Guest emrixy Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 hi ....we were told last month that our 175 visa will be granted once our new baby has the all clear when born in august. We lived in Sydney for four year until 2008, and we love it there but moving back for a 'better life' not an expensive life!! So wanting to either go to gold coast or sunshine coast. We went there when we were travellers but have kids now so priorties very different. We want to live near beach, in a beautiful, upbeat area (not hillbilly) and in commuting distance od brisbane for my partner whos a painter, but totally lost on where to go!!!! We want to get it right first time because we know we'll end up heading back to sydney where are friends are if we get it wrong!! can anyone help ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 If you want more for the kids then it has to be the Gold coast theres loads to do there, great theme parks, the beaches are fantastic, more nightlife, everything and the sunshine coast has incredible beaches, but alot less to do, theres no reason why you shouldn't try them both out, unless you are curtailed by work, best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jojaks Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 We spent 3 weeks in QLD in feb this year , we had two great weeks on the sunshine coast , We stayed in Marcoola , a very quiet little place but only 5 mins from Coolum which has a great beach and a few cafes and bars. Noosa is about 20 mins away by car and that is stunning ! great beach plenty of shops and bars. The sunshine coast is a bit quiet for us though , its more of a early to bed early rise kind of place , great for families but i wouldnt recomend it for young couples after a bit of night life. Marcoola is just over an hour away from Brisbane , Maroochdore is about 20 mins away by car and thats the nearest kind of city , im sure your other half could get work there. For our third week we went about an hour south of Brisbane to Surfers Paradise. Much more of a late to bed late up kind of place , huge beach and plenty of night life shops and hundreds of bars. BUT i must say , what a dump !!! The Gold coast is aparently a great place but , we only saw Surfers Paradise and we did not like it at all !! For us even though it quieter we prefered the Sunshine coast. Im sure someone with a better idea of the Gold coast will be along shortly to point out some better areas , Our impression is a very limited one we can however recomend the Sunshine coast , for living not hollidaying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PommyPaul Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 i spent a year and a half on the sunny coast, i'd say sunny if you want more chilled pace of life, gold if you want busy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
163ALLOUT Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Have to agree with jojaks, surfers is a bit of a dump. Not seen all of the Gold coast but it's nickname is Brisvegas!!!. We stayed on the Sunshine coast for 5 weeks about 18 months ago. We loved it that much we will be moving their permanently on June 29th this year, can't wait. No contest between the two in my humble opinion!! Good luck Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PontePom Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Living on the Gold Coast and it's fantastic very peaceful and quiet. Beach 10-15 minutes drive away. Theme Parks 5 minutes and 15 minutes drive away. Surfers seems to be busy but only been to the Hard Rock cafe for meals apart from driving through it several times. So many great places either side of surfers. Never been to the sunshine coast so can't say on it either way We love it here Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest emrixy Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 thansk guys... we stayed in sunshine coast and gold coast for a few months when we were travelling.. loved them both.. but we were consuming a fair amount of booze at the time on camp sites partying every night .. so it might have clouded our judgement a bit!!.. actually alot!! does anyone know really nice suburb near surfers .. near beach/cafes etc?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Louey Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We have lived on the GC for 3 months now and love it. We live in the Robina/Varsity lakes area. It's about 70 mins on the train to Brisbane with trains every 30 mins. We are 15 mins from the beach and about 30 mins from the theme parks. Surfers is very touristy and a bit of a party place. Away from that you can find some great places here to live that are very family orientated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Have to agree with jojaks, surfers is a bit of a dump. Not seen all of the Gold coast but it's nickname is Brisvegas!!!. We stayed on the Sunshine coast for 5 weeks about 18 months ago. We loved it that much we will be moving their permanently on June 29th this year, can't wait. No contest between the two in my humble opinion!! Good luck Jon Its actually Brisbane City that carrys the Brisvegas name not the Gold Coast. Surfers on the Gold Coast is a world wide tourist 'hub' so is built to cater for that with high rises and souveneir shops,, you have to venture out of Surfers to see the real Gold Coast and find the best beaches. Mudgeeraba ,Robina, Maudsland, Guanaba are all stunning green suburbs yet still only a stones throw from the hustle and bustle of the entertainment or beaches. Sunshine Coast as Paul said is quieter and more laid back IMO, both places are lovely and it depends what suits you. The strongest piece of advice i could give would be to try the commute to your workplace in rush hour before committing to living anywhere. Ive never (in nearly 5 years) managed a trip from the sunny coast to brisbane without sitting in a traffic jam,,, the highway from the gold coast to the city isnt much better either.A few people i know on the GC use the train but depending on the time you commute it can be packed with no seats available. Good Luck in your search,, drivem drive and drive and see what suburb you find that YOU feel right in. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest36187 Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Cal is right regarding some of the suburbs that she has mentioned. ALso there is the stunning GC hinterland as well to consider. The strongest piece of advice i could give would be to try the commute to your workplace in rush hour before committing to living anywhere. Ive never (in nearly 5 years) managed a trip from the sunny coast to brisbane without sitting in a traffic jam,,, the highway from the gold coast to the city isnt much better either.A few people i know on the GC use the train but depending on the time you commute it can be packed with no seats available. This is a very good piece of advise. I have found more traffic Brisbane to Goldie than the other way. Look at roughly where you will be working, get a "travelling" boundary - say an hour and then look at the individual suburbs. See if they can offer you what you would like. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozsurfie Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Cal is right - Brisbane is nicknamed Brisvegas and those who have based their opinions on the Gold Coast with a visit to Surfers is like saying the whole of the UK is like Deptford or Chiswick ( just random suburbs not offending anyone !! ) Surfers really is a holiday type area noisy , brash and all glitter some people like to live there some dont but to say dont live on the gold coast its all like surfers is just ignorant. You have suburbs like robina, ahmore, southport, helensvale - all great for "normal" family life if you have money and want a beach life try parts of palm beach , currumbin or mermaid beach , if you like the green country life try out parts of gilston , mudgeeraba - but more isolated try Mt Tamborine or Springbrook. The sunny coast is i find quieter and the infrastructure has caught up with numbers even less than the gold coast . If you want nicknames i was always told caloundra was gods waiting room As the others have said try the commute out but be aware that there are a lot of road works again so times may be worse at present between the GC and brisbane. Sunny coast down to brisbane is always very busy trip into the city Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellsbells712 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 We had all heart set to settle north of Brisbane anywhere from Brisbane to Caloundra on the sunshine coast. We only stayed as far north as Scarborough, visited North Lakes, mango Hill which I thought were great but when we drove down the gold coast side we fell in love with this side of the river. Like Cal says you need to drive around, just get a feel for the place, you will know yourself which you prefer. We are renting in Pimpama, 35 mins from Brisbane and about 25 mins to Surfers. Although there is not much in Pimpama itself, although a fab little school for the kids. Coomera or Ormeau is only 5 mins drive. I feel like I am living in the crountry side. Our house has a fantastic view of the mountains. We love it here. Helensvale is only 10 mins away, for Westfields. Although we want to be a bit closer to the sea, we are going to stay here in Pimpama for a year and then maybe move a bit further down the gold coast. But definitely drive and have a feel. Thanks Cal for giving me advice before we moved out. We have been here 4 weeks now and love it. We are now however in the midst of a massive Thunder storm....WOW !!! Not seen anything like it b4...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest perrytld Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I prefer the sunshine coast although to be honest I don't think either is commutable on a daily basis to Brisbane CBD. We chose to live by Moreton bay, so we have small beaches on our doorstep, a short commute to the CBD and an easy hour drive to the sunshine or gold coasts on the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THORPES Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 We lived on Sunshine Coast bit have had to move to Gold Coast because OH was commuting daily and he was exhausted. We lived in Mooloolaba and it was nice. Very peaceful but not much to do. However we do prefer it there rather than Gold Coast. We live in Ashmore now and find the gold Coast we have seen is VERY ROUGH. We did love Coomera Waters but its just too far out for us. We know a few locals and they dont rate Helensvale, Upper Coomera and especially Pacific Pines. This is only our opinion and what we have seen and heard. Everyone has different needs etc but we dont think Gold Coast is worth moving to the other side of the world for Jill xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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