Morning everyone (or afternoon I guess) We have just returned from our "reccie/fact finding/validation" trip in which we intended to make our minds up on where to move to when we emigrate next year. However we just ended up having a 3 week holiday instead, weather was far too nice to be driving round all day. Anyway, point being we still are none the wiser where we are going to be in 12 months time.

After various trips over the past 3 years taking in all the cities from Adelaide up to Cairns we have narrowed it down to S.E. Queensland. We really loved Cairns but as we have 3 kids we felt that there would be more opportunities for them around the Brisbane/Gold Coast area. We had originally narrowed it down to the Helensvale/Oxenford area of the Gold Coast or Cleveland, which is obviously a bit nearer for Brisbane. However we did take a drive around the Cleveland area and I think for one reason or another, not bad ones, mainly because the kids want to be near a Surf beach, cinemas etc, we have struck it off the list for now. So we are therefore left with the Helensvale area, possibly because we have spend most of our time there over the past few years and it feels a little bit normal. Problem being, and I stand to be corrected hence the post, the reputation of the Gold Coast seems the get worse each time we go over.

We did take a drive down to Miami, Palm beach and Currumbin and they seems nice but it was only a drive through and a day at the beach, so any thoughts on these areas would be appreciated. I have also wanted to explore the Sunshine coast more, but again we only took a drive up to Mooloolaba so not much chance to form an opinion, so again any advice appreciated.

Ideally we would like to be within a bus ride of a patrolled beach, schools for the kids, hospitals and job opportunities. Lol, dont want much do we?

Thanks in advance for any help & advice that anyone can give.

LOL, you're not asking for much are you

There are loads of threads on here about the GC, one just yesterday re GC vs Brisbane. The Gold Coast's reputation has suffered in recent years, mainly due to overdevelopment, poor handling of tourism volumes, and things like Schoolies week. But don't let that put you off. It is a lovely place once you get out of the tourist traps, and you could do a lot worse!

I've lived in a few places on the Coast - Mermaid Beach, Miami, Surfers, Southport, Robina, Carrara, Broadbeach. I much prefer the GC from Mermaid Beach down - not as trashy / plastic as Broadbeach/Surfers. My personal experience is that the beaches are better for kids too once you get south of south of Surfers. (Burleigh beach is excellent and the Surf Life Saving Club there is brilliant for kids, if you're into that).

Miami, Palm Beach and Currumbin are well-established areas and there are a number of very good public and private schools in the area. You can also access good shopping at Robina with ease as well. (Have you considered Robina? Further inland but very popular with families.) There is a private hospital in Palm Beach, a campus of the GC Hospital at Robina and the main hospital is in Southport. Major business areas (depending on what you do) are Broadbeach through to Southport.

You can find a lot of good info on suburbs, living on the Coast etc in the following websites:

Gold Coast Tourism
GC City Council
GC Bulletin (local paper for jobs etc)
Independent schools in Qld (has a section on the Gold Coast)
Listing for all schools on the Coast
Gold Coast Australia has some community forums which may offer some insight

(As an aside, I don't think there is a bus from Helensvale direct to a surf beach - think they would have to change at Southport and get a bus to Main beach.)

HTH

Don't buy a house on either Gold or Sunshine Coast until you know the difference.... If the kids are the priority have another peek at the Sunshine Coast, not Mooloolaba because it's as Costa del Sol as it gets for the Sunshine Coast, although I don't think they understood Spanish when they named it..just a coincedence

come live next door to me they all chinese i feel alone? :scared:

And your point is?

We too have not long returned from a reccie on the GC and Adelaide....think the GC won though.....but like yourselves can't decide where!!!! I'm a sucker for beach views so loved Rainbow Bay, Elephant Bay, Burleigh Heads, Kirra, etc....love them all, in fact hence the problem!!!! OH loved Miami too, I missed out on that visit.....
We stayed with rellies at Tallebudgerae Valley....remote ish but fabulous all the same, in fact would even consider living here now whereas 6 months ago would'nt have even give it a thought!
Went to Robina too that was good, but there was'nt really anywhere we did'nt like.......
The real trouble is we forgot we were trying to decide on where to live and had a brilliant holiday instead!!! Oh well......... C x

That they want someone British as a neighbour presumably

We are down at the bottom and obviously much prefer this end to the top end - Agree with Ridds about the bottom half. IMO Robina is good for shopping but wouldn't want to live there.

I have only heard bad reports of the Gold Coast from people who have either never lived here or have passed through once. If you knew nothing about the area and just drove down the Gold Coast Highway I guess you would get bad vibes. If you actually explore the city you will find anything you are looking for. Suburbs differ, I have not been able to find a bad school, I have mountains and stunning beaches,friendly locals, plenty of work and an hour's drive to Brisbane - I don't need anything more, but we are all different.

What 'bad' things are there to hear about GC?!!!!! as I did'nt see anything to consider bad and would prefer to hear it before we move there!!!!! It would have to be extremely bad to put us off!!!!!
BTW I agree with you GC is nothing like Surfers!!!! C x

I find it amusing how people sell up everything in the UK, pull their kids out of school and the exteneded family unit, only to end up on the other side of the world living on the Gold Coast of Australia, of all places.

Please people, get over the GC.

The area is one big concrete jungle. The schools are infested with drugs. It has the highest child abuse rates in oz etc etc. It's a place that only a chav would feel comfortable living at. The Goldy for a boozey holiday? Yes. To live, no way!

The Sunshine Coast has alot more to offer a young family (if you can find work there). And who knows, your kids might actually grow up without a drug addiction, teenage pregnancy and criminal record. Yes, it's alot to ask for these days, but it is possible.

I think that to say your child could grow up with a drug problem, teenage pregnancy or criminal record on the Gold Coast but may not if you live on the Sunshine coast is a bit naive to say the least. Or a wind up!!

I work on a neonatal unit and can assure you that these problems occur regardless of where you live, what social background you come from and what school you go to!!!

I live in a fairly affluent area and know from my own kids that there are drugs around. Not least because the kids round here have a little more money than some so can afford to buy them. I'm also not that naive that I don't know that some of the nice, big houses around here are bought from, let's just say, not the most honest of occupations!!

I certainly wouldn't let those issues stop me from living somewhere. All you can do is eductae your children of the dangers and hope to God they are sensible enough to listen!!!!!

The only bad things I ever hear about the Gold Coast are from people who go to Surfers and think the whole Coast is the same. Not liking th GC because of Surfers is like not liking LOndon coz you don't like Covent Garden.

I love Southport coz of the town feel. There's evrything you need and we can walk to Main Beach. There's heaps of people on here who love evrywher on the GC including Helensvale, Pacific Pines, Runaway Bay, Currumbin, Elanora, Broadbeach and so on.

I work in Surfers and actualy like place. There's always something happening and it good to wanderthe street markets some nights if yu're bored. Plus I get to go for a swim in my lunch break.

I would recommend the GC to anyone. I felt too isolated on the Sunshine Coast although it's a great place to visit, and I just find Brisbane too sprawlng.

Good luck in your decision.

Paul.

I forgot to mention in my last thread that we're all drug addicts,we live on the 78th floor of a 158 floor building, and isn't burberry great?

Paul.

Sounds great!!!

We have recently been deciding between Adelaide and Gold Coast. Chose Adelaide in the end but really liked Arundel which is near Helensvale. Also a bus service into surfers if you need it. Lovely area built round a golf and country club. State and private schools supposed to be good. If i was to move there i would try Arundel for starters.

I've lived on The Gold Coast, have a brother who's lived on the Gold Coast for 18 years and have several ex-pat friends who have done so for the last 20 years...I've spent the last 18 years staying there every winter for 2 months at a time and I still have nothing Bad to say about it...it's a great place if you like that sort of thing....

None the less it's just got a little too crowded, a little too expensive and a little too wild over the last 10 - 15 years and we wanted somewhere just a bit more family friendly...that's why we came to Coolum Beach, on the Sunny Coast...

It's not that we were scared of the drug scene , or the overcrowding, or even the loonies doing burnouts on the roads...because that's how it is everywhere if you look deep enough, it's just that the Sunny Coast still has what the Gold Coast used to have, room to move, quiet roads and some great villages out along the ranges...it also has fewer jobs, a shorter season for tourism and a smaller airport with less choice about where to fly to and from...none of these factors mean it's a better or worse place to live...and yes they have needle bins in all the toilets here too, not because everyone is a smak head but because they recognise that some people are, and they do something to help them integrate with the normal society around them instead of pretending it doesn't exist....

Wherever you live you'll enjoy it. Hopefully your kids will know how to say no to some of the distractions available here and on the Goldy, and hopefully they'll learn to drive a V8 without shredding the tyres or deafening themselves with Bass but that's not about where you live, more about who you are and what you respect... If the some kids on The Goldy are drug addled and the street violence is at an all time high it's no good pretending it isn't like that everywhere else, you just have to know about it before it becomes a dissapointing surprise....or worse.

For everyone still looking forward to immigration, and now worrying about moving to The Gold Coast let me just say this....Don't worry, come and suss it out, see if you love it after a year and, if not,just check out and move somewhere else...it might be a drama but if it was easy everyone would do it and the problems would follow you around...

Australia is a culture shock for anyone...there's good and not so good points but compered to what you're leaving behind it's a good place to be..We all miss England but no-one seems too keen to go back wherever they live out here....

Growing up here might be harder for kids because, primarily, they have no role models..most adults still have a fair bit of growing up to do here, just count the neighbours toys (Boats, Beer fridges,Campers, 4x4's for shopping, etc ) to see what I mean,nothing wrong with any of it but it's hard to lecture someone who's still growing up while you're holding a stubbie in one hand and a joint in the other.. and the attitude to drugs is sometimes a little cavalier...wether it's legal drugs like booze or illicit stuff like weed & ecstasy there's plenty of encouragement and less of the dissaproving looks we've come to expect in the UK...on the other hand the laws are still there and choosing to indulge or partake still has the same, if not heavier, penalties attached....your little darlings will make thier own minds up, with your help of course, and unless they turn out to be dealers, hookers or statistics you'll be glad you came....

Just don't buy them the V8 until they know what one is....
Of all the things that are done differently here putting teenagers in very powerful cars has to be the one that strikes me as the most potentially stupid... but without the need for Insurance it's gonna keep happening
(As an example my 19 year old nephew is quite proud of his ability to ruin a V6 Commodore, a Mercedes and several "sensible" cars in a driving history punctuated with fines for various idiotic stunts and a personal debt that will keep him skint for the next 7 years...all quite normal, it seems)
The Road toll here is quite something to observe, and if there was one thing I'd change it would be the attitude to driving...Road Rage Champions of the world if you ask me....

Anyway....get here before you start worrying...Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Western Australia Coast...it's all good...Don't be worried about other peoples opinions or predjudices on one area or another, Come on Down and make your own...

Gotta go now , need to score some weed before screaming the Bathurst Replica down to the jetty for an afternoon on the Piss, fishin' with me Okker mates...Bloody Ripper....