Well, after 2 reasonable flights from Heathrow we landed in Brisbane on Sunday 22nd August at 8.30pm. We went through customs with no fanfare . We got to the local hotel by 10pm, were asleep by 10.30pm and awake by 4.30am. Went to breakfast at 6am and then off to brother in laws uncle an aunts house in Bunya Riverside (nice part of the world).

We had already secured our rental for 6 months while we were in the UK (the Foggies had vetted it for us!!) Initially for the first 2 weeks we rented an apartment in Margate as a base so that we had somewhere comfortable to come back to after busy days.

Basically, we came with nothing except 9 suitcases so needless to say furnishing a bloody big house on the canals in Scarborough was daunting to say the least. It turned out to be quite therapuetic buying all new stuff and have managed to completely furnish the house from top to bottom in a little over 2 weeks. Also bought a brand new Toyota Landcruiser Prado. The moral of the story is to haggle for absolutley everything!! We managed to get 2.5k off the initial price for all the electrical stuff, at least 10% off most items of furniture we bought, a wacking 12k off the initially quoted price on the car etc etc......

Registered with medicare, got Tax File number, got house and car insurance sorted with RACQ.

We have found most things to be a little bit cheaper (but not loads), petrol a lot cheaper.

The Queensland weather is fantastic at the moment but can be quite chilly at night!! Realy enjoying it so far and reality has kicked in as have started to look for a job!

Anyone in Brizzie know of anyone looking for a network/systems administrator (Microsoft technologies) then drop me an email.

Will put further updates on soon. If anyone wants to ask anything then go ahead.

..wow.. i just read how quickly you got your visa after sending the medical and police checks. that is amazing. we are applying for a Defacto Spouse visa as i am a Permanent Resident of Oz and my partner is British. we think we have a good application, we sent it last Monday. One you got your visa how soon did you need to be in Australia.. is there an amount of time eg 6 months that you need to be in Australia for the visa to be valid?
thank you....Jessica and James

Hi there, we arrived just after you and are settling well! We were up your way Saturday, took the kids to the fab park with that quirky tree! Still doing the touristy things but reality will kick in big time this week as I have to complete tax paperwork etc on Wed's, hope to be working by next Monday (scary). Keep us updated! Went to a BBQ with lots of other people from UK that have emigrated over here in the Bayside area and it was great! Take care!!

You need to ebter australia within 12 months of applying to validate you visa.

you can then leave Australia and must make the permanent move within 5 years

All the dates etc will be on the visa when you get it

Cheers
Kala

Small correction (sorry Kala) - you need to enter AUstralia within twelve months of the date of your police check or medical (whichever is completed first), not the date of lodging your application or getting the visa. It is possible to renew the police check or medical to extend the time, but it's expensive!

Also, if you have any major health problems, there's a chance that you could be asked to sign a health undertaking which could mean that you have to enter Oz within 6 months of the medical/police check.

Hi,

We have also been here for just 3 weeks, arrived 21 August with 2 children and are currently living in Cleveland. We would be interested in meeting up with other british expats, was the BBQ organised through this website?? Look forward to hearing from you.

OHH yeah sorry brain a bit frazzled today

Welcome to the mad house.

Yes, meets set up on a fairly regular basis everywhere - UK, Aus wherever
What's your history - just being nosy!

Not half as much as chucking the old out in the first place
Sounds like you're settling in well, especially with the haggling thing!
When you've got your job, see if anyone wants to offer me the same. I'm not fussy, your cast-offs will do.

Snap! We live just down the road. We went to the BBQ and it was great, it was organised by ABC Diamond from the Bayside Brits forum, there were about 50 of us there incl kids! I can PM my phone number if you want? Thanks Annie

Hi Annie,

Please pm your phone number and I'll give you a call.

regards,

It would be great if we could arrange another meet.

There are a few of us on the peninsula so the more the merrier.

Have to make sure we have nice weather though LOL!!!!

It's good this waking up to blue skies every morning!!

Hi

What would you like to know??
P.S. Excuse the delayed response but have not been online lately!

[QUOTE=Billabong]Well, after 2 reasonable flights from Heathrow we landed in Brisbane on Sunday 22nd August at 8.30pm. We went through customs with no fanfare . We got to the local hotel by 10pm, were asleep by 10.30pm and awake by 4.30am. Went to breakfast at 6am and then off to brother in laws uncle an aunts house in Bunya Riverside (nice part of the world).

We had already secured our rental for 6 months while we were in the UK (the Foggies had vetted it for us!!) Initially for the first 2 weeks we rented an apartment in Margate as a base so that we had somewhere comfortable to come back to after busy days.

Basically, we came with nothing except 9 suitcases so needless to say furnishing a bloody big house on the canals in Scarborough was daunting to say the least. It turned out to be quite therapuetic buying all new stuff and have managed to completely furnish the house from top to bottom in a little over 2 weeks. Also bought a brand new Toyota Landcruiser Prado. The moral of the story is to haggle for absolutley everything!! We managed to get 2.5k off the initial price for all the electrical stuff, at least 10% off most items of furniture we bought, a wacking 12k off the initially quoted price on the car etc etc......

Registered with medicare, got Tax File number, got house and car insurance sorted with RACQ.

We have found most things to be a little bit cheaper (but not loads), petrol a lot cheaper.

The Queensland weather is fantastic at the moment but can be quite chilly at night!! Realy enjoying it so far and reality has kicked in as have started to look for a job!

Anyone in Brizzie know of anyone looking for a network/systems administrator (Microsoft technologies) then drop me an email.

Will put further updates on soon. If anyone wants to ask anything then go ahead.


Hi there mates
We met you and your family at the Birmingham meet, have wondered how you are getting on, it's great to hear that you are getting sorted and enjoying life in OZ already!

We are at the house selling stage so you know what we are going through! Also the housing market has cooled here, so you moved just in time!
We were in Brisbane for a month in June/July looking at property mainly Gold Coast area and couldn't believe how much the market had increased in the 2 years since we were there last. Any thing with North to Water very expensive.

Good luck with the job hunting! best wishes to you all

Kay, David and kids