missdaisymay

Morning all,

so many questions, everyone is sounding really excited with all their moves.

Okay, yes we have indoor pools, the main public pool has outdoor and indoor and is handy to the soccer grounds in Kawungan/Torquay area. There is also another one in pialba. We also have a plethora of gyms. Some for the young, some for the older and some for all. We also have the pcyc gym (police youth club) so everyones covered.

Dont forget the beach people!!!! safest beaches on qld coast. best swimming beaches are pialba, scarness torquay and urangan. Coming into summer we get our bigger tides and actually get to body surf woohoo.

Banks - Westpac, anz, commonwelath, NAB, suncorp/metway, Bank of Qld, Heritage, theres also a community bank i think called bendigo bank.

If you are looking for different businesses, just go to www.yellowpages.com.au this is our business phone book on line.

cheers

Donna.

Lil Lis

Hi Guys,
I have used Otto's gym that was really good, at the moment I am doing Beachfit classes which are morning & nite, they also do a bootcamp if your really really game for that one (I just dont like carrying logs around thats all but the beachfit classes are great, they have a range such as pump, punch, crunch, enduro, etc) & its all outdoors!!!
Maybe when you all get here...u could meet up at Bayswater Resort on a Friday between 5.00 & 7.00pm for double bubbles (its really really good...2 glasses of champers for $6 or a bottle for $14 instead of $28) yum yum
Okay, better get back to work before the boss catches me lol!!
Lil Lis

pata

Can anyone advise about job opportunities for young people in Hervey Bay?
My son (19) is still undecided about Australia.
I plan to come to HB when I eventually get myself organised!
My daughter has already moved to Brisbane and is lookng for work there.
Son is working in airport security at the moment here in Scotland.
Any advice about jobs/wages etc would be appreciated.
Thanks

tasmas

I've been tempted by Hervey Bay. We're coming there as soon as we get some funds through. I'll be studying at Wide Bay Tafe in hairdressing.
I wanted any info on the areas past Point Vernon i.e. Toogoom, Craignish and Dundowran Beach.
Are the beaches ok for swimming here, are they as quaint and quiet as they appear to be?
Rentals appear to be a little cheaper than Urangan, Pialba & Torquay here, are they up and coming areas but very nice to live in?
Info greatly received.
Tracy

Mrs Kiwi

Thanks for the list of banks Donna.
Lil Lis, I like the sound of "double bubbles." !
Great news that this thread is in to its 10th page - so much interest in Hervey Bay. When we first decided on it I thought we'd be the only ones on BE heading there but its fab to know theres loads of us.

Safin

Toogoom is about a 10 - 15 min drive out of the main town area, Craignish a bit less and Dundowran a bit closer still. There's not a lot at all between Toogoom and Craignish and Dundowran and the Bay itself. That said in another decade I bet it all joins up! Each area is basically housing and a corner shop.

The housing is generally bigger both in house and land size compared to closer to town. Lots of people like that - others find the in and outing to the shops/schools hobbies a pain , particulary those with school age kids. There are school buses though.

I've not really been to those beaches much but they do look nice. Dundowran sometimes has a weed/algea problem but I'm told its not a problem often.


The only other thing is I hear mixed reports about Dundowran Breach area having a lot of biting midges (sand flies).

I'm sure there are others on here that know more about these areas though.

Safin

kiwinow

We stayed in Toogoom. It has a store, but also a nice restaurant/bar on the sea front (Goodies) and a cafe (The Salty Squid). Nice big boat ramp. A wide creek good for fishing, crabbing, kayaking etc and a gently sloping sheltered turquiose beach. Of course, if we'd seen it during a cyclone we might have seen a different side. We loved it - loads of birds and wildlife, bush areas. They have their own snake buster which is a bit of a worry, but we didn't see any of the 30 varieties in the area. Quite a few holiday homes but also lots of new estates going up. Not sure if that's a good thing or not yet, but that's progress. At least they seem to be leaving some trees around the new estates. House prices vary from millions to around $300,000 depending on where and what it is. Oh and Toogoom island is for sale if you have a spare $7million.

Craignish looks nice too. A lot of it is built on a hill overlooking the ocean but there are beachfront properties and properties with larger land blocks if that's what you want. Golf course, pub and store.

Didn't go into Dundowran but I understand it has a strange fine red dirt that can get into your motor. Looks nice though and close to town.

missdaisymay

Hi Guys,

Well i am lucky enough to be living in beautiful dundowran beach. Have done for the last 12 years. The beach here is very safe, as it's very shallow, the downfall is that high tide here lasts only about an hour, so swimming is best at the top of the tide. My kids have grown up out here, and spend hours swimming fishing riding the horses on the beach and sailing. Anyone coming over in the next few months that want to by a 16 foot hobie cat let me know, the son is wanting a car instead.

Sandflies are around the creek mouth area in craignish. which is a small area and doesnt really effect the rest. We live approximately 1 km from the mouth of this creek, and we may have felt the odd sandflie (aka midgie) a couple of times a year on a very still day in summer. You're more likely to be bothered by mozzies every where in Hervey Bay, for about 15 - 20 mins on dusk and at dawn in summer.

Red soil is found in a small area at the back of dundowran on one hill. hubby has lived here for 46 years, and doesnt know where there is any other red dirt in the bay. This doesnt affect car motors more than any other dust here. however, it can cause some staining on things like pale brickwork, and white poodles which we've spotted up there. and i must admit that our black and white magpies, also tend to tinge a little pink. Now heres the good news about red soil, its great for growing things in. THis area is divided up from old farming pastures.

Dundowran is predominately made up of sand areas, which is excellent for us builders (it's one of the most stable building sites and requires the least engineering) The hilly areas above the sand afford spectacular views both sea and rural, but consist of shaley rock (requires a bit more construction and engineering in new homes)

Toogoom is lovely and is a sleepy little place a little further out of Hevey Bay. one word of warning. Late last year, a major qld building company went bust and one of their developments was in toogoom. a lot of homes were midway through construction etc. If anyone was to purchase a new home there, i would ask a lot of questions about the builder.

I cannot recommend this area strongly enough, particularly for growing families. Our kids have benefitted from growing up with a relaxed country community lifestyle, while minutes from the city infastructure. I have a million photos of this area, its just idealic. while i sit here now (working from home) i can hear the birds, on summer nights when the northerly winds blowing, i go to sleep listening to the ocean, and we live 2 streets from the beach (on an acre) We're actually selling, and will sadly be leaving this area. The only reason is that we need to move further out of town to a larger acreage as we have horses that need more land.

I'm happy to chat to anyone who wants more info, just pm me if you like.

Cheers
Donna.

Safin

Wow Donna, you've sold me. We are still trying to decide which bit of the Bay to buy in and after reading this I am thinking hard about Dundowran again (though we hadn't ruled it out). How did you find going in and out of town (school, hobbies, playmates, shopping etc) before the kids were independant?

Can you tell me about the green sea. Both times I've come to look at the beach all I saw was loads of ugly weedy stuff you wouldn't catch me wading through. Is this normal? Common?

Cookster

Afternoon all,

agree with most of whats been said about Dundowran etc.... but personally I have to say that with teenage kids we prefered to be in the centre of town, within easy reach of the beach, cafe`s and shops. If only so that the kids could be independant and make their own way there. (5 mins walk to beach). They meet their mates down the esplanade a couple of times a week just to chill and drink.... milk shakes that is. All this means that we are not constantly ferrying them around as you would have to do living in Dundowran, Toogoom or Craignish, but great if you don`t mind. Oh and the bus service is pretty crap and my daughter wouldnt use it because she said all the derro`s use the bus!!!!!!!!

Angela

PS just let us know when everyones up for a girlie night and i`ll organise one x

kiwinow

Yes, well I had thought that may be a drawback, especially for our teenager, but he won't be far off being able to get his motorbike license so hopefully we'll be OK. But there are lots of nice places in HB itself to live.
We saw a couple of half-finished houses and wondered if the people building had run out of money or the builders. I'm surprised they haven't sold them off for what they can get.

Cookster

Locals tell me the bay is growing at an alarming rate. I was up at my daughters school yesterday talking to the teachers and they were saying that the bay desperately needs a new high school to accomodate all the new people moving here. Unfortunately the infrastructure isnt growing at the same rate. Would`nt be anywhere else though.

Angela

foreverhoping1

my partner is from scaryborough, but she doesnt admit to it

kiwinow

Yes, they seriously need another High School. Two state high schools isn't enough. I know they have private schools but that's not an option for everybody. Certainly not us with 4 kids and one staying at home needing a bit of support.

Interesting to hear you call it Scaryborough. I have a friend at work here in NZ whose son works in HB, but decided to live in Maryborough, as it was better for families and there's lots of trouble in HB. Personally, when we were there we found it the other way round and found Maryborough quite depressing, but there were lots of people who lived there who thought it was a great place to live.

missdaisymay

Glad to see i've convinced some to look at Dundowran Yes, you do have to go in and out of town. I am 7 minutes to 2 schools, public primary (good school) and a private primary and high school (also good), and a quality shopping centre for groceries, butcher, bottle shop etc. I'm probably about 10 - 15 mins dependig on the lights, to the major shopping centres, Post office, banks and general cbd. same distance for hospital, and about 20 - 25 minutes to the boat harbour

I have one independent kid (apparently and one in yr 11 in high school who got her learners driving licence yesterday.

Before their independence, i would either drop them off to school on the way to work, or let them catch the bus. They were happy with either, and so was I. School bus system is good (and free to public schools). public transport is slow . If we're in town for a night out, its generally cheaper to catch a limo home than a taxi. Courtesy buses for most clubs in town wont come as far as dundowran, but join all clubs, use there courtesy buses to the nearest point to home, and catch limo from there. Ways and means people.

For the rest of the time, i just plan my trips in and out of town. People moving here from say sydney brisbane and melbourne dont understand what all the fuss is about driving, as they do it all the time.

As for green sea, we get a bit of weed in the water occassionally, mainly after big northerly winds, but its gone in a few days. if you're desperate for a swim in the mean time, use the public pools.

As i said, we're only selling so that we can get larger acreage, which means having to move suburbs. We will miss this little spot immensely

Cheers

Donna.