Hi all

we are relocating to Gladstone in a few weeks for my DH work with 2 kiddies.

i am really aprehensive about this as i will know no one and hate feeling isolated, does any one know of Play groups or other groups that are great for kids, also i will be looking for a netball team to join if any one can recomend one.
OR
any other friendly advice on the area to help this transition


Thank you soo much in advance

xx
natalie

Hi

I see no one has answered, so I just wanted to say Gladstone is a friendly town. Much of the population is from somewhere else, so people are keen to make friends.

It is only an hour from Rockhampton if you need to do some decent shopping. It is also only an hour flight from Brisbane.

I only lived there for 7 mths (1st job out of Uni), but I still travel there for a work a bit.

Good luck

Hello Natalie

Well I have lived here for most of my life, it's not terribly exciting but it's improved SO much
in the last 5 years! There are heaps of playgroups I know ladies who go to Shed 17 on Dalrymple drive & Salvation Army does a music thing every week & they put on morning tea or the library does Baby Bounce which is another music thing. How old are you & your kiddies?
There are heaps of local mother's groups on Facebook, Gladstone Classifieds on Facebook
is a really good place to ask about playgroups & netball teams.

The people in Gladstone are mostly very friendly. There is a large housing commission population
so it's good to explore your area/ street because there can be a few dodgy characters around.
What part are you moving to?

All the best with the move hope you enjoy it here! & I'm sure you will meet plenty of GREAT people here

Hi Natalie

I'm from Vic originally and we made the big move a couple of years ago. We live in Boyne/Tannum area which is just South of Gladstone. I found this area to be much nicer than Gladstone itself. There are some nice areas around Gladstone too, I guess you'll work it out when you get here.

One of the things I love about this town is that there are a lot of friendly people, locals and others. There is just about everything you need but if you're from a big city, you may find things a little different and more expensive than what you're used to. If your kids are old enough, there are a lot of sports activities around. There are loads of schools to choose from with good reputation. Just ask if you need this info, I'd be happy to help out with what I know.

One thing I hate about this town is the lack of shopping. It is very poor here. Nothing is open for the long hours that I am used to and I find myself saving for a trip to Brisbane for a big spend up rather than to buy anything worthwhile here. Most products are a fair bit more expensive here too. My first year here I got stuck with no groceries on Easter Long w/e expecting to do my shopping on the Sun/Mon.. not a thing was open! Most shops are closed after 3pm on Sat and don't open until Monday and if it's a long w/e, nothing is open on the public holiday either. There are Bunnings/Harvey Norman and another furniture store open on w/e but that's about it. It took us a good few months to find that an IGA was open on w/e. They are increasing hours gradually, but the shop owners are not keen.

I don't know anything about mother's groups although I'm sure they're around. One good way to find out is to contact the Community Centre at the Gladstone Hospital. They should have info about all these things.

Feel free to PM me for any other info. I'd be happy to share my personal details if you like.

Cheers
Wendy )

Hi!

We moved to Gladstone nearly 4 years ago now and it took quite a long time to transition.
As others have said the limited trading hours are anoying but they are slowly getting better. There is an IGA in Sun Valley that is open on Sundays as well as a few SPARs around which are like small convenience stores.

I would recomend the Gladstone Communities for Children as a great place to find kid friendly things to do. They have a book that they give out yearly which has all the playgroups, schools, sporting activities, mothers groups etc for the area. I found it an awesome point to start as I could just flick through, find something that was of interest , call them and give it a try The contact details are on this webste

I take my 3 year old to a great playgroup at St Stephens Lutheran College which meet on a Wednesday morning 9-11 am and is super casual. Just bring a snack for your child, a hat for outdoor play and a $2 donation. I would steer clear of the womens health contre playgroup as we didn't have a great experience there..
We also go to story time at the Gladstone city library on Wednesdays. It starts at 11 so we either leave playgroup a bit early or alternate weeks. The library has a great kids area with toys, couches and computors. The have a great selection of books as well as kids dvd's and cd's.
Library website
Some great parks for kids are the Marina, next to McDonalds, in front of the beach at Barney point and there is a playcentre call the Kuby House linkfor when it is raining or we just go to Bunnings indoor kids area for free
The Gladstone Aquatic centre is also great for little kids and they do swimming lessons there as well.

The Information centre is at the Marina and that is where we went when we first moved here to get a local map. The staff were really helpful in showing us where things were and directing us to good spots.

Gladstone Regional Council

If you need a hand just PM and I will be more than happy to help, I know that feeling of isolation and don't like it one bit!

just bumping this post up to see if there are any new ppl that have moved here recently as we have a few weeks ago and trying to make some new contacts

nat

Thanks for bumping this thread up.

It has been interesting to read through, although my children are older and in school.

We are moving from Brisbane to Gladstone in December for work. Feeling a little apprehensive.

For anyone who has kids in school, do you have any experience with Gladstone State High School and Gladstone West State School? Dd1 will be going into year 8 and ds1 into year 6 and ds2 into year 2.

I lived in Gladstone all through my schooling years. Gladstone State High (just called State) is the better of the two public high schools.

I didn't go to West in primary though, I went to Gladstone South which was an excellent school. It is the only primary school with a pool, which meant we had a very good swimming program, the other schools had to get a bus to the public pool. Think we did lessons once a week and we had 'free swim' during lunch hour once a week too.

Thanks for that information Michelle1985. Did you enjoy your time at the high school?

We r looking at Gladstone West primary only because it is so close to the high school, which is important to us. It also looks nice on Google street view as does the high school. Lol.

Dh and I are both high school teachers and are transferring to Gladstone state high next year.

just going to add my two cents in not sure if you have your kiddies at daycare or afterschool care or want vacation care?? BUT BOOK NOW there is a 2 yr waiting list.

we moved here with the idea that i would go to work PT time but my husbands company didnt tell us there is no child care avaliable so i am stuck at home till something opens up bahhhh

Hi Natty82, sorry for hijacking your thread.

Thanks for that information. Won't need daycare or vacation care. Not planning on needing after school care.

Another who may be moving to Gladstone next year for my DH work......

What is the rental market like?

The rental market is terrible. In the last year or so a few big projects have been announced in the area, such as new smelters and refineries. My sister's 2 bed 1 bath 80s unit (not fancy at all, just off Philip Street (one of the main drags) just increased from $350 a week to $500. My fiance's sisters boyfriend (if that makes sense) rents his unit for $500 a week. The big projects buy up all the leases for their workers and are happy to pay top dollar. It is really a big deal there at the moment.

For eg:

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-hous...stone-405938831

Average 70s style house, high set 3 bed, 1 bath, air con only in main bed for $560.

A new house was renting for $870. For a small regional town, those prices are huge.

I would think those prices are huge for anywhere! Crazy!!!!!

Are there any areas NOT to move to?

What about Rockhampton? How far is that from Gladstone?

Rockhampton is about an hour away.

Calliope or Boyne Island/Tannum Sands would be better if you don't want to live in Gladstone.

All of Gladstone is pretty ok. There aren't really know dodgy areas like you get in big cities. You can drive from one side to the other in about 15 minutes.

What I would suggest is that you pick an area that doesn't require you to go through the Kin Kora round about at peak times. One side of it is Kmart and one side is the only shopping center in Gladstone. Additionally, all of one side of the town has to go through there to get anywhere. It gets hugely backed up in the morning. Very irritating. But otherwise, Gladstone is a pretty good place to live (I think anyway).