EvannTel

I spent a few days in Townsville earlier this year and can annouce that, based on that experience, I'd live there. Nice pubs and restaurants (better than here). Felt more of a "real" town than others in that neck of the woods.
The weather is a different matter but being from WA find Brisbane too humid.

NedKelly

Having spent some considerable time in Dagenham I can assure you that wherever you end up in Queensland, even if it's Townsville, will be like you died and went to heaven.

rootbeerfloat

LOL @ NedKelly! Too true Ned. The difference is that while Dagenham is a toilet to which I'm trying to climb out of, if there's no work in Dagenham there's a 30 minute train ride into central London.
Maybe I need to invest in one of the soon to be decomissioned Harrier Jump Jets and make the commute!

JuilePaul

Any recommendations, laid back lifestyle, affordable and beach side......???

Kelli28

I'm in Tannum Sands but due to all the work coming up with GLNG it's not going to be affordable for much longer. Other places you could look at are Harvey Bay, Bundaburg and Yeppoon.

JuilePaul

Thanks for that - will have a look around them areas!!

What is the work situation like around there..? OH a Carpenter...?

Cheers

Cookster

We are in Hervey Bay and we think this is a fab place to live.. Temp is around 28 all year round and the humidity hits around now till mid Jan.
Google it. We are about 4 hours north of Brisbane. Let me know if you want anymore info pics etc......
Angela

Sherlock Holmes

To the OP: Whilst I'm in Victoria and have zilch experience of QLD, I get the impression that the rural dwellers of BE, of whichever state, seem to be some of the happiest. I love Melbourne but I couldn't live in a city or even a large town having got used to life in the Aussie rural bit.

I know work can be a problem but I'd give rural/small town Oz a go.

rootbeerfloat

Hi Angela,
I've looked at Hervey Bay. The problem for me is that to a certain extent, I'm restricted to where Queensland Ambulance Service are recruiting. They mention an area they refer to as Wide Bay / Burnett. The closest I can find to this is the Hervey Bay area but so far they haven't answered my question as to whether they are one and the same.

Another website was really informative about Townsville. Aside from the frequent fires, flooding, cyclones, broiling heat, torrential rain, dangerous mosquitos, poisonous plantlife, venomous spiders, snakes and the salt and freshwater crocs wanting to share your pool it sounds grand!

Of course all of that is said in jest and I'm fully aware that you can't come to Oz without being aware and embracing the inherent potential dangers. I personally love the idea of bringing my kids up in a fascinating area of the world like this. So without going off topic as my original post alluded to 'what's wrong with Townsville'; what are the realities of annual damage to through fire or other acts of God in that area?

bcworld

The reality is that the potential for property damage due to extreme weather events exists in most areas of Australia - approximately 100% of Townsville's residents survive one year to the next - that's all you need to know!

Leaving aside the nature, my problem with the place was just that it seemed rough and generally unappealing. We had spent a great week in N Qld and TSV was last stop - it was a big let down. We arrived on Saturday avo to a 1970s style town centre which had already closed for the day. There were groups of bogans cruising around in old Aussie V8s yelling at passers by. Bit of a stereotype really. We struggled to find places to eat & the ones we did pick were lousy with surly service. It seemed all there was to do other than the swimming lagoon was to drive out to the shops on the ring road out of town - we even passed the time in Crazy Clarks!

Perhaps I missed something, perhaps she was having a bad day but we didn't stay to find out!

Doco

Hi

We arrived in TV about 3 weeks ago, have to agree with above that if we had ventured into the city (if you can call it that!) on our first "look around" we would have been highly disappointed to say the least! There are actually quite a few good shopping centers around and the advantage of the place being smaller than Brisbane etc is that the shopping centers can all be reached in 15 mins, by car, from just about anywhere. The strand is lovely and there is also a place called Riverway lagoons (or something like that) which has 2 or 3 big out door pools, very well kept. Don't think there is much on the going out/clubbing side of things, but not been looking! We've managed to find a couple of nice restaurants, I'm sure there must be more around! If not i'm going to have to learn how to cook! On the whole we really like it here, plenty to keep the kids amused! But we have only been here a few weeks, hopefully someone who has been here longer will reply soon. Anything else give me a shout.

Laura

rootbeerfloat

Thanks Laura. Glad you're settling in well. To put things into perspective, we used to live in a secluded town with a population of 4,000. I can't imagine Townsville being that much of a culture shock.

Hmmm, thanks bcworld.

Pollyana

QAS Wide Bay/Burnett Region covers Fraser Island, Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Howard, Biggenden, Mundubbera, Gayndah, Kingaory, Nanango, Murgon, Bundaberg (and all the little places round about)

rootbeerfloat

Oooooo I've looked at all those places and they all look great too..........!
Such a difficult decision - Dagenham or The Sunshine State!

Margaret3

[QUOTE=scottishcelts;9043004]I'm currently undergoing a masterplan to lure the hubby into a Melbourne move (we are in the Brissie bayside suburbs).


Now that seems like a very sensible idea