MrsE

Hi

Can anybody recommend a good area around half way between Pacific Pines/Gold Coast and Brissy please? Rellies in Pacific Pines and hubby will probably be working in Brissy CBD.

Would like to be near to train station and good schools please. And only around 10-20 min drive from beach if possible.

Don't want too much do I

Thanks

Dave.McLeod

I'm interested to hear of people thoughts on this. My wife and I are keen to stay pretty much where you have discribed but I'm also a little concerned about communting time to the CBD.

bcworld

Living half way between Pac Pines and Brisbane would make the 10-20 minutes drive to the beach criteria difficult...the nearest decent beach would still be at Southport.

If you're after new build land estate type things then maybe Ormeau?

sassie

We live in Ormeau, which is roughly about 1/2 way between Pac Pines and Brisbane. Off peak to Brisbanes take about 20-25 minutes and about 15 minutes to Pacific Pines. As someone else has mentioned, the nearest beach would be southport, although if its just a paddle for the kids, then Jacobs Well (10 minutes away) would be ideal. We have 2 schools, a primary and a brand new high school and also a train station which serves the Gold Coast and Brisbane. A new Ormeau town centre is also in the pipeline as well.

MrsE

That sounds great - Thanks!

How long have you guys been out there? Are you enjoying it?

MrsE

Hi Dave

When are you guys off to Oz?

Dave.McLeod

Flights booked for 2 week in July. We were wanting to be close to Gold Coast but not to far from Brisbane as I will undoubtly being working in the CBD, I'm in IT. My wife is a teacher so again this all depends on which school she is placed with.

What about yourself, when do you plan on moving over?

sassie

We've been out here just over 5 years and built our house in the Jacobs Ridge estate at Ormeau, and yes we love it. We wouldn't be anywhere else.

MrsE

Hi - I'm assuming you must have your visas sorted then?

We have only just started the process but hope to be over by the end of next year.

seanpears99

You might want to look at coomera waters as well as ormeau, coomera waters and ormeau are the most northely places you can go to try and still be called the gold coast without getting to the places closer to brissy where you dont want to live.

Coomera is booming at the moment, there is so much building going on with a new shoppig centre planned for 2014 and the new tafe 1/2 way through building by the train station.

We are building in coomera waters and its very quiet, by the canals and there is a local tavern and shop which are quant and beautiful on a summers day.

The drive is about 50 minutes in the morning to the CBD (I work in IT also)and about an hour back depending on times, I leave at 545am and leave at 4pm coming back..

If you have questions let me know.

Cheers

Sean

ebyron

hahaha how spooky. Am keen for answers to this question too. we are in similar position - looking to move to Brisbane,( from Melbourne). Husband in IT too, so also looking to keep the commute reasonable. Big concern too would be area with good schools for our kids - primary and secondary. And yes, near a beach would be amazing ;-)

MrsE

Thanks Sean - we saw Coomera when we were out there on our reccie - it was lovely. Is there a train station there? - we also found out that the cost of parking in Brissie was horrendous

Hi - how funny eh! Good luck! When are you guys hoping to move out that way? How old are your children? We have two girls aged 8 and 7. Have you been in Melbourne long?

Dave.McLeod

We haven't gotten our visas as yet, but if we don't get them before the dates of our flights we're get back packers. Don't want to be in the UK any longer!

Did you find your reccie useful? We haven't been but hope to explore enough in the first month before committing to renting a property and specific area.

fish.01

Given the usual commute is 5 days out of 7 have you considered living in Brisbane close to work and driving to the beach on the weekends when the traffic is much lighter? Brisbane is a lot bigger city so more variety than the Gold Coast in entertainment etc. I think the commute at peak times would be a huge drag on my life and it is just going to get worse.

MrsE

Hi Dave

You are brave booking flights before visas and not having been before either -good for you, live a little!

We did find our reccie really useful. We had a couple of weeks in Perth which we thought was lovely but not for us though. We then went to Sydney, not with a view to live, just to do the touristy bit - that was amazing! We then had a month in Queensland, looking at Brisbane, Goldcoast and Sunshine coast and decided that Goldcoast was the place for us! Goldcoast seems to have all that we were looking for. The beaches are beautiful and the rainforests were amazing! And the climate suits us too! Any Qs feel free to PM me.

Carla