francescawhitaker

Hi, my family and I are going on a long term assignment to Oz with my husbands company next year. It will be a 3 year posting and we are fortunate enough to have a choice of offices, in either Cairns or Brisbane. After reading up a bit about both cities, we are still stuggling to make a choice.

We have 3 young children (6, 3 and 16 months) and are looking for a really family friendly cultural experience. We love the outdoor lifestyle we hear about, but at heart I am also a bit of a city girl. We are looking to give the kids the best experience we possibly can, but not at the expense of their schooling - really good schools are also a priority.

We love the look of both cities. Cairns looks like it sits on the edge of paradise on earth (although the biggest worry is that the climate would be too much for us weedy Brits). Brisbane looks like it has loads going on, but is it as family friendly and does it offer the same outdoor experience?

We'd love to hear your views and experiences and what you think based on what we are looking for.
Francesca

jad n rich

Brisbane.

If you are even questioning the climate in Cairns - DONT

Plus Cairns economy is severley depressed.

'Paradise on earth scenery' is great for holidays, a 2 hour flight from Brisbane.

Masses going on in brisbane, very multicultural too now. You can be outside as much as you want, (keeping in mind the continual sun safety required in OZ ) plenty of green space and beaches as close as north brisbane - redcliffe, woody point etc. GC and sunshine coast in an hour on the weekend.

KJCherokee

Think of it this way - if Sydney & Melbourne are London, then Brisbane is Manchester or Edinburgh and Cairns is, say, Nottingham - purely on a size basis, of course!

Brisbane is sub-tropical and Cairns is tropical, with rainy seasons and humidity to match. If you have never been in the tropics before then I suggest you pick the Brisbane option to start with - a lot of people from southern Australia find even the Brisbane summer humidity too much to put up with; straight from the UK Cairns would be a shock to the system.

Turban Explorer

Between June to October Cairns is a lovely place to live and if you would be here with a decent income you'd be able to enjoy what this part of Oz has to offer. The remainder if the year isn't so good. It's exceptionally humid and between January to April will be bucketing it down with the risk of the odd cyclone. It's a very small place with tourism as it's raison d'être so there is a nice international mix of people and backpackers around. The town centre is a bit depressed with closed down shops etc as the economy is poor but that doesn't really matter. If the wages are the same as Brisbane your standard of living might be better as rent is cheaper (very nice around Redlynch and the Northern Beaches). As for schooling to have the best I believe you'll need to send the kids outside the state system (I know there are some good but generally the grades are much better in Catholic or Independent).

DadAgain

I'm not sure about Cairns schools - but there are plenty of good state schools in Brisabne that compete on an equal footing or are better than all but the most elite/expensive private schools. e.g. Brisbane State High School (<$1k per year) outperforms all the girls schools except BGGS ($19k), Sommerville ($16k) and St Peters ($17k) - I'd imagine the stats a simlar for boys schools but havent looked....

Of course BSHS is a bit of a standout - but there a still lots of state schools that outperform most of the 'lower tiered' private schools. Dont be fooled into assuming that 'private is best'- its not necessarily the case.

For the raw statistical nasties on school results (which shoudl not be taken in isolation as the basis for school choice obviously):

http://www.myschool.edu.au/ <--- compare ALL schools NAPLAN results (testing at yr3, 5, 7 and 9)

http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/...utcomes_10.pdf <--- compare yr 12 results (hint - a high percentage of students with low numbered OP scores indicates academic excellence)

francescawhitaker

Thank you all so much for your replies, it's been so helpful!

fish.01

Frances if you could expand on "is it as family friendly and does it offer the same outdoor experience" we could answer specifically what you might be looking for?

RenShen

Hi, I live on the Gold Coast, hubby has commuted to Brissy for work for the last 2 years and I am currently in Cairns for a conference (3 nights). Have also been up here for a holiday. My kids are 12 and 17 and there is no way I would choose to live here instead of Brissy or the Goldie. Nice place to visit for a short break, but nowhere near the opportunities for employment, development and activities that exist further south.