Hi,

Finally I have been offered a job in Queensland as a mechanic however I have been offered 6 locations and, after reading up on them, I still would love any further info on the locations.

I have a wife and 3 young girls so we need to rent a 4 bedroom to start with.

The locations are Roma, Dalby, Emerald, Chinchilla, Toowoomba, Gladstone.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Richard

Haven't been to all of them but Toowoomba is wonderful. We loved it when we visited and looks like a fantastic place to live.

Good ! It does sound great but apparentley very prone to flooding ?

January's flash flood was a freak event, Roma, Dalby, Emerald, Chinchilla, Gladstone were all flooded as well. Roma has already suffered flash flooding this season, and Emerald has had several bad flood events in the last few years. Its a Queensland thing I'm afraid, wherever you move to check out the flood history of the property

Have a look for posts by Jen1977ni - she's in Toowoomba and has posted a lot about it.

thank you so much pollyana !

Toowoomba has a flower festival.

If I had the option to go to Toowoomba or anywhere else in QLD, it would be Toowoomba, based entirely on the fact that they have a flower festival, and that the girl who worked in our company's QLD office was a sweetheart. Congrats on the job offer.

It's 700 meters above sea level and hear about flooding there far less than the others. Out of interest where did you read it was flood prone?

There are some pretty remote places in that list.

I read an update post from some people that moved to Dalby that you might find interesting.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=730266

Picking off a map, I would probably go for Toowoomba or Gladstone because I would rather be coastal than inland (for the latter).

Not been to any of them but I'd pick Toowoomba simply because it's closest to the coast and (possible) civilisation. (cue sarcy comments about Brissie)

I used to live in Emerald back in 2002-3 and hated it. So far away from everything (your looking at a three hour drive to Rockhampton or a 10+ hour drive to Brisbane) and so expensive to live as its a mining town. I've been back up there a few times this year to visit friends and the only thing thats really changed is that there is now a housing estate on the other side of town, oh and its gotten more expensive to live. It really is a shit hole.

I go to Dalby quite a lot (husband used to live there and his work is based out of there). Its only about a 40 minute drive from Toowoomba. Don't think that I would want to live there but its OK. Mind you if I had to live there, I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Roma is somewhere that I have been to a few times but don't know much about. Its quite remote and I belive (although I may be getting this mixed up with somewhere else out there) that ist really expensive to live as its recently got a mine nearby. Same with Chinchilla. You couldn't pay me to move to either of these places.

Toowoomba is the place that I would pick for sure. The in laws live there, so I get to spend a massive amount of time around the area and lived there for a couple of months when I first came over. Its a really pretty town, with a little bit more to do. At Easter they have a mass in the pub, whats not to love about a town that does that! I actually considered living there, but like I say the in laws are there and I'd rather chew off my own foot than have to deal with my MIL on a daily basis.

Never been to Gladston-never want to go to Gladston so can't help you there

I'd be bold enough to say Gladstone is a shit hole too - it's also 'full' so if you can find a house rents are astronomical. Haven't been to Toowomba but the proximity to Brisbane and civilization has to be appealing.

Great that helps alot guys!

Thanks for the honesty also and Kamie I hope your in laws don't read this lol

Thanks again

You would pay a fortune for rent in Emerald and it's also creeping up in Gladstone - would agree that Toowoomba would be the best option on your list.

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Toowoomba is an old town which is not dependent on mining or gas exploration, so it has more diversity than the others. It is also close enough to Brisbane for day trips to be easy.

I have to agree with Toowoomba! I often have to travel to Toowoomba to visit the uni there and it strikes me as a lovely place. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, great scenery and I think the house prices are quite reasonable. The only downside is that it is about 2 hours from the coast, but then you could always make a daytrip of a visit to the beach if thats your thing!