happydays71

Hi All - this is my first time as I've logged in on hubby's sign in, so sorry to be so green and probably ramble..... We are almost (fingers crossed) about to exchange on our house and then hope to book our flights to Brisbane end of October. I'm feeling very excited, but also completely over-whelmed and unsure as to whether or not we're heading to the best destination for us. We have an almost 5 year old daughter (whose just doing her 1st 1/2 term at UK primary sch) and an 18 mnth old son. We did a 2 week reccie in April - 1 wk in Brisbane, staying in Redcliffe, and 1 wk in Melbourne, staying in Mornington. (we backpacked 94/95 pre childern which set the stone in motion)
Despite having family in Melbourne we knew that it wasn't for us - mainly because of the weather and traffic and to live in an affordable sub(house max $400k) the commute would be pretty long.
We liked Redcliffe but due to jet-lag, kids and wanting to have some fun too......we only really saw a bit of the CBD, the peninsula, Shorncliffe area, North Lakes, Deception Bay and Dream World!
Redcliffe is nice but I'm worried it might be a bit too quiet for us. Is there a bit more happening in the Albany Creek and surrounding area suburbs? They're slightly closer to the city for work and the schools look good but are there any areas with a sort of "market square" or "main street" with coffee shops etc? The Mornington sub of Melbourne had a great "main st" - little shops, cafes, eateries etc Does anyone know which suburbs offer this type of lifestyle in Brisbane but are still family friendly?
Any responses are really appreciated! Thank you.

Demented Ferret

Hi Happy D, i think with your description of what you would like out of a suburb may only be the Redcliff Peninsular. All suburbs have shops and a Tavern. Sandgate has a nice town feel to it and i belive a market. But it's very relaxed on the North side which we find is great.
The city is only a train ride away, however far out you are. If you fancy a suburb i can probably help as i'm always travelling with my job.

Dale

Jay-Producer

Hopefully this will let you rest your mind a little on whether or not you think you've chosen the right place.

I'm originally from Edinburgh but have lived in London, B'ham and Manchester amongst other places. I currently live in Adelaide and it isn't all that great apart from the huge amount of greenery it has. Great for kids to grow up here with its laid back attitude and town feel to it in some respects. Adelaide is rather boring with very little going on though. This is comparison to London and Edinburgh. Edinburgh has more to do and it is far far far smaller than Adelaide. The club scene and bars are not that good and either are the cafes. So I wouldn't recommend Adelaide unless you don't mind that there's not a huge amount going on and you don't mind the relatively poor bars and cafes here in comparison to the UK. If you like your greenery you will like Adelaide. I like Adelaide but not enough to warrant a life time stay here.

Hope this helps in comparing Brisbane with Adelaide a little.

Sorry i cant give you any info on Brisbane but i'm sure lots of people here will. Good luck with everything.

Pollyana

Albany Creek and the surrounding suburbs, while pleasant enough, in my opinion hav less to offer than Redcliffe. More cafes etc on the peninsula by far. Albany Creek, Aspley (where we are) etc remind me rather of the dormitory towns of the UK, they are just there for people to sleep in,

Southern Brisbane - Balmoral, Bulimba, type area is more of a cafe culture, or thw western side around Paddington, they might be worth looking at.

gogirl

Hi, I live in Albany Creek along with my husband and daughter Megan, who is nine. We have lived here for a year now and just love it. Everything you could possibly need is here, and the town centre has the usual shops and cafes. I like the community feel of Albany Creek, and it felt like home in a very short time. My daughter goes to the local state school and loves it. The children have lots of room to run and play and there is an excellent outside school hours club - on site.

The town also boasts an excellent leisure centre (outside pools), library, every sports facility you could think of, parks etc.

Eatons Hill is the next town along from Albany Creek and close enough to use all the facilities. Have you looked at Warner? It is just over 4km from Albany Creek. There is a fantastic new development there called Warner Lakes. It may be worth your while checking it out via the Internet.

We certainly made the right choice coming to Australia, and although we have had a few 'bumps in the road' we have not looked back.

By the way, the Brisbane weather is just great all year round.

Good luck to you and your family.

Demented Ferret

Nicely sold, we have a group of frinds living in Albany Creek and love it.

Pollyana

I'm quite happy in Aspley, just personally think that Redclffe better fits the description of what the original poster was seeking

ourjane211284

Hi, I think redbank is pritty close to Springfield. We head there 23rd Nov and thats got a lot happening there, lots of nice parks and new shopping centre has just opened. A up and happening place.

ourjane211284

ignore, me sorry i was thinking of redbank. Sorry

happydays71

Hi everyone, thanks for your feedbank. We're biting at the bit to get over there and start our new life instead of living in transit. Can't wait to start looking around the suburbs again, and not have the pressure of a 7 day deadline. We're going to re-look at Recliffe, Albany Creek, Warner, Eatons Hill, Bald Hills and Sandgate and if we don't find what we're looking for there consider looking South and West. But I think we will Thanks again and we'll let you know how it all goes!