rachaey

Hi, we have our visa in place, house on the market and are looking to book our flights in next few weeks to go to cairns end of november. Is ther anybody out there heading the same way ,would love to chat about areas, schools ,work , and what stopover suggestions or routes anyone can suggest. As you can probably tell i have lots of things buzzing round my mind at the mo.
I am a paeds nurse and hubby is a plant operator, we have three kids 3 ,4 and 7
cheers, Rach

Bix da Boss

G'day Bix (me hubby) and I have answered many questions like yours in the past. I will aks Bix to give you a link to his info threads about beautiful Cairns, you will find all the answers to your questions

There are a few people who have already arrived here this year and still more to come - we had our 2nd BE expat meet up last Saturday - twas fun

Gill

richayl

Hi Rach,

Congratulations!! Sooooo jealous that you have your visa in place!!! We are also heading for Cairns and were hoping for the end of the year but may be Jan/Feb time - still have some way to go!! Hubby is a joiner and I'm a Company Secretary. Applying on a skilled visa but we've been doing paperwork for months and just waiting for everything to fall into place now. Hubby (Rick) has submitted paperwork to agent for Vetassess and we are waiting to hear that they have lodged it. If he passes that (fingers crossed) he should be able to do his practical in July. Once he passes that we can then lodge our Visa application which we were told would take around 4 months........ (perhaps that is optimistic)?? Anyway, boring stuff out of the way...... where abouts are you heading? Have you been before? Would love to keep in touch with you, got 3 daughters, one is 14 on Sunday and 3 year old twin girls, hopefully heading for Kewarra Beach area, done loads of internet research but never been. Talk soon, Hayley

rachaey

hi bix da boss, how are you, bix has very kindly given me loads of info a while back you both are a great source of information when it comes to cairns, we have narrowed down to 4 places now but because we have never been it is very hard to decide ( we decided just to go 4 it ) my mind is working overtime at the mo, its schools that i am worried about cant afford private( we have 3 kids) so lookinf for a state school with a good rep, cheers for any more info its a great help
cheers rach

rachaey

Hi Hayley, thanks for the reply, yes it would be great to keep in touch with each other we are also looking at kewarra beach, also trinity beach and redlynch and freshwater, we have never been neither ( must be mad ) but thought what the heck life is too short, it does help i have a brother there. Hope all going well with the visa application it seems to take ages but it will come around quickly and you will be in major panick mode like meI will keep you posted and glad someone else is going at the same time as us, keep in touch
cheers rach

richayl

Great minds think alike! We like the look of Redlynch but a bit worried its too far from the beach. We also love the look of Trinity Beach and haven't really checked out Freshwater (but will now)!! Didn't want to bore you on the first reply! We sold our house in Jan and we're now living with my mum-in-law until we go! Doubt you'll have much trouble finding jobs with your professions, are you worried or OK?

rachaey

Hi thankfully i have a job at the hospital to start in feb, bit worried about hubby finding job gonna start emailing companies in next few weeks/, he may be a house husband for a while ( he's not complaining)great news u sold youre house this is our biggest worry just hope it goes!!

Bix da Boss

Hi
We live in a new development at Redlych and absolutely love it here Not far from most beaches but not like living right near one of course! A few of our friends are living within walking distance of local beaches and love it! We are abt 10 mins away from the first beach, which works well for us.

You have sold your house - well done That was one of if not the worst hurdle for us to get over after already being in OZ for 2 yrs!

There are quite a few BE expats in Cairns now - and it looks like there are more to come When we arrived 3.5 years ago Cairns was def not on the map for people emigrating from the UK - how times have changed!


Good luck

Gill and Bix

rocket01

Us included

Bix da Boss

G'day
Very well thank you - had a good BE expat meet up last Saturday met a few new people - it was good fun Yeah, I thought Bix might have already given you some info Schools - we have no school age kids but know a lot of expats with young kids so hopefully they may see this thread. Bix did mention a few good ones he tells me.

We had never been to Australia b4 we emigrated either so, know where you are coming from, but in some ways, we think it was the best way to do it as a holiday is not like living and working here and its hard to get out of the holiday mode when you are only here for a few weeks to suss things out. We came with no great expectations and went with the flo and feel that was the best way for us and have never regretted the move as we absolutely love it in Cairns and are still in awe of the beautiful Rain Forest and blue skies and hot sunshine for a good part of the year

Take care and enjoy the experience as much as you can.

Gill

Bix

Couple of threads of interest.....

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...t=cairns+state

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...t=cairns+state

The link for a list of state schools didn't work for me so I'll attach it here.

We don't have school age kids but hear good reports for Cairns State High and Redlynch. Smithfield gets patchy reports. Bentley College is always bad - steer clear.

Generally speaking you won't find new properties in Freshwater or Trinity Beach. They are mature burbs with older housing stock but that's not to say they are bad. Conversely Kewarra and Redlynch do have lots of new housing. Consider flood risk when getting property.

Bix

Can someone tell me if that schools .pdf is opening for them please.
It won't open for me.

wannabauzzienurse

It's working for me!

Rach I moved here last year I'm a nurse at the hospital, got two girls 9 & 12 who go to school in Redlynch, we've lived in Mooroobool, Trinity Beach and now in Redlynch.

There is a good crowd of ex pats here and we're all happy to help just ask

Bix

Thanks Karen.
Must be my PC then.

wannabauzzienurse

Yeah that's what happens when you buy cheap gear!