Pup

[Southern Right]

Hi Everyone

I've just recently discovered this site and I'm so glad I did! We are applying for a student visa and hope to be in Townsville by January 2010. I would love to make contact with anyone living in Townsville as I need to find out a lot of info regarding schools, accommodation, etc, etc.

[Monica_]

Hi Southern Right

Welcome! Haven't been in Townsville myself, but my husband's been there, and he just loved it.

Best of luck with your student visa.

Monica

[SHANEB]

Hi we are in Townsville.

[Southern Right]

Hi we are in Townsville.

Hi SHANEB

So what's it like in Townsville? I've heard so many different opinions and I'm so inquisitive! Do you have kids in school and can you recommend any particular areas to start looking for accommodation? Did you manage to find jobs ok?

I used to live in Durban and I believe the weather in Townsville can be similar. What is the weather like generally?

I would love to hear more about your experiences there and any advice you might have.

[Southern Right]

Hi Southern Right

Welcome! Haven't been in Townsville myself, but my husband's been there, and he just loved it.

Best of luck with your student visa.

Monica

Hi Monica

Thanks for the info. Where abouts are you in Queensland and are you enjoying it? Any advice?

[Monica_]

Hi Monica

Thanks for the info. Where abouts are you in Queensland and are you enjoying it? Any advice?

Were in Dalby, inland from Brisbane (about 250km). Dalby is not for everyone, but I'm enjoying it. The advice I would give to help with settling, is get involved with volunteer work. It is amaizing how doors open, especially to friendships etc., but then I must add, I do not work, and that makes a huge difference.

The hardest for me, was the first year, just give your roots time to grow, and get settled, then you'll be A-OKAY.

Best of Luck.

Monica

[SHANEB]

Hi Barbara,

Sorry I have taken awhile to reply. We are coming up for two years here in Townsville and so far have enjoyed it.

Townsville being a regional centre pretty much has all of the large city amenities. There is a wide variety of schools here when we looked at schools for our daughter who is now in prep and going onto year 1 next year we narrowed it down to two choices either Townville Grammar or The Cathedral School both seem to be exellent schools which go from Pre Prep to year 12. We put our daughter into Cathedral mainly because it was similar to the school she was at in PMB, my daughter has settled in beautifully and we have been really impressed with the school. As far as Grammar goes both Turbo and Tracy that are on this forum teach at Grammar and they would be the best to ask about it. There are also a lot of good Catholic private schools as well as State Schools here as well. I guess in some ways you could equate Townsville to PMB or Grahamstown in that they are all regional educational centre's.

Because Townsville has a very broad based economy including Army, Airforce and Navy base's here we have not felt the GFC as much as say Cairns which is very tourist orientated and some of the other towns around that rely only on mining or agriculture. Jobwise I am not working at the moment but my wife is a town planner working with an engineering company. Job are available but it depends upon what you are looking for. Keep an eye on www.townsvillebulletin.com.au to get an idea of what is going on in the area. It also has good links to job sites as well as property and car sale in the area.

Rentals in a good 4 bedroom double garage home in the newer suburbs of Bushland Beach, Anandale, Burdell, Fairfield Waters, Kirwan or Idalia etc. would range from $350 to $550 per week. For a good look around look at Google maps and go to street view and you can navigate your way around. There are fantastic parks and cycle paths around and the facilities for children here are amazing by SA standards. In the school holidays plenty of entertainment is put on for kids so there is always something to do and if all else fails there is the The Strand and Riverway as well as the Aquarium and plenty of museums.

Weather wise Townsville is Hot! you will not need jersey's etc. The locals start buying heaters when the temp drops to about 20 deg C. From about Easter through to about Oct here is great with endless days of 25/27degC weather with early mornings being about 15degC. In summer and the wet season temps seem to stay at about 33/35degC day and night and even when it rains and when it rains here it really rains in Jan and Feb this year we had almost 2000mm but that was above average. Average for most years is a about 1200mm falling from Nov to March.

Negatives about Townsville are we are in the Cyclone belt, and in summer you can't swim in the sea because of marine stingers but they do have netted areas and the Rockpool at the Strand which has filtered seawater which you can swim at as well as quite a few public pools. Townsville is also pretty far from your major cities however if you plan ahead and keep an eye out there are plenty of cheap internal filghts to the big cities.

Hope this answers some of your queries.

Regards,

Shane.

[Southern Right]

Hi Barbara,

Sorry I have taken awhile to reply. We are coming up for two years here in Townsville and so far have enjoyed it.

Townsville being a regional centre pretty much has all of the large city amenities. There is a wide variety of schools here when we looked at schools for our daughter who is now in prep and going onto year 1 next year we narrowed it down to two choices either Townville Grammar or The Cathedral School both seem to be exellent schools which go from Pre Prep to year 12. We put our daughter into Cathedral mainly because it was similar to the school she was at in PMB, my daughter has settled in beautifully and we have been really impressed with the school. As far as Grammar goes both Turbo and Tracy that are on this forum teach at Grammar and they would be the best to ask about it. There are also a lot of good Catholic private schools as well as State Schools here as well. I guess in some ways you could equate Townsville to PMB or Grahamstown in that they are all regional educational centre's.

Because Townsville has a very broad based economy including Army, Airforce and Navy base's here we have not felt the GFC as much as say Cairns which is very tourist orientated and some of the other towns around that rely only on mining or agriculture. Jobwise I am not working at the moment but my wife is a town planner working with an engineering company. Job are available but it depends upon what you are looking for. Keep an eye on www.townsvillebulletin.com.au to get an idea of what is going on in the area. It also has good links to job sites as well as property and car sale in the area.

Rentals in a good 4 bedroom double garage home in the newer suburbs of Bushland Beach, Anandale, Burdell, Fairfield Waters, Kirwan or Idalia etc. would range from $350 to $550 per week. For a good look around look at Google maps and go to street view and you can navigate your way around. There are fantastic parks and cycle paths around and the facilities for children here are amazing by SA standards. In the school holidays plenty of entertainment is put on for kids so there is always something to do and if all else fails there is the The Strand and Riverway as well as the Aquarium and plenty of museums.

Weather wise Townsville is Hot! you will not need jersey's etc. The locals start buying heaters when the temp drops to about 20 deg C. From about Easter through to about Oct here is great with endless days of 25/27degC weather with early mornings being about 15degC. In summer and the wet season temps seem to stay at about 33/35degC day and night and even when it rains and when it rains here it really rains in Jan and Feb this year we had almost 2000mm but that was above average. Average for most years is a about 1200mm falling from Nov to March.

Negatives about Townsville are we are in the Cyclone belt, and in summer you can't swim in the sea because of marine stingers but they do have netted areas and the Rockpool at the Strand which has filtered seawater which you can swim at as well as quite a few public pools. Townsville is also pretty far from your major cities however if you plan ahead and keep an eye out there are plenty of cheap internal filghts to the big cities.

Hope this answers some of your queries.

Regards,

Shane.

Hi Shane

Thanks so much for the info, it has answered a lot of my questions. Did you and your family settle in quite well and were you welcomed by the Australians? I have heard conflicting stories regarding this, some say they are not friendly, others say they are very welcoming. What was your experience?

What would you say your average living expenses are for a week? We are trying to budget but it is difficult without knowing the price of food etc. What is public transport like, would you need to buy a car initially or could you get by on public transport?

I'm so grateful for your help, it really helps to visualise things a little better.

Regards

Barbara

[SHANEB]

We have not had any problems with Aussie's and where made to feel quite welcome, they do have a different sort of mindset that takes a little getting used to, which was something that as an english speaking person one is not expecting, where as, if you are an afrikaans speaker you are more prepared for a mindset change. difficult to say exactly what your weekly expenses are because it really depends upon your circumstances, for example we live about 25 kms out from town where my wife works and my daughter is at school and at the moment I travelling about 500km's per week so we use about $50 to $60 worth of fuel per week. ( 2lt Ford Focus built in PE South Africa) Petrol at the moment is about $1.30 per litre for 95 Octane, you get 91,95 and 98 Octane here, 98 is only available at BP servo's here up North. Public Transport in Townsville is OK but not perfect, again it depends on where in Townsville you work and live and where your kids are at school. You could get by without car but I think it would be difficult. Cars in Aus are cheap compared to SA and you could pick up a reasonable small 5 or 6 year old car for $2000 to $3000. Check out www.lasoo.com.au for prices of groceries, electronic goods, clothing, furniture etc. all the major retailers put their promo's on lasoo and you should be able to work out a budget with that. Things like insurance here are far cheaper than in SA. With life cover you get about double the cover in Rands for about half the premium that you would pay in SA.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Shane.

[Southern Right]

We have not had any problems with Aussie's and where made to feel quite welcome, they do have a different sort of mindset that takes a little getting used to, which was something that as an english speaking person one is not expecting, where as, if you are an afrikaans speaker you are more prepared for a mindset change. difficult to say exactly what your weekly expenses are because it really depends upon your circumstances, for example we live about 25 kms out from town where my wife works and my daughter is at school and at the moment I travelling about 500km's per week so we use about $50 to $60 worth of fuel per week. ( 2lt Ford Focus built in PE South Africa) Petrol at the moment is about $1.30 per litre for 95 Octane, you get 91,95 and 98 Octane here, 98 is only available at BP servo's here up North. Public Transport in Townsville is OK but not perfect, again it depends on where in Townsville you work and live and where your kids are at school. You could get by without car but I think it would be difficult. Cars in Aus are cheap compared to SA and you could pick up a reasonable small 5 or 6 year old car for $2000 to $3000. Check out www.lasoo.com.au for prices of groceries, electronic goods, clothing, furniture etc. all the major retailers put their promo's on lasoo and you should be able to work out a budget with that. Things like insurance here are far cheaper than in SA. With life cover you get about double the cover in Rands for about half the premium that you would pay in SA.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Shane.

Hi Shane

Thanks so much, I will check out the websites and do some research. You have been so helpful, we'll keep you posted on our move!

Kind regards

Barbara