Tracking ‘Snowbirds’ in Australia: Winter Sun Seekers in Far North Queensland

Seasonal migration is gaining acceptance as a retirement form among Canadians and Americans. These so‐called snowbirds spend their winters in the U.S. Sunbelt as residents of seasonal recreational communities. The three defining qualities of life in snowbird communities are very high levels of recreation activity, social interaction and geographic mobility. This paper explores ‘snowbirding’ in Australia and draws comparisons with North America. The focus is on retirees staying in caravan parks in far north Queensland during the winter of 1995 when 306 couples were interviewed. As expected, many similarities exist between North American and Australian ‘snowbirding’. However, Australian levels of social interaction are appreciably lower, while levels of geographical mobility are higher.