Beach area close brisbane ?

Question

Hi, my name is Yvonne, I am German but living in Ireland for the past 10 years. I (whole family hubby and 2 kids) have just started a Visa application for to migrate to Australia. As you can imagine the weather we have here over the last two years is shocking. Would anyone be so kind and let me know where it would be the best to move to around Brisbane (maybe even beach area close to Brisbane). Also I was wondering where there is a big German community, the same for Irish. As it will be lonely for as at first we would like to makes friend even before going out there. Thanks a million whoever will reply. Yvonne

Answer 1

Don't worry Yvonne - you won't be lonely for long!! There's plenty of suburbs near the water around Brisbane - Redcliffe, Sandgate, Wellington Point, Cleveland, Victoria Point, Redland Bay. They're not surf beaches, but are all quite nice. They're not super close to the city either, but do have train services. The Sunshine Coast is about an hour north of Brisbane with loads of beaches and then the Gold Coast is about an hour south. It depends on what sort of work you'll be doing and where you get a job. Lots of people go to the beach for the day from Brisbane. Good luck with your application!

Answer 2

There are German and Irish people spread throughout Brisbane but I can't say that I'm aware of anything that could be called 'communities'. The German Club : http://www.brisbanegermanclub.com/ and the Queensland Association (the Irish Club): http://www.queenslandirish.com/ would probably be the best places to start but Aussies are very friendly and welcoming and it won't be as lonely as you fear even without people from your own backgrounds.



Before you start choosing places to live, you should be aware that Brisbane covers a huge area with a much lower population density than you've been accustomed to. Our traffic is pretty terrible and while our public transport is excellent in some places, it's not nearly as good in others. You would be very well advised to see where you will be working before committing to a long term place to live; otherwise, you may find that you have over an hour of unpleasant commuting in each direction just to get to work.



The beaches near Brisbane are not very good as they're in Moreton Bay and have no surf or long golden beaches as you may be expecting though there are some nice residential areas near the bay including Redland Bay and places around there, but they're a long commute from the CBD.

The Sunshine Coast is a little over an hour to the north and is a lovely place with beautiful beaches and the famous Gold Coast is about an hour to the south and Brisbane's northern or southern suburbs will give you pretty fast access to them. Don't even think of living anywhere in the City of Logan which is on the southside of Brisbane, but the southside suburbs of Brisbane itself are generally OK. There are a few decent places in Logan, but the majority are pretty dreadful by Australian standards (though they're not nearly as bad as can be found in many other world cities). The northside is a better proposition and most suburbs out there are fine. Once you start looking, come on here for specific advice. We have a dozen or more long time Brisbane residents in this section and we will be happy to advise.

Answer 3

everyone has mentioned the gold coast and sunshine coast, but not the islands in Moreton Bay.



Ok so the reason that Brisbane itself doesn't have proper beaches is because we are situated on Moreton Bay, which is a shallow and calm bay full of wetlands and mudflats. (which are actually interesting in themselves)

Instead of beaches on the mainland, all our sand has been hogged by big sand islands out in the bay that act like a barrier.

Those islands include Stradbroke Island (North and South), Moreton Island and Bribie Island. They all have great beaches, natural areas of interest and exciting activities.

Cleveland is a bayside suburb of Brisbane which has ferries running to North Stradbroke (straddie). It is probably the closest island from Brisbane.



As for irish and german people, there are no real communities. But there are a lot of people with that heritage spread out everywhere..particularly irish.

There are many irish style pubs and also some german places that are popular.



Australians love joining in with festivities such as saint patricks day and oktoberfest, even if they have no such heritage (though many many people really are irish and german background)

Answer 4

While it depends a lot where you will be working and/or if you're willing to commute to the CBD (central business district) everyday for work.

Where you will end up living will also depend on your price range of renting or buying. Obviously living within a few KM's radius of the city centre, you'll expect to pay a lot more than if you were to live in the same sort of place 15 KM out from the city.

I live in the inner Southside of Brisbane, my high school was in the city centre, so I have plenty of friends that live all around Brisbane and I learnt quickly the best places for schools, transport and roads (freeways etc). I would look at houses within a 4-10 km radius from the CBD. That is where you'll get the best public transport options to get to and from the city, as well as a more "reasonable" housing costs.



We really don't have decent beaches in Brisbane, unless you go out to the Bay which is really just play beaches for children... no real surf and sand type thing.

We do have a free public man-made beach called South Bank, there are some great fish n chip shops/cafes/restaurants in the South Bank vicinity.



If you're after a "real beach", about an hour south from Brisbane city you have the Gold Coast. And likewise about an hour north from Bris city is the Sunshine coast.

Be prepared that the weather will be very very different to Ireland. My father is from Scotland and it took him a little time to adjust to the much hotter climate. We have hot Summers, so make friends with your neighbours who have their own pools (there are also various public pools around the suburbs for which you will pay about $4+ for one adult entry!).



There are plenty of social groups in which you could join as families. While I'm not completely sure of specific Irish or German clubs, there are plenty of adult/christian/church groups, as well as youth groups for the children. We have various Scout/Girl Guides centres around Brisbane, also check out the PCYC website for young people. http://www.outdoorsqueensland.com.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=220



This website has a list of groups for different age groups, and social demographics http://www.brisbanecitylife.com.au/bcl/intgroup/social.htm.



I would also take a look at www.realestate.com.au. It can give you a realistic idea of suburb demographics and what you can expect to pay from suburb to suburb.

Answer 5

there's a strong irish community in the Ipswich council area, which is a bit further inland than Brisbane. I'm not sure about Germans but there are high ethnic densities throughout Ipswich so theres a good chance of a high percentage of Germans in the area.

There are massive amounts of free family activities in Ipswich too, several annual street parades, and family orientated festivals. We have a free nature centre where you can get up close to native animals, great restaurants and extensive park systems and a lot of the new shopping centres in South East Queensland are in Ipswich too. The crime rate is pretty low (ipswich has a rep of being a low income area so the criminal types focus on areas where people have more portable valuables).

The downsides are, public transport desperately needs improvement, no beach(lots of swimming pools to make up for it though), and there is a bit of a drug problem due to the government in all its wisdom deciding to put a methadone clinic in the centre of town.

Answer 6

Brisbane is the only international Airport in Queensland with direct flights to the United States. Cairns has direct flights to Japan and China.