Ideal living location?..

Hey all, planning to emigrate to oz in February from Ireland! There are the two of us and our three little boys aged 8,5 and 13months... I'm a paediatric nurse and my husband is a carpenter and basically we want a better quality of lifestyle!.. We are wondering if anybody could help us decide which part of Australia to select to settle in?... We're kind of are between Melbourne and Brisbane at the moment so if any one could point us in the right direction or give us any useful information we would be very grateful.

Hello need a change!

I hope that other members will give some tips to you soon.

Harmonie.:)

I was born and lived in Melbourne for 27 years and it is rather a boring city.  The whether is terrible,  freezing 9 months of the year and then boiling hot for 3 months.  But the worst aspect of the whether in Melbourne is the cloudy days which is very often!!!  There are a lot of bad points I could say about Melbourne which is why I moved but you may find it different and I'll probably get a few Melbournians attacking me for my opinion so I'll stop there.

I have only been to Brisbane for one day.  I have known 3 people who have moved to Brisbane and it wasn't what they expected and moved to the nearby Gold Coast to live instead after a year.  I would prefer Brisbane to Melbourne though,  nicer climate and cheaper property but you might find it harder to get a job than in Melbourne.  But I think nurses are in high demand in Australia and carpenters,  I'm not sure but maybe your husband could start his own business. 

Personally,  I would live in Sydney as I think it is the city with everything (great whether, beaches, friendly people,  great public transport, great shopping and more)  but it's best to live on the northern beaches,  eastern suburbs,  inner west or south of Sydney.  The only downside with Sydney is it is very expensive for property (renting and buying).  It is the only place I would live in Australia though (I might try Perth one day)

I have never been to Perth in Western Australia but everyone I speak to that has been says it is great also.  The only negetive  I can think of is that it is far away from the rest of Australian cities,  close to Ireland though :)

Can I ask why you have narrowed it down to Melbourne and Brisbane?

hi, i hope u find some one to help u but i think for u good to come to gulf there is many help

Hi all thanks for the replies especially rainman. The reason we liked Melbourne was because the climate is very similar to Ireland and also we heard that our 3 boys will have better options when it comes to playing sport.We know that there is alot of construction work in Brisbane but we were afraid that it would be too warm for us especially since my husband is an insulin dependant diabetic.We think Perth is too isolated on the west coast.I have never been to Oz but my husband lived in Sydney for a year and we haven't considered it because we didn't think it was suitable for families.

No Problem,

You will probably like Melbourne,  around 3 or 4 million people live there so they must like it.

Melbourne is known as the sports capital but Australia as a whole is a sports crazy country so you would get great choices anywhere.  You'll certainly get the sports fanatics in Melbourne.

Oh yer,  don't forget about Tasmania.  That probably has a climate even more similar to Ireland and is a beautiful place.  Not sure how easy it is to get a job there though and don't know that much about it.

Good luck

Hi there

Perth sounds isolated, but there are loads of small towns around and nearby, so it doesn't feel isolated and may be a happy medium between the miserable melbourne weather and the Brisbane building and humidity? The weather is much more like Europe on account of there being very little humidity.

I'd just rent somewhere until you get settled anyway. That way you can 'feel' which part of whichever town you move to, you like bast and set up home properly then.

Liv.

We have moved to New Zealand from Europe (and extensively travelled OZ). Coming from Europe what we are missing most is the history, old buildings etc. Both Australia and New Zealand have amazing nature, good weather (compared to Ireland) but very little history. If you are into history/culture the neighborhoods with the old character buildings tend to be the most expensive ones.
So decisions should be made depending on your budget and what you are exactly looking for/consider a better lifestyle. Is it climate, space, jobs, vibe?

If you live in suburbia you may become very car dependent and may spend a lot of time travelling to and fro work. Unless there's a good public transport system.

I also think that it is not as laid back as we thought it would be. People, in general, are nice and helpful.

Hope this helps and good luck!