Vic&jase

Thanks for the post, gets me all excited x

Vics xx

Jonahs_mummy

Exactly - the area we are headed for has an establishe community feel. And we love it!

alkristensen

Firstly claire congrats the baby is finally here!!!
Secondly great website of yours and a thorough service there.
Thirdly, i wasnt slagging the gold coast and im sorry iif it seemed like that, i was telling my version from what we saw from a speeding motor and there were alot of very very samey samey new estates. I know that we have to look alot closr as i said earlier, and i alspo said that i hoped it would provoke some response from people in the G.C as for where to look next in GC if we didnt like SC. Looks like yur services will be needed if we dont like it up here.!!!

Thanks for all the responses and oi hope that i dont put nyone off an area with my views, as you should do wat we did and hire a car and go and have a look and make up your own minds. Each individual knows what they want, so GO FOR IT! Its only a week out of your life.
We will be renting for 6months to a year anyway when we arrive as we may not like the area or get very homesick etc so as not to tie us to the country or area too much to start with.

Hope you and your newborn are well and that your website does wel too. I may need a job!!

al and clare.xxx .

Jonahs_mummy

Thanks - yes Baby Suzy is 13 weeks today! WOW doesn't time fly!
BTW - I wasn't having a go or owt..... like you said, you cannot judge everything on any area properly from a speeding car! I know waht you mean though, there is so much new development eh? IF you do pick GC, let me know & I will try to help you out as much as poss! As for a job, once Steve, the kids & I get out there .... Mum & I can get busy and you never know - we may be banging on your door to come help us! LOL

alkristensen

Went to mooloolaba today

WWWWWOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!
Could we find a place more perfect. LOL

We actually stood there and both nearly started crying as itrs exactly what we were looking for.

They have a marina and a wharf with the biggest fishing fleet in aus apparently, and there are wharfside restaurants that have THE freshest fish straight from the trawlers. Then the beach....fantastic half moon main beach with a lighthouse at one end on the rock to masses of rocks and rockpools the other end, with a golden white strip of beach in between about 400metres in a lovely curve.

As you walk up the steps from the beach there are loads of seats in an utra modern deck that overlooks the ocean where you can sit all day. Just behind a little stretch of palm trees and pines is a strip of boutiques cafes/bars and othe very nice arcade of shops that is quite lively for a truesday afternoon with a lot of young trendy types mixed with business men and a smattering of the older gen.

We went on up the headland to maroochydore, via alexandra headland, finding 2 big shopping centres with all the banks,coles target,woolies as well as all the other usual shops you would find in something like a Blue water or ardale centre in the uk.

Perfect in every way for what we were looking for.

We are going to look at buderim tomorrow which is 10 minutes drive into the hills and alot cheaper property with a little more land for your money.

There are plenty of areas around here that are as lovely, but mooloolaba does it for us in every way.(see above for what we started out to look for in a place).

Every other area has been crossed off the list, as this placwe has it all.

70 miles from brssie
Fantastic beaches
Cheapish housing
A bit of life and soul
Mish mash of buildings with a bit of character
Not stepford.
Rock pools
and and and and and and and and..............................................

alk

And we saw wild dolphins today too!!!

Wow

Jonahs_mummy

Excellent - I have visited there on holidays a few times - gorgeous eh? A total must is to visit Eumundi Market on Wednesday also! http://www.eumundimarkets.com.au/

wayne&mandy

Sounds like my idea of heaven but what is the job front like??

brisnick

i'd imagine trade jobs are ok, but city jobs can forget it, and it's too far to commute to brisbane (else i'd be there).

and i wouldn't want to bring up my kids there (i don't have any so not a concern for me yet) once they become teenagers, unless you want sexually active hoons at 13 (the big complaint is there's nothing to do in the evenings but get drunk, get laid, and hoon around!).

of course for us adults there's a whole lot of other stuff to do!

wayne&mandy

Well thats out for us then, 3 kids , 2 of em teens, will be bored stiff!

debbiemc

excellent post thanks, its great to hear others thoughts and opinions.

good luck and let us know about maroochy cos thats on my list too!



so for those of you who have experience of maroochy/ bunderim etc, would you say a definate no no for teens?

debbie

jad n rich

3 kids 2 of them teens live one klm from mooloolaba.

Kids one 19 had car since 17 been out every night since, sports, indoor cricket, surf, swims at beach and used to do squad at pool, fills in for soccer when has time. Study did high school, again a fest of social events linked to that, everything from debutant balls and formals to barbies, parties and whatever teenagers do at each others houses. SInce school done 2 year business diploma, worked, saved deposit for house and now a trainee electrician, 6 months had to be in brisbane and on Jan 4 he is transferred up here.

No 2 age 12 surfing, boarding, skating basketball10 pin bowling and golf facilities for all here. Weekends, on the sleepover circuit and pool party circuit, often on weekends the boys camp out on someones property. Also school camps, we just paid for his week trip to gold coast, japan next year but of course that costs. Candidate for school captain, class captain and nominee for peer mediator.

Son 3 age 9, talented surfer may compete, will start diving next year, music keyboard and nominated to get music tuition at school, saxaphone we hope Sleepover circuit, will sit exams next year for scholarship to private school. Chess club and did one year of nippers.

As mentioned by other poster there is a big shopping center and multi 12 cinema at maroochydore, we can walk to that too.

Were living in alexandra headland and thats why, there is so much to do, much of it in walking distance. Kids also eat out a lot with us, mexican, thai and indian.

Jobs, you can commute, its 30 mins to caboolture and then a 40 min drive. To live at a surf beach is that a long way? You must compare like for like, if you lived at he beach anywhere you would need to commute if you wanted a city job. All of the expats we have met have found work, as mentioned previously some of them work on australias casual basis, but so do 40% of australians thats not a coast problem thats an australia problem.

I dont know if my kids will stay in OZ when they are older, son one 19, hes very much against some of what australia is about, workplace reform and like many his age, all of his mates are aussies, he and them mostly plan to work overseas for the better money and work conditions. Again thats a problem australias had for years, making work conditions so bad its a problem of australias making, that its young workers plan to leave.

Hoons, yes we have them, please name a part of australia that doesnt tho any country where cars are standard at 17 will have them I imagine.

Edit theres a few PMs in my in box hope the above answers all of them, should save a lot of PMing.

Secretsquirral

Hi

We are moving to Mooloolaba in March next year, we have stayed in the area a few times and could understand teens maybe getting bored in Buderim as it is quieter and more "villagey" but Mooloolaba is a holiday resort and so has a real buzz to it, lots of cafes, restaurants, a few bars etc. Never seen any hoons when we have stayed there. Our kids are only a year old so not old enough to get bored for a while yet but I certainly wouldn't rule the area out until you have visited it. We have lived in far more "boring" places in Australia where you don't see a soul out after 7.00 pm!

Debbie

Del Boy

It does have a buzz to it. Its also THE area on the Sunny Coast with most weekend binge drinking and violence according to the local paper. A kiddy badly beaten and dumped in a garden on his way home from his shift at Maccas last week, for example. Also its important to remember that Mooloolaba is very small (you can drive through it in less than a minute in traffic) thus if you live there everything will be happening v close to home.

jad n rich

What you have to remember is australia is a car culture, your talking buderim all of the things our kids do would be within 10 minutes for people who live there, you drive them, like in america you drive your kids to things. Then at 17 your kids get their own car.

jad n rich

Yes people need to remember australia has a big binge drinking problem amongst kids too, especially girls for some reason, the papers love to splash the city sydney brisbane etc papers with girls rolling drunk in gutters.

Perspective tho, is like the UK it sells a paper.