Waterside apartments, Brisbane.
Brisbane | Mozzies | Termites | Humidity | Banter | Television
I don’t like to say it, especially since I’ve just been writing another article about how much I love living in Brisbane, but there are also downsides to Brisbane.
Let’s see, in the “I love Brisbane” article I painted a glowing picture of how early the sun rises in Queensland in the summer. This enables me to go to the beach very early. The trouble is, even in summer, the sun goes down before 7 p.m.
That’s awful if part of the attraction of moving to Australia is having leisurely barbies after work in warm, evening sunshine. Most other Australian states move their clocks forward in summer and enjoy lighter evenings. Not Brisbane – we just get early darkness.
I can’t mention twilight barbies without mozzies entering my thoughts. These critters love warm, still, humid nights – and days for that matter! Brisbane’s mozzies will bite you until you’re raw unless you wear repellent – something I don’t really like doing but I often have to out of necessity to enjoy the great outdoors.
Unfortunately, Queensland’s mozzies can infect you with Ross River virus – the mozzies in all of Australia’s big cities can infect you with this virus. Ross River virus causes a lot more distress than the usual mozzie bite. It’s a fairly nasty disease – about 5,000 Aussies catch it each year – leading to aches and flu-like symptoms lasting, on and off, for up to a year if you’re unlucky.
So mozzies are a “must avoid” and flies, of course, can be a pest too. And then there are the cockroaches – as big as mice and much, much uglier. You’re almost certain to have an encounter with a cockroach. To minimise such meetings, my best advice is to buy a newer style house in which all doors and windows seal well when closed and to make sure insect screens are in place when windows and doors are open.
And now the bug count carries on – to termites. According to experts, these pests will attack about one in three homes in Brisbane. Termites feed on wood and are capable of literally eating your house and turning it to dust. Most Queensland houses contain significant amounts of wood and hence are vulnerable to attack. Worse, your home insurance policy doesn’t cover you for the damage! Fortunately, it’s possible to have the soil around your house treated to prevent termite attack. We’ve had this done for our house on the basis that it’s better to be safe than sorry.
That’s enough of the six-legged pests. Now it’s time to talk about the two-legged variety – the Aussie bloke. Aussies definitely have a different sense of humour to Brits – a more confrontational humour whereby they will knock some aspect of you – like your accent – usually not very subtly. What you’re expected to do is give as good as you get – be a good bloke and knock them back. It’s a kind of verbal fencing. Some people enjoy it but it’s not my cup of tea. Not all Aussie blokes engage in this sort of banter, thankfully.
Have I mentioned the humidity yet? Try humidity so intense that although it’s warm overnight, wet clothes hanging outside on a rope won’t dry.
Unlike the UK, where you plan outdoor work for summer, here you aim to get it done outside the summer months. If you do try to do any outdoor work in summer – like fixing up fencing or gardening, you’ll find yourself damp with sweat within a few minutes of starting – so you tend not to bother.
I mentioned in my “positive” article that I like to get out really early in the summer to avoid the worst of the sun – believe me the sunlight and glare are very strong here in the summer and you do need good sunglasses.
The summer humidity can be very trying and what astonishes me is the number of schools that don’t have any air conditioning. The government is spending more money on this at the moment but it’s definitely a black mark against Brisbane schools that kids have to study and teachers have to teach in hot, sticky classrooms. Actually, the lack of air-conditioning is a black mark against many schools in all of Australia’s states – but Brisbane is the most humid of the big cities and so the kids feel it worst here.
Speaking of the weather, if you think you’ve seen a downpour in the UK, you’ll realise if you come to live here that you’ve just seen heavy rain. When there’s a downpour here, there’s really a downpour. In a summer storm the daytime sky goes black, the wind can blow you down and the rain is so intense it’s painful on the skin. You can’t see more than a few yards in front of you and streets can be flooded in a matter of minutes.
Storms in Brisbane usually hit late in the afternoon at the end of the hottest and stickiest of days. As such they can almost be a relief – not if you get a tree blown down onto your house though, or all of your power gets shorted by a lightning strike – and this happens quite frequently!
Anything else to add? Yes, the television is poor – I think this is common knowledge about Australia. If you’re trying to watch a movie it can feel like there’s as much advertising as movie.
So there you have some of Brisbane’s negatives. I could never really dislike Brisbane though – it’s much too laid back and friendly.
If you add up the positives and negatives at the end of any day here, you’ll find the positives have usually won handsomely. Brisbane is a great place to live.
Alan MacDonald
How does Brisbane humidity compare to Singapore?
Coming from western Sydney I do love Brisbane for 8-10 months of the year. Jan-Feb does get sticky humid, you need an air con or fan at least. Sometimes it starts earlier or lasts longer than those couple terrible months, if your on the coast the outside is normally nice with a breeze, temperatures very rarely go over 30 in the coastal suburbs. I don’t miss hosing the ice off my cars windscreen in winter or the 40 degree days in Sydney that felt like the sun was trying to burn a hole in you. People are very laid back and much friendlier than Sydney, prices excluding real estate can be more expensive but I still manage to find Sydney prices, just have to look around. The take away in my area is terrible, I have actually mastered all my favorite take away meals now and had started making my own espresso before leaving Sydney. Morton bay is a beautiful area, plenty of fish to be caught (good sizes) or pull up on an island and have a swim. Traffic is far better than Sydney, however Sydney had become near impossible to move around with all the road construction going on.
People are missing the point.
Brisbane has lots of great stuff.
Compared to Sydney and Melbourne, there is less traffic, friendlier people, relaxed vibe and culture that plays into the while subtropical climate.
The main downside is jobs and economy…Brisbane is obviously smaller than Sydney and Melbourne and that means a shaky unreliable jobs market.
It’s a natural consequence of being smaller…the smaller the market of course there will be larger risk and unreliability in the local economy and jobs market. This is the main reason why people leave brisbane and goto Sydney and Melbourne…those jobs markets are stable, reliable and have influence…Brisbane does not (although getting better).
The other points such as mosquitoes , humidity, a few traffic jams etc are trivial and can be mitigated.
It’s the jobs and economic scene that is a larger issue that requires sustained effort.
how do you mitigate against humidity outdoors?
You get used to it. Or you don’t. It’s easier when you’re younger. I’m glad I live in Sydney.
I have been here 4 months in Brisbane, while I like Australian people I have not enjoyed the lifestyle here. General cost of living, Traffic problems are appalling and seem to be getting worse, It took me two and half hours to drive down to Coolangatta one Saturday from the south side of Brisbane on highways that are in places 4 lanes. There are toll roads here that will cost you, short daylight hours in Summer- dark 7-30 ish in Summer,
Housing is like most places in more expensive the closer you are to the CBD, so most people buy further and further out and try to live near a train station. Brisbane city is now full of apartment blocks or you can get older housing the further out you go. You pay a stamp duty tax before and then a capital gain after when you buy and sell a house – depending on certain circumstances.
Spiders / insects require you to fully armor your house with insect screens and closed windows else you will be waking up with a massive 8 legged friend or snake.
TV is atrocious, full of adverts, left wing news and mind numbing game shows and reality TV.
Food is very ordinary in general, I am surprised their is not already a health crises with people being overweight with all the takeout and fastfood chains everywhere.
Renting scene – it appears that you are treated like a 3rd class citizen and you have to provide a large amount of documentation, history and networking just to get a house that is quite commonly old and expensive, I believe its even worse in Sydney and Melbourne.
Internet is terrible, the Australian NBN system is a complete disaster and they have short changed the public – you can do your own reading on that.
Having lived in New Zealand before I am returning especially to the South Island where if you like a more outdoors and generally a more relaxed lifestyle, this the best place to be.
Brisbane has developed into an unpleasant, noisy, over-crowded rat-race of a city. Compared to twenty years ago, it has become unlivable and I am going to leave. Endless plane and helicopter traffic and constant constructions everywhere leave the city noisy and dirty. Cheap cookie-cutter apartments spread like pimples at prices that make no sense, and roads are not even remotely equipped to deal with the avalanche of cars. As bad are inconsiderate neighbors with leaf blowers, weed whackers, cutting down trees, idling cars, weed-smoking and partying. I won’t miss you a bit, farewell Brisbane.
Hi
Where do you want to end up living?
South African who does not like hot humid weather. My husband loves it. So we are at loggerheads as to where we should live when, our visa is accepted, hopefully soon.
Also even though we have huge spiders here, I dont know how i am going to survive worse buggers there 😪.
Brisbane is a wonderful city. I am not sure what these people complaining about are on. Having to deal with other people and their foibles are part and parcel of modern city living. I have never really had any insect problems in Brisbane – we just sprayed the house every year and it was fine.
If you can cope with Durban heat and humidity, Brissie will be fine.
Hi, we are SA born but live in NZ. Can you advise good affordable areas to live in?
Thank you,
Bronwyn
Reading this brings a smile to my face. Living in The Netherlands i am quite familiar with complaining about the weather. To cold, to wet, to warm to windy etc. No dangerous spiders, snake or diseases though:-)
So if anyone in Brisbane wants to swop nationality with me, i am in.
Been in Braisbane in the summer of 2016. I’ve been bitten by ants, Mozzies and flies. Stil fell in love with the place.
I also believe it is worth it.
I have lived in Brisbane for 37 years and I have to say it was ok 40 years ago. However, since the mid to late 90s the huge influx of people with the corresponding lack of infrastructure spending by successive State governments, incompetent and corrupt councils, out of control development the place has turned into another southern rat-race but with the oppressive humidity for nearly half the year. Public transport is woeful and so are the heavily congested roads. Brisbane’s growing pains are only going to get worse. Combine this with over priced real-estate and a high proportion of Bogans across the city and its surrounds makes Brisbane one of the most unattractive places in Australia to live.
Peter, I can’t help but suggest you leave.I am from Brisbane and now living in Sydney; frankly you don’t know how lucky you are…
I’m in Melbourne and we have 4 seasons on the day! I feel though like we are moving from autumn to winter for a year now. No warm days or humid, always rainy depressing weather with a huge cloud lingering above our heads 24/7. Commute takes the life of you to go to work or anywhere and trains don’t operate most of the time so you never know how your day will go. No tourism, jobs are temporary most of them, drowning in students. To buy a house you need to be really wealthy or move to outer suburbs where you will eat grass to survive. Been in Brisbane too found people happier and the place more interesting I didn’t live there though. If I had to chose my forever home I’m sorry but it wouldn’t be here is Aus at all, there is always one big inconvenience wherever you go.
The weather in Brisbane is perfect for 8 months of the year, of the remaining 4 months, 2 are warmish and 2 are horrible (Jan&Feb) I would take that over 9-10 months of freezing cold wind and drizzle followed by 2-3 months of blistering 40+ degree heat with overnight minimums of 30+ degrees (Melbourne I am looking at you) I also find Sydney just as humid at times as Brisbane. No where in the world is the weather perfect year round, maybe California, but besides that no where is perfect. Brisbane is perfect for me, just blast the a/c for 2 months and you won’t even notice it!
Hello all
I’m from Spain and you can’t imagine how hot it can get in the summer over there. I find Brisbane’s summer mild in comparison!
We’ve only had to put the air conditioning on once so far.
So far so good!
Pilar
Pilar, you are dreaming, Do you live near the coast with seabreeze? 45+ days over 30deg with stifling humidity in Brissy and you are boasting Spain is hotter? Spain may get hotter days, but it’s drier heat, like Perth, more bearable.
I live in Sydney, and I can honestly say its no better here either, we have all of the above and yes we have daylight saving big deal just longer heat.. we also have mozzies cockroaches the size of a mouse. But at least you get rain which is what we dont get here, its dry and hot and we get up to over 45 degrees. so listening to all the negative side to Brisbane has not changed my mind one bit to me it is the same as western suburbs in Sydney no different.
I’d probably add the drivers to this list! The amount of close calls I see on a daily basis is unreal – just by sheer anger, frustration and stupidity.
That said, even though I used to drive to London frequently, Brisbane is the first city I’ve lived in, so maybe it’s just that city driving is taking its toll on me.
Other than that I love Brisbane.
Responding to Qqq’s comment that it’s Economy is growing.
I’ve lived in Brisbane since 1994 and have found the economy very boom & bust. At least in the building and construction game this is certainly the case. I am an electrician and currently it’s very slim pickings, yet a few years ago job opportunities were endless with great pay rates too.
I find myself happiest here from late may through to august, by late September you’re reminded of what’s around the corner and by late October/early November it’s in full swing!
It’s a funny climate really; some days it’ll peak out in the mid to high 30’s with humidity around 60-65%, then it’ll drop to the high 20’s for a few days and you’re thinking it’s going to be pleasant but NO! the humidity just goes up into 80-90%. Summer evenings feel fine when there’s a nice breeze but once that stops your sweaty from head to toe in no time.
It’s really dependent of how tolerant you are of humidity and heat, the lack of culture (food) available and what outdoor activities interest you if Brisbane is for you.
The summers in Brisbane are horrible. Dec to Feb. 3 months of very high temps and humidity combined make it very uncomfortable.
Lots of pros though…it’s economy is growing (Brisbane only), more people, Greater buzz in the city etc…more diversification of jobs and the economy, more hotels, restaurants etc…
And real estate prices, although high by worldwide standards, are moderately low by Australian standards.
Likely this anomaly won’t last as Brisbane grows.
I go with Glen aswell although I’ve been here 18 years to and plan to go to Queenstown to!! Brisbane does have good stuff in the city like South bank and sometimes a festival is on or a show and they are worthy of seeing! (I am saying this while I have only been to a festival in the cooler months. ) Summer you will just be fried! Remember sunscreen to just generally for your skin’s sake but if your British/European not sure if you Gus are used to sunscreen or not but do buy them at the shops and lather it on yes lather! otherwise you may end up with a similar skin colour of a tomato by the end of the day. Not joking!
And I can confirm the air-conditioning with schools! Some buildings that do include them are usually library and office and computer rooms and only because computers are in the rooms and need to be cooled usually. Having sports class in the afternoons is a killer in summer! But hey you get to scope out other schools and it’s still hot humid sticky and muggey! But that’s how it is so just gotta live with it.
And if your going to markets on the weekends try and go early in the morning around 7-8 so you have time to have some breakfast and look around, bring hats, sunnies and sunscreen. And flip flops/thongs/jandles if you want to “blend in” with the locals.
I lived in Brisbane for 15 years and hated every summer. Hot, humid, thunderstorms with hail in the afternoon…. the 3 good things about Brisbane
are May, June and July. Over an hour drive to a decent beach. Horror congestion on the Gateway motorway…
So I moved to Queenstown in New Zealand. Absolutely the best place in the world. Never living in Brisbane again !
I went to Queenstown (and a few other areas) recently and quite honestly had never felt happier than those three days in the South Island. I’m a landscape photographer and keen hiker too so basically New Zealand is really where I should be living frankly!
I grew up in Brisbane but I only enjoy winter here. I’m an optimistic person but I just never enjoy summer here. Give me late sunrises, beanies and mountain vistas!
I have been a Queenslander for 40 years and still hate the summers. The humidity is absolutely horrible. But you can have high humidity day and night and still no rain. I remember as a child in the early eighties and there were thunderstorms three or four afternoons a week. Sometimes there were storms three days in a row from December to March. Then in about the early nineties, the storms just seemed to disappear. The heat lasts for longer and anyone who thinks climate change isn’t real, must live under a rock. As soon as I can I am moving to Tasmania or somewhere you don’t have to sweat like a pig for half the year. Somewhere without mosquitoes and filthy bloody cockroaches wouldn’t be bad either.
Personally, I can think of more pleasant and cheaper ways of keeping cool, rather than trying to keep warm but everyone to their own. Having lived in the UK for half my life it’s a no brainer. As for flies and mozzies you may be in for a surprise. I have also lived in the southern states and I can tell you, they are a darn site worse than in the Brisbane/Moreton Bay region.
I believe the earth has cycles and the east coast of Australia is going through a dry cycle. I believe climate change has made a some wealthy people incredibly rich and I also believe it was disproved with climategate.
Brisbane is a fine place
Brisbane is an ugly place to be in the summer. Thank God we don’t have daylight savings because that would mean another hour of heat and hot sunshine – haven’t we already had enough by 6pm. Everything in Brisbane is cooked to a cinder in summertime – the grass is dead, the trees are lifeless, the pavements are hot enough to melt your thongs. The sun is so hot and intense during the day that you can’t spend time outdoors, period. So what’s the point of that???? Can’t be outdoors because you’ll get cooked alive – what’s the point of that???? Humid – oh yeah, don’t even bother trying to mop the sweat off because it’s impossible to get rid of it. All your enjoy and joy of life is sucked out from you with every drop of sweat you shed. I HATE living in Brisbane in summer and to make matters worse it is NEVER-ENDING. If we are lucky you can spend your days outdoors in May and by then you’ve stopped sweating because thank God the humidity has finally gone – but then it all comes flooding back in October where the whole UGLY cycle of torture starts all over again. What is wrong with everybody thinking that this is a good way to live?????
Yes. The heat and humidity in Brisbane during summer is very oppressive – and I believe it is getting worse! After enduring way too many long summers in Brisbane, my wife and I permanently relocated to the city of Toowoomba. Toowoomba is the only city in Queensland with a cooler temperate climate and we find the cooler, dryer summers up here much more to our liking. And the bonus is that we don’t seem to get as many violent summer storms either.
Anyone who says global warming is a myth, has obviously never spent time in Brisbane. I grew up here and am now in my 50s. As a kid i used to spend most of everyday outside playing with no hat and no sunscreen and never got burnt but now, 10 minutes in the sun and I am feeling the burn.
Magdalena you’re giving Queenslanders a bad name!
There’s not ‘another hour’ of sunshine!
The hours in a day can’t be changed. Daylight savings simply means shifting your clock. The sun goes down an hour later so to speak. Ie. 7pm will feel like 6pm.
Yup – that is what stood out for me too