I am so grateful I found my journey from Sydney to Cairns Southside. In 2016 I travelled to Cairns as a tourist, chaperoning a group of teenage students from America. The entire week I was in Cairns, I felt at home. The sites, the fresh air, the people and the mountains! Phenomenal.
I stepped off the plane into Sydney airport, took one sniff of the air there, and turned to my co-chaperone “I think I want to move to Cairns”. We both laughed, but then three weeks later, my bags and car were packed and I headed on a road-trip back to the tropics to start a new life.
I arrived in Cairns and moved into a share-house in Mount Sheridan with housemates that ended up becoming family to myself and dog. Throughout the six years I have lived in Cairns I have stayed in Mount Sheridan, White Rock and now Edmonton. I initially planned to move to the Northern beaches but realised how much I had available on the southside of Cairns in terms of services, employment opportunities and even just the convenience of being less than 20 minutes away from town. I ended up working at the local pub on southside for three and a half years to get through studies and built upon my community family even further with the locals… I couldn’t have asked for a more cheeky and rowdy bunch of amazing people to work alongside. Once again, my family expanded.
I then transitioned into the community services space after becoming a social worker and cannot wait to explore opportunities we have here. On top of the community services, diverse community members and all the existing infrastructure on southside, the most significant reason for me to stay, was the lifestyle. I never fathomed living only minutes away from Australia’s most gorgeous tropical creeks and waterfalls! We have the most phenomenal landscapes here and regardless of which scenery you desire, it can be found only a short drive from my southside home.
The life I have created for myself here has become more than I had ever imagined and I have now settled in Edmonton for two and a half years. When my world expands and I start a family, I know that everything I need is close by, accessible and affordable.
I found my home.