stevenpoole9

Hi all, we have our independent permanent visa (136) and are in the last stages of selling our house. We will be moving to the S E Queensland area ,as , from the research we've done, this seems the best place for us with 3 young kids (3, 6 & 9). We are looking for all the usual stuff, access to good schools, affordable housing (up to $A400,00) beaches and entertainment. Could anyone give us some personal views of the areas between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and/or Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast as these are the places we seem to keep returning to. We would not need to be too close to Brisbane as neither of us will need to work in the CBD. ANY information would be useful, good or bad. (we are not expecting paradise, just a step up from Wolverhampton) We are hoping to be in Brissie by the end of August, begining of September so all forthcoming views would be appreciated. Thinking caps on, Steve & Tracey.

mand8002

Hi Steve and Tracey
We live in Ormiston which is bayside and think it is really nice around here. We are near the water and little beaches but not surfing beaches. My children have the opinion that from here it is only 40mins to the Gold Coast and they do want to live there because they like the country feel of bayside. Also due to school, college, activities and the fact it gets dark relatively early they reckon that through the week we wouldn't go to the beach anyway so it is nice to go on a weekend.
This is only my opinion and I am sure there will be other people that do not like bayside and prefer the Gold Coast or somewhere else. We just drove round and came upon this area and just knew it was right for us.
Amanda

ABCDiamond

We've also got a branch of one of Birminghams Balti Indian Restaurants here in the Bayside. What else is there to say ?

I'm about on the far edge of the Bayside, nice and quiet out here, yet only 1 hour to Brisbane CBD, or 1 hour to Surfers Paradise. And quite a few good lower priced private schools.

stevenpoole9

AMANDA, Thanx for the reply, how long have you been over there? We've looked at a website called http://s6.invisionfree.com/BrisbaneB...ex.php?act=idx They have a lot of useful information regarding the whole of the bay-side area, which seems quite popular with expats from the UK. We've got a few places on the short list and hope to spend a few weeks traveling around checking out various suburbs. We're not too worried about the lack of surfing , I think I'd much prefer a "child friendly" shallow beach. Are the beaches in bayside sandy or muddy, we've heard conflicting reports on the state of some of the beaches in the area and we would definately want a sandy beach. Cheers Steve & Tracey.

ABCDiamond

My 9yr old daughter, standing next to me, says our local beach is sandy at the top, but muddy if you go further into the water, she stays on the sandy bit

I think the Cleveland beach is similar.

stevenpoole9

Thanks for the pic Mr. Diamond, that's what we'd heard. To be honest we will spend quite a bit of time at the beach so wew'd really like a sandy one. The beaches on the Gold Coast are supposed to be very nice but we don't really want to live in somewhere quite so commercial. We were also looking at Brighton/Redcliffe towards the Sunshine Coast. Do you know anything about the beaches in these areas? If not, don't worry I'm sure some helpful soul wil put me right. Steve & Tracey.

MarkandJulie

We live northern bayside and I would say the brighton/redcliffe beaches are about the same as the southern bayside beaches mentioned above. I suspect Bribie/Caloundra would be the nearest 'sandy' beaches to us.

stevenpoole9

We have been told by a guy in wynmm/manly to go for the suburbs north of Brisbane, between Brissie and the Sunshine coast. He says that most people from Brisbane holiday in the Sunshine Coast and prefer days out there. Is there any truth in this?

MarkandJulie

Yes, would agree that more Brisbane people prefer Sunshine Coast to Gold Coast

vivi

Thumbs up for North Brissie, definately a north/ south divide!! Beaches at Caloundra lovely, only 40 mins away, nice gentle beaches at Redcliffe 20 mins away!!
ViVi

Kiwipaul

My opinion is the Redcliffe beaches(north side) and Bayside beaches (south side) are much the same for quality ie think second rate uk beach. For real Aussie beaches you've got to go to the SC or GC (maybe Bribie Island also) and IMHO the SC beaches have more character as they consist of a series of bays rather than just one long beach that is the GC.

However I live on the South side and SC is 100kms away GC is 80kms away and the motorway to SC is only 2 lanes and you can just about guarantee to be stuck in trafic either going or comming. GC motorway is virtuall always jam free (except rushhour). Saying that comming back from GC today their was a smash that caused trafic jams. The number of times this has happened in the 5 years I've been here you could count on the fingers of one hand.

stevenpoole9

Thanks for all the replies, we seem to be right about the beaches. However we do need to balance between home and work areas, so somewhere along the line we will have to make a descision based on our priorities. Is there much industry in SC? I'm not too fussy what I do for a living, but I work in manufacturing at the moment,(CNC setting, operating & programing) I can also drive heavy goods vehicles so that would be an option once I've upgraded my Aussie licence. Obviously having chosen to move to Brisbane we don't want to make the mistake of setting our sights too high but we are looking for the lifestyle changes, which were the main reason for emigrating in the 1st place. Steve & Tracey.

Billabong

Recliffe peninsula is a good balance in terms of location.

Bribie Island, Caloundra, Mooloolaba (great beaches) etc are all within 45 minutes and then you have Suttons beach at Redcliffe which is not to bad. You are also only 35 minutes from Brisbane CBDd there is a reasonable amount of industry between Redcliffe and Brisbane

stevenpoole9

Thanks for the info we are still learning new things after four years of research.