No Idea

Well its official, dear hubby came home and said we are moving to Townsville in 6 months time. Ohh joy - not!!! On the brighter side of life, I get to choose where we live in Townsville and what car we get I have been reading up on all the wonderful informative posts about townsville (thank you!!!) but now i'm even more confused.....

Real estate - ok I have two young children that will probably attend Cathedral School and childcare. Annadale looks ok but also looks really 'lego landish' - I have problems thinking about living on a concrete slab in the tropics!!. (I have previously lived in Darwin in a raised house and it was great - although too close to the neighbours and no privacy) Where is a really good area to live in, easy driving distance to school, safe and secure (high priority), large yard, with an enjoyable lifestyle to match for a Mum with two young kids?? (ignoring money side of things)

Cars- uggg I hate researching cars. So far we have had to change our cars every two years due to moving around so much - i'm tired of wasting money on them. How much do your really need a 4x4 in Townsville? What are the roads like? Rough as anything? If you are doing local touristy things (eg Cairns for the weekend) do you need a 4x4 or can your ordinary car travel comfortably? Currently I have a Mazda5 but they dont have them in OZ. Have had a Subaru Outback stationwagon which was great but two kids in carseats is a little tight.......any recommendations? Dear hubby is getting a new bicycle to ride to work

I must admit I am not looking forward to this move. We have been ping ponging around the world and i'm tired of removals. Currently we are in the South of France - so a big difference to Townsville!!!! So any help would be greatly appreciated - and any help needed for cities in Australia - just asked I think I have lived in most of them now

KatieLilly

The roads in Townsville are as good (or bad....) as in any other Australian city, so you don't need a 4x4. We lived in the outback four hours west of Townsville and for that you need a 4x4, but if you only want to drive to Cairns or to the Whitsunday Islands an ordinary car is quite okay. There are lots of car dealers in town. We have still a 4WD (Kia Sorento) we are quite happy with. Good points for research would be to go to: www.drive.com.au and www. carsales.com.au.

Regarding housing I like Annandale , Kirwan where I am is nice, too. I like living "on a concrete slab" in the tropics, especially now when it is cool. But both suburbs are a bit of a drive to the school which is in Mundingburra I believe. You could try Pimlico or South Townsville / Railway Estate, they have got lots of Queenslander houses there.

Hope this helps a bit,

Cheers

Katie

No Idea

Thanks Katie

It was good to hear that you like living ón a "concrete slab" Sorry I hope I didn't sound rude or anything - its just getting my mind around it I suppose. Do you like living in Townsville? Is it a good place to meet lots of people (especially with little ones?)

I think I'm feeling a little nervous

Thanks again.

Olias

Hi,

am going to Townsville with my wife, hopefully in September. No kids yet, but you never know
I've been a few times before and its a great place. From what I've seen on this website there are a fair few expats there, some with little ones. Try a search and you'll probably find some

Olias

sals

Hi no idea
I'm off to Townsville too late July, early August hopefully. Have never been and also feeling nervous and excited. Seem to be quite a few expats on here already there and quite a few people going this year, so there should be loads of us to make friends with and have meet ups. I have a teenager not young children I'm afraid so can't help with schools and have decided to wait til we get there to decide definitely which area we will live in. At the moment Bushland Beach looks like it might be the place for me, but who knows til we get there. Feel free to PM if you want either before or after you arrive, should be hopefully settled by then
sals

KatieLilly

I like living in Townsville except during the wet season (approx. from Dec.-March) where it is fairly hot and very humid and rains a lot. But then again you would be used to that from your time in Darwin.

Good place here to meet people and to do things, as the town is growing constantly (so are the house prices...) there is more and more on offer.

No Idea

Hi Thanks for the replys and PMs. Sorry about my tardiness - my 2yr old has been very sick One good thing about Townsville - when you do a 4am run to the hospital with a sick child I get to speak english not french!!!!

pasty legs

Hi noidea

If the worst comes to the worst I might be admitting your or your family! I work in the emergency department and its very friendly.

I note that you have young children. I have 2 young children too. Mine are 3 and 4. They are absolutely loving it here as are outdoors all the time. Let me know when you are coming over as a few of us go to a playgroup and you would be more than welcome to join us.

Sara