Thinking of moving to Townsville...

[shabbyy]

Hey guys, mum and I have recently been thinking of starting fresh in a new place, since we live a pretty boring life here in Adelaide.
We have considered Townsville and would love to hear from people what the livability, weather, education and lifestyle is up there, and if you recommend living there.

Thanks,
Sabohan

 

[Manda1032]

its hot, bloody hot and humid in summer and ya pretty much only need a light cardigan of a night for two nights in winter. it's prone to cyclones, did i mention hot? oh and it's very expensive. electricity, housing, food all expensive. the only thing I found townsville had going for it was the Nth Qld Herp society personally I'd try bris first. Just as expensive in housing but not as hot/humid and has more to offer in my humble opinion

 

[jairusthevirus21]

LOL Im in Adelaide and have been considering moving to Brisbane for a while but its difficult at present (real estate market and such). I don't think Adelaide is boring tho...

 

[Chanzey]

It's not that hot ... personally I love summer up here.

 

[Kitah]

I was originally from bris, and went to townsville for 5 years for uni. All I can say is I LOVED it. I'd never suggest anyone move to bris personally- I hate the city, and I'm out on the outskirts (acreridge about level, but slightly inland of beenleigh). Townsville is small and compact, so you have everything within easy reach, yet it takes less than 30mins to get from one end of the city to the other. The strand is superb, pallarenda is another beach that has a long well managed footpath ,good for walking/cycling etc. I loved the uni- its actually still fairly 'natural' so not a concrete city. The wildlife is fantastic- e.g. adult frillnecks running around the uni, great places to go herping, not far from some great waterfalls, hiking tracks etc.

the ONLY downside I had in townsville was the humidity. Its not the heat- just the humidity... which I will admit you do get more used to- it'd be a shock for you going from adelaide to townsville, but with time you honestly do start to adjust.

Prices I didnt find expensive at all while I was up there- everything in the supermarkets (e.g. food, stuff from big w, bunnings and the like) seemed the same price to me. Power I didnt have any real dramas either. My housemate and I paid less for power in townsville, than my parents did back at home in bris.

 

[shabbyy]

I was originally from bris, and went to townsville for 5 years for uni. All I can say is I LOVED it. I'd never suggest anyone move to bris personally- I hate the city, and I'm out on the outskirts (acreridge about level, but slightly inland of beenleigh). Townsville is small and compact, so you have everything within easy reach, yet it takes less than 30mins to get from one end of the city to the other. The strand is superb, pallarenda is another beach that has a long well managed footpath ,good for walking/cycling etc. I loved the uni- its actually still fairly 'natural' so not a concrete city. The wildlife is fantastic- e.g. adult frillnecks running around the uni, great places to go herping, not far from some great waterfalls, hiking tracks etc.

the ONLY downside I had in townsville was the humidity. Its not the heat- just the humidity... which I will admit you do get more used to- it'd be a shock for you going from adelaide to townsville, but with time you honestly do start to adjust.

Prices I didnt find expensive at all while I was up there- everything in the supermarkets (e.g. food, stuff from big w, bunnings and the like) seemed the same price to me. Power I didnt have any real dramas either. My housemate and I paid less for power in townsville, than my parents did back at home in bris.

Thanks for the info, a good read.

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Would love to hear some more info guys! Do all the research before the final decision is made

 

[leamos]

its hot, bloody hot and humid in summer and ya pretty much only need a light cardigan of a night for two nights in winter. it's prone to cyclones, did i mention hot? oh and it's very expensive. electricity, housing, food all expensive. the only thing I found townsville had going for it was the Nth Qld Herp society personally I'd try bris first. Just as expensive in housing but not as hot/humid and has more to offer in my humble opinion

What!? Expensive? try living in Sydney! Townsville is great, like living in a massive country town except with all the mod cons. Rents not too bad $300 for a massive queenslander, big backyard etc. Try getting that in a major centre. Its got everything you'd need, even has a uni, which is a world leader in things like marine biology

Not sure what food you buy Manda but I'm a steak and seafood lad and thats cheap as hell up there, its where it comes from so no freight costs, $7/kg for steak, prawns $20 -25/kg, go down to any fish n chip shop and you get spanish mackeral not some soggy mushy tasteless deepsea garbage you get down south. Sure chicken might be a dollar or two more a kg cause its too hot for large scale chook production but there is a meat wholesaler in sth tsv that sells everything cheap direct to the public, so you've just gotta know where to look.

Sure its a bit hot in summer, 32-34, but you get used to it, and a small price to pay for 26deg in the depths of winter, its not nearly as humid as cairns, as townsville is in a rain shadow and as a result only get sticky during the wet, and trust me after a few months without rain there's nothing better watching the roads steam with the first rains of the season

But the best thing about townsville is the herping, drive in another direction and you're in a completely different environment, you've got the jungles of tully; scrubbies of paluma; turtles of cystral creek and rollingstone; blackheads, aspers and velvert gex of mingela; death adders of magnetic island(20 mins on the ferry); not to mention the townsville locale coastals, spotteds, blue phase tree snakes, night tigers (just to name a few) found all over the place, often in your backyard

I spent 7 years living in townsville, I highly recommend giving it a closer look

 

[Snotty]

Just to add a bit more on Townsville from my perspective, it can be freezing in winter. It is not exactly the tropics like everyone imagines. Townsville is everything in extremes, hot and wet summers, cold and dry winters with night time getting probably colder than coastal Sydney etc. Basically winter is typical desert sort of weather, warmish in the day and a big drop at night. Summer is the opposite. In the time I lived in Townsville (7 years) I think I was flooded three times, a cyclone or two, dust storms (for anyone who can remember back to 93 I think) and one of largest rainfalls ever recorded (the 'night of noah' i think in 95 or so when about 4'+ of rain fell between 5pm and midnight).

I should also add realistically for those moving to such places from 'down south' unless you are going to JCU expect the job market to be tough. Townsville is really split into the uni, the army, the mines and then the locals and they are kinda protective of their own. So unless you know someone local it is not that straight forward. On top of that with mine closures in Mackay etc my best mate who has been there twenty years was telling me the other day he is getting a ton of resumes across his desk. For me coming down from Cairns at the time it was bad enough, like the freak cousins from 'up there' but in truth a lot of 'Mexican' job applications will just go straight into the bin. Sucks when you are trying to get a foot in the door.

I am not trying to put a bummer on things but it is better to go into things with eyes wide open. The north attracts plenty looking to get away and make a new start with the idea of warm weather and living on the reef and all that. In reality though a large number just get stuck in the same subdivisions (what happened to south Cairns is a disgrace) and often struggling for work, and in reality see more of the reef and rainforest when they came up for holidays. Many will also bail out after the first cyclone.

I wouldn't say don't do it, just don't be too dreamy about things or you will get into problems. As mentioned the herping side can be great, although do be prepared for lots of stuff turning up in your house. Once after rains we had a few thousand baby frogs hopping through our house at Cranbrook when they all bred in the reserve out back.

They say a change is as good as a holiday though so go for it if it is really what you want, like I say just keep everything realistic.

 

[noved]

its awesome mate you will love it

 

[shabbyy]

Thankyou so much for the feedback guys! Mum and I are seriously considering it now, and I am especially excited about herping up there
Just one question, is there a good number of breeders and reptile related places in Tnv?

 

[leamos]

There are quite a few around the place, most notably, well for me at least as a jungle fan, Roger (jungle_freak) is up that way

oh and its tsv not tns hahaha or as the locals call it 'The Ville'

 

[shabbyy]

There are quite a few around the place, most notably, well for me at least as a jungle fan, Roger (jungle_freak) is up that way

oh and its tsv not tns hahaha or as the locals call it 'The Ville'

Ahaha, thanks, well I said tnv, just shortened it, it sounded right to me

Also have another question, we have a Siberian Husky, would that go well up there? Probably be malting a lot xD, but are poisonous snakes a danger to them in the backyard? Should I be more wary?

 

[Manda1032]

What!? Expensive? try living in Sydney! Townsville is great, like living in a massive country town except with all the mod cons. Rents not too bad $300 for a massive queenslander, big backyard etc. Try getting that in a major centre. Its got everything you'd need, even has a uni, which is a world leader in things like marine biology

Not sure what food you buy Manda but I'm a steak and seafood lad and thats cheap as hell up there, its where it comes from so no freight costs, $7/kg for steak, prawns $20 -25/kg, go down to any fish n chip shop and you get spanish mackeral not some soggy mushy tasteless deepsea garbage you get down south. Sure chicken might be a dollar or two more a kg cause its too hot for large scale chook production but there is a meat wholesaler in sth tsv that sells everything cheap direct to the public, so you've just gotta know where to look.

Sure its a bit hot in summer, 32-34, but you get used to it, and a small price to pay for 26deg in the depths of winter, its not nearly as humid as cairns, as townsville is in a rain shadow and as a result only get sticky during the wet, and trust me after a few months without rain there's nothing better watching the roads steam with the first rains of the season

But the best thing about townsville is the herping, drive in another direction and you're in a completely different environment, you've got the jungles of tully; scrubbies of paluma; turtles of cystral creek and rollingstone; blackheads, aspers and velvert gex of mingela; death adders of magnetic island(20 mins on the ferry); not to mention the townsville locale coastals, spotteds, blue phase tree snakes, night tigers (just to name a few) found all over the place, often in your backyard

I spent 7 years living in townsville, I highly recommend giving it a closer look

I have lived in melb, townsville, singleton, bellingen and nanango and townsville was the most expensive. Purchasing not renting is quite pricey for what your getting compaired to other areas but it all depends on the suburbs. The fresh fruit and veg was a killer. I had over 150 animals (not reptile) to feed and it was very costly. eg an average price for a bunch of celery was $4, and that's in season. The electricity I found the most expensive of all and we didn't have aircon! I lived there for 4 years. I agree the longer you live there you get use to the humidity.

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Just to add a bit more on Townsville from my perspective, it can be freezing in winter. It is not exactly the tropics like everyone imagines. Townsville is everything in extremes, hot and wet summers, cold and dry winters with night time getting probably colder than coastal Sydney etc. Basically winter is typical desert sort of weather, warmish in the day and a big drop at night. Summer is the opposite. In the time I lived in Townsville (7 years) I think I was flooded three times, a cyclone or two, dust storms (for anyone who can remember back to 93 I think) and one of largest rainfalls ever recorded (the 'night of noah' i think in 95 or so when about 4'+ of rain fell between 5pm and midnight).

it wasn't freezing when I was there from 2004 to 2007 tho it did flood a few times. they can be quite fun. along with the dengue and ross river virus outbreaks

 

[Chanzey]

Just gotta get out before the Siam takes over

 

[Hazordous-Herps]

Everything is pretty fine about Townsville I reckon. It's big but not to big, got some good schools and a really good uni, has nice summers, awesome beaches, doesn't get to cold, has all recreation things most people could want. Some people mentioned Cyclones they are a problem but even Yasi didn't do much to most people. The only thing I do not like, is when it's humid it is extremely humid. You go swimming or for a shower, and when you come out you feel all sticky and disgusting. But other then that it's pretty good, I definitely prefer a city big but not to big and Townsville is just that.