical. 

@Eera any tips for areas to rent in or what we should be looking out for before moving over? Anything would be helpful because the farthest north we've been is Brisbane.

Honestly?  Apply for everything and take the first you get, worry about finding the perfect location later.  There aren't any really bad areas in Mackay, just bad streets (The Cove has a reputation and a nickname of Ice Island, but there's many people who swear blind it's a great place.  Andergrove used to be the place with the worst reputation but I've not heard anything bad said about it for years now).

I assume you mean the Base Hospital rather than the Mater? It's in a fairly central area and really, nowhere in the main town is more than half an hours' drive away (bit more for outlying areas like Walkerston and Marian), but the Northern Beaches area does suffer at peak hours because there's only one road in and out; outside of those times it's a quick and clear run.

If you're coming over from October onwards, prepare to sweat.  A lot.  It's a tropical area and the humidity builds horrendously, the worst is January to March, but the payoff is that winter is just about perfect; in fact most sports run a winter season with only a limited number being over the summer. Picture the summer (Wet Season) being like Singapore, and the winter (Dry Season) maybe like the summer in central France and that's a decent approximation.  There's heaps of public pools around, some are free - swimming in summer needs a patrolled beach because of the stingers.  We get a lot of rain in the Wet, 100mm a day isn't unusual, but the infrastructure is designed for it and it doesn't bother us too much.  However, the insurance companies are scared of us because it's a cyclone zone and we pay through the nose for it (despite the fact we are built to Cyclone standards and Brisbane suffers heaps more damage every time there's a stiff breeze).  Also not much choice when it comes to energy providers, and the internet speed is crap.

If you're coming from a large city it'll be a culture shock, but in reality everything we need is here, though there are some additional things we'd like - cheap flights for one.  If you're after a more laid back lifestyle with short commutes and plenty of uncrowded beaches it'll suit you.  Some great hikes and really great spots in the rainforest inland if that floats your boat.  There are a number of cashed-up bogans as there's a sizable population making big money in the mines and there's an associated drug problem,  but violent crime isn't overly common - though secure your car at night!

Feel free to PM me if there's a specific question you've got.

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by Eera

[Wackadoodle]

4 hours ago, johndonuts123 said:

Hey there, in a similar boat. Partner and I are both in healthcare and just recently got an offer from Mackay hospital but have never been there before so a tad bit lost.

Pay and work-life balance for healthcare in Australia is usually heaps better compared to Ireland or the UK. I've found that everyone tends to be a lot nicer and the work structure is a lot less hierarchical. 

@Eera any tips for areas to rent in or what we should be looking out for before moving over? Anything would be helpful because the farthest north we've been is Brisbane.

Hi Johndonuts, Sounds good, congrats on your job offers. Are you living in Australia already?

Have to say the better work life balance sounds appealing. I do love where I work now but its generally so short staffed and overcrowded that after a few 13 - 14 hour shifts in a row, can barely move on a day off.

Still waiting on offers here, AHPRA is still in progress so cant move forward until that is sorted