Hi, new to this site, hoping to move to Townsville in about 5 months, would love to speak to someone already there...have a teenager who will be starting senior high school, need to know nice places to live etc. Getting nervous and excited about the whole thing now. Am a nurse going over on ENS visa.

hi we are hoping to go to townsville also as soon as the house has sold. i have also tried to get info on the place from people who either live there now or have done at some point and i am finding it really hard. If you do get any info will you please pass it on to me. quite strange really as you dont live that far from me as i live in manchester but i grew up in stockport.

look for posts by the A Team, they are in townsville

Hi as RooksieJ says I'm here in Townsville, any questions just ask I'd be happy to help.

Hi jules29...I grew up in Manchester and moved to Stockport! Any info I get, I will pass on...good luck with the house sale.

Hello A Team...so nice to speak to someone already there. My son will be starting senior high school as he will be 16 when we go, so my main concern is a good school, also I have no idea what areas are good to live in. We will be renting for the first 6-12 months...any suggestions on a nice area, we wondered about Pimlico as it has a high school and is near the hospital I will be working at. Thanks for any advice.

I know a bloke who's married to a Nurse in Townsville, don't suppose that be much help lol. He loves it and the move got him away from all the trouble he frequently got into in UK, not sure how he passed character test as has a very shady past!!!!
You should find a few BE users who frequent that part of Aus, good luck

Pimlico High School has an excellent reputation, if your son is academic it's a good choice. It has quite a strict catchment area I believe.

http://pimlicoshs.eq.edu.au/wcmss/im...Map_200804.pdf

All the suburbs in the catchment area are good places to live in my opinion other than Garbutt which is very industrial. The Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE is right opposite Pimlico High and there's a huge shopping centre nearby too.

Then off to Pimlico we go...hopefully there are places to rent for about 6 months. It's funny really when we first decided to go it was as if that was the biggest part of it all but there is so much other 'stuff' to get through before we can go...my son's GCSE's for a start! It's really nice to know there are other Brits there already and more going out, my hubby is American so he will also be on the look out for any Americans in Townsville to compare notes with. It really makes a difference that you folks are there, thanks.

Hello Ouella and Jules29

There was a great post sent to us when we were enquiring about Townsville last year. Rabc sent us a list of areas and what, in his opinion, they were like. You will have to do a search as I can't figure out how to attach a link!

We live in Kirwan which is one of the outlying suburbs (actually in Thuringowa) and a 20 minute drive to the centre of Townsville and the beach.

We have been here for six months and find it to be a fantastic family orientated place to live.

There are lots of expats here and you should have no problem making friends with both expats and Australians.

If you need any help or have any questions please feel free to pm me.

Look forward to hearing from you when you both get here!

Sara

There you go......

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=394773

Thanks very much for the info, and the link...it is really helpful, feel like I am starting to get to know the area better. And I have just discovered Google Earth...I have been typing areas in and it takes me right to it so I can see where it is as far as the hospital and the school my son will (hopefully) attend. Again, thanks all!

Hello Ouella, 1st post.

We are moving out to Townsville very soon, house sold here in Wigan and awaiting visa's and then we go! Craig has a job at Townsville Hospital as a peadiatric nurse. So it so sounds as we will be there at the some time.

Really looking forward to it, we have a 2 year old so schooling isnt an issue as yet.

Anyway hope to catch up with you.

Hi! It's so cool that people from so close to home here are going to still be close over there! Really nice to get your post, our family goes to a Church in Wigan on Sundays, we even considered moving to Wigan at one point...then the Australia bug caught hold. Would be great to catch up over there...good luck with the visa and the move x

Hello Fillinghams

If you want get in touch when you arrive. I will take you to a couple of playgroups if you want to meet some people. Our children are 2 and 4.

Sara