Moving to Cairns in December

[BecH]

Hi ladies (and guys if you are out there),

We are moving to Cairns in Decmeber for my DH to start work at the hospital in early January. I'll have 16 month old twins and a 3 year old. I am trying to work out where is good to live and whether I can rely on public transport, where I'd do groceries, where the good parks are, etc? You know what I mean all the important things to a Mum???

Can anyone help me with info about the good suburbs, what I need to be aware of etc?

Thanks
Bec

[AlirasMummy]

Hi BecH,

I just moved here in March myself, so here's what i've found so far.
I'm in Bentley Park and love living in this suburb. There's a heap of schools around me, aswell as about four preschools and lots of sporting facilities. And just down the road in Edmonton is a water park called Sugarworld my 16 mnth DD loves. There are 4 waterslides for the big kids and two kiddy pools with water activities.
It takes us about 10 minutes from here to drive into the centre of Cairns. But it can take up to half an hour to drive to the North side of Cairns. And vice versa for living on the other side.
Forest Gardens, Mt Sheridan are lovely places aswell. All 3 suburbs are close to schools/preschools. And most who live in those suburbs shop at Coles which is in Mt Sheridan.
There are lots of little parks everywhere, but the best one by far is called Muddy's Playground, which is in central Cairns, on the esplanade. There's soooo much equipment there for each age group aswell as water activities. And a good cafe in the middle of it too.
As for shopping, it's very spread out all over Cairns. I mostly go to Stockland Earlville, which has Big W and Target, aswell as woolies and all your usual little shops.
If you want to go to Kmart you need to drive over to Smithfiled Shopping Centre.
And Cairns Central is the biggest centre with Myers, Cotton On, Target, Woolies, and lots of little shops.
And a DFO is currently being built :D
As for public transport I havn't used it before, but I see the buses all the time and have noticed lots of bus stops.
If there's anything else you want to know, I'm happy to help :wave:

[new_mummy82]

:wave: Hi BecH,

AlirasMummy has pretty much hit it on the head lol. I live in Mount Sheridan which is quite near Bentley Park, I think the South side of Cairns is better for families and I think albeit by a small margin houses are a lil cheaper this side of town. The public transport in Cairns is fairly reliable, I use it quite regularly to get into town. If you need to know anything else feel free to ask :)

Nicole

[jodi]

alirasmummy has said pretty much everything. I too live on the southside of Cairns (Mount Sheridan) and it's a great place to bring up a family. Mount Sheridan Plaza, which is the shopping centre this side of Cairns is getting upgraded, and will have Kmart, Coles & Woolworths and heaps of other specialty shops. There are 2 major shopping centres in Cairns CBD & the other one is at Smithfield, which has the same sort of shops that Mount Sheridan Plaza will have.
Depending on the area, but generally the south side of Cairns is cheaper than the north side.
Plenty of activities/schooling for young kids in this area as well.
Hope that helps. BTW, my DH's best friend lives in Oxley.

[AlirasMummy]

Ooo were getting a Kmart over this side! Hooray. Do you know when all this is happening jodi?

[jodi]

It's suppose to be finished mid 2009. But considering they haven't even started yet, who knows.

[MeLFunKTioN]

Yup i think Southside is better too ! definately nicer area for families ! I'm in Woree/Bayview (closer to town) and its great here too but not alot in the way of houses available !

Good luck with the move i'm sure you'll love it here :D

P.s... if anyone is looking for a Cairns Mums website please PM me for details :D There are a fair few of us there now :D

[BazzasMum]

Hi, i must be the only one who lives on the Beaches!!! I'm in Kewarra, which is known as the family beach. it really depends on what you're looking to do. it's flat up here, so easy to walk/ride etc. buses are here regularly and each suburb has it's own set of shops. Parks are everywhere and we have a playgroup too. Same with schools. my DS goes to the local daycare and loves it.

I mainly shop at Smithfield. Massive new Bunnings due to open very soon, Kmart, Coles, Woolies, Warehouse, Mitre 10. All the junk food places too :laughing: We've also got the cable ski park this end of town, along with the Skyrail. Takes me 15 mins to drive into town.

TBH the south side kind of freaks me out a bit - a lot more traffic down that way.... (no offence ladies!) i'm happy being a beach bum!!

Kirsty :goodvibes:

[jodi]

lol, yeah the traffic can be bad if you go at that time of day. But it's only for about an hour in the mornings and an hour in the afternoons that it's really bad. But it only adds an extra 10 min at the very most on the trip.

[Cairnsmum]

I moved to Cairns in March 08 and it was the best decision and i love it up here. I dont recommend Westcourt to live in, i had bad experiences living there and now i am living in Earlville right across the road from Stocklands Shopping centre and it is fantastic where i am situated as the buses all leave from Stocklands to the south of cairns and to the north upto Smithfield and to the beaches. The buses run regularly 7 days a week up until maybe 12am midnight (you would need to check out the sunbus website for timetables). The South side of Cairns is more suitable for families.
Goodluck with your move in December.

[new_mummy82]

Ooo were getting a Kmart over this side! Hooray. Do you know when all this is happening jodi?

The plans for this have been put on hold, because apparently someone has put in a petition, there's a notice about it in Mt Sheridan Plaza.

[hailsntwang]

Hi

I grew up in Cairns.

I lived in Trinity Beach and Kewarra Beach (the northern beaches).

I depended on Public Transport to get me into town for my job and never once was I late.

I found the Northern Beaches a perfect place to grow up. I have so many fond memories of riding my bike between Trinity and Kewarra. You are never short of things to do, the kids always seem to be active.

Northern beaches have their own playgrounds / -parks.

The beaches are great and they just seem so more laid back. I never had any complaints with the schools, kindergartens - playschool, and playgroup.

Good luck with making your decision. It's a hard one!!

I would move back up there in a flash but unfortunetly my DP never wants to leave the town he grew up in.

[MeLFunKTioN]

I just think the beaches are more suited to older kids like go to the beach / ride bikes etc etc.

If you plan on staying a long time and your kids growing up here then the North isn't so bad but having lived both North and South i much prefer the south :D

Basically look around.. avoid any of the 'M' suburbs in towards the city (as well as Westcourt / Bungalow) and you should be right. Public transport is pretty reliable from both sides too

Hayley, i also grew up on the North side.. did you go to school up here ?? I have a brother your age is all !

[Lil X-men]

Bec I know this thread is super old now, but we are also moving to Cairns , probably around Dec depending on how long it takes to sell our house!
So I cant wait to hopefully meet some of you lovely Bubhub mums up there!!!
We are from NZ and been living in Brisbane for over 4yrs. We really want a seachange so Cairns is the place for us, we want to move as close to beach as possible.
Girls who are already there which are the best beach suburbs to live in?
So far I like the look of Kewarra, Trinity and Holloways Beach on the Northside. ( Been looking at places on Realestate dot com).
We are going to rent for awhile first any way so we can get time to decide where we want to buy.

[earthfairy]

Hi:wave:

I think you are making a wonderful move!

There is something magical about Cairns!

We spent 6 years living there as my DH is in the navy & i miss it soooooooooooo much!

We lived on the North side & think its a great area to raise a family.
We lived in a suburb called "Brinsmead" which is a new estate area & is safe as houses! We never had any trouble there & OODLES of families live there - actually to be honest about 90% of Brinsmead are families!

There is also redlynch which is another "newish" area which still has lots of land for sale. Both Brinsmead & Redlynch have schools near by with great parks, creeks & skate ramps.
There is also a great pub near by "The Red Beret" which has a cool indoor/outdoor play area for kids while you watch on easily & enjoy a yummy meal & a few drinks....and on the nights you donthave the kids, they have a courtesy bus:p

I loved being nearer to the beaches, just up the road from Smithfield shopping centre & pretty close to Stocklands at Earville too, youre also close to the skyrail & the range for the BEAUTIFUL drive up to Karunda & the Table Lands....

You're going to love living in Cairns!!!!!:thumbsup:
Im so home sick now!!!!

[Lil X-men]

Thats great thanks, I am SO excited about this move now. EVERYONE I have talked to who has lived there in the past or lives there now absolutely rave about the place so I feel confident we are doing the right thing.
Cant wait!!
Sorry to steal your thread Bec, hope we can meet one day after we move!