T8HK

Hello to all Forumites,

My wife and i are currently considering a move to Townsville on a 457 visa and had a couple of questions that could not be answered by using the search button. If someone's out there living in Townsville that could answer these questions we would be very grateful.

1) Is there a plentiful choice for reasonably priced used cars, (AUS$8k to $15k, Holden Commodore, Mitsubishi Challenger etc). Or do you pay a premium because there is only a few large car dealers.

2) Is it stressful finding a 4 bed rental in a good suburb, eg. you have to be the first to see, to have any chance of getting it because they go as soon as they're advertised. Or worse still it's an auction situation.

3) Is there much in the way of violent crime.

4) How much does kindergarten cost per day. I think i read somewhere that it was around $60 in Brisbane.

5) What are the locals like, is it easy to make friends. If not, are there any expat groups that meet up on a regular basis.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice that can be offered.

Regards

Adrian

rossifumi

Private message in the first instance 'The A Team' who are there and then 'gop' who has researched the area.

Rich

The A Team

Hi

We moved to Townsville recently and love it here. I'll try to answer your questions......

1) Used cars are expensive all over Australia compared to the UK but there's no premium to pay in Townsville as there a loads of large car dealers here. I don't think you'll find much within your budget though.

2) Plenty of good quality rentals (usually) and it's mostly an open house type viewing where you turn up with a few others during a one hour time slot. Get in touch with a few rental agents when you first arrive and fill out the application forms ready and photocopy the documents they ask for. If you see one you like then offer to pay between 3 and 6 months up front and that should secure it.

3) No

4) No idea sorry, but most are run by ABC Learning Centres so look on the website or you could try emailing them.

5) We're finding the locals very friendly and there are now quite a few brits from this site living there. No regular meets yet but we've met up with several individually already.

Do a search on posts by Rabc and jimtrish as they've lived here longer than me, but if you've got any more questions I'll do my best to help if I can

T8HK

Dear A Team,

Thanks very much for your response. Just a few clarifications regarding the accommodation situation.

Are there any nice rural areas, say about 30 minutes drive away from the centre of town, to rent at reasonable prices ($350/week) and that have plenty of space between you and the house next door. The houses I've seen advertised seem so close to each other. I've also read some horror stories about noisy neighbors and barking dogs. What are your impressions of suburban life, and do you have any recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Adrian

The A Team

I've just had a look at this week's property paper and the majority of rentals are $350 a week or less so your budget is ok. I don't really have any knowledge of rural areas yet as we haven't been here long but generally the older established suburbs have more space so you won't necessarily have to go 30 minutes out of town unless you're looking for acreage. If you haven't been to Townsville before I recommend spending a couple of weeks when you get here looking at the different areas of Townsville and Thuringowa as they are very spread out. Rabc has more knowledge of the suburbs so you could try sending him a PM (he's very helpful)

T8HK

Thanks again A Team, this kind of info really helps.

Regards

Adrian

Bix

She's good aint she Adrian ?

That RabC bloke is pretty good too. See what he did in here for you..........
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...nsville+suburb

The A Team

Hi Bix, a little birdie told me you might be paying a visit to Townsville shortly

Bix

Must have been a parrot

Aye, when the UK hoose is sold it's on the list.

Got to make sure my hair is long though I've heard good reports about Mr.Snips.

The A Team

JohnAndNetta

Good grief - I remember you I thought you were originally headed to BrisVegas. Don't know if you remember me but I pm'd you with info on Bulimba and bits about hairdressers round here (probably around October 2005!!!). I don't get on to the forum that much these days, but I see you had a change of heart. So what made you decide on Townsville? Just curious. Hope you guys are ok and lifes treating you well. All the very best .....Netta

Bix

I think you had a lucky escape

The A Team

Hi Netta I certainly do remember you You and Mrs Dagboy gave me loads of really useful advice about Bulimba and other desirable suburbs. Due to a change of circumstances in the UK we had a much smaller pot of money to bring with us and there was no way we could afford to live in the areas we'd been looking. I widened my search (quite considerably LOL) and at the last minute added Townsville to our validation trip. Saw it, loved it and moved here about 10 weeks later My husband found work immediately, I think it's beautiful here and we're very happy with our choice How's life treating you?

JohnAndNetta

Well that's absolutely wonderful news. I've never been to Townsville, but its nice to hear you've found a lovely place and settled in so well. Me & John are coming up to our first year (9/9/05) and we love it here in Balmoral. Its suits us perfectly. The pool build has just started and so too the house extension and modifications, so its complete and utter mayhem for at least 3 months but worth it in the end I hope. John is actually contracting in Sydney at the mo. It was originally for 3 months but has now been extended until December but I think he will last out until mid-Sept when his mum comes for another visit. He comes home at weekends but its likely that he will start doing a few days from home, which will work out well. We were supposed to go back to the UK in March (we came out on return tickets) but changed the dates to September, but now I think we'll just give up our return tickets as we can't see too much reason to go back just yet, and it would mean us having to purchase another flight to get us back again! There's just too much going on at the moment, and we're enjoying ourselves too much (but mustn't let the rellies at home know that!). Well its nice to hear from you. If you're ever near Brisbane CBD then give us a shout.

Best of luck with everything

Netta