kylee

Hello everyone,

My husband ,daughter and I are going on a 3 week reccie trip to Cairns in October. We have chosen Cairns mainly because some very close friends of ours have recently moved there.
I wanted to ask those of you heading to or living in Cairns what made you decide on this area. Also if you are living in Cairns it would be nice to know your positive/negative views on the realities of living there.
What sort of weather can we expect for our trip?, heading out on 16th October, with a short stay in Sydney on the way.
Is there good employment opportunites for my OH who is a carpenter?

Sorry, lots of questions, but all your comments/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

wannabauzzienurse

There is quite a few of us living in Cairns. I came here because I got offered a job and I'd been here before a couple of times so knew it was a decent place to be.
The positives are; beautiful scenery, reef, rainforest, gorgeous beaches, restaurants catering for every cuisine imaginable, international airport makes getting to other parts easy with good deals on internal flights, very laid back feel to the place - doesn't feel like a city even though it is.
Not many negatives; stinger season is a nuisance but we still swim in the nets no problem, humidity can get to you a bit during Dec Jan and Feb this is our first summer and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, didn't get as much rain as I thought we would either.
If your husband is a qualifed carpenter and able to get a license here he should get plenty of work. My husband is a carpenter but withoout formal qualifications doesn't qualify for a license but still has got work at the moment doing re-fits on boats and also some 'handy man' type jobs on the side.
Weather in October should be warming up nicely, not quite into the wet season so you get lots of warm sunshine.

kylee

Thankyou for your reply, My husband is a qualified Carpenter and we will be applying for a 175 skilled visa. Do you know what the process is to apply for a license and costs involved etc.

wannabauzzienurse

Even with his TRA papers for the visa he will still need some form of QLD based skills assesment or "recognition of prior learning" in order to get a QBSA licence. First port of call for this would be the local TAFE (tech college!) and there are various companies set up to help with "skills assesment" Having said all that, as a "time served" chippie, he should have no problem starting with one of the local builders, before he gets his licence, and that in itself would aid the process, it gives him "local" references to include in his aplication for a license