I have finally decided on cairns, after changing my mind every two minutes! Thank you for all the replies on the various locations in Aus we have posted questions about.

At least now i can start the process and register with nursing board. I will not be swayed by anything i read (so i may need to ban this site!)

With a nursing background you'll have to swot up on box jellyfish stings (and a few others like blue bottles) (can be fatal), rock fish (can be fatal), the various poisonous snakes (can be lethal) that abound, the many and various insect bites and tropical diseases they carry (can be fatal) and of coarse sharks. You don't have to worry about crocs though. They usually take days to find the croc to get the body parts back

Very funny! but probally all true, had a thought though is the reason all swimming pools are fenced off to stop kids drowning or from crocs getting in?

I live in birmingham and work in a city A&E so all those creatures sound quite tame in comparrison to drug crazed teenagers, gang shootings and general abuse that i have to put up with!

We're off to Cairns too!
Can't wait

Pool fencing is am absolute legal must in OZ to prevent toddlers drowning. Up the top end though also stops crocs taking up residence in your pool.

A few months back a local pool in Darwin had an unwelcome visitor - 3 meter croc.

The problem with the not so friendly wildlife on OZ is that you aren't likely to see it coming until you're on top of it or you suddenly feel an agonising pain

Biggest hassle in Cairns though is jellyfish season from Nov to May. There's 3-4 varieties of jelly fish that leave horrendous wounds. If you run into one of those it won't just ruin your day, it'll ruin your life for the next 10+ years and leave you pretty scarred up.

There's also blue ringed octapus, cone shells, lion fish, stone fish, Irukandji jelly fish and sting rays. Nice beaches but you're taking your life in your hands even entering the water. Queensland probably has the most lethal and dangerous beaches in the world bar none.

Haha! Too true! We're escaping Brum on Tuesday, heading for the Gold Coast,
You never know, youll probably change your mind and end up there
Cairns is really tucked away in the last habitable bit of coastland in Qld... a long way from anywhere....
Just stirring!

Sambo

You're really selling the place aren't you
Luckily I lived there before for a little while and know the place and it's hazzards quite well and 130,000 other people manage to live there every day without getting killed....we will take our chances

Im with you! I hope its worth the risk plus i prefer swimming in a pool to the sea, however do like a paddle every now and again.

I think you have made a great choice Cairns is second on our list but not very far behind Brisbane still not 100% on which one.

Can someone answer this question though if jelly fish season is nov-may what time of the year is it safe to use the sea taking into consideration other painful creatures. My kids love the sea

Thanks

Kaye

that would be june to october but we go in the ocean all year round. just swim in the nets. but not the one in palm cove where they found a 3 m croc the other week.

At least the sea is safe for half of the year and if you go offshore to one of the islands or the reef the are no box jelly fish as they are a coastal creature. There is also the big lagoon on the Esplanade for safe swimming.

Thats great

Thank you

Kaye

blue ringed octapus can be found along most of the east coast including Sydney.

Stone fish are a problem in Moreton Bay as well.

Blue bottles are more of an issue on Sydney beaches than up north.

Crocs in a pool? Centenary Lakes has an inhabitant at the moment unless it has just been removed. I'm surprised it's not more of a tourist attraction. The croc warning signs are not just there for the tourists to have their happy snaps taken of them with the sign.

WW

I dunno the English Channel has some pretty rare diseases

SNAP!!!!! I wont even go into the amount of times i changed my mind but have also settled on cairns and plan to be there by the end of the month - YAY