Moving from Melbourne to Brisbane — the climate and lifestyle reset

Melbourne families arrive delighted by winter and surprised by February. Brisbane summers are humid with afternoon storms, and homes are designed to move air rather than trap heat. Air conditioning and ceiling fans are not optional.

In exchange, you get roughly nine months of outdoor living and no genuine cold season.

Instead of solid brick and period terraces you get timber Queenslanders on stumps, post-war brick-and-tile, and new slab-on-ground builds. Renovation logic changes: you look at underfloor height, stumps, termite history and airflow.

Blocks are generally larger, and pools are common enough to be a maintenance line in your budget rather than a luxury.

Density of restaurants and small bars, public-transport coverage across the whole city, and the scale of the arts calendar. Brisbane has good versions of all three; it does not have Melbourne's volume.