Living In Brisbane And Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is the most northern state on Australia’s east coast with a landscape ranging from vast outback deserts to lush topical rainforests and the coral blue reefs of the world famous Great Barrier Reef. It’s affectionately called Australia’s ‘sunshine State’ and has an unbelievable average of 300 days of sunshine a year! Queensland is home to 3.95 million people, taking up around 25% of the continent’s area.

Spectacular locations, beautiful weather and warm hospitality combine to make Australia’s fastest growing State its most popular holiday State for both local and international visitors. Queensland offers activities for everyone, and hot spots include Surfers’ Paradise, Brisbane, Cairns, the spectacular Great Barrier Reef and the tropical rainforests of the Daintree.

For more information refer to Queensland’s tourism site: www.tq.com.au

Brisbane

Brisbane has developed from a sleepy city that you passed en route to the Gold Coast to a world-class cosmopolitan centre. It is currently the third most populated city in the country and is the fastest growing. The heart of the city flows around the Brisbane River, and the balmy climate combined with the endless natural beauty, outdoor cafés and lush gardens make it a most appealing capital to live in.

Brisbane’s interesting heritage and unique lifestyle have ensured that it is continuously evolving. Like many other Australian cities, because of the favourable climate the focus is on the outdoors and there are over 1,700 parks to enjoy.

Known to many of the locals as Bris Vegas, the city of Brisbane is a jungle of cultural activities and attractions. The arts capital of Queensland, Brisbane has dozens of theatres, cinemas, concert halls, auditoriums, galleries and museums. It is also is well known for its great cuisine with its abundance of fabulous seafood restaurants. The city has a mix of old and new buildings and offers nightlife that is rich in culture.

The History

Brisbane has a colourful history and rich heritage. The then Governor of New South Wales (1821–1825), Sir Thomas Macdougall Brisbane, sent an exploration team north of Sydney with the task of finding a suitable location for a new penal settlement where they could send the very worst felons. They were required to find an area that could be reached by sea, which was the only means of long distance transport at that time, therefore a river location would be ideal. The site they found was named after the Governor and Brisbane was born. The penal settlement was abandoned in 1839 and the area was thrown open to free settlers in 1842.

As Queensland’s huge agricultural and mineral resources were developed, Brisbane grew into a prosperous city, and in 1859 the state of Queensland separated from the colony of NSW. Brisbane was declared its capital. Today it is a fun and modern city and the envy of all Australia!

The People

The population is culturally diverse and more than a quarter of Brisbane’s residents were born overseas. In 1996 over 15% of the population spoke a language other than English at home, with Cantonese, Italian, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Greek, Spanish, German, Polish and Russian being some of the most commonly spoken languages. Brisbane’s rapid economic growth, its climate and wealth of facilities and resources have all attracted a massive wave of international migration. In the past 25 years, the State has also attracted over half a million Australians from other States to choose Queensland as their new home.

Brisbane is a youthful city with many young professionals attracted by the lifestyle, and who can blame them?

The Climate

Brisbane averages seven hours of sunshine daily (one of the highest ratings in the world). The average temperatures during the summer months hover at around the 30°C mark – but the city of Brisbane does experience a few much hotter days during summer. Brisbane’s winter is very mild and quite pleasant in contrast to some of Australia’s other States. The temperatures during winter generally remain around 17°C. Sea temperatures range from about a pleasant 26°C in summer to a moderate 19°C in winter so all year round swimming is possible.