Did you know that the majority of people who live on Bribie today grew up somewhere else? Over the years, people have asked me “Why Bribie?” So here are BribieGirl’s Top 4 reasons for making the move and becoming one of the Bribie Locals.
#1 Flip it
Before people started asking me "Why Bribie?", we were living in the city and had a completely different question on our mind - “Why do we keep feeling like we are losing time?”.
Losing time in traffic to and from work every day. We lived 5kms from the city but it would take over 30 minutes to drive there every day. Losing time in the shopping centre. Sure they are big in the city, but there’s a lot of people so we’re constantly losing time finding a park, losing time waiting in line. Losing time commuting to the beach on the weekend, along with everyone else wanting to escape the city. Losing time to do household chores - not that I’ve ever been a fan of housework – but it has a way of staring you in the face like you’re a petulant child when you’ve been away all weekend. Losing time worrying about the fact that the weekend was over and we didn’t get anything done before having to go back to work.
So we flipped our thinking. What if we made the beach our home and we stretched our daily commute from 30 minutes to 1 hour? How would that change our lives?
A bigger house; a walk to the beach; a safe, quiet, close-knit community; an award-winning school for the kids; a million fun things to do any day we want; no weekend packing; no weekend traffic jams; and no post-weekend guilt. It really sounded quite exciting. We had to do it.
COVID-19 made us realise just how lucky we were to have made that decision 14 years ago. For the past 18 months, I have worked from our island home and I couldn’t be happier.
#2 It’s ridiculously affordable
In comparison to our small, 3brm Queenslander on a 400m2 block in inner-city Brisbane, houses on Bribie are ridiculously cheap. Our house is more than double the size, a 300m walk to the beach, brand new, and valued at about 20% less than our inner-city property. Just to play it safe, we decided to keep & rent out our inner-city property and live on Bribie as a ‘trial’ to see if we would like it. Well, we fell in love with the place. But we’re not alone in doing this. Whether you're from Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, you will quickly notice how much value you get for your investment on Bribie.
#3 It has a chilled vibe
With a large proportion of the population being retirees, semi-retirees and young families there is a real community vibe that is pretty chilled. One of the things we noticed was just how many people had barbecues. Groups of friends heading round to someone’s house for a barbecue is common practice – more so than even dining out. Every second house has a pool - and you are likely to spend most of your summer swimming, feasting and laughing. You will also notice that everyone has an ample supply of beer & wine at home because you never know who may drop around and end up staying for lunch or dinner or both!
#4 There’s lots to do
No matter what you like to do for fun. You will probably find it on Bribie. Fishing, paddling, surfing, boating, swimming, cycling, running, triathlons, dancing, card-making, wood-turning, painting, learning an instrument, having a BBQ, eating out, going to the markets, being entertained, watching live music, going on a tour. Honestly, it’s like being on a permanent holiday.
Personally, I love the beach and have always been drawn to the water. I’m spoilt for choice and often spend the first couple of minutes of my day checking tides, wind direction/speed just so I can plan out how I will maximise my beach experience. And this is my rule book:
Low tide & easterly wind = Paddle kayak from Banksia Beach to Bongaree Jetty
Westerly wind = Swim at Woorim beach
Westerly wind & low tide = Walk from Red Beach to WWII bunkers on Woorim Beach
Low tide = 4WD Woorim Beach
Rising tide = Go fishing
Low tide = Chase soldier crabs on Banksia Beach
So when people ask me “Why Bribie?” - that's what I tell them! I would love to know your “Why Bribie?”. Leave your "why" in the comments below or subscribe to stay up to date on BribieGirl’s adventures.
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