On My Way To Cairns?

[PK1990]

Hi all.

I've been offered a job in Cairns so will be coming out to have a look in early Sept.

If anyone has any general views on life in the area, where to live, etc, I'd really appreciate.

I've worked in London for years, so imagine the pace will be a bit slower, though hopefully not like a different century??

I currently run an M3 Cab that I've owned for 3 years. Is it worth shipping?

For the past year I've been after an Aston V8 N400 Roadster [held off due to pending job offer]. Will this be out of reach in Australia? If so any thoughts on what would be in reach? Are the roads in / around Cairns suitable for such cars? Ideally next car will have at least 8 pots!!!

Thanks in advance for any responses.


Paul

[ajg31]

You couldn't ask for more of a a polar change than London vs Cairns!! Only been there as a traveller and its a lovely bit of the world tho. Not sure a high performance toy would be high on my list of wants in that area though. Unless it was a 4x4 Cayenne Porker thingie

M3 Cab deffo worth shipping and lots of threads regarding that.

A standard 07 medium miler Aston V8 Vantage will set you back about 85-100k STERLING in Aus so its a question of how deep your pockets are I am not even sure if the N400 came to Aus but as its in a very different league to my own I can't say I have looked that hard!

Edited to say there is one on carsales for $200,000 Aud HERE

Edited by ajg31 on Sunday 15th August 13:12

Edited by ajg31 on Sunday 15th August 13:17

[deviant]

A friend of mine is from Cairns and his parents still live there...

His parents visited at christmas with the sad news they had lost another dog to the Dingoes and the 'hilarious' situation of picking up a hairdryer to find a snake wrapped around the chord. They did have a picture of a stunning moth that got in to the house...a moth that measured 30cm across! Its the heat and humidity that does it ya see.

[ariddell]

Cairns is quite definately like stepping back in time. It's a great town, but very very small so expect a huge culture shock from London.

The beaches are stunning, some great roads up the coast to Port Douglas and beyond and way more nightlife and restaurants than other small towns have since it is a main backpacker stop off for the barrier reef.

We're heading up to Port Douglas for the weekend this weekend to get away from Melbourne winter and love that area, although I must admit it's just too small for me to consider living up there for a good few years to come.

Probably a nice place to retire to though, so long as you don't mind the humidity and lizards the size of dogs.

Edited by ariddell on Monday 16th August 06:16

[CoopsA]

Are there crocs around Cairns? certainly the jellies in the wet season can be a little of a hazard too.

[croyde]

I remember being in Cairns in the mid 90s just after they had had some flooding. When the waters receded there was a massive croc in the middle of the local roundabout.

[PK1990]

Thanks all for replies.

Sounds like I definately need to have a look before making a final decision!!

Port Douglas is the place I've been recommended to live.

Let's hope things have moved on since the 90s!


Paul

[Landlord]

PK1990 said:

Thanks all for replies.

Sounds like I definately need to have a look before making a final decision!!

Port Douglas is the place I've been recommended to live.

Let's hope things have moved on since the 90s!


Paul

I've beren to Port Douglas a couple of times. Very nice place to visit but I'd say there's not a great deal there if you're living there.

[Dan_1981]

Is the Woolshed still there?

[lewea]

PK1990,

I would import your current M3 Cab, the valves of E46 M3's are still quite high, a lot better than the UK market.

Plus, in order for you to bring a car into Australia, you must have owned it for 12 months prior.

Just see this story for more information:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/boral-...

Regards
Mark

[custardtart]

You REALLY need to buy that Aston now and have owned it for 12 months prior to coming out. They are sooo much more expensive here that you could sell it for a decent mark up even though it's an unofficial import. I did some research on this (just looked through carsales.com.au ) and the car that seems to yield the highest return compared to the UK price is the Porsche 997 turbo.

[Colonial]

PK1990 said:

Thanks all for replies.

Sounds like I definately need to have a look before making a final decision!!

Port Douglas is the place I've been recommended to live.

Let's hope things have moved on since the 90s!


Paul

It's QLD. I doubt they have even reached the 1990s yet.

[v15ben]

Dan_1981 said:

Is the Woolshed still there?

Bigger than ever apparently

[PK1990]

If I take the job I have to give 3 months notice, so too short to buy an Aston and have owned it for a year.

I've received info that I can choose any car as a Company Car [up tp 2 years old, less than 50k Kilometres], effectively in a lease sense, pre-tax. Fingers crossed this would work out ok and make the price differential between UK / Australia a bit more palatable!

Thanks again for all views.

[Cacatous]

Oh wow, I live in Cairns now. I wouldn't live in Port Douglas as it's very disconnected from Cairns. Go for one of the northern beaches such as Palm Cove, Clifton Beach, Kewarra Beach or Trinity Beach.

I haven't seen any snakes, jellyfish, crocs or flying piranhas in 3 years of living here. I'm sure they're around (apart from the piranha) but it's doubtful you'll come across them unless you live in the forest.

Send me a private message or email if you want more help.

[custardtart]

PK1990 said:

If I take the job I have to give 3 months notice, so too short to buy an Aston and have owned it for a year.

I've received info that I can choose any car as a Company Car [up tp 2 years old, less than 50k Kilometres], effectively in a lease sense, pre-tax. Fingers crossed this would work out ok and make the price differential between UK / Australia a bit more palatable!

Thanks again for all views.

That would be the novated lease scheme they run here, yes you can choose any car but you still have to pay for it however you can off set it against your taxable income so your take home pay is more and you effectively pay less for the car.

[deviant]

Cacatous said:

Oh wow, I live in Cairns now. I wouldn't live in Port Douglas as it's very disconnected from Cairns. Go for one of the northern beaches such as Palm Cove, Clifton Beach, Kewarra Beach or Trinity Beach.

I haven't seen any snakes, jellyfish, crocs or flying piranhas in 3 years of living here. I'm sure they're around (apart from the piranha) but it's doubtful you'll come across them unless you live in the forest.

Send me a private message or email if you want more help.

You mean you don't ride a Kangaroo to work and there is no such thing as screaming hairy toed grabbies that live in the dunny?!?!

[tim the pool man]

custardtart said:

PK1990 said:

If I take the job I have to give 3 months notice, so too short to buy an Aston and have owned it for a year.

I've received info that I can choose any car as a Company Car [up tp 2 years old, less than 50k Kilometres], effectively in a lease sense, pre-tax. Fingers crossed this would work out ok and make the price differential between UK / Australia a bit more palatable!

Thanks again for all views.

That would be the novated lease scheme they run here, yes you can choose any car but you still have to pay for it however you can off set it against your taxable income so your take home pay is more and you effectively pay less for the car.

I have never done a NV myself but IIRC you pay FBT instead of income tax? A friend did it and it worked out more expensive according to him

[custardtart]

tim the pool man said:

custardtart said:

PK1990 said:

If I take the job I have to give 3 months notice, so too short to buy an Aston and have owned it for a year.

I've received info that I can choose any car as a Company Car [up tp 2 years old, less than 50k Kilometres], effectively in a lease sense, pre-tax. Fingers crossed this would work out ok and make the price differential between UK / Australia a bit more palatable!

Thanks again for all views.

That would be the novated lease scheme they run here, yes you can choose any car but you still have to pay for it however you can off set it against your taxable income so your take home pay is more and you effectively pay less for the car.

I have never done a NV myself but IIRC you pay FBT instead of income tax? A friend did it and it worked out more expensive according to him

The tax benefits should be the same but a lot of the novating companies try to get you to include maintenance, tyres, fuel etc through them and that's where they make the money. If you're a lazy a*se it's good but I didn't bother taking up my companies novated lease scheme through Orix as it just didn't seem worth it. as long as you keep a record of all your journey's, car expenses, it's easier to do it yourself.

[Cacatous]

deviant said:

Cacatous said:

Oh wow, I live in Cairns now. I wouldn't live in Port Douglas as it's very disconnected from Cairns. Go for one of the northern beaches such as Palm Cove, Clifton Beach, Kewarra Beach or Trinity Beach.

I haven't seen any snakes, jellyfish, crocs or flying piranhas in 3 years of living here. I'm sure they're around (apart from the piranha) but it's doubtful you'll come across them unless you live in the forest.

Send me a private message or email if you want more help.

You mean you don't ride a Kangaroo to work and there is no such thing as screaming hairy toed grabbies that live in the dunny?!?!

Haha no no. I drive a Subaru Forester and the only thing that lives in my dunny is a Harpic Magic Fresh thing!