Thomas

Thankfully we rented before we purchased which was the best thing to do. We found it was not for us.

The ferry, while it's not long from mainland, just grows tiresome after a while. You are forever planning your movements by when the ferry is coming in. If you miss that ferry you have to sit and wait for it.
Also, if you need to leave the island after the ferry stops at night...tough. The same in reverse. If you miss the last ferry to the island you're sleeping in your car until the first ferry in the morning.

You have to park your car in the mainland. Which every other islander needs to do too. If you get to the carpark frequently there's no parks, so you have to park far and walk to the ferry.

It might be ok if you work from home, or retired, and don't need to commute to work. If you do the ferry starts out like a nice way to start the day, quickly turns into a hassle.

We looked at our house to buy in January when all the Poinciana trees are in flower that line Wellington Street. I think this was the reason that won me over.
Ormiston is close to everything. The shops in Cleveland are not that far and it's nice that they are aren't actually in the suburb. Kayaking spots to set out with short distance. Quiet and safe. We are glad that we moved here.
Yes the CBD is not close, but Ormiston station takes you right there. There is also a bus that goes to the city too, but takes longer than the train.

We lived in KD from 2005 to 2015. It was our first house and we purchased here because the suburb was affordable but still a good, safe suburb. You can really feel the difference in estates that would have originally been sold off. There is acreage type streets with big homes, then suburb type cul-de-sac streets around the golf course.
We watched Kookaburra Park get completely destroyed by the 2011 Brisbane floods. The water came up to the driveway entrance from Caringal Drive down to Kookaburra Park. An awesome experience. The golf course was flooded. I think KD escaped with minor house flooding but being cut off for days without electricity and low food was not fun.

Ultimately, we sold up because it was so far from shops and public transport. I' m sure they still have it but you could catch a mini bus white cab from the local shops to Bellbowrie that connected up to the 443/444 bus to the city. I used to drive to Pullenvale/Brookfield and park and catch the bus. Or I would sometimes drive to Riverview and catch the train. This got tiresome day in day out. There is a tiny corner store type shop and a service with a few other shops, but that was about it. Bellbowrie or Karalee were the closest Woolworths.

It really just feels like a suburb is plonked in the middle of nowhere. It's officially a Brisbane suburb but it takes forever to get to work if you go by public transport. And reliance on a car is heavy. It would suit families were the breadwinners maybe work from home, or in Ipswich.
Good things, it's very leafy, green, quiet, no traffic (it's not really a thoroughfare suburb so the only people that are there live there).