It must have been seven years almost to the day since I was at Sydney’s Olympic Park ... the bogong moths that invaded the night-time athletics sessions at the greatest games on earth were back again.

Yet instead of crowds of people also descending on Homebush Bay for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, this time it was for a different reason – finding out how to say goodbye to the Harbour City.

They were there to find out about life in the Sunshine State. We were there to give some answers.

Queensland on Show was designed to lure people north to fill some of the job vacancies created by our booming economy.

It was good to walk down Olympic Boulevard again and relive the memories of the Games – to visit the pool where Thorpie, Grant Hackett, Susie O’Neill and Leisel Jones swam with Inge de Bruijn, Pieter van den Hoogenband, Brooke Bennett, Lenny Krayzelburg and Gary Hall Jr. To hear once again the voices of HG Nelson and Rampaging Roy Slaven, to remember the antics of Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat.

Queensland on Show attracted a lot of younger families and sea-changers.

What surprised me was the level of knowledge they had about the Sunshine Coast. Australia Zoo was one of the main reasons. And only a few confused us with the Gold Coast.

What was most on their minds were new careers and property ... we ran out of Property Weeks and our special publication Wave of Change was very well received, especially by Premier Anna Bligh, who was there to open the expo.

There was a good perception of Queensland being an attractive place to live. Young families were wanting a nice environment and a positive future for their children. Schools, shopping centres, recreational facilities, transport were other prime attractors. They really were seeking a place to live, work and play.

Most seemed to want to buy land and build their own home. Many wanted larger blocks ... but that could have meant anything larger than where they were living in Sydney.

Affordability of houses on the Sunshine Coast was a discussion point but that was quickly put into perspective when compared to the cost of beachfront and harbour-front properties in Sydney.

The time it takes to travel to work and to school were driving points. And it’s something we take for granted. Rush hour on the Sunshine Coast is when you have to wait for the traffic lights to change.

If you are driving to work and there is a joke or a good song on the radio, you have to sit in the car-park long enough for it to finish. Let city folk think about that when they are next stuck in a traffic jam on the bridge or the freeway.