The Whitings

Hi all. We're moving out in June and Ashmore is near the top of our list to check out as a good place to live. We don't want acreage but do want a good sized plot.
I will be working in Brisbane city - does anyone on here do the commute by train to Brissie from Ashmore using Nerang station - what is the journey like?
Also, what are the schools like, we have a 9 yr old and 12 yr old so need to check out primary and high schools. We are not regular churchgoers so some of the private schools would probably not have us.
Lastly, how long does it take to get to good beaches from Ashmore, could the kids cycle to them?
Hope someone can help.

SarahJane2007

Hya,dont know much about Ashmore but seen it on the maps, we are looking around the same sort of areas, we are me, oh and 4 children 13,11,7&5. We arrrive on 6th June and oh is a plumber. We'll keep an eye on this thread.

neil248

Firstly the Gold Coast is a great place to bring up kids with the opportunities and activities available and we lived in Ashmore for five weeks when we first arrived and moved out as fast as we could. It is only my opinion but if you are starting from scratch there are far better places for a family. Much of it is semi commercial and we saw plenty of evidence of the less desirable characters. People can contradict this if they want as there are also expensive properties there if you have the money and would no doubt have no problems.

Your children would not be able to cycle to the beach and if they were you
would be unwise to allow it as the standard of driving on the Gold Coast is so poor that you will often see vehicles drifting into cycle lanes, the driver with phone in one hand cigarette in the other or simply just driving half in the cycle lane half on the main carriage way. I attended a first aid course where the widely travelled intstructor more than confirmed this.

moneypenny20

I don't know enough about Ashmore as I only drive through and it seems fine. The thing I would say though - Most suburbs on the GC are lovely depending on what you come from and what you expect and want. It is honestly not worth trying to get an idea for a suburb whilst in the UK. Many people including myself thought we had the right suburb via the net then got here and decided we didn't like that suburb and ended up somewhere else.

Get yourself a short term let - possibly a month and then just travel up and down the coast and get a feel. Don't worry about getting the kids into schools - you don't want to pick an area, chose a school and then realise early on that the area is wrong for you. It won't hurt the kids to miss school for a few weeks.

Good luck with it.

scousercarol

My in laws live in Ashmore and we have stayed with them a few times. We would have no problem whatsoever about living there when we move over, but we don't have young children. Having said that there are lots of children living there. My sil has a four year old and she goes to a lovely kindy at the bottom of the road. Not sure about schools tho'.It is a short drive to the beaches but your children would not be able to cycle. If you want to be close enough to beaches to enable the kids to cycle on their own you need to be somewhere like currumbin or burleigh heads. We have a similar dilemma as yourselves, we want to live near the in laws but also close to good beaches, however my job is in Brisbane and my sil reckons the travelling will be too much on a daily basis. She advices actually living in Brisbane, which quite appeals to me as it is a lovely city, but we want to be able to nip the beach after work etc. We are going to stay in Ashmore with the in laws when we first arrive and then see how we get on before choosing where to live. If you need any more info on Ashmore let me know and I will email the sil with your queries.

neil248

both the previous replys are relevant. We are happy where we are on the coast but when it came to buying a house we were restricted to area as our daughter had settled so well into her school that we felt we could not move her where as when you arrive you can pick any where you want.

I sometimes work in Brisbane and unless you are used to or happy with long commuting the journey up there is a pain.

SarahJane2007

Very good advice mate, we are coming out to the Gold Coast on 6th June and have booked ourselves a months holiday rental so we can travel around and see the areas for ourselves and 'walk the streets' as it were. We have had lots of advice from people already out there but until your there in person its so hard to imagine what its like and whats good for one might not suit us all.

ex Tassiemum

Sarah Jane, when we flew up to the Gold Coast to look for a new place to call home, we fell in love with Varsity Lakes and Mermaid Waters/Beach area. Mermaid is closer to the beach, perhaps a 5 min drive where as Varsity Lakes is a good 15 mins from the beach. Both areas have great schools too. Husband will be working southside of Brisbane and the commute is not a worry to us as we want the beach lifestyle. I will find work on the GC so only one of us is commuting a longer distance.

Merrimac High and Miami High have wonderful reputations as does Varsity College in Varsity Lakes. The primary schools are also good.

We looked at the Redcliffe area but we couldnt find any nice white beaches there, only muddy looking sand. It didnt appeal and we felt our 2 kids aged 11 and 13 would be a bit bored after a while. But that was our opinion of that area, it just didnt do it for us. Its more a bayside area great for fishing and boating but swimming?????.......mmmmmmm. The GC is much more what we are after.

When you get here you will find an area that 'feels right'. Good luck on the move!!

SarahJane2007

Thanks for the advice, when we land on 6th June we have a hotel booked in Brisbane for 7 nights then we go up to the Sunshine Coast and stay in Caloundra for 10 nights and we were intending to have a look around Redcliffe area, also Caloundra and Molloolaba so thanks again for your great tips, as I said before it so hard to imagine what these places are going to be like and its not until your feet are on the ground and you can see for yourself what places are really like. We even thought that we might go up to the Sunshine Coast and fall in love with a place up there before even arriving on the Gold Coast but I now dont think thats going to happen. We have got a place on Broadbeach for 1 month when we arrive so hopefully will have plenty of time to find rented accomodation. Cheers Sarah.

brido

Hi,you'll like Broadbeach,the beaches are spotless and theres plenty of nice restraunts,Pacific Fair and Jupiters Casino as well as Draculas!!! in Broadbeach center.
We stayed there for a few weeks before moving to Southport,well,Southport/Ashmore/Benowa border at Cotlew St/Cotlew St East,we are in a complex and i think every area has bad spots.
We love our area and we are less than a ten min drive to surfers and just over 15 mins to Dreamworld,which is the furthest away theme park from us.Your kids will love it on the Coast!My wife has also opened a Nailbar in Ashmore Plaza recently,so we are looking to stick around,its not quite pacific Fair but the people are nice.

Firstly avoid Nerang like the plague,nothing but bother there and we find our part of the world nice.Southport has some dumps but some nice bits too but so does London/New York ect, and theres schools nearby in every direction.
You will see "odd" characters anywhere here mainly because fashion has eluded a lot of people here and the extra long beards are shocking.Overall the Gold Coast is a fantastic place to stay.We've been here 10 weeks and i wish we had come over sooner.

Ive not really experienced the driving that the other person has,i think its better here than in Glasgow.

The Koalas

Hi
We live in Burleigh and love it here, it does get very busy during holiday periods and it can be busy down on the beaches too. The driving is horendous, more and more people move to the area but roads stay the same. The pacific motorway although it gets busy is a good place to live not to far from. Once on it you can get everywhere fairly quickly. It runs through all the main areas of the Gold Coast.
Our boys go to a nice school in the area and they love it and are very settled. There is loads for kids to do, nippers is a good thing for them to join.
They predict a growth in housing prices down this way, so now is a good time to buy. You can always buy, live in it for 12 months then move on once you have discovered an area. We are renting at the moment as we are looking for a property down this way.

karenjc

Firstly avoid Nerang like the plague,nothing but bother there and we find our part of the world nice.

Not sure if you have travelled around all of Nerang but there are a good number of fantastic million plus dollar homes. Some of it i agree you would not wish to move to but a lot of it is perfectly fine. Still gets a bad rap from its past reputation, same as Palm beach and Southport. Quill..

paulhill

We moved out to the Gold Coast in January, my Husband, Dylan 3, Ethan 1 and myself. Ashmore is more of a commercial area from what I have seen and I dont think you can decide where you want to live until you move here. It would take about five minutes to get to Southport beach but that is in a car therefore no the children couldnt cycle to it. I hope this helps.

PS - We have moved to a lovely area, Parkwood.

Cheers

Sue

brido

Nerang has some stunning homes but can most people afford them.
It still has a bad gang reputation and halfwits racing up and down and skidding around roundabouts at lightning speed for "fun".Someones child will get hit or killed one day by these clowns.

In my opinion the average joe is as well steering clear of it.

moneypenny20

People from there aren't called Nerangotangs for nothing