Kelli28

we are possibly thinking of a move from brissy to cairns
we really like the idea of living by the beach with the facilities of a city but apart from the obvious differences dont know that much about cairns or how much it will cost to move ? if wages are higher or lower? wich suburbs we should be looking at for the family beach lifestyle? so whats cains really like in comparision to brisbane?
has anyone made the move from brisbane to cairns?
im excited but nervous at the same time as after being here almost 2yrs we have only just recently felt settled and made a good bunch of freinds here any advice from anyone would help us alot
kerry

Bix

Hi Kerry.

For direct beach life it's Palm Cove, Clifton Beach or Kewarra beach.
Smithfield is also in easy striking distance to them as are a few other inland burbs.
If you don't mind some aircraft noise include Trinity Beach.
Trinity Park has a marina type inlet so no beach.
Closer to town are Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach and Machans Beach.
Road to Yorkeys floods most years and the other 2 are not the best of places IMO.

Wages in Cairns are probably lower but I guess it depends what you do.

Cairns is not a hustle bustle city. She'll be right rules - OK.
People work to live. Life is always number one. Work is the means.

WonderingWombat has done the move you are considering.

wardy2

Great thread we are not in Brisbane but trying to choose between the 2, my feet are firmly in Cairns have to convince hubby and Trinity beach is a place we are considering.

Hi Bix when you say some aircraft noise in Trinity Beach what does that mean...can you hear them passing over noisy at quite a low level on the flight path or is there just a noise in the background that really doesnt have much an impact... sorry to be so detailed needs must... oh gatekeeper of cairns..

All these beach side locations you mention are they all nice places to live.

Sure I have seen info somewhere but can you remind me Bix

Thanks

kaye

Bix

Palm, Clifton and Kewarra - good places.

Trinity Beach and Park - look good too. The times I've been there I can't say I remember any plane noise. Youngy rented there though and pointed it out on a thread a while ago. Cadman has just bought there. Joho was on hols there end June. Let's see if they can comment on how bad it is. The roads into these are quite long so it may depend how close to the actual beach you are.

Yorkeys - been there a few times to the yacht club for an evening meal. Planes are defo very low and loud.

Holloways & Machans - don't like them. Maybe a personal thing but don't like the ambience. It's a vibes thing. Did hear developers are buying up water front properties at Machans so maybe it's about to change.

Thing that worries me most about living on the beaches and in a lot of other areas of Cairns is the risk of flooding. Don't think it's happened for several years but once is enough to wipe you out.

However most places have a certain amount of properties on higher ground. I live on an elevated land.

Kelli28

thanks bix for that kewarra beach i had been looking at on realestate.com so at least im looking in the right direction.
when you say they get flooded is it from the amount of rain or storm surges? just asking as normally most beach locations dont flood unless of course theres a tsunami

wanderingwombat

Heavy continouous rain can close the access road. Storm surge is always a treat in any cyclone prone area. Cairns City Council website has a map showing storm surge risk areas. It hasn't happened inrecent times but it is a risk nevertheless. Hills are good.
Tsunami. The last one caused extensive damage.......




... to cars and egos as nearly everyone tried to leave town at once.

WW

WW

Whingin Pom

I seem to remember Trinity beach being washed away buy spring tides a couple of years back, but thats not too bad cos if the beach was there then the crocs would be on it anyway.

Cairns is a great place, but if you want the beach move to the sunshine coast.

wardy2

You sound just like my hubby WP Sunshine coast/Brisbane i'm trying to get him to come to Cairns

Thanks for the info folks all really useful stuff

Kaye

Kelli28

we like the sunshine coast but it already takes a hr and half to get into the city in peak hr as it is and thats only from birkdale!!

Kelli28

thanks ww can i ask did you used to live down this way (redlands) and how did you do the move did you get in the professionals or do it yourself?

Whingin Pom

Take hom up there for a mans week, if he is into petrol, he will love it.

Ste&Dawn

Hi

Hope you don't mind me asking, but I'm presuming thats by car? What time is classed as peak hour? does it take less by train? Questions questions..... sorri........

We were looking at moving to Wellington Point area, which is even further out. We thought it was about a 40 minute commute. I think its back to the drawing board again. Argh!!!!!

Thanks for you help

Dawn & Ste

youngy73

i like holloways beach but the other day i was working on a roof when a 737 flew over head. scared the shit out of me. the aircraft noise is very loud although intermittant. (cairns airport aint that busy). the home owner reckons you get used to it after a while. im not so sure. on the comparison between cairns and brissy. there are none. different worlds.

wanderingwombat

As Youngy said No comparision - different worlds. I like living here as it is much less hectic than Brisbane, which is a lot less hectic than Sydney, which is a lot less hectic than..... Bloke I work with reckons Cairns is too hectic for him!!???

We found Brisbane to be too cold Took Bix's advice and headed north (now we know who to blame if it all goes pear-shaped)

We had a quote (big high profile firm) for a total pack n move I didnt know that many bank managers to get a loan from.
Ended up packing the boxes ourselves, so we could prioritise the boxes (essential/non-essential in case we short-term rented).

Removalist packed the container and sent it by rail. Rail has at least a week lead time. They unpacked the container at this end. Used Family Removals. No problems. They stored the container in Brisbane until we wanted it up here (dont store in Cairns due to humidity). Brisbane-Cairns is more than Cairns-Brisbane.

WW

snappy

Brisbane is a BIG place compared to Cairns, Cairns reminded me of the Sunshine Coast as in every shop you have there you get in Cairns. I find Cairns has more option regarding the Asian side of shopping like nice Balinese speciality shops or cooking, where as Brisbane has it's own little China town.

Cairns is far more relaxed as Bix has said but that is due to the size of it as well as the nature of the people up this way. Everyone is very laid back horizontal the max up here and life is certainly about living up here not working again as Bix has said.

The beaches in the Sunshine Coast are great, fab surf etc here there is no surf as such because of the Great Barrier Reef. For me as a Mum this is what I prefer for the kids and personally I love to wake up and look out onto an ocean that is flat as a piece of glass at times as I feel I can walk across the ocean to the islands beyond. The one thing I do find up here though is you can easily find a beach which you have all to yourself where as that is harder down South.

Hubbie loved the Sunshine Coast for everything was at your fingertips- Brisbane etc was only a short hop away but since being up here and visiting down that way last year we were very glad to be back up here as the traffic queues totally did our heads in.

The main drag through Cairns can be a nightmare regarding traffic lights but it is fast moving compared to Brisbane and SC. There is also quicker ways to get through Cairns once you get used to the roads to avoid most of the lights as they all seem to have a road that runs parallel with the main roads plus there is one great short cut if you want to get to the otherside of Cairns through the industrial estate. The same could be said about the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane is just busy busy to me and I didn't spend enough time there to work out the short cuts.

Cairns is a very up and coming place with heaps of new estates popping up everywhere. It is growing very fast in fact a lot of the Far north is growing fast.

We have friends that live in Kewarra Beach and love it there. You follow from Cairns the Captain Cook Highway North towards Port Douglas and along that highway you just turn off to which ever beach you want to go to. For our friends in Kewarra Beach they do their main shopping at the Smithfield Centre which is a couple of junctions down on the highway which takes them about 5 minutes in the car. There is a massive Woolies, KMart, Target etc there along with chemist etc all the things you need for a quick little bits and bobs, plus a large Warehouse on the other side of the highway.

At Kewarra itself there isn't a mass of shops just a few bottle shops etc so you do have to go to either Palm Cove or Trinity Beach one junction up or down but it is a major biggy as the traffic is nothing to get to these places. It takes about 20 minutes to half an hour to get into the centre of Cairns all parked up and ready to roll into Cairns Central for a major shopping fix and one of the cinemas.

Another favourite is Redlynch for families which is growing rapidly with houses popping up and with easy access to the centre of Cairns/Smithfield etc but this is more inland and will take you about 15 minutes to drive to a beach. Personally though it is one of my favourite areas in Cairns and one that we would be happy living in as you have the beauty of the rainforest mountains at your doorstep and no corrosive sea air ruining everything you own.

Cairns has a lot to offer but come up here first for a holiday and see for yourself. This time of year is a great time to come up as it is cool evenings and glorious sunny days in fact the past week or so has been the great Far North Queensland typical winter with temps hitting mid twenties in the day and sticking around the 10 degrees or more at night....although the locals were shocked that the Tablelands went into single figures the other night