Where to live?

[Integro]

I've come to a bit of a cross road and would like to hear any advice that you all have to offer.

I'll be finished my commercial licence in a few months (smashing out the hours and exams as fast as I can at the moment). We're going to be moving out of our house in about 1 Month then house sitting for 2 Months then we're not sure where to go from there.

We'd like to be back in Brisbane (or settled long term) in about 3 years so I've got a few years to move around building hours etc before I have to settle down.

I've got a really good mate up in Cairns (also a pilot) and family in Adelaide, so those two places were first on the list. We're having a hard time figuring out where to live. Any suggestions for what would be the best place to go for getting a job and building hours would be much appreciated!

[merlinn]

I cannot speak from a pilots/aviation point of view only general as I have recently moved to Darwin from Adelaide

My take on Darwin at the moment is, that is very expensive in most area's housing in particular, for example we looked at building a 200 sqm home here in Palmerston (about 25kms from the CBD) house and land $550k! looked at the same thing in Cairns $300k!

Food, petrol and the cost of living in general is expensive here. A lot of people I speak to are moving on to cheaper states, the only ones that seem to be staying are those that are born here, or moved here 10 or more years ago when property was cheap.

I believe Darwin currently has a false economy based upon a huge number of the population being in the Military and working in the mines, which has helped fuel the demand for property beyond what is normal. An example is people trying to find rental properties is a joke, on average they have around 50 applicants for each property!

I plan to move to a cheaper city like Cairns in the future where I don't have to earn a fortune just to survive.

Good luck with your choice

[Howard Hughes]

Stick it out till the wet, rental properties are more readily available then!

[Chadzat]

You can cross Adelaide off of your list straight away. No first flying jobs here unless you have an Instructor Rating. There is no real need for single engine charter around Adelaide, all the demand is in multi piston and turbine, and whatever small need there is can be picked up easily by the flying schools.

[Mach E Avelli]

Go north, young man.
That 1st flying job in civilisation as we know it is hard to crack. The few jobs that do come up seem to get taken by someone who knows someone. Darwin, Cairns, Townsville may not be the best places in the wet, but they are typical of where you can get into G.A. If you can't get a job on the coast try that delightful little town called Alice. Other options are Port Hedland, Derby etc

[Capt Claret]

I believe Darwin currently has a false economy

Not a false economy, just Darwin's economy. T'was thus for the 13 years I was there, and the 32 years Mrs C was there.

[tinpis]

Whats false about expensive?
Please let us know whats "real" about the economy in Cairns
I would suggest its about to take another dive down the ****t@r

[merlinn]

Shall I say highly inflated rather then false? I know very little about Cairns except for the fact that it appears that your dollar buys a lot more as far as real estate, therefore for the average joe on an average wage their quality of living is lot higher.

[Track Coastal]

I know very little about Cairns except for the fact that it appears that your dollar buys a lot more

Petrol is about 20c/L cheaper ($1.54/L today);
If you shop at the town vege market, fruit and veg is about 30+% less than DN;
Beef and chicken etc is also 20-30% cheaper.
The mean temp is 3 degs cooler.
For Sporting/Cultural pursuits, <2hrs flight time and <$200 (return) to Brissie.Eating out in CS tho can be expensive. I've lived in both places whatever it costs to live in CS, add 30% for DN (mortgage, food, petrol, etc all included).

The things I really miss about DN is the Mindil and Parap markets, spectacular thunderstorms and one or two of the pubs had cultural 'shows' (Winnellie and Parap comes to mind) like no other in this country.:E

[tinpis]

Cultural pursuits.....Brissie... http://www.augk18.dsl.pipex.com/Smileys/laughpound.gif

[Paul Alfred]

Spot on Chadzat...Adelaide :{ Love the place but hard to get a GA job! Wilpena Pound are often looking for pilots....Keith Rasheed may be worth a call up at Wilpena.

Good Luck!