Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

We have possible job offers from the regional towns as above, which one would you choose to live in and why? Say you only have a choice from these two towns.

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Have to say Cairns or Townsville...never been to them but gotta b better than Mackay we went there stayed 2 hrs then left...just not for us !!!! What job r u in??

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Hubby is a motor mechanic.

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Townsville is larger and not dependant on tourism.

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Hmmm Been to Cairns and Mackay and settled in Townsville. Its a well kept friendly working town, stable with good Council and good local a economy. Mackay is frankly past it and a bit quiet (tumble weed quiet), Carins is in a very nice natural area albeit very humid and relies very heavily on Tourism and I mean very heavily, it almost came to a stop a few years ago at the threat of a cyclone that never happended. I am in Townsville and settled in very quickly, it's home now.

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Thanks everyone, anybody else that would like to comment? :)

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

have done cairns and townsville albeit not for very long. cairns very beautiful place, humidity i believe in the summer is hard to cope with according to the locals wwe chatted with also trillions of japenese tourists.

townsville is about a four hour drive south or was it 2?!! :rolleyes: anyway, i liked townsville a lot. friendly bustling place, and in places quite industrial, i know because we got lost in one whilst we were looking for a campsite!! fab beaches and social areas and property prices good. jimntrish have just settled there so maybe pm her.

good luck

debbie

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Cairns is great, we have lived here for 15 months now (with 2 littlies in tow). Don't believe the doomsayers, Cairns isn't just about the "City", God knows, if it was, I wouldn't live here either. :D

We live on the Northern Beaches and its a fantastic place to live. Beautifully clean and peaceful but within spitting distance of all the "attractions", I.e diving / snorkelling / bushwalikng / camping / fishing / birdspotting / bungyjumping / cycling etc. Not to mention the restaurants and nightlife.

The Daintree is only 2 hours away and is my most favourite place in the whole world - beautiful beaches, amazing scenery and walks, stunning wildlife. You can really get away from it all and we have camped there AND stayed in a **** star pole home there. There no greater feeling than the space between nature and yourself and no-one in between. The sound of silence except for the birds is awe inspiring....

Southside, theres Mission Beach, Bramston Beach, Flying Fish Point and further beyond...all great for a stay. ((Theres no big 'tourism trap' here, apart from Cairns city itself, which is ridiculously filled with Japanese tourists and tourist tat shops - how embarrasing!!!! To the point where the shop retailers try to rip you off with 'tourist prices' until you inform them you are a "local" and show them your I.D and then suddenly a 'local' price appears.....)) Drive a few K's North / South / West and it's amazing.

If you want a "get away from it all", all the time, then Cairns is the place. It's so small really, you almost instantly feel at home, it doesn't take long at all to find your way around and the locals are a very friendly bunch. You don't feel too isolated and if you enjoy getting away for the long weekend and enjoy the "natural" things in life then you are set.

AHEM......

Cairns, however, IS a pain in the rear for the "shopping" woman. Lack of choice is a biggy (and I'm no Imelda Marcos). The poor choice and lack of general ideas up here can be frustrating. Once in a while, (and it is literally once or twice a year) I want to be able to go out with a few $100 in my purse and go mad and spend a bit on "me". Y'know, a REALLY good outfit / MEGA shoes / GREAT bag / HOT lingerie etc and it's a no go. Don't get me wrong, you can buy all those things here ((after a fashion)) but it's the SAME in every single shop you come across here - no imagination, no difference.

SOMEONE IN CAIRNS PLEASE DEVELOP A DESIGNERS BRAIN!!!!! :scared:

We came here wanting to get away from it all and to raise our Kids with an appreciation of the simple things in life and we've managed that just grand - they are 7 and 5 and they LOVE camping and being "outdoors". Shopping isn't a major factor in our lifes but sometimes a woman likes to look and feel like a woman (not a K-Mart/Susanne Gray/Crossroads/Target/Myers clone.) Y'know what I mean?! :D

Apart from the shopping crisis, housing is affordable - around $420,000 for a decent 4 bed and pool house on the Beaches here, without the stress of the southside traffic morning and night. We're about to move into our own house build and very pleased we are with it too....

Cairns is a VERY small place and you will soon find your "six degrees of separation" here...'that man knows this man, who did this for you, who knows your best mate...that type of thing.' Seems a bit odd in the beginning but it quietly comforting in the end - you kind ofget used to the small town mentality!!!(and thats meant in the nicest of ways!!!)

Overall Cairns is good and I have no regrets. Weeks ago for work, Ste went to Bris and came back saying " - too devloped, too highrise, too many people." Not for us.

Each to their own, I say and good luck to ya.:)

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

great post, you obviously know much more about it than i do. although we were only there a couple of weeks, i loved it, like you say daintree, port douglous etc out of this world, we alsoo did mission beach and loved it.

cairns town i agree 100% we stayed on green island too and felt we were being invaded by japenese, as lovely as they were! we were there for our honeymoon in june and had great weather, but i personally dont think i'd get used to the humidity in the summer!

i think if we had a young family like yourself, it would be a perfect place to bring up kids too.

thanks for a good post

debs

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Brilliant post mate!!!!! much work for plumbers????? :D

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Am falling off my chair laughing as I write this (sorry, not personal)...there is a MAJOR shortage of all trades up here -

Try building a house within 6 - 9 months - NO CHANCE - trades are at a low for some reason. :confused:

Plumbers / brickies / sparkies / air-con mechanics / joiners are all needed and welcomed!!!!! :)

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Cairns maybe small but is diverse. What would you like ?

Peacefull tranquility ?
Nature at it's best ?
Sporty outdoor life ?
Friendly population ?
Buzzing nightlife ?
Restuarants and eateries gallore ?
Tremendous scenery ?

Cairns has it all. You just pick the bits you enjoy.

I am basically agreeing with Stan except she is more into the mother nature thing than me. ;)

I like the city, the Esplanade and don't consider the shops are lacking. That may have something to do with our different backgrounds and what we came from though I guess.

Cairns is great. :)

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Couple of weeks ago there was another major development approved by the council worth 80 million dollars. Can't remember what it was now.

A spokesman for the trades was quoted as saying they can approve what they like but unless they get more tradesmen there is no chance of getting the work done for ages.

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

Sounds good matey, sounds good!!!!!!!

just need to sell our chuffin fekkin house now though :mad:

Re: Cairns, Townsville or Mackay?
 

how are your kids doin at schoo stan?? we have two girls aged 5 and 10. they currently go to catholic primary and i would want to send them to catholic there also :D