gypsey

i am desperately trying to find anybody who has been to townsville.
have just come back after living there for bout 3months and want other veiws on the place as we are considering going back in a month or so.

NickyC

I have been there and also have known a few people who have lived there. It doesn't have the sort of climate I'd be happy to live in (too hot for most of the year) but the people I know who like it, are prepared to suffer the summer (wet) in exchange for the decent climate the rest of the time.

I think the large army presence has a big effect on the atmosphere in Townsville - it's not the prettiest town around and is far more utilitarian than Cairns. The surrounding countryside is also drier than further north, so not so picturesque. It's also pretty isolated really. Long way south to Brisbane and you only have Cairns to the north. Probably an OK place to live in if you have a good airconditioner for the summer and can get work - but there are much nicer places to be in Australia.

gypsey

hi,Thanks for replying,
You are right its not the prettiest place,but then again it has got some beautiful areas.
we lived on land and it was quite dry at the time.
it is a different story now though,its real green and lush and full of colour.
id be interested to know what your friends that lived there thought of it .
My husband had a well payed job there and has been offered it back if we can hurry up and decide what to do.
But we are gonna look about first.
We were originally gonna go to Atherton tablelands but work would be a prob,although my husbands prepared to commute into Cairns.
What other parts of north queensland have you been to?

Mark & Amanda

Hi Gypsey,

I would say that if you would still consider living in Townsville after being there for 3 months you would probably stand a good chance of being happy there.

My husband Mark works in the hospital and has been there since November. I spent a couple of weeks in Townsville and knew after that that I could never move there.

Yes, the weather's great if you like the heat (been very very wet there over the last few weeks though) but for me there are more important considerations:

Firstly job - if you can get a job you know you will like, great. The hospital is not currently proving to be the kind of place it purported to be during telephone interviews and email. I know work's not everything but 8 hours a day for another 30 years..... it has to be high on the list. You spend so much time there that it can't help but affect your everyday life. I for one cannot just "switch off" when I get home, so my job has to be right.

Secondly cost of living in relation to salary - if you have checked out house prices and know what it costs to live on the wages you and your hubby would get that's fine. We are not convinced that the cost of living is cheaper than the 1/3 wage cut Mark took to go to Townsville.

Thirdly accessibility. Do you like to get out and about, visit different towns, friends in different places, see varied countryside, museums, etc? The open spaces and remoteness were part of the attraction for Mark but the restrictions that places on where he can go and what he can do at weekends is now beginning to make him realise how restrictive that living in Townsville can be. I personally like the fact that I can wake up on a Saturday morning and decide to go to any one of at least 20 or 30 places within, say, a two hour drive, which give a huge variety of landscapes and activities. To me, that's freedom. To someone else, freedom may be the ability to enjoy the sea and all the water sports on offer off the cost of Townsville (stingers notwithstanding!)

That said, he is still working on improving the job situation and is getting out and about meeting people and learning more about the area. However, the initial "this is forever" is now changing to "this is OK for a couple of years".

Obviously we are all different so Townsville may be for you in the longer term. I'd be interested in knowing what you decide! Walking along the river in the evening, looking at the turtles certainly beat the damp banks of the murky River Severn, and the Billabong Sanctuary is a place I could go back to again and again.

I'm off back to Townsville in three weeks. I'm not staying for long though - we are going to Alice Springs for a holiday.... by motorbike! For a change I will be pillion rather than riding my own bike. Bit of a long way........

Good luck
Amanda

Natbat

Ooohhh Townsville is one of my favourite places

I met my partner there in September 2000 (we are about to do the defacto application). He used to be in the Armed Forces out at Lavarak Barracks and me and my friend had a brill time there when we worked at the Quest Hotel (the big orange one down Palmer Street, during our travels. We also worked at the Adventurers Backpackers down Palmer Street (not too disireable but it paid for our keep)!

The nightlife is great in Townsville, if you can handle the AJ's and American Navy guys also the Minors when they get back in town from Mt Isa!!!

I lived there for two months whilst travelling, then came back out again and lived on Mitchell Street with my fella (one block down fromt he lovely Strand) for two months.

We would live in Townsville without hesitation as we have a circle of friends that are there, but due to my fella doing an apprentiship with his father we are going to be living in Cairns.

The other alternative is to live in Cairns and pop down to Townsville at the weekends/holidays (only 3.5 hours away)

Good Luck with it all.

Nat

Don

We stayed there a night in a very nice and cheap old style pub hotel.

Hicksville.

Isolated.

But then, we like Dunedin, too.

Sunlover

Go there all the time for work.

Really don't like it, wouldn't live there for anything.

If you want to live on the Queensland Coast there are many MUCH nicer places.

But then again you probably know best having lived there for 3 months !