Great Life in Australia with kids?

Question

I grew up in Darwin, Australia and moved to the UK eleven years ago. Since then, I've married and had two children, 6yrs and 1yr. My husband (who is English) and I are thinking to move back to Australia sometime in the next few years. We'd like somewhere laid-back, sporty, sunny, with markets, good quality of life, reasonably near to beaches and about an hour or so from a city. Somewhere fabulous! :-) Any suggestions? PS: Not Darwin, it's too isolated for my London-born husband....

Answer 1

I would have to say anywhere in Queensland would be fantastic. Although Surfers Paradise would be great for you and your children would love you for it. It has beautiful beaches, theme parks and great market places!!
It is also an hour or less to Brisbane and an hour to the NSW border so you can take your children to Byron Bay for the day!!
Also if you wanted to go to Sydney for a weekend it is only an hour flight with cheap flights!!
It would have to be one of the best places in Australia to live!!
They are fantastic people in Queensland and you would have a great time.
You have a lot of choices in QLD and you would never get bored!!
Give it a go, you wont regret it!!

Answer 2

I would suggest Melbourne. Even though the climate is colder than in Sydney, it's less humid. And the cultural life approaches more to the London style. I love musicals and in a few days they´ll be opening "Miss Saigon". There are always great shows, besides being the host city for an F1 race and the Australian Tennis Open. This week the World Swimming Championships will be held here.
I'm also migrating to Australia (I'm from Venezuela) and since I live in Caracas, which is a city of nearly 5 million people and very modern, I wanted a place where me and my family had plenty of options for entertainment. We had to decide between Melbourne and Sydney and finally chose Melbourne for reasons I mentioned before. We have a 13 year old daughter and a 9 year old son.

Answer 3

aims48 has a good suggestion, Eumundi, Montville and Maleny are great. Let me also suggest Kiama, south of Sydney, right on the sea. It's a decent size place in its own right, should be good for kids, not far from the much larger Wollongong which has a University and within easy reach by bus, train or car of Sydney. Also by car to Canberra - that takes a bit longer with a nice steep range between.

Other good places, but not right near the sea might be Nambour, Gympie, Toowoomba all within a few hours of Brisbane and fairly large as Australian country towns go.

In NSW, Port Macquarie, Gosford, Newcastle, some others in the Southern Highlands like Goulburn or Bowral. Even Canberra.

Within an hour of Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne is not going to be very "laid back" Sorry, but you will take the best part of an hour to get from the central business districts to the outskirts of each of these on an average working day, by car. BTW, the really nice places are expensive to buy or rent. Funny, that.

Answer 4

Id say anywhere in the Wide Bay or Sunshine Coast areas away from the busy spots like Maroochydore, Buderim, Hervey Bay. somewhere like Caloundra, Maleny, Montville, Nambour. Or try Canberra - 3 hrs drive from Sydney and the beautiful beaches of the NSW sth coast. Plus your husband would be used to the cold down there.

Answer 5

The Gold Coast and the Sunshine coast are both close to Brisbane. You can get from Brisbane to the Gold Coast in about an hour. It's pretty commercialized these days though, and is full of tourists.
The Sunshine coast is not that much further away and is much more laid back. It's not full of high rises, and life is alot slower. If you were thinking of the Sydney area it is very expensive there now, and the population is alot higher. Inner city traffic is chaos, but there are alot of methods of public transport...trains, buses and ferries.

Answer 6

I would say Busselton or Margret River, West Aus they are both on the coast with great lifestyles for you and the kids and it is not to hot plus they are also close to the city of Bunbury and not far from Perth.West Aus still has a lot of growing to do so jobs are pretty easy to get now.My parents immigrated from England when I was 8 and I am grateful every day they did we have a great laidback lifestyle as you would know.

Answer 7

Sydney is expensive but other cities are getting that way too. The reason Sydney is expensive is that so many people want to live there - for the very reasons you have listed. Try Sydney's eastern suburbs or the northern beaches. To get some idea of prices, check the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturdays http://www.smh.com.au

Answer 8

Eumundi or Montville near Noosa on the sunshine coast in queensland are great choices. Small laidback community atmosphere, eumundi market is great, heaps of artists etc reside in the area. Beautiful beaches and rainforest and only an hour and a half from Brisbane

Answer 9

Oh leave- if only i had the chance to leave this country, you would have a much better standard of living in Australia- and when your children grow up i wouldn't imagine you would be as worried when they go to the cinema, or see a few of their friends. I live in London myself- whenever i read the local paper, or watch the local news all you read is, muggings,rapes... people being beaten up for no reason. Apart from that, life in the U.K is a rat race anyways- everyone one fighting for that new BMW, or latest plasma t.v...

I have visited Sydney in the past, and there are some beautiful suburbs in the vicinity of the city of itself, i remember it being called 'Villawood'

Best of luck

Answer 10

how about Port Douglas in Far North Queensland?

Its very close to Cairns and Port has great markets and there is lots to do in the entire North Queensland area....

I moved from Cairns to the US recently, December actually and am already contemplating moving back...you just dont get any better than what Australia has to offer....