walaj

We have just got back from fact finding trip/holiday in Oz. Stayed in Sydney, then holiday bit of driving up to Brisbane for a few days, stopping along the way.

Before the trip, it was most likely that Sydney would be the place we would go to (over Brisbane) and the trip has confirmed this. Stayed a friends in Brisbane who have a 10 acre property they purchased last year for about the same price of a 1 bedroom flat in this area in Berks. Whilst that is tempting especially against Sydney prices, there were several factors for us that we will choose Sydney

Thanks Mandy for the tip on Homeworld - note that the present one at Kellyville is coming to a close and a new one is in the making.

Bought several papers (to gather up local news) and employment papers and home buying guide - so we have plenty of reading to do. Papers further underlined the impression we had that a lot of jobs are not advertised, and mainly done by word of mouth. Re news, one article had that there had been more rain in 2 weeks that last 2 yrs (ie whilst we were there) - there were lots of happy ozzies, that now had full water tanks, even though the drought problems are not over.

Talked to loads of locals along the way gaining useful insight, including quite a few expats of many year and more recently Sandra (thanks again)

Bugs/nasties - did not see many. A few mossie bites, a dead snake by the road, snake skin from the resident carpet snake at our friends house, several cane frogs squashed by our car tyres, ohh and we were 'leached' in the rainforest. :scared:

and when we retured, we have received suitable skills assessment from ACS, and the all important deeming date giving more that 3 yrs

jaz

Its really nice to hear you talk about Australia. We will not have the opportunity to visit before we live there, so it is good to read about it

Terry

Thanks for the post Walaj, it's good to get views of people who have been. What was it that makes Sydney your chosen place to settle?

Terry

amy2003

heard youve been to brisbane
what was it like??????????
people whove lived there said it was crap there
and something about "falling bears"?????
are there any ozzy hunks????
did you visit bundaberg?????
we are hopefully moving there in june!!!
any news?????
xxxx

walaj

yes
ok, but spent most time at friends half hour drive out of Brisbane
crap? - depends what you want. My friends really like it there and do not intend to move, but for various reasons it is not for us
falling bears - might be talking about 'drop bears' in which case he is pulling your leg
hunks yes, but of course none that I fancied (want to stay married!)
nope
best of luck

Terry - mainly the kind of job required are a lot more numerous in Sydney, money may not be everything but we do need an income. Prefer the less tropical climate of Sydney. Prefer Sydney to brief impression of Bris. More around Sydney that is of interest to me (eg I did not like what I saw driving along the Gold coast, and do see myself going there for the weekend)

jaz - I could not expect my husband to pack everything up and move without at least visiting the place. But each to their own for what every reason of making the big plunge that way

denhim

kellyville is a proper lush suburb. my friend lives in quakers hill and she showed me around there. nearly every house i saw was a mansion. downside tho that its miles away from the city centre.

Terry

Walaj thanks for the reply, do you not feel you would be swopping one rat race in London for another in Sydney. The chance of earning a greater income in Sydney does appeal to me, and we are going to visit for a short while, but will probably end up in Brissie

Terry

Herman

Terry
Sydney is a big city, but believe me compared to London its a sleepy village! I would'nt rule out Sydney because you think its like London because its nothing like it. Even my home city of Bristol is about twice as busy as Sydney.

Ceri

I seem to recall that London has something like 7 million people(?), which is amazing to me - over twice the amount of population than the entire country of Wales (2.9 to 3mill), I don't know the population of Sydney, but Brisbane is reckoned to be three million (not quite sure if this is the CBD area and close surrounding suburbs or it has included the outskirts such as further North and South as well
There was a spread in last Sundays paper here in Brisbane, and it was about congestion in Brisbane, "they" (I never do know who "they" are ) recon it it's fast becoming Australia's most congested city, and something needs to be done about it (public transport, roads etc). it's got worse in the past 20 years, immigration of course.

If I had the choice, I would rather be down near Sydney (not Sydney itself) , but Newcastle (I lived there for just over a year before moving to Brisbane 5 yrs ago)
As for the beaches/holiday side of things near that way - Try Nelson Bay, Port stephens - it beats the Gold coast any day in natural beauty, and a lot less crowded.

What Dotty says about Brisbane I find quite true - I don't know what thread it was now, but seriously most things around here (where I am anyway) close around 8pm - the bottle shops (off licences)- (8pm during the week, Pubs anything from 8 to 9pm during the week, around 7 on a sunday (10 on a sat). Takeaways 7pm. shops close about midday on a sat. Not that that's the most important thing. Brisbane to me seems very "sprawled" , mostly Tourist things which can be done in a couple of weeks, living here is a different matter. "lights out at 8" I think Dotty said - how very true this seems to me.

The only "good" point I can see about Brisbane is the cost of houses comparing them to places like Sydney - but these are going up too, Brisbane is supposed to be the fastest growing house market "they" say again.
Wages are generally lower than NSW (an example, we've just taken on a welder - he was on $17 in Brisbane - we are paying him the NSW rate although we are in QLD, he's now on $21 (a four dollar difference) ) , a nother Bloke (fitter)was - $19 (QLD), NSW $24 - just pointing out some of the differences I have found between the two states.



cheers

walaj

I have lived & worked in London, and if Sydney was like that I would not consider it. I hated the tube (I believe it caused several bouts of tonsilitis). My husband would be the main breadwinner and there are opportuinities in Chatswood (not as big as I thought it would be), and depending where we will live there is always the ferry into the CBD if the jobs were there.

From what I have gathered, whilst income maybe higher in Sydney, it is not as high as you would get in the UK and the high property prices in Sydney will swallow up the extra $s you get.

if you want any more info to help with your visit, PM me.

Terry

Thanks for the comments

I have never been to australia so the big move will be our first visit, I am unsure what to expect when we get there which is why we will travel around a bit before settling. The reasons I doubt Sydney is for us is that we would probably need a mortgage to finance our home where as elsewhere could buy outright. I also would like to work locally to where we live and have not ruled out any areas yet, there have been so many good postings on lots of areas. With 2 children who will go to school soon after arriving I hope that we can find somewhere that suits within a couple of months. I would not want to uproot them again until there schooling was out the way.

Terry