Tell me about living in Cairns!

[Scaredy Cat]

:wave:

Hey guys,

We are moving to Cairns in about a week for DH's work, and I would love some local knowledge about what to expect!

We are looking at a few houses in Bentley Park at the moment ... Thoughts??

What do you love about living in Cairns?

What is not so good?

How often/scary are cyclones in reality? What do I need to know to prepare for them?

Is the weather really as disgusting as everybody keeps telling me it is?

What do you do in your leisure time?

Thanks heaps for any help you can give me :)

[xxMiraxx]

:wave:

Hey guys,

We are moving to Cairns in about a week for DH's work, and I would love some local knowledge about what to expect!

We are looking at a few houses in Bentley Park at the moment ... Thoughts??

What do you love about living in Cairns?

What is not so good?

How often/scary are cyclones in reality? What do I need to know to prepare for them?

Is the weather really as disgusting as everybody keeps telling me it is?

What do you do in your leisure time?

Thanks heaps for any help you can give me :)

Hi :-)
First of all yay!! Cairns is the most beautiful place to live and has the best lifestyle :-) I live in Forest Gardens which is right near Bentley Park. Bentley is a really nice area to live - only a 15 minute drive from the city too. Also the suburb next to it has a shopping centre being redone and will be ready in April :-) if u have kids - there are plenty of local schools, daycares, swimming schools etc in Bentley :-) nice area! The only suburbs I would say to avoid would bs Manunda or Moorabool but Bentley is great :-)
So what is there not to do in Cairns in ur spare time :-) u can choose from local beaches, parks, rivers, creeks or lakes - perfect for picnics and hanging out etc. There is the esplanade and lagoon in the city for hanging out. Great restaurants everywhere, awesome shopping with 3 nearly four main shopping centers and other small ones not to mention boutique shopping in the city. For the kids there is Muddies waterplay playground and the pirateship playground, also sugarworld slides and gardens, botanical gardens, zoos - there is sooo much to do!!
As for weather Cairns has actually fared really well in the cyclones as long as u are prepared and have ur cyclone kit ready and yard clear etc u will be fine!! They aren't even regular so I wouldn't even stress about it!! The weather is well seems like it - always sunny so it's wonderful. Even the wet season is enjoyable - sit back on the patio and listen to the rain and the frogs! As for heat depends where u are moving from ;-)
Anything u would like to ask me feel free!! I cannot speak highly enough of Cairns I love the lifestyle!! :-)

[Scaredy Cat]

Thanks heaps Mira!!

So when you say 'cyclone kit' what do you mean?

We are coming from Sydney ... I've had mixed responses about how busy Cairns is. Some people have said the traffic is atrocious and the worst there is in the country ... Is it really worse than Sydney traffic??

How often does it flood? And how likely am I to be eaten by a crocodile? :p

Also, what are the people like? Is there a community feel to the place?

Thanks so much for answering my questions :)

[xxMiraxx]

Thanks heaps Mira!!

So when you say 'cyclone kit' what do you mean?

We are coming from Sydney ... I've had mixed responses about how busy Cairns is. Some people have said the traffic is atrocious and the worst there is in the country ... Is it really worse than Sydney traffic??

How often does it flood? And how likely am I to be eaten by a crocodile? :p

Also, what are the people like? Is there a community feel to the place?

Thanks so much for answering my questions :)

That's ok :-)
Haha u will definitely get eaten by a croc ;) lol no way as the beaches have nets and the rivers u don't generally swim in just picnic etc :) there are crocs in say Daintree but that is in the rainforest like 2 hours drive from Cairns and croc signs are everywhere :)
As for a cyclone kit u would be thinking - candles and batteries in case the power went out, battery powered radio, phones charged, tinned and long life food, bottled water, important phone numbers written down in case phone battery dies, important documents in plastic sleeves etc... Then u would put tape over the windows in case of breaking (rarely happens), secure loose stuff in yard ie tables etc. And have most secure room in house ready - ie cyclone kit, boardgames etc to entertain u - and a mattress or table to put over ur heads when the cyclone passes. Honestly though Cairns has always fared well - usually the smaller towns two hours away from us get hit with the damage and in Cairns it's just like sitting out a big storm. There has only been two big cyclones the last two years and they hit Innisfail (two hours from us) and Townsville (four hours drive from us) it more than Cairns. When we have a cyclone it does flood from the heavy rain but mainly the low lying areas ie Edge Hill, Redlynch, parts of Manunda and sometimes the beaches ie Machans Beach. Bentley Park is up higher never floods!! The only other times it floods us maybe once in the wet season which hasn't happened this year as it wasn't a big wet season, when it does happen it's only a day or two that it happens and it's more likely to say cut off access to streets as opposed to come into your house :)
Ok so as for roads - we are getting upgrades to our end of the Bruce Highway but it's not that bad haha - it's more the drivers! Terrible drivers up here ;-) lol! But no traffic congestion and it isn't busy like Sydney - u can get places so fast!!
You will get a real community feel from most of Cairns!! And there is so much going on all the time - people are really friendly! Always community events going on in every suburb and festivals etc depends what ur into burt there are always lime minded people around and something going on! There is also the tourist aspect which when u come up here no doubt u will get into as u exore Cairns and what it has to offer - I def recommend doing the touristy reef trips and skyrail to Kuranda etc :-)
I have lived here for 11 years and my partner all his life and my son was born here and daughter soon will be - I may be bias but I can't recommend living here enough :-)
Edit - that was meant to say two big cyclones the last FIVE years :)
And also I was born and raised in Sydney and would def trade choose Cairns over it ;)