drdan

Hey, I'm a doc at Townsville hospital who migrated from the UK. Have posted some pics from the 'ville:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=523688

Good luck with the decision.

Been here for 3.5 years & no regrets.

Danny

drdan

A few more!
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/3180466_WAprG

Danny

John_R

Hi

I'm a para here in Townsville, been here nearly 3 years now and love the place.


John

John_R

Hi Dan

Where did you take this picture?

drdan

It's one of the bays on Magnetic. I think the one near the backpackers. Or it might be along from Cockles. Sorry.

fish.01

Welcome back to the forum. I always think of you and your great pics whenever someone asks about Townsville...always thought the positives you highlighted provided a good balance to some of the negatives that people don't like about the place. Especially as it attracts a lot of criticism from big city people who have only had fleeting contact with it so nice to hear from residents.

sophia7

I agree that opinions on Townsville are divided. Since only a few people who actually live there have been able to reply I'll give you my impression!

We're moving to Townsville In September and have two children in primary school. We visited the city in March after my husband was offered a job there and got (what I hope to be) a fairly good feel for the place. At the end of the reccie we all, including the kids, voted 'yes' to go. As others have said, some parts of the town looking a bit worse for wear and there were a couple areas that I definitely wouldn't want to live in. It's a small city afterall and has some good and bad areas like any city.

For cheap flights to other Aus cities, I think it's great and the airport is really convenient.

For children and families I think the facilities are good - the Strand area, rockpool, aquarium and the Riverway complex (new pools, art centre etc), Magnetic Island are great. We visited 3 primary schools and they were all fine (btw I work in primary ed.) They all seem to have well established sports programmes, are taking on the new national curriculum next year and generally good facilities.

The climate and wildlife I think are the two things that will probably take some getting used to (we were there at the end of the 'wet' season and you are most definitely in the tropics. It's very hot, rainy and humid for 3-4 months of the year. Airconditioning and pools are essential I think. If you love being in the sea (which we do) it is really disappointing to find out that you can't just dive in - stingers(jellyfish). Lots of people do brave it with exposure wetsuits on or go in the stinger nets on the main beaches.
Overall, Townsville seemed like a very family friendly place. The louts seemed to congregate in the one strip where the nightclub/bars are at night and can be easily avoided.
The few areas of the city where there are rundown houses are fairly small and could also be easily avoided. Most of the city is made up of pleasant looking residential suburbs of varying ages and expense and depending on your taste and budget you can take your pick. Lots of new development and brand new houses for rent as well. I was surprised at how expensive renting is, but then I think that's an Australian issue, not a Townsville one.
Take a look at realestate.co.au to get an idea.

Overall I'd say Townsville is a good place for families. It's clean and beautiful and the people we met were very, very friendly. It's not as large, vibrant, or culturally diverse as most of the other Australian cities I've visited, but as a place to raise a family I think it will be good.
Hope this is helpful .

S.

drdan

I took some photos yesterday climbing our Castle Hill, thought some here might like to see it....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGpT6R4s0NM

fish.01

That put a smile on my face, north qld in winter is lush, thank you

milamila

First of all you're going with your hubby so it's important to think of his prospects too or you'll be the one "bringing home the bacon" and he'll be sitting there frustrated with no work. Perth and Townsville are two different "planets" so you do have a tough choice to make. First of all Perth has 4 seasons and a hot summer but a cold winter so good quality accommodation is needed and heating costs must be taken into account plus warm clothing, it's a city, it's modern and it has opportunities but you may have to commute long distances from suburb to city or suburb to suburb, which once again means costs. I would choose Townsville if I were you simply because it is smaller, it's a country town and hence it will be easier for your husband to find part time or casual employment (people think big cities are better but I know for a fact that smaller towns offer more opportunities especially for people without a clear career choice and big cities are better for the young career minded people) Townsville is a touristy town and so lots of casual employment within the tourism industry if your husband wanted to do that (handyman in a van park, mini bus driver and so on). Townsville remains warm for the entire year which cuts out heating bills and the necessity to purchase of bring along warm clothes. In a tropical place you also have many more options when it comes to accommodation and even caravan parks are an option and sometimes fun and cheap places to live for a bit. I am a Cairns girl so I'm a bit bias but I also lived in Perth for two years and even though it's a relatively lovely city I would not recommend it. Living in the tropics is the best.

Still Game

I disagree with this. We always fly from Glasgow to Perth (Emirates) and it's cheaper than flying to the East Coast. I always check just in case there are any better deals, however, haven't seen the East Coast cheaper in 9 years.

paularn

I'm a nurse in Townsville too. I moved here in Feb 2010, hubby is from the area. I love the weather here, absolutely perfect! I like that its on the east coast because it is easy to access the other major cities from here and at a reasonable price. We do travel, by car, to Cairns at least 2-3 times a year for a weekend away...its lovely that its so close to do that. At some stage we will go south to Airlie Beach etc. My only major complaint is that for me to go home (Canada) I need to get to a major city before I can fly internationally, can't be done from here. So that adds cost and time to the overall trip.

I love that the city is not too big but not too small either. Our 11yr old daughter settled in very quickly and quite well at her new school. Both my husband and I landed into jobs fairly quickly after arriving here (moved from Canada without jobs here). We found a rental home within a couple of weeks and we are now in the process of buying a block of land and hope to start building our home by end of the year.

I do not think Townsville is touristy...there isn't a whole lot here. Cairns and Port Douglas are the tourist spots in North Queensland. I think some people actually like that Townsville isn't the touristy haven like Cairns.

Overall, I think life is good here....for us anyway!

Turban Explorer

I'd choose Perth over Townsville any day of the week. Townsville is basically a sprawling US style town of dreary shopping centres, it has a small beach along the Strand and a sea you can't swim in half of the year. The weather is incredibly humid and the sun is searingly hot - apart from a couple of months around June - July it's a life hiding out in the air con unless you like dripping in sweat.

Magnetic Island is the one saving grace - its a pretty island with lovely bays. We left Townsville a year ago as we didn't like the place - the mainstay of the population seemed pretty red neck. We may have to leave Cairns and re-visit Townsville for work reasons and the only way for us is to live on Magnetic Island and commute everyday.

Sorry if this clashes with some other opinions - we lived there for a year and knew a few students who disliked the place so much they actually transferred away to other Uni's as soon as they could.

HelenTD

Perth's equivalent of Magnetic Island is Rottnest Island, much, much smaller, but a great place to visit.

milamila

Oh dear you sound like you really did not like it very much!! I grew up in Cairns and Townsville (family in both cities) and there is more to Townsville than just the Strand you should have asked the locals and they would have shown you some treasures!!