# Best/Favorite Tropical Australian City/Town to Live in



## mmafan555 (Mar 1, 2011)

Have a friend who wants to move to a tropical Australian city or town and live their permanently. So I was just curious as to which are the best tropical australia cities to live in? Try to factor in crime, price, closeness to wildlife/national parks, etc.. Any help or imput would be appreciated. Try to make a top 3-5 list if you can

And when I mean tropical I mean like above the 25 south latitude mark


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## slim6y (Mar 1, 2011)

Is this friend anything like you? If so Cairns is AWFUL!!!

Gordo would love ya mate in Darwin.... And he'd have a few wild animals to show him/her.

In seriousness - although I love Cairns - you can hardly call it a city.

Crime - The usual - 12 or 13 murders per week, break ins, car jackings - they're the usual. 

Price - Slightly over priced - especially bananas. 

Wildlife - Try the Woolshed on a Friday night - full of backpackers - very wild!

Top 3 - 5 List:

The Casino
The Woolshed
The Raw Prawn (for a feed only)
Cairns Central Car Park (after the mall closes)
Yarrabah 

That's the top 5....


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## sarah_m (Mar 1, 2011)

If I could I would move to Cairns! I love the weather, the scenery, the close proximity to stunning national parks, the way of life seems a lot more relaxed than it does down south. I just love everything about it!
I can't help with practical aspects like house prices etc.

Darwin is great for wildlife but personally found the heat a bit much, though is ok for a holiday.


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## slim6y (Mar 1, 2011)

House prices range - renting is a good option in Cairns with prices ranging from $200/wk for 1 - 2 bedroom houses up to 350 - 450 for reasonable 3-4 bedrooms and then high market stuff around the 600 - 1000 mark per week.

To buy - nothing less than $325,000 worth looking at!

As for laid back - don't expect anything done in Cairns - it's not the way it works here!

As for weather - on average 2 cyclones every 4 years - usually of damaging nature. Too hot and wet, the roads get cut at least twice per year in January - March. Then shops run dry of food very quickly and petrol runs out even quicker. Usually only lasts 1 - 2 weeks depending on season. This year of course terrible with floods and Yasi. At one stage you couldn't even buy a loaf of bread in the supermarket!

National Parks - Barrier Reef is great - but so touristy - need to know someone with a boat.

Daintree is beautiful - and clearly a wonderful World Heritage Area. 

Water - despite the amount of rain we get - there's never enough water! Cairns gets around 2 metres per year (on average) with some areas getting 2.4m on average per year (and others getting upward of 4m per year just south of Cairns).

Most of Cairns is suburban - with varying pockets of low economic zoning - such as Manunda, Mooroobool, and Manoora are the three 'M's to avoid.

Yarrabah is the most beautiful place I've ever seen - it is however an Aboriginal settlement.

Commercialisation and now over-population has begun to ruin Cairns - a good cyclone is what we need to scare people away and bring the population back below 100,000 (currently around the 150k mark).

Living in a place - vs visiting for a holiday - totally changes the entire place - It's a shame that I moved here, I think I'd love it more now if I lived elsewhere and visited often....


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## waruikazi (Mar 1, 2011)

Slimey, although i'm originally from darwin i don't live their anymore. The lovely Oenpelli or Gunbalanya is my home community. So this 'friend' of MMAfan555 is more than welcome to spend some gorgeous days living in Darwin. 

Although Darwin is stupidly priced in reagrds to property, you're looking at about $400k for a nice unit or $450k for a dump of a house. Hence why i live in a community, the housing is free even though the food is ridiculously expensive!


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## moosenoose (Mar 1, 2011)

8 out of the 10 deadliest animals in the world live there...his friend mightn't last too long there....be careful! :lol:


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## barish (Mar 1, 2011)

Coffs harbor isn't tropical but I was born there and it's the best if your just chillin at the beach and stuff but might have changed I haven't been for a couple years and I'm 13 so don't know bout housing and prices but yeah coffs is an sweet place


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## gozz (Mar 1, 2011)

Woodridge is the best place ever!!!!!!!


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## nathancl (Mar 1, 2011)

gozz said:


> woodridge is the best place ever!!!!!!!



rofl bahahahahaahahahahaha


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## HOM3L3SS (Mar 1, 2011)

bega ftw....just been summer and only 1 day over 40 degrees.C LOL


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## snakeman478 (Mar 1, 2011)

1. darwin
2. cairns
3. townsville


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## ShnakeyGirl (Mar 1, 2011)

Port Douglas


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## slim6y (Mar 1, 2011)

HOM3L3SS said:


> bega ftw....just been summer and only 1 day over 40 degrees.C LOL


 
Just been summer in Cairns... NO DAYS over 40'C... Go figure aye....

The one thing I couldn't stand about living in the south - is the whinging aussies about the 'heat' - they need t try the tropics for one summer....


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## feral1 (Mar 1, 2011)

Broome , but not thru tourist season ))


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## mmafan555 (Mar 2, 2011)

moosenoose said:


> 8 out of the 10 deadliest animals in the world live there...his friend mightn't last too long there....be careful! :lol:


 

I tried to warn him!!!!! But you know how these Americans are.. always thinking that they are untouchable and indestructible... I tried to convince him to abandon the australian idea and move to a much safer placer... like say sub Saharan Africa 


And its 6 of the deadliest 

Thanks for the replies everyone... could you like rank these 4 in terms of Crime, Cost of Living, Weather, Things to do, Nature, Nightlife, friendly people etc... And his budget for a house is in the 450-600 range[ preferably no more than 550]

Cairns, Townsville, Broome, Darwin



ShnakeyGirl said:


> Port Douglas



He's not bill gates!!! That place is spectacular... but I would imagine extremely expensive and its to small population wise... Would be a sick place to retire through but to live and work[ considering its small population and lack of jobs] would be extremely difficult.


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## slim6y (Mar 2, 2011)

Could you like phone the police for the crime stats.

Could you like look at realestate.com.au for housing prices.

Could you like go to bom.gov.au for the weather (for the past 100 years too).

Could you like look at google.com typing in 'things to do in (insert city here)'

That will cover many of the last things...

Australians on the whole hate Americans, so don't expect friendly warm receptions where ever you go - that was a generalisation incidentally... And may not reflect the individual tone of each Australian... 

Does that help? Or do I need to use the word 'like' more often? 

My above post was sufficient.


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## Tsubakai (Mar 2, 2011)

I think Cairns would be perfect for your friend.


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## waruikazi (Mar 2, 2011)

No one is asking the most important question, mmafan555 is she hot?


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## mmafan555 (Mar 3, 2011)

slim6y said:


> Could you like phone the police for the crime stats.
> 
> Could you like look at realestate.com.au for housing prices.
> 
> ...


 
Is this the infamous Aussie humor? 

And on the topic of Australians and Americans... Whats funny is that they are in reality fairly similar...and both like to exaggerate  

A big difference through is that Americans tend to be arrogant and Aussies aren't and are more friendly.

By the way you don't seem to enjoy/be fond of living in Cairns....To touristy maybe??



waruikazi said:


> No one is asking the most important question, mmafan555 is she hot?


 
It's a he... and hes about as "hot" as a typical salty.


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## waruikazi (Mar 3, 2011)

mmafan555 said:


> Is this the infamous Aussie humor?
> 
> And on the topic of Australians and Americans... Whats funny is that they are in reality fairly similar...and both like to exaggerate
> 
> ...



Americans aren't as bad as Canadians. I'll take an arrogant yank over an annoying Canadian any day of the week! 

I enjoy a good salty....


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## slim6y (Mar 3, 2011)

mmafan555 said:


> Is this the infamous Aussie humor?
> 
> And on the topic of Australians and Americans... Whats funny is that they are in reality fairly similar...and both like to exaggerate
> 
> ...


 
For one I'm a New Zealander - so I officially hate Aussies and Americans almost equally....

Secondly - Australians are far more American than they give credit for - I agree - Hence I hate both equally. Australia is often referred to (in NZ) as America's (female dog). Where as NZ recalls the day she stood up to the yanks and said "NO" - but Australia didn't follow and tried to convince NZ to re-apply the ANZUS Treaty....

I absolutely LOVE Cairns - I've loved it from the day I arrived... But I sometimes feel I don't get the same out of it now as when I first arrived all those years ago....

I'd find it difficult to live elsewhere in Australia - though to be fair I have only traversed the east coast from Cape York to Port Albert.

But - Cairns is too touristy, many backpackers (much more fun when single). It's too commercial - it's the third (or second) most popular place to visit in Australia behind Sydney and maybe Melbourne. 

But there's good reason for it... It's the gateway to the reef, the Whitsundays, the Daintree.... But I do love it here!!! I would recommend it - but.... At the same... I can't say it is for everyone....


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## waruikazi (Mar 3, 2011)

Ah New Zealand... Australia's female dog!


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## mmafan555 (Mar 3, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> Americans aren't as bad as Canadians. I'll take an arrogant yank over an annoying Canadian any day of the week!
> 
> I enjoy a good salty....



Lol how could you not like Canadians??? Their like the friendliest people on earth! Also could you tell me alittle about living in Darwin.. That was one of the top choices for my friend and I don't know much about it.. How is the crime/city in general?



slim6y said:


> For one I'm a New Zealander - so I officially hate Aussies and Americans almost equally....
> 
> Secondly - Australians are far more American than they give credit for - I agree - Hence I hate both equally. Australia is often referred to (in NZ) as America's (female dog). Where as NZ recalls the day she stood up to the yanks and said "NO" - but Australia didn't follow and tried to convince NZ to re-apply the ANZUS Treaty....
> 
> ...


 

Thanks for the imput... But not all Americans are that arrogant especially in the northern parts of America. The southerners can be pretty dumb/ignorant/arrogant but they aren't the type of people who would move to another country anyway. Unfortunately the [many] smug douche bags in the American media kind of give us a bad name..especially the northerners who are much less arrogant.

Do you really not like most Aussies or are you just joking?


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## waruikazi (Mar 3, 2011)

mmafan555 said:


> Lol how could you not like Canadians??? Their like the friendliest people on earth! Also could you tell me alittle about living in Darwin.. That was one of the top choices for my friend and I don't know much about it.. How is the crime/city in general?



How could you like anyone with that accent? And the girls are all stuck up bitches!

I can't really describe Darwin because i haven't really lived anywhere else that is comparable. Everything is pretty close, living in the nothern suburbs you're about 20 mins tops from the CBD, it's really small (something like 80000 people including the outter regions). Crime isn't that bad, there are a few break ins in certain areas but i assume everywhewre is like that. I've got no worry walking around at night. There's not alot to do unless you're a big drinker. The only real problem is that housing is stupidly expensive and the cost of living is pretty high.


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## slim6y (Mar 3, 2011)

mmafan555 said:


> Do you really not like most Aussies or are you just joking?



It's bred into our culture - we're designed to hate each other - it's ok, most Aussies hate me too... I came here, stole their jobs, stole their women (and a lot of them), took some cyclone relief money, got a friendly Rudd payout for the GFC... I do pretty well here really 

Of course I love Australia... the problem with it though - is there's just too many Australians!

We're taking over though - and currently Queensland is New Zealand's largest state. Also - Bondi has now become New Zealand's most popular beach - we often watch Kiwi Rescue (aka Bondi Rescue).

We infiltrated so much that now they're even beginning to believe Russel Crowe is Australian. And to be honest, they can have him!

And NZ might be Aussie's little dog... but we continually work out ways to... ummmmm... hump her leg????


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## waruikazi (Mar 3, 2011)

It's true, Australia is a much better place than NZ. You kiwi's can have the coast but, nothign but a bunch of whinging yuppies out that way.


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## slim6y (Mar 3, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> It's true, Australia is a much better place than NZ. You kiwi's can have the coast but, nothign but a bunch of whinging yuppies out that way.


 
As with any well planned attack - it is a slow and painstaking manoeuvre - but we're still doing better than the toads!


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## skay123 (Mar 3, 2011)

+1 for coffs


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## fugawi (Mar 3, 2011)

I'm currently looking at going tropical as well and at this stage Townsville is looking pretty good. It looks like it is growing with new developments and lots of new housing going ahead. With this and being a major port and with it being the so called capital of Far North Qld, jobs will be good. I hate to say this but with the recent cyclone, a lot of people may move away and housing prices may come down. With Cairns just up the road and Mackay just down the road, the reef just off the coast and rainforests everywhere, it seems ideal.
Now for the kiwis.......The best way to describe our relationship is we are the best of friends but the greatest of rivals. On the sporting field, we will just stop short of killing each other but after the match we will sit and have a beer together swapping jokes. But when it gets serious ie: earthquake, as our Prime Minister put it "If we have it, it's yours". We fought together and died together as ANZACS (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps). In some fun they are the annoying little brother or sister we love to poke fun at and visa versa.
Just remember that our tropical weather is different to Florida or the Carribean, so be prepared.


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## rhyston (Mar 25, 2011)

cairns = dead economy, extremely bad smell and not too mention the apes running around the streets


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