robstevo

Hi there, my wife and I are moving to Brisbane from Liverpool, Uk. I was just wondering if anyone out there can give us some advice about where to live in Brisbane with a good ex-pat community. We'd be looking to live in a house not apartment, but the location should have good transport links with the city. We used to live in Sydney for 8 years but I haven't a clue about Brisbane. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Rob

SoCalDon

Hi Rob, tough to know where to start really so this is just my perspective. We live in Carindale which is on the south side of Brissy. Easy bus ride into the city and there will be a cycle path all the way soon if you like that sort of thing.

There's a huge shopping centre and we're very close to the Gateway Motorway to go out of town nice and quickly. Beaches are a bit shite so you'd go to the Gold Coast or Sunshine coast for those.

We have a creek nearby and all sorts of native critters in our garden. We hiked up Belmont Hill today and saw a Wallaby. All within two or three minutes from our house.

There are quite a few expats around here, had a pot of tea with a couple of the buggers this morning who live by the best fish and chippy and 'English' curry house around Brissy - they're in Birkdale which is about 20k away.

Having said all of that - there are a hundred other suburbs north, south and west of Brissy.

Good luck!

goldchoccycoin

Can't really recommend anywhere with a 'good expat community' - I live in a 'normal' suburb and there are a few Brits around but I don't seek them out or anything! Heaps of great suburbs with excellent transport links (assuming you use the train to the CBD or have a bus route nearby).

Phoodilicious

And we are the said buggers as mentioned above ;-)

We lived in a north suburb for a year but then moved to Birkdale on the water in March this year and much prefer being here. I commute by train into the City everyday, an easy 40 minute trip. The local area has (as mentioned by SoCalDon) a Chumley Warner's chippie that does all the expected British chippie standards including mushy peas and curry sauced plus deep fried black/white pudding and mars bars if any of those are of any importance to you. In the same shopping area in Birkdale is the voted Number 1 in Brisbane Indian restaurant who advertise themselves as British Indian curries (baltis etc) and a British cafe/store selling various British food items. There are certainly lots of British accents around this general Redland/Bayside area.

My advice for what it is worth is not to necessarily look for a community of ex-pats but instead look for the areas where you are close to the things you like to do plus travel times to work/schools etc.

robstevo

Thanks for this advice, we're slowly building up a profile of Brissy and you've just added a couple of more pieces to the jigsaw. Appreciated.


Rob

robstevo

Thanks for this sound advice, and we'll definitely be chucking out the Indian and chippy at some point.

chels

North Lakes is probably the suburb with the biggest ex-pat community, but not great for travelling into the CBD (city centre). Another thing to consider is where you end up working - not all jobs are in the CBD - you'd want to avoid living on the northside and then having to commute to the far reaches of southside Brisbane. BTW Birkdale isn't actually in Brisbane, it's in Redlands which is next to Brisbane

My advice is to rent somewhere fairly central to start with, and then go visit various suburbs. We rented a townhouse in New Farm when we moved up from Sydney, it is an inner city suburb with a similar feel to Sydney (without the pubs we enjoyed in inner west Sydney). But considered lots of other suburbs which we discounted due to various reasons such as: no train/fast bus link to CBD, lack of facilities such as decent shops, restaurants etc, housing style (I wasn't a fan of single storey brick houses which seemed more common in southside suburbs), lack of green space, proximity to flight paths, motorway noise etc etc.

We enjoyed our time in New Farm but moved to the 'burbs when we had kids and weren't so bothered about our social life! This part of Brisbane is nice (north-west), close to shops, has a few restaurants, good transport links and easy drive into the CBD. Most of the people I socialise with are ex-pats - I tend to find born-and-bred Brisbanites don't mix so much with newcomers.

dan_88_

Hi Rob, we moved over last week from the Wirral. Were currently in a short term rental on the Sunshine Coast but are thinking its a little too quiet here for us. We had an afternoon on the Gold Coast on Sunday and loved it. Going back tomorrow to have a good look round areas and view some houses. Looking on the translink website trains into the CBD don't seem too bad from the Gold Coast.

Phoodilicious

Welcome to Brisbane area, hope you'll be very happy you made the move. Just chiming in as you mention commuting into the city from the Gold Coast. A colleague of mine lives right in the middle of the Surfers and commutes into South Brisbane train station. He frequently finds the trains are expensive (think he said $20+ a day) and often cancelled or running late etc and says he finds the commute a pain as he has to drive to Nerang to get the train so that adds more time to the already long train ride. He sometimes chooses to drive in but then cost of parking in the city is pretty high too.

Only passing this on second hand so don't speak from own experience. I live on the Cleveland train line and it takes me 40 mins on the train at a cost of approx. $12 per day.

astera

Just to get a better picture, which part(s) of Sydney did you like?

snicklin

If you consider how far the Gold Coast is from Brisbane, paying $20 a day isn't unreasonable. You'd pay that easily in the UK. I'm up in Keperra, northern Brisbane, $290/wk for a 4 bed home in an OK area. And I pay roughly $10 a day going to work and back in the city.

laudownunder

Hi All,

I have been offered a job in Brisbane (yay)! But firstly I just wondered is it a salary I can actually live on? ($60k)? I'm a recruitment Consultant, so have been offered 457 sponsorship.

Secondly can anyone recommend an area to live which is good for families? And commutable to Brisbane CBD?

Thanks
Laura

astera

Hi Lau,

Not sure I'd move 1/2 (or is it 3/4?) way around the world if the proposition was a $60k salary unless they're giving you an additional budget for accommodation, etc. Is this a take-it-or-leave-it-no-other-job-opportunities-on-the-horizon sort of situation?

Pollyana

Does that mean you are moving with children? Or is it just yourself?

laudownunder

I know... it's a recruitment role, so would be potential to earn commission on top? My husband would find a role on my visa & his salary would be around £120k? So we'd be using my 457 visa to get there in the first place? I think it's a one off kind of offer 😬Don't know what to do?!!