Townsville or Brisbane???

[neeshNgeorgia]

Hi girls how are u all going?
Been a while since i've posted in here but i have a question to those of u who have been posted to either townsville or brissie. So, DP will be finished his course late August, early September and we are trying to work out what our preferences in postings would be, when we finally get to make them, we know it will be up north some where, and we are just after the pros and cons of both places, also would love to meet some other defence peoples up that way before we move so that i know a few ppl when we get up there!!

Okie doke well thanks and ne info would be muchly appreciated!!
Cheers
Neesh

[mummajuice]

While I'm not a defence wife anymore I would have to recommend Brisbane over Townsville. The barracks at Enoggera is nicer and it seems to be a nicer community. IMO Townsville is more of a "boys club" environment (at least it was in my experience) and there are some great areas to live close to Enoggera Barracks.

Having said that, Townsville has some great features too. The Strand is awesome, especially for kids and I'm pretty sure it still rains up there (unlike Brissy).

Either way I'm sure you'd love the lifestyle on offer. Good luck with your decision and I promise you won't miss winter if you come up here. Wodonga is just too cold for me!

[Snuffys Mum]

I currently live in Brisbane but lived in Townsville as both an army kid and an army wife. I might be a bit biased since Townsville is my home town but I would happily live there for the rest of my life. It's a great place for kids and I always found great support from the units I was involved with (though I do appreciate every unit is very different).

I'm only in Brisbane now to be closer to my parents but intend to move back to Townsville to raise my son.

[neeshNgeorgia]

thanks for the replies girls! lol the heat is something i'm not looking forward to moving up north, as i'm from the snowy mountains/canberra, so i'm climatised to the winters down here haha!

I've actually heard that Townsville is very "boys club" which i really don't want to be surrounded by, as that's kinda what it's like down here, being a training base and all, i'd rather be in a more family orientated area where there will be lots for me and DD to do, also i'm hoping to get into some work again once we have left here, so that's another factor we hav to look into.

But thanks for the info, being the defence force and all we probably won't have to make a decision till the last minute lol, so we have a bit of time hehe!!

[Olismum]

Hi, I am currently based in Townsville for the 2nd time. The first time we spent 4 years here and I absolutely loved it. All the wives were really friendly and I made lots and lots of friends. I loved everything about Townsville, the weather was glorious, the local community really supported the troops and I felt like I really belonged to the defence community. I was sad to leave the place behind. We were in Sydney when hubby was offered the opportunity to come back up here and we jumped at the chance. Now though I wish we hadn't. It's not at all like I remember it. The crime is so much worse, lots of the shops have all closed down, the people aren't as friendly anymore and there are protestors instead of support for the troops. There isn't alot to do in Townsville, The aquarium is a waste of money but the museum and Billabong sanctuary are good. I love Cairns which is a 5 hr drive north. Other than that though the only entertainment for kids is the beach and riverway. We are posted out this year and begged the manner for Brisbane if we can't get to Adelaide. We loved our time in Brisbane and it offers so much more in terms of things to do in weekends and especially better medical facilities. The medical facilities up here in Townsville have VERY long waiting lists even if you have private health because there is limited services and dr's. The public hospital here is a joke and too small for the amount of people that it needs to attend to. If you have a serious health condition such as cancer etc you have to go to brisbane to be treated. Having said all that, I would definately go for Brisbane over Townsville. Townsville is not what it used to be. I can't wait to leave and won't list it as a posting preference again.

[neeshNgeorgia]

oh wow, thanks olismum, especially about the medical services, as we will be looking at TTC #2, well definately will be ttc so i'd like to be somewhere that i know i'll feel as though i will be properly looked after during pregnancy and birthing, see that's another factor to take in lol, i think from what we have heard, our preference will be brissie, BUT DP thinks that there will be a fat chance we get it, simply because EVERYONE wants to go there and there are only so many positions, so hopefully we get in and can get to brisbane, also it's not quite as far away as townsville hehe.

[Snuffys Mum]

[quote=Olismum;1467921] The medical facilities up here in Townsville have VERY long waiting lists even if you have private health because there is limited services and dr's. The public hospital here is a joke and too small for the amount of people that it needs to attend to. If you have a serious health condition such as cancer etc you have to go to brisbane to be treated. quote]

Actually yes, as much as it pains me to admit, I'll concede that this is true.

[Olismum]

I had my daughter Olivia at the new public hospital in Feb 06. The new hospital is only half the size the old one used to be. It was the worst experience of my life and I took out private health insurance soon after to make sure that if we had no 2 in Townsville, we'd be going private for the delivery. Though there are no private neo natal facilities in Townsville, so if there was a problem we'd have to go public anyway. Most of the dr's here don't bulk bill and the very few that do you need to book way in advance. There are a few centres where you can just walk in but it's like going to an emergency ward, you could be sitting there all day. It's usually around $50 - $70 for a general consultation and as I rudely found out a few weeks ago some dr's have stopped bulk billing children and pensioners too. It makes it hard when you have a sick child and have to find a spare $50 to take them to the dr at short notice.