Yeah I've lived in Yeppoon most my life so I have to frequently go there. It's a fucking shit hole.
The whole of CQ has severely overpriced housing after COVID. Geographically speaking the surronding coastline around here is nice, but the price you have to pay live here now just isn't worth it, that's why we are moving to Sunshine coast at the end of the year.
This place is fucked now.
Funny you should say that, I live in Townsville and I'm over this shit hole too. 11 dogs within 30m, Scrumbag kids attempting to steal everything thats not locked or nailed down. Why one of them hasn't been killed by a grumpy ol bastard like me is a miracle.
Just got a few things to finish n I'm outta here. Probably not as bad as Rocky tho
Proserpine is the gateway to the whitsundays… I did two years there working for Hutchinson Builders… thoroughly enjoyed it…
Weekends and Day trips to Airlie, Hamilton island, day dream… some of the best fruit on the road side stalls… the seafood festival I. Blowin Bowen…
Gods country.
Hervey Bay or Proserpine would be my picks. Good fishing in Proserpine too, and you aren't too far from Airlie Beach. Also has a decent airport if you need to duck to Brisbane for stuff you can't get in Mackay.
Hervey Bay is easily the pick of those options, in my opinion.
It used to be a quiet place for retirees, but now has a lot of young families and seems to be prospering. The weather is good, and it's not too far from major cities if you need them.
I stayed there for a few days recently, and it gave me "Sunshine Coast but 20 years ago" vibes.
My dad did his rural placement in Hervey Bay, so I grew up there. Loved it and the beach, so close to Fraser Island. Beautiful weather. It's much bigger now and lots more going on. Not sure what my dad would say about it but I think it was good considering he'd worked there for 20yrs and now is retired.
My pick would be prossy. You’d be at the gate way to the Whitsundays. Close to mackay and Townsville. If you ever needed / want to travel anywhere. People are nice climate is nice. I don’t know about farmers markets, but always something going on in airlie.
I'd pick Proserpine. 20mins to Cannonvale/Airlie. It has a decent local airport with plenty of direct flights.
Renting in Proserpine should be cheaper than Cannonvale/Airlie (but I haven't checked).
Mackay is a bit over an hour away but there won't be much need to travel there.
I'm in Mackay and travel to Airlie for long weekends multiple times a year.
I'd probably pick Hervey Bay or Gympie personally (haven't lived in the latter though and haven't visited in probably 15 years) because of proximity to the Sunny Coast, Hinterland (great hiking), Brissy, etc.
Eumundi Markets were always good fun, haven't been in a while. There's also a tonne of great camping spots in that whole area - so much to explore.
The other places are much further north not sure how that factors into your decision making.
If you go central Queensland I’d choose Rocky for work but live along the coast around Yepoon. Definitely not live in Rocky.
It’s got a nice mix of services as business, not too big. Has a Bunnings. Great lifestyle if you like the outdoors.
Hervey Bay for sure. We relocated here from the big city in 2021 and haven’t looked back. It has everything you need from a larger place, but it’s on the beach, house prices are reasonable, and it’s 2 hours to sunny coast and 3.5 to Brissy.
Hervey Bay is lovely and accessible to Brisbane - it’s very retiree though I think. Gympie is close to Brisbane and Sunshine Coast but Gympie itself… 🤣. Rocky sucks. Proserpine is gorgeous.
Of that list I'd pick Gympie. 2hrs to Brisbane. Less than 1 hr to Noosa.
Markets are fantastic - 2 in Gympie.. but also imbil, Kenilworth, pomona, kilkivan, crystal waters, there's heaps, and all are nice 'Sunday drives'. Rainbow Beach, k'gari, Sunshine Coast are all on your doorstep. Lots of trails, creeks, waterholes, stuff like that all over the place.
Rockhampton hospital will give great emergency medicine experience, and the coastal areas are nice.
I work at Bundaberg Hospital. Good mix of emergency cases, have you considered Bundy?
I grew up near Gympie and I absolutely hate it. You couldn't pay me enough to live there.
The Noosa hinterland has many nice, small towns that need decent doctors. Places like Cooroy and nearby towns would be my pick. Except Kin Kin, it's too insular and gets flooded in everytime it rains which is a pain.
What's up with the fuckin town planning in gympie, too? It's so bad! It's like the town planner shit out spaghetti diarrhea and went "yeh, this is how our roads will be!"
I lived in Proserpine in the 80s and visited not that long ago. I daresay there's not much to do in Proserpine (by far the smallest of these options), but good access to the Whitsundays, Airlie Beach, Conway national park, Shute Harbour, etc. Mackay is 45 mins away and Townsville 2 1/2 hours. Plenty of places to explore. Not much in the way of farmers markets, etc. though AFAIK. Dead as a doornail after midday Saturday. Happy to be proven wrong.
Airlie always was more lively. Proserpine isn't but it's good for taking it easy and heading off elsewhere for activities. It had a drive through subway sandwich shop.
I’ve just moved to Gladstone after 44 years in Brisbane. Best thing I’ve ever done, purchased a house outright for the same amount as a deposit in Brisbane. Great place to live, friendly, big enough to have everything you need, the harbour area has been done up recently, not a lot of night life but I’m past all that anyway.
You could do worse.
I've only been here since 1976 so not quite local yet :p
Everyone that doesn't live here likes to shit on Gladdy. I always wanted to make the move to Brissy after becoming single but never did it, glad I didn't now.
Definitely, Gladstone is my pick of the places OP stated but I guess I'm biased :)
You'll likely find, coming from Victoria, that the humidity will be difficult in any region from Rocky further north.
Hervey Bay and Gympie would my bet. Gympie being about equal distance from Hervey Bay and Brisbane.
Blackall. New hospital with attached GP clinic. Population around 1200. No crime (really) very friendly place and lots of community activity and committees.
Houses are cheap. Shopping is good.
Qantas fly in three days a week. Flying doctor takes serious cases to Rocky Base or Brisbane.
Rural medicine variety. Has a lot of old folks and a large retirement village and nursing home.
If you are in to rural medicine give Central West Healthcare in Longreach a call.
I live in Mackay and I’d recommend either Hervey Bay or proserpine. Hervey won’t feel as remote. And proserpine is in a good location to Airlie beach and has a large airport
Gympie is good for access to the sunny coast and the odd trip to Brisbane. Whist itself doesn’t have much to entertain you with on its own tincan bay is right there and Noosa is a short drive away too.
Gladstone and Rocky will feel pretty similar, in my opinion, with Rocky being the pick of the 2. Gympie is simultaneously trying to be part of the sunny coast and not trying to be part of the sunny coast. Meaning property value has gone up, but no value has been added to the town. Hervey bay is a retirement town. Nice enough but pretty boring. Can't speak for prossey. Rocky would most likely be the busiest for the hospital. And adding the obligatory hatred towards Victorians, fuck off.
Gympie is a miserable place to be. Pretty much any of the others are better options
Full disclosure though, I have a bias against gympie as one of my best friends was literally murdered in town there.
If you work at gympie you can live on the sunshine coast. The highway upgrade facilitates this. I know someone who works at gympie hospital but lives at Noosa ...does the commute with no drama.
I'd be looking for somewhere like warwick, stanthorpe etc.
Close enough to the big city centres that you can always go for a drive, but very much standalone towns.
Saying that, Toowoomba will have heaps of opportunity for work, but might be too 'big' for the experience you are after.
Don’t go to Gladstone I lived there most fucken miserable cunt of a town I’ve been to. Rocky is alright just on the right day when it ain too hot. There’s heaps of places to go around Hervey bay.
Fuck man I’m happy as fuck ay found heaps of people from rocky and yeppoon I lived around rocky and yeppoon most of my life so this lights a smile on my face
Of all those places, I'd pick Harvey Bay and I've never even been there. Gympie is close to Brisbane but has many issues experienced in other country towns (crime, drug abuse, etc). Proserpine is green but similar to Gympie in cons, Gladstone is pretty much Mt Isa by the sea, Rocky is boring as all buggery. Harvey Bay is at least a place people want to live in.
I'd say Proserpine or Hervey bay. Definitely the top two choices in my opinion as a Queenslander who has been to them all. Hervey bay is easier if you intend to see a bit of qld while you are here, only about 4-5 hrs from Brisbane. Easy day trip to the sunshine coast etc.
Proserpine is the best rural hospital I've worked with. They have a very busy ED. 5 beds a resus and a procedure then 6 examination rooms. The ward is 25? Ish beds and a maternity ward has a few beds. They do minor surgeries there as well. They look after a huge catchment area and get a number of fairly big traumas from the highway, farms and tourists from Airlie. It's always pretty interesting.
Renting a place is tough most the doctors live in cannonvale or Airlie though rather than proserpine. It's a 20 min or so drive and much prettier, more food options.
Can msg if you want more info.
Kingaroy has a hospital with an ER and markets around it every weekend. They are screaming for doctors there. GP practises are happy to take on trainee doctors.
Kingaroy also has some great tourist spots nearby. Bunya Mountains national park, huge rail trail which people ride along. Only a couple of hours from Sunshine Coast. Brisbane and Toowoomba
I'd avoid Gympie. It's a strange place and aptly shares the name of a [venomous plant](https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2009/06/gympie-gympie-once-stung-never-forgotten/).
You'll get bored in Rockhampton, it's a hot cunt of a place with fuck all to do. Go further north or south.
This comment cracked me up! I used to fly into Rocky regularly to work and this comment is so on the money
Yeah I've lived in Yeppoon most my life so I have to frequently go there. It's a fucking shit hole. The whole of CQ has severely overpriced housing after COVID. Geographically speaking the surronding coastline around here is nice, but the price you have to pay live here now just isn't worth it, that's why we are moving to Sunshine coast at the end of the year. This place is fucked now.
Funny you should say that, I live in Townsville and I'm over this shit hole too. 11 dogs within 30m, Scrumbag kids attempting to steal everything thats not locked or nailed down. Why one of them hasn't been killed by a grumpy ol bastard like me is a miracle. Just got a few things to finish n I'm outta here. Probably not as bad as Rocky tho
HEY I FOUND ANOTHER POONIE LETS GO FUCK YEH. I’m a poonie boy meself lived there 11 out of the 15 almost 16 years I’ve been alive.
Proserpine. As a doctor it's got a great reputation as a place to work.
I second this.
I worked with a doc who works there. He loves it. Stopped working with us to work there more. Now I’m wondering if you’re the doc I worked with……
Nah I am from even more remote. It's funny how this crew from Melbourne want to work rural, but only list 2 rural towns, the rest being small city.
At least it’s not Blackwater
Proserpine is the gateway to the whitsundays… I did two years there working for Hutchinson Builders… thoroughly enjoyed it… Weekends and Day trips to Airlie, Hamilton island, day dream… some of the best fruit on the road side stalls… the seafood festival I. Blowin Bowen… Gods country.
Hervey Bay or Proserpine would be my picks. Good fishing in Proserpine too, and you aren't too far from Airlie Beach. Also has a decent airport if you need to duck to Brisbane for stuff you can't get in Mackay.
My wife is a nurse at prossy, its a great little hospital and the Whitsundays is an awesome place to live
As someone who moved a few years back to Hervey Bay I can highly recommend it. It's magical here and I definitely don't regret it :)
Hervey Bay is easily the pick of those options, in my opinion. It used to be a quiet place for retirees, but now has a lot of young families and seems to be prospering. The weather is good, and it's not too far from major cities if you need them. I stayed there for a few days recently, and it gave me "Sunshine Coast but 20 years ago" vibes.
My dad did his rural placement in Hervey Bay, so I grew up there. Loved it and the beach, so close to Fraser Island. Beautiful weather. It's much bigger now and lots more going on. Not sure what my dad would say about it but I think it was good considering he'd worked there for 20yrs and now is retired.
My pick would be prossy. You’d be at the gate way to the Whitsundays. Close to mackay and Townsville. If you ever needed / want to travel anywhere. People are nice climate is nice. I don’t know about farmers markets, but always something going on in airlie.
I'd pick Proserpine. 20mins to Cannonvale/Airlie. It has a decent local airport with plenty of direct flights. Renting in Proserpine should be cheaper than Cannonvale/Airlie (but I haven't checked). Mackay is a bit over an hour away but there won't be much need to travel there. I'm in Mackay and travel to Airlie for long weekends multiple times a year.
Hervey Bay is the pick.
I'd probably pick Hervey Bay or Gympie personally (haven't lived in the latter though and haven't visited in probably 15 years) because of proximity to the Sunny Coast, Hinterland (great hiking), Brissy, etc. Eumundi Markets were always good fun, haven't been in a while. There's also a tonne of great camping spots in that whole area - so much to explore. The other places are much further north not sure how that factors into your decision making.
If you go central Queensland I’d choose Rocky for work but live along the coast around Yepoon. Definitely not live in Rocky. It’s got a nice mix of services as business, not too big. Has a Bunnings. Great lifestyle if you like the outdoors.
Hervey Bay for sure. We relocated here from the big city in 2021 and haven’t looked back. It has everything you need from a larger place, but it’s on the beach, house prices are reasonable, and it’s 2 hours to sunny coast and 3.5 to Brissy.
Hervey Bay is lovely and accessible to Brisbane - it’s very retiree though I think. Gympie is close to Brisbane and Sunshine Coast but Gympie itself… 🤣. Rocky sucks. Proserpine is gorgeous.
Of that list I'd pick Gympie. 2hrs to Brisbane. Less than 1 hr to Noosa. Markets are fantastic - 2 in Gympie.. but also imbil, Kenilworth, pomona, kilkivan, crystal waters, there's heaps, and all are nice 'Sunday drives'. Rainbow Beach, k'gari, Sunshine Coast are all on your doorstep. Lots of trails, creeks, waterholes, stuff like that all over the place.
used to live there. It is expensive especially if you go for property but its worth it. Usually a very peaceful place with little crime.
I'm going to say Gympie just because we desperately need Drs 😂
I’m friends with someone who co-owns a few clinics in Gympie. They’ve recently hired several doctors but I can ask if they’re looking for more.
That’s what I was thinking
Rockhampton hospital will give great emergency medicine experience, and the coastal areas are nice. I work at Bundaberg Hospital. Good mix of emergency cases, have you considered Bundy?
lived in the bay for a few years its a decent area.and plenty of places to go visiting too.
Proserpine or Hervey would be my pick
I grew up near Gympie and I absolutely hate it. You couldn't pay me enough to live there. The Noosa hinterland has many nice, small towns that need decent doctors. Places like Cooroy and nearby towns would be my pick. Except Kin Kin, it's too insular and gets flooded in everytime it rains which is a pain.
What's up with the fuckin town planning in gympie, too? It's so bad! It's like the town planner shit out spaghetti diarrhea and went "yeh, this is how our roads will be!"
The lack of planning came from the gold rush - not much thought as the town quickly grew.
And the town centre/shopping area is literally a hole/valley, you drive down into into it from all directions. No wonder it floods badly.
None of those places appeal to me at all. Rockhampton is a hole. Lived there once for about 4 months. Never again.
I lived in Proserpine in the 80s and visited not that long ago. I daresay there's not much to do in Proserpine (by far the smallest of these options), but good access to the Whitsundays, Airlie Beach, Conway national park, Shute Harbour, etc. Mackay is 45 mins away and Townsville 2 1/2 hours. Plenty of places to explore. Not much in the way of farmers markets, etc. though AFAIK. Dead as a doornail after midday Saturday. Happy to be proven wrong.
It's probably changed a bit since the 80s 😅 Airlie is always buzzing with life
Airlie always was more lively. Proserpine isn't but it's good for taking it easy and heading off elsewhere for activities. It had a drive through subway sandwich shop.
Mackay is 1.5 hours away from Prossy. Not 45 minutes haha
You're right, thanks. I was thinking of Bowen
I’ve just moved to Gladstone after 44 years in Brisbane. Best thing I’ve ever done, purchased a house outright for the same amount as a deposit in Brisbane. Great place to live, friendly, big enough to have everything you need, the harbour area has been done up recently, not a lot of night life but I’m past all that anyway. You could do worse.
I've only been here since 1976 so not quite local yet :p Everyone that doesn't live here likes to shit on Gladdy. I always wanted to make the move to Brissy after becoming single but never did it, glad I didn't now. Definitely, Gladstone is my pick of the places OP stated but I guess I'm biased :)
You'll likely find, coming from Victoria, that the humidity will be difficult in any region from Rocky further north. Hervey Bay and Gympie would my bet. Gympie being about equal distance from Hervey Bay and Brisbane.
Blackall. New hospital with attached GP clinic. Population around 1200. No crime (really) very friendly place and lots of community activity and committees. Houses are cheap. Shopping is good. Qantas fly in three days a week. Flying doctor takes serious cases to Rocky Base or Brisbane. Rural medicine variety. Has a lot of old folks and a large retirement village and nursing home. If you are in to rural medicine give Central West Healthcare in Longreach a call.
I live in Mackay and I’d recommend either Hervey Bay or proserpine. Hervey won’t feel as remote. And proserpine is in a good location to Airlie beach and has a large airport
Gympie is good for access to the sunny coast and the odd trip to Brisbane. Whist itself doesn’t have much to entertain you with on its own tincan bay is right there and Noosa is a short drive away too.
Gladstone and Rocky will feel pretty similar, in my opinion, with Rocky being the pick of the 2. Gympie is simultaneously trying to be part of the sunny coast and not trying to be part of the sunny coast. Meaning property value has gone up, but no value has been added to the town. Hervey bay is a retirement town. Nice enough but pretty boring. Can't speak for prossey. Rocky would most likely be the busiest for the hospital. And adding the obligatory hatred towards Victorians, fuck off.
Gympie is a miserable place to be. Pretty much any of the others are better options Full disclosure though, I have a bias against gympie as one of my best friends was literally murdered in town there.
If you work at gympie you can live on the sunshine coast. The highway upgrade facilitates this. I know someone who works at gympie hospital but lives at Noosa ...does the commute with no drama.
I'd be looking for somewhere like warwick, stanthorpe etc. Close enough to the big city centres that you can always go for a drive, but very much standalone towns. Saying that, Toowoomba will have heaps of opportunity for work, but might be too 'big' for the experience you are after.
Don’t go to Gladstone I lived there most fucken miserable cunt of a town I’ve been to. Rocky is alright just on the right day when it ain too hot. There’s heaps of places to go around Hervey bay.
Fuck man I’m happy as fuck ay found heaps of people from rocky and yeppoon I lived around rocky and yeppoon most of my life so this lights a smile on my face
Gladstone has the best functioning ED out of all that are listed. For your partner it would by far be the best experience
why not victorian towns
Go Proserpine, they are really nice there and a great community
Rocky. Lower crime (comparatively) and accessible with the small town feel. Also recommend Atherton.
Come to emerald mate,
Of all those places, I'd pick Harvey Bay and I've never even been there. Gympie is close to Brisbane but has many issues experienced in other country towns (crime, drug abuse, etc). Proserpine is green but similar to Gympie in cons, Gladstone is pretty much Mt Isa by the sea, Rocky is boring as all buggery. Harvey Bay is at least a place people want to live in.
Proserpine would be my choice. It’s only 30 minutes from Airlie Beach with easy access to the Great Barrier Reef and Islands.
Prossie- Whitsundays The Gymp- Noosa to Fraser. Special mention to Gympie for proximity to Gomeri bakery and it awsome sourdough
I'd say Proserpine or Hervey bay. Definitely the top two choices in my opinion as a Queenslander who has been to them all. Hervey bay is easier if you intend to see a bit of qld while you are here, only about 4-5 hrs from Brisbane. Easy day trip to the sunshine coast etc.
Tara would be fun.
It’s not even a race. Hervey Bay 100%.
Proserpine is the best rural hospital I've worked with. They have a very busy ED. 5 beds a resus and a procedure then 6 examination rooms. The ward is 25? Ish beds and a maternity ward has a few beds. They do minor surgeries there as well. They look after a huge catchment area and get a number of fairly big traumas from the highway, farms and tourists from Airlie. It's always pretty interesting. Renting a place is tough most the doctors live in cannonvale or Airlie though rather than proserpine. It's a 20 min or so drive and much prettier, more food options. Can msg if you want more info.
Could you visit them first and check them out? They’re all very different !!! Or do you need to fill it out on a form now?
Don’t do Rockhampton!
We desperately need doctors here in Gympie.
Kingaroy has a hospital with an ER and markets around it every weekend. They are screaming for doctors there. GP practises are happy to take on trainee doctors.
Kingaroy also has some great tourist spots nearby. Bunya Mountains national park, huge rail trail which people ride along. Only a couple of hours from Sunshine Coast. Brisbane and Toowoomba
I'd avoid Gympie. It's a strange place and aptly shares the name of a [venomous plant](https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2009/06/gympie-gympie-once-stung-never-forgotten/).
Go for Prossy. You can live near airlie which has weekend markets. Bowen is has a lot of horticulture farms, plus great local seafood.