Need Help and Advice: Moving from NSW to Cairns!

Hi,
My husband, 2 sons (4 & 1) and I have recently decided to make the move from Central Coast NSW to Cairns QLD early next year.

My husband is a chef and we have been looking into work which doesnt seem to be too bad up that way but we have never been to Cairns and have been getting useful information from this forum from locals but was wondering if anyone could help me with the moving side of things eg how to get my dog to cairns, if im better driving myself, kids and dog and my hubby can drive truck (has heavy vehicle licence. I dont know where to start with it and money is going to be abit tight so trying to work out which is best for us all.

We will be practically on our own for the first time with no family and friends to fall back on up there but its an adventure we want to take a chance on.

We have a fair amount of stuff, large dog and 1 car hope someone can give me some useful advice.

Thanks and I look forward to some helpful hints.

Kathleen smile

Hi smile
Just answered your other topic too lol

We still haven't gotten our stuff moved up here.
We came up here with two cars, two kids, a bird and fish lol and whatever we could fit into the cars!

We ended up just buying second hand stuff till we got on our feet.
If you can do without some things, sell them or leave them behind..more weight means more fuel!!
Our other furniture is being stored at my parents house, but we are keen to get it up here when we have the money...i do miss my stuff although we have nice stuff here now too!
If hubby can drive the truck, let him do it, removalists are very pricey sad
And take your dog with you, just look out for caravan parks etc you can stay at along the way that are pet friendly.

From tweed heads, it would of taken us 3 days, but my car broke down so it ended up taking us 6.

There is alot of work in the hospitality area up here, he shouldn't find it hard to get work.

We also have no family here, 2 friends only, so i know how you feel about jumping in the deep end with no support, but it can be done smile

Hi there!
My hubby is from Cairns, but due to his job we have been moving all around Australia in the past 7 years. We were lucky enough that we managed to be in Cairns in 2008-2009 and at the end of this year we will move back there permanently (we have a 7 month old now and don't want to move around much anymore). Yay!
I agree with the previous post, the cheapest way for you to get there is most definitely driving and take the dog with you. We drove and shipped our cat (so small sized pet) and it was about $250 from Tamworth to Cairns, so a large dog would be more. If you can sell some old stuff/clothing etc. you don't need, by all means organize a garage sale! It took us 2 days to drive up, but as we didn't have kids at the time, we stopped as little as possible. There are caravan parks which are pet friendly. What you can do is plan your trip and maybe before leaving call a few caravan parks located where you are planning to stop and ask if they accept pets (our dogs slept outside the cabin, chained - unfortunately I cannot remember which caravan park was).
You will love Cairns, it's a great place for families with kids, lots to do and lots to see, especially in the surroundings (Tablelands, Port douglas, Daintree Rainforest, Reef... etc etc etc!)! I worked in hospitality there as well and there are a lot of positions in the industry. Rents are not high either, surprisingly!
As far as living without support from family and friends, luckily my hubby's family lives an hour west of Cairns, but I am from Europe so my family is all overseas. It may be a little hard at first, but it will work out, if I made it, you can too smile Make sure you make a lot of friends and if you need a hand or want to catch up when you are in Cairns, please contact me! smile We will be there from mid December. Good luck smile smile