Pine Cone

A bit further along with the research now:

I've seen a few people asking the 'Can I survive on x salary?' type questions. I'm not worried about the salary side of things, as we are not new to this emigration game, or budgeting in a new country. However, in order to get a realistic indication of how much things cost compared to NZ or UK, I was wondering how people spent their weekends and the cost of visiting places of interest. Most especially, where do you go when it's the middle of summer and you don't want to fry on a beach getting skin cancer.

I am interested in nice beaches for paddling and building sand castles (feel free to recommend some that aren't horribly busy, like Brighton), museums, botanical gardens, pushchair friendly places to go walking (local domains get rather boring when we've done them a dozen times or so), zoo, sea-life type places, etc. Quaint arty-crafty places to potter around for the day (maybe pick up some crimbo presents for relatives) and possibly grab a coffee and cake or affordable family meal out.

It's the peripheral costs I find that always stump people when they try and put aside a budget for recreational activities or family fun. More than once we've wished we'd brought along a pack-up with us, when the cost of a muffin or a sandwich has been unexpectedly exorbitant. So along with an idea of entrance fee costs for things you recommend, I am interested in the price of car parking, a decent flat white, whether a trip to the loo is free or $ (not to be underestimated with kids), and whether somewhere is interesting enough to bother with an annual pass. When we lived in Christchurch before the quakes, we had the obligatory tram ride/gondola annual pass, and got almost weekly use from that.

I realise I've mainly focused on more tourist attraction type of things. I'm also quite interested in more routine activities, like the cost of things like a round of golf, going for a swim in a local pool, that sort of thing!

NickyC

Can't help much with Brisbane, but in 34 years of living in Australia, and travelling all over it - I've never, EVER had to spend a single cent to go to the loo.

That's not something you need to be concerned about..

spouse of scouse

Same here. I was so shocked on my first trip to the UK and Europe - paying to go to the loo?!! It gets even weirder in Vietnam, you pay and then a totally oblivious little man mops around you while you're on the loo.

Err, sorry for taking the thread off track

Pine Cone

I only ask about the loo business because I didn't expect to ever need to pay for the toilet again after leaving the UK. However we've found ourselves having to pay for the privilege (necessity!) a few times in NZ Tourist Information Centres and similar. In Auckland CBD, I've come across a few of those 50c toilets. You know the ones that serenade you with dodgy music and automatically open the door after 10 minutes, which isn't great when you are in the middle of a disgusting messy nappy change. I know sometimes it is just easier to buy a coffee and use the patrons only facilities in a cafe, but that isn't always an option. I suppose I should be grateful. It's not like in Eastern Europe where you hand over your money to the little old lady in the cubicle and get 2 tiny sheets of toilet paper in return.

roaringmouse

Where did you think the phrase "spend a penny" came from?

spouse of scouse

Obviously not Australia

Kim67

The only place I can recall paying for the loo in Australia is the Perth Train Station - and that's to try and stop street people using it as a home I think.

Weekends in Brisbane for me usually consist of taking my kids to extra curricular activities but on the very odd occasion that we get a day off on a weekend, we go to Southbank http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au (the Southbank precinct has free swimming pools, free bbq facilities etc as well as the Museum, Art Gallery, State Library, Gallery of Modern Art and QPAC, go catch a cheap movie at Bulimba http://www.cineplex.com.au/sessions-BM.php, take a drive to Northern NSW to visit a beach (no decent beaches in Brisbane), Brisbane City Council hold free (and some paid but very reasonably priced) holiday activities for kids http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/whats...ties-for-kids/, they also do free guided tours of the local wetlands etc, we visit both Brisbane and Mt Coot-tha Botanical gardens - the city gardens are great at night for bat and possum watching and the Mt Coot-tha gardens have a great kids trail and lovely Japanese gardens, afterwards you can go to the top of Mt Coot-tha for an icecream and check out the views http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/facil...-tha/index.htm.

Alfresco

Yeah, ya see, Australia is cheap.

Buzzy--Bee

Sorry to take the thread off topic again, but.... this reason is the main one we chose Melbourne over Brisbane!

Although Gold Coast / Sunny Coast / Bribie Island would not be as far to fo as Northern NSW would they?

BB

Kim67

I like NSW beaches better, more like Western Australian beaches (which is my home state). We hardly go to the beach so a day trip is always good fun. Southbank beach is the closest I come to beaching it for most of the year. At the moment my kids are dancing and stuff seven days a week.

Alfresco

I agree. A day trip is easy enough every now and again.

Pine Cone

How many hours drive are you talking to northern NSW beaches? Also, can you recommend any that I can google?

Kim67

Coolangatta is the southern most beach in Qld on the border of NSW and will take roughly an hour from Brisbane http://www.visitgoldcoast.com/places...e/coolangatta/. There are great spots from there down that will take between 1 and 2 hours from Brisbane eg. http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations...rea/kingscliff http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations...ea/lennox-head

ozzieeagle

There's a lot happening in Brisbane today....festival time or more accurately riverfire. Which unfortunately we will miss as we'll be on the way to the airport

ozzieeagle

Bit quiet around here at present...I assume this must be the business district around 400 george st. Struggled to find an open cafe...ended up at the coffee club supreme court. I hope the rest of Brisbane is open ?