One month on the Gold Coast
 

Gosh, only a month?! it feels a lot longer.

Everything going well so far - we found an unfurnished rental backing onto a golf course quite easily, once we'd got an internet connection sorted out & bought a car everything else fell into place around that. Still waiting for the container to be delivered but I got some rental furniture in so everything is sweet.

We've been coming to Australia quite a lot over the last few years (we lived in NZ for a while, which was a good staging post) so we'd got to know the place quite well and spent a lot of time looking at places before we moved, in the end we decided on Robina. It's a new town with a very good shopping centre, lovely buildings and parks, close to both the coast and the hinterland.

http://www.verygc.com/places_to_discover/robina.html

http://www.robinatowncentre.com.au/

If anything the country has exceeded our expectations: we've found people are generally a lot more relaxed, laid back and openly friendly. The weather has been either hot and humid or pleasantly warm for the most part. When it is cooler - like today - it's been quite refreshing.

A few days back we took to the hills and visited Mount Tamborine, fantastic views from the top. Some of the woodlands there reminded me of Ashdown Forest, very green and pretty. This is what is so nice about the Gold Coast - it's not just theme parks, golf courses and miles of surf and sand, the countryside is so beautiful with vast tracts of green rainforest.

There are quite a few Brits here on the GC so we blend in quite well and there's lots of British food in Coles, Robina which was a treat. Food prices are about the same as back in NZ but a greater range of produce in the shops - specially of UK foods. (McVities choccy digestives and pyramid tea bags to name but a few :rofl::rofl:)

Spiders and snakes? so far so good :) have seen a redback but it was outside, some large cockroaches (we're used to them having lived on the North Shore for so long) and cane toads. Still can't get over the birds in the garden though! - we have a beautiful kingfisher with a bright yellow breast and a tame kookaburra which come into the garden every day and the most incredbile mutlicoloured parrots. When its hot the cicadas in the trees at the back make a racket but they calm down at night to a gentle chirruping. Considering we're so close to town here there is an abundance of wildlife you wouldn't normally expect to see back in the UK, and it all wakes up as soon as the sun rises....;).

So far so good, looking forward to posting a 6 month update.

Re: One month on the Gold Coast
 

Great post Nerine :thumbup:

How does it compare to NZ?

Re: One month on the Gold Coast
 

Lovely post Nerine!:thumbup:

Re: One month on the Gold Coast
 

GC has a population similar to that of Auckland but it doesn't seem as crowded here, it's a lot more open, not so subdivided either.

The country is a lot more affluent so that brings a lot of benefits, people are a more career focused and its ok to want to work/study hard to better oneself: No Tall Poppy syndrome.

The scenery isn't quite as spectacular as New Zealands, if the GC had the type of views that the North Shore has I think the "full" signs would've gone up years ago :D.

It's not as drought ridden as people in NZ think it is, it's very green and lush. Bit like living in Miami, Florida with lots of water, palm trees etc. Nothing like that in NZ so what you loose in scenery you make up for in ambience.

People are generally very friendly and polite, I know that Ozzies have this bad rep for being abbrasive but most of the people I've talked with have been lovely. There are a lot of Kiwis here and all of the ones I've met are happy, warm and good natured. Not quite as reserved as 'back home'

The climate...so far...had been great. Much warmer, a lot more humid. You know you can go out and do things most days and aren't so much as the mercy of the weather as back in NZ. The nights can be very warm and that's taken some getting used to. Having screens on the windows is great - the windows are open but we still have the ceiling fans on to keep the air moving.

We're still getting out an exploring things at the moment so it's early days but I love the beaches here....they just go on and on...oh...and I love the Surfclubs too, I've made it my mission to visit every one in QLD! :D

Re: One month on the Gold Coast
 

Nerine
Fantastic post sounds like you are settling in well - long may your happiness continue.:thumbsup:

Re: One month on the Gold Coast
 

Great post! We arrive on the GC on the 14th, glad to hear about the ease you found your rental.

Mandy

Re: One month on the Gold Coast
 

We found it through seqrents.com.au, I emailed the manager of a development we were interested in and they just happened to have a vacancy coming up. My husband viewed it before it was even advertised and signed on the dotted line then and there.