Where to live: Northern NSW, Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast???

So we made the big move from Sydney about 6 mths ago to live on the Gold Coast, hoping to live on acreage and live a quieter life. We've discovered, however, that the Gold Coast really is a city.... It suits lots of people, but it's just not us. So now we're contemplating where to go.... We're not moving back to Sydney and so we're considering our options. Our dream of moving actually started in Northern NSW, but progressively moved up to QLD as we considered work & schools, but I'm finding that when we talk with people that live just shy of the border in NSW, they are still traveling up to the GC to use the services or for events/work etc.

What has taken our interest is the Sunshine Coast. We visited it earlier in the year & were taken back by it's beauty, the far greater options for acreage living (5-50 acres is what we're considering) & generally felt quieter than the GC, but still had more services & options than some parts of Northern NSW.

All 3 areas have their pros & cons, it's just a matter of working out what suits us best, so I'd love any input, particularly on what it's like to live on the SC (and where! -it's a big area!).

Thanks!

I lived on the Sunshine Coast for about 10 years and its definitely not the same as it once was. It used to be pretty quiet and now its super busy compared to what it was. We are also contemplating where to go (we live on the northern edge of Brisbane) and even though both our parents still live on the Sunny Coast, we will either move to Tassie or Hervey Bay. Hervey Bay reminds both me and DH (who was born and bred on the Sunshine Coast) of what the Sunny Coast used to be like when we were younger.

Plus its cheaper - Sunshine Coast has gotten so expensive in property over the last 5 years! I haven't lived all over the Sunshine Coast, but I have lived in Caloundra and Nambour if you have any questions about that. I've also worked in Coolum, and we would have lived there, but houses were cheaper in Nambour, so we got a place there instead.

Good luck! Its a hard decision to make.

I was born and bred on the Sunshine Coast! We moved to WA for DH's work and, although I love it here, I miss 'home'. It's definitely changed and grown lots, but its still not a city. And nothing like the Gold Coast!

I was born and grew up in the North (Tewantin), so Noosa was my base. DH and I lived in the Sippy Downs and Buderim area in the last 10 years. These are both busier than the North end, but still lovely. I like the Eumundi/Cooroy/Doonan area and the Cooroy end of Tewantin as there's acreage, but you're still less than 25 mins from major shopping (department stores, Harvey Norman type places, restaurants, services), beaches, the hinterland (I love the Montville area!) and there's a good choice of schools too.

PM me if you want more. :)

Airmen - I love Hervey Bay too! For holidays though, not to live. ;)

I grew up in ballina/Lennox and would move back to the Lennox/skennars area in a heartbeat. I love that part of northern nsw so so much, it's just amazing. After living there we moved to the sunny coast, and I would choose northern nsw any day over sunny coast.

Thanks for your responses. Airmeh, yes, I can imagine that the SC would be busier than when you grew up. It's a bit like how I remember cows & goats grazing in paddocks around where I lived in Sydney as a child & now it's a suburban jungle! It's all relative, though, isn't it! Compared to the GC, the SC seems a much nicer pace (having said that, we haven't spent much time in the dense areas of Maroochydore or Mooloolaba - more time in Currimundi & the Hinterland). No idea what Buderim is like! Probably still too built up for us.

Schools are our other big Q to figure out up there. I'm still trying to get my head around the OP system & how a child's results can be pulled down if the school doesn't do too well....

JLeigh - thank you. May just send you a PM with some more Qs.

Have any of you ever commuted to Bris from the SC? DH may need to to begin with, but I've heard that can be a long haul....!

Hi Sepata, what made the Ballina area so special for you? I don't know the Ballina area too well - more familiar with Pottsville and north of that. What are you finding not so great about the SC?

Commuting from Brisbane to sunny coast - there are trains depending on where you are living, but driving wise you would hit less traffic going up the coast every morning than if you were driving into Brisbane every morning from the coast.

I have to drive a friend to the airport in the morning, I live about 40 minutes away from the airport and she has to be there by 9. I'm picking her up at 6.30am because I'm expecting to hit lots of traffic going into Brisbane.

DH commuted from the Sunny Coast to Bris for 10 years. He drove as he worked on the Southside and public transport wouldn't get him where he needed to go. He was lucky that his work hours could be flexible a lot of the time, so he'd leave home around 5:30am. About 1.25 hrs. Journey home could be up to 3 hrs, but he'd usually leave work around 3pm and be home just after 5pm. Not something I'd recommend doing though, especially if you're doing it in peak hour.

All food for thought here.... Arimeh, how long did you find it took you to get to the beach from Nambour? (and which beach?). We're considering acreage behind Nambour, but DH loves the quieter beaches such as Peregian Beach. Any idea how long that would take to get to from Nambour & surrounds?

About 20 minutes drive to maroochydore. Or coolum.

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About 20 minutes drive to maroochydore. Or coolum.

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Well that's encouraging! How much longer would it take from the acreage areas behind Nambour (Hunchy, Dulong, Kureelpa)?

Which beach did you prefer? Are you under the shadow of high-rises at Maroochydore? We are on any of the GC beaches pretty much....

Dh's sister used to live in kureelpa and it was under 10 minutes to get to her place from ours - we lived in nambour heights so wasn't in the centre of town or anything though.

As for beaches - I'm not really an expert, I lived in caloundra for 8 years so my preference would always be for that area, but coolum is lovely, most of my workmates lived there when I worked up that way. Dh worked in maroochydore and I know his boss lived around that area and was a big surfer dude. I had one girl I worked with who lived at mooloolaba and she was really into beach stuff and she loved where she lived.

Really any beach is beautiful on the sunshine coast - its a beautiful spot in the world to live, just a bit built up now for me and dh.