ex Tassiemum

We are an Aussie family that moved from Tasmania to Sydney 6 months ago after living all our life in Tassie. We decided Sydney was NOT the place for us and decided to move to the Gold Coast after 6 months in the Hills area of Sydney. We had never been to the Gold Coast before except to make a rushed one day visit 2 weeks before we moved!

We are 2 weeks in and life is pretty ok!! We love this place! We have settled in Mermaid Waters and have rented a home with a canal as an extension of our backyard!! Pity we dont have a boat!! We throw the fishing line in without leaving our own yard!!

We moved here with the offer of work for my OH but just in the last day that has gone 'belly up' and is no longer an option for us so we have hit panic stations just a bit as we must now look for alternative employment options for him. But we feel with determination and a will to succeed he will find something, we just need it to be sooner rather than later!! And there is more urgency for myself to find a job quick smart so I have now applied for a few jobs and hopefully will hit the jackpot over the next week or so...

We have got our 2 kids aged 11 and 13 settled into their new schools. We chose Miami High for our 13yo daughter and Miami State School for our son. Merrimac High is just around the corner from us but decided Miami would be a better option. Just our personal choice here. We visited a couple of schools as there does not seem to be an issue with zoned areas here although I do know that does not apply to Varsity College. You must live in the catchment area to send your child there, but in our area it was choose the school you like and not worry about where you live. We found that to be a new experience for us as even in some Tassie places you must live in the area to send your child there. Anyway, so far the kids are enjoying the new school environment and thats a load off our minds.

We have gone to the beach every day since living here...its only a 5 min drive from us......and the saying about Queensland...'beautiful one day, perfect the next' is certainly the case so far. How relaxing to take a walk along the sand and only be minutes from home. And the beach is FREE and there are not mega crowds on a nice day and mega traffic to deal with as is the case in Sydney!!.......in fact, we arrived on the Gold Coast at what we thought was a very bad time.......5pm...you know...peak hour traffic...but we were still waiting for it to happen at 6pm!!!......the traffic is so so much less than what we had to deal with in NSW and we love it!!.

2 weeks in and we are already so much more relaxed than we have been in months and we have the job problem to deal with!!!

For some the GC may not suit but for us, 2 weeks in, it is paradise and we cant see ourselves ever leaving. Of ourse, we havent had to deal with Summer yet!! LOL

Now, we just need to meet some friends as we know absoulutely no one, not a sole, here in Qld so that will be our next challenge!

Cheers and good luck to all who have made the move. By the way, anyone need some cardboard cartons for packing, we have heaps for FREE!!!

paleface

thanks for the update - always interesting to read how others get on in new surroundings - how do you find drought - ie water restrictions on the g.c compared to sydney. is it a major worry??
glad your kids have found schools already and hope you will be very happy there

somme

Nice to hear from some aussie's, I am so glad you are settling in. Hope the jobs come rolling in.

My OH has been offered a job in Devenport Tas, I want to come to queensland can you give me an idea about Devenport, when you have time.

ex Tassiemum

somme, we lived in Devonport TAS for years and years, in fact my OH was born and raised there!

Devonport is located at the mouth of the river so you have beaches very very close! Its a smaller city with a population of around 24 000 approx. The ferry which travels between mainland Aust. and Tas berths in Devonport. So if you ever want to take your car to Melbourne and beyond the ferry is how you do it. Spirit of Tasmania its called and there are 2 of them. One leaves Melbourne at the same time the other leaves Devonport, ferrying passengers and vehicles between the 2 states every day of the year.
So that is right on your doorstep. Devonport also has an airport, a small one and Virginblue and Jetstar do not fly out of there only Qantaslink so you cant fly for cheap as they dont offer discounts that rival the 2 discount airlines I mentioned above. However, they do fly out of Launceston and that is only an hours drive from Devonport.

Devonport is a rural area as are all the towns on the North West Coast, in fact, it could be said all the towns of Tassie are rural. The shopping is ok but you would really need to travel to Launceston for better options. You have your basic shops in Devonport but its very limited although you can get by with what is on offer there.

In Summer its lovely in Devonport. They have an olympic pool with toddler pool and its a popular meeting place but you also have lots of wonderful beaches righ on your doorstep too. The Bluff is an area on the beach right in the town, where the kids can play at the playground or use the skatepark, there is a bike/walking track that goes all around the foreshore and the beach is ok too. Its a very popular place for the locals to congregate in the warmer months and its also a great area to walk if you rug up in Winter. The local Surf lifesaving club is situated at The Bluff.

You are only an hours drive from Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair which is a wonderful place to explore any time of the year but particularly in Winter.

Devonport is very centrally located, has a small town feel, has plenty of parks and the schools are fine. There is a good Cinema complex in the town and sport is pretty popular there too. Its an AFL state!

The housing prices are some of the most affordable in Tasmania, in fact, Australia due to Tas. being a little remote so you could buy a house there without too much trouble.

Devonport really is one of the nicer areas to live in the north of Tassie. We still have all our family there and will visit each year. But if you ask me Devonport or the Gold Coast?.........well, the GC runs rings around Devonport as far as weather conditions and the beachy way of life. Devonport for us is a great place to visit and if we had to go back and live in Tassie again we would probably choose Devonport.

If you decide to settle in Devonport I can help you avoid the less attractive areas to live and the better schools to choose although the schools are all zoned and you attend the school closest to your address unless you go private of course, then you can choose whatever one you want although the choices are very limited due to the population.

Hope this helps and just let me know if you want more specific info on anything.

Cheers

karenjc

Welcome to the GC and hope you continue to enjoy this beautiful part of the world. Good luck. Quill.

mick and beck

Interesting read and i hope that you continue to love living on the gold coast. I'm sure you'll find some perfect jobs soon, and have lots of friends who can take you out on their boats until you get yourselves one!
All the best, Rebecca

thewoodz

great to hear you are settling in.
we should be on the GC last week in august first week in sept - just deciding if daughter should go to guide camp before we come out - not sure at the mo as she doesn't want to go to Oz any way and a last hol with her friends may just make it worse.
OH, kids who will be 12 and just about 15 by then and me.
lets hope it continues to be great for you all

somme

Thanks, that was great, I may PM you about the area's in Devenport.

ex Tassiemum

We have now been on the Gold Coast for just over 4 weeks already!!! OH has found a full time job and started last Monday, he is in Sales and is stoked he has found a job so soon and so easily, so much easier than in Sydney! I am still looking for work and have decided that I would prefer part time rather than full time as hubbys hours are pretty long. But I have had no luck as yet. I am beginning to wonder if being 40+ is an issue??

But I will continue to look. Mind you, once I drop ds off at school I head to the beach for a walk in the sunshine and I will really miss that once I am working. I love my beach walks but miss friends to walk with. Hopefully we will meet others and make some new friends soon. The kids have settled amazingly well into their new schools too.

We are loving the weather here. It has cooled down the last few days but compared to what we are used to this is paradise!! I still worry that we will find it very hard to cope with Summer and the humidity but others have coped and have also come from cooler climates so we should too. Time will tell I guess!!

But we are loving it here and feel we will never leave as it really feels like a good fit for us.

auspal

The Gold Coast is a wonderful place, there is something for everyone here, and the climate is wonderful. I wouldnt want to live anywhere else either, we've been here for just over 10 years, but who's counting eh? This is home for us.

When you see the tourists arrive from overseas and realise how much it cost them and you have it all for free, its amazing.

moneypenny20

Pleased you've settled in. We love it here and can't imagine living anywhere else now. My girls are 14 and 12 and quite enjoy school as well - strange Anyway, if you want a beach walking mate sometime, give me a shout.

steve`o

hi there

we are just up the road in varsity lakes ( we`ve been here since oct 06 )
and our daughter terri (14) goes to varsity college
pm me if you like and we`ll meet up somewhere for a chat / etc

regards steve, debra and terri

somme

Properties look really expensive there, are there any area's to avoid?

steve`o

where ??? give us a clue

auspal

There is good and bad in all areas, it is really hard to give any areas to avoid. We can probably be of more help if you post an area that you are interested in, and we can tell you what we know about it