Brisbane - 2 months in
Dec 22nd 2006, 2:27 am
#1
Here at last
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: On the beach!
Posts: 441
Brisbane - 2 months in
Hi everyone, first time on here since arriving so I thought I had better let anyone who wants to know how its been going for us.
We arrived at Brisbane airport on the morning of Wednesday, 25th October, our son's 13th birthday. After dropping our mountain of luggage at the hotel we went the bank, picked up a bank draft and on to the the car dealers where my new car was waiting for me - complete with a boot full of goodies (champagne, choccies, etc.) So glad I organised buying the car from the UK, it makes things so much easier.
The next couple of days were spent driving around to find an area we liked to live. We decided on Redcliffe/Scarborough and by Friday, 27th found a fantastic apartment right on the beach. Our weekend was then spent trying to buy some furniture for the apartment - we ended up getting it all from Ikea as it was the only place we could find where furniture was available immediately. We got it all delivered and found a local handyman to put it all together.
One thing to bear in mind when shipping is that its really hard, if not impossible to get a fully furnished rental for the 2 or 3 months before your container arrives. In order to live 'normally' in any way we had to buy the basics straight away including crockery, cutlery, saucepans etc, beds, sofa, washing machine, fridge/freezer, kettle, toaster, TV. So now our container has arrived we have got so much surplus stuff taking up all our garage space until it can be sold! Really wish now we hadn't bothered shipping so much! By the way the container arrived in tact with nothing missing or damaged exactly 2 months from leaving our house in the UK - And we didn't bother with insurance - Phew!
Another thing to bear in mind is that having our bank all set up with credit and debit cards from the UK meant that we could use our Aussie cards from the moment we stepped off the plane rather than using our UK ones. This saves a lot of hassle and money.
We had an appointment arranged with St Paul's school at Bald Hills before we left the UK for the Thursday, 2nd Nov, which turned out to be a really great school and the kids were able to start the following Monday for the last four weeks of term - they love it and have made new friends which they see through the holidays.
OH had to return to UK for 10 days a couple of days after moving into the apartment but I can honestly say that even though I didn't know a soul and the kids were at school all day, I felt really happy and 'at home'.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, within the first two weeks we had:
Bought 2 cars
Found and moved into a rental
Bought all the furniture and electrics we needed
Settled the kids into their new school
Got contract phones
Really begun to live the life we have always wanted!
Now we will have been here for two months on Christmas Day and absolutely everything is sorted - TFN, Medicare, QLD Driving Licence, even all the Christmas Shopping is done! And to top it all we have just had our offer accepted to buy on our very own little slice of Australia! We complete 4 weeks!
OH, kids and myself all love it here, everything feels so right like it was always meant to be. I don't miss anything or anyone from the UK, I don't mean that nastily, its because everyone has phones and web cams and keep in touch regularly. We are looking forward to Christmas (we are all going diving next week!) and especially looking forward to the new year and the rest of our lives here.
Have a very merry Christmas everyone!
We arrived at Brisbane airport on the morning of Wednesday, 25th October, our son's 13th birthday. After dropping our mountain of luggage at the hotel we went the bank, picked up a bank draft and on to the the car dealers where my new car was waiting for me - complete with a boot full of goodies (champagne, choccies, etc.) So glad I organised buying the car from the UK, it makes things so much easier.
The next couple of days were spent driving around to find an area we liked to live. We decided on Redcliffe/Scarborough and by Friday, 27th found a fantastic apartment right on the beach. Our weekend was then spent trying to buy some furniture for the apartment - we ended up getting it all from Ikea as it was the only place we could find where furniture was available immediately. We got it all delivered and found a local handyman to put it all together.
One thing to bear in mind when shipping is that its really hard, if not impossible to get a fully furnished rental for the 2 or 3 months before your container arrives. In order to live 'normally' in any way we had to buy the basics straight away including crockery, cutlery, saucepans etc, beds, sofa, washing machine, fridge/freezer, kettle, toaster, TV. So now our container has arrived we have got so much surplus stuff taking up all our garage space until it can be sold! Really wish now we hadn't bothered shipping so much! By the way the container arrived in tact with nothing missing or damaged exactly 2 months from leaving our house in the UK - And we didn't bother with insurance - Phew!
Another thing to bear in mind is that having our bank all set up with credit and debit cards from the UK meant that we could use our Aussie cards from the moment we stepped off the plane rather than using our UK ones. This saves a lot of hassle and money.
We had an appointment arranged with St Paul's school at Bald Hills before we left the UK for the Thursday, 2nd Nov, which turned out to be a really great school and the kids were able to start the following Monday for the last four weeks of term - they love it and have made new friends which they see through the holidays.
OH had to return to UK for 10 days a couple of days after moving into the apartment but I can honestly say that even though I didn't know a soul and the kids were at school all day, I felt really happy and 'at home'.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, within the first two weeks we had:
Bought 2 cars
Found and moved into a rental
Bought all the furniture and electrics we needed
Settled the kids into their new school
Got contract phones
Really begun to live the life we have always wanted!
Now we will have been here for two months on Christmas Day and absolutely everything is sorted - TFN, Medicare, QLD Driving Licence, even all the Christmas Shopping is done! And to top it all we have just had our offer accepted to buy on our very own little slice of Australia! We complete 4 weeks!
OH, kids and myself all love it here, everything feels so right like it was always meant to be. I don't miss anything or anyone from the UK, I don't mean that nastily, its because everyone has phones and web cams and keep in touch regularly. We are looking forward to Christmas (we are all going diving next week!) and especially looking forward to the new year and the rest of our lives here.
Have a very merry Christmas everyone!
Dec 22nd 2006, 2:36 am
#2
Where traffic lights rule
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: Brighton QLD
Posts: 2,460
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Originally Posted by Crazy Diamond
We had an appointment arranged with St Paul's school at Bald Hills before we left the UK for the Thursday, 2nd Nov, which turned out to be a really great school and the kids were able to start the following Monday for the last four weeks of term - they love it and have made new friends which they see through the holidays.
Dec 22nd 2006, 5:59 am
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2006
Location: Hocking, WA
Posts: 115
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
WOW you guys make me want to be there NOW. 
If i may Quick question (sorry if it is a silly one but i have been concentrating on the skills assessment then the visa forms but now they are done it's time to think and plan ahead). How did you set up credit cards and bank before arriving in Brisbane, i had heard this was difficult.
Cheers and it's great that you guys have settled in so far.
AndyD
If i may Quick question (sorry if it is a silly one but i have been concentrating on the skills assessment then the visa forms but now they are done it's time to think and plan ahead). How did you set up credit cards and bank before arriving in Brisbane, i had heard this was difficult.
Cheers and it's great that you guys have settled in so far.
AndyD
Dec 22nd 2006, 6:09 am
#4
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Originally Posted by andydon
WOW you guys make me want to be there NOW.
If i may Quick question (sorry if it is a silly one but i have been concentrating on the skills assessment then the visa forms but now they are done it's time to think and plan ahead). How did you set up credit cards and bank before arriving in Brisbane, i had heard this was difficult.
Cheers and it's great that you guys have settled in so far.
AndyD
If i may Quick question (sorry if it is a silly one but i have been concentrating on the skills assessment then the visa forms but now they are done it's time to think and plan ahead). How did you set up credit cards and bank before arriving in Brisbane, i had heard this was difficult.
Cheers and it's great that you guys have settled in so far.
AndyD
Andy it's really easy to open a bank account. We used ANZ.
All we had to do was post the form off and the account numbers came through to the UK within a week of them getting it. Then when we arrived we just had to pop into a branch with our passports to activate it.
Credit cards are a bit harder as you'll have no credit history, but ANZ do have a Visa Debit Card which you can use like a CC but with your own cash.
Crazy Diamond, I'm really glad you are settling in well. Merry Xmas to you too
You sound super organized, I'm nowhere near ready for xmas and I've been here nearly 6 months
Dec 22nd 2006, 7:29 am
#5
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 567
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Sounds great
Mery Christmas and well done to you and the kids
Mick
Mery Christmas and well done to you and the kids
Mick
Dec 22nd 2006, 7:58 am
#6
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 1,217
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
What a great post. You sound so happy and like you have settled in really well.
Dec 22nd 2006, 9:17 am
#7
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 269
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Originally Posted by andydon
WOW you guys make me want to be there NOW.
If i may Quick question (sorry if it is a silly one but i have been concentrating on the skills assessment then the visa forms but now they are done it's time to think and plan ahead). How did you set up credit cards and bank before arriving in Brisbane, i had heard this was difficult.
Cheers and it's great that you guys have settled in so far.
AndyD
If i may Quick question (sorry if it is a silly one but i have been concentrating on the skills assessment then the visa forms but now they are done it's time to think and plan ahead). How did you set up credit cards and bank before arriving in Brisbane, i had heard this was difficult.
Cheers and it's great that you guys have settled in so far.
AndyD
We opened up HSBC accounts whilst in the Uk a couple of months before we left for Oz. We also applied for Oz credit cards and completed the forms in the UK, we then faxed the applicaton to Oz. When we arived in Oz our credit cards had ben sent to the UK. The bank then cancelled them and we collected new ones 5 days later from the Brisbane branch. I can't say it will be this easy for everyone, but good luck.
Dec 22nd 2006, 9:21 am
#8
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,199
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Originally Posted by Crazy Diamond
Hi everyone, first time on here since arriving so I thought I had better let anyone who wants to know how its been going for us.
We arrived at Brisbane airport on the morning of Wednesday, 25th October, our son's 13th birthday. After dropping our mountain of luggage at the hotel we went the bank, picked up a bank draft and on to the the car dealers where my new car was waiting for me - complete with a boot full of goodies (champagne, choccies, etc.) So glad I organised buying the car from the UK, it makes things so much easier.
The next couple of days were spent driving around to find an area we liked to live. We decided on Redcliffe/Scarborough and by Friday, 27th found a fantastic apartment right on the beach. Our weekend was then spent trying to buy some furniture for the apartment - we ended up getting it all from Ikea as it was the only place we could find where furniture was available immediately. We got it all delivered and found a local handyman to put it all together.
One thing to bear in mind when shipping is that its really hard, if not impossible to get a fully furnished rental for the 2 or 3 months before your container arrives. In order to live 'normally' in any way we had to buy the basics straight away including crockery, cutlery, saucepans etc, beds, sofa, washing machine, fridge/freezer, kettle, toaster, TV. So now our container has arrived we have got so much surplus stuff taking up all our garage space until it can be sold! Really wish now we hadn't bothered shipping so much! By the way the container arrived in tact with nothing missing or damaged exactly 2 months from leaving our house in the UK - And we didn't bother with insurance - Phew!
Another thing to bear in mind is that having our bank all set up with credit and debit cards from the UK meant that we could use our Aussie cards from the moment we stepped off the plane rather than using our UK ones. This saves a lot of hassle and money.
We had an appointment arranged with St Paul's school at Bald Hills before we left the UK for the Thursday, 2nd Nov, which turned out to be a really great school and the kids were able to start the following Monday for the last four weeks of term - they love it and have made new friends which they see through the holidays.
OH had to return to UK for 10 days a couple of days after moving into the apartment but I can honestly say that even though I didn't know a soul and the kids were at school all day, I felt really happy and 'at home'.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, within the first two weeks we had:
Bought 2 cars
Found and moved into a rental
Bought all the furniture and electrics we needed
Settled the kids into their new school
Got contract phones
Really begun to live the life we have always wanted!
Now we will have been here for two months on Christmas Day and absolutely everything is sorted - TFN, Medicare, QLD Driving Licence, even all the Christmas Shopping is done! And to top it all we have just had our offer accepted to buy on our very own little slice of Australia! We complete 4 weeks!
OH, kids and myself all love it here, everything feels so right like it was always meant to be. I don't miss anything or anyone from the UK, I don't mean that nastily, its because everyone has phones and web cams and keep in touch regularly. We are looking forward to Christmas (we are all going diving next week!) and especially looking forward to the new year and the rest of our lives here.
Have a very merry Christmas everyone!
We arrived at Brisbane airport on the morning of Wednesday, 25th October, our son's 13th birthday. After dropping our mountain of luggage at the hotel we went the bank, picked up a bank draft and on to the the car dealers where my new car was waiting for me - complete with a boot full of goodies (champagne, choccies, etc.) So glad I organised buying the car from the UK, it makes things so much easier.
The next couple of days were spent driving around to find an area we liked to live. We decided on Redcliffe/Scarborough and by Friday, 27th found a fantastic apartment right on the beach. Our weekend was then spent trying to buy some furniture for the apartment - we ended up getting it all from Ikea as it was the only place we could find where furniture was available immediately. We got it all delivered and found a local handyman to put it all together.
One thing to bear in mind when shipping is that its really hard, if not impossible to get a fully furnished rental for the 2 or 3 months before your container arrives. In order to live 'normally' in any way we had to buy the basics straight away including crockery, cutlery, saucepans etc, beds, sofa, washing machine, fridge/freezer, kettle, toaster, TV. So now our container has arrived we have got so much surplus stuff taking up all our garage space until it can be sold! Really wish now we hadn't bothered shipping so much! By the way the container arrived in tact with nothing missing or damaged exactly 2 months from leaving our house in the UK - And we didn't bother with insurance - Phew!
Another thing to bear in mind is that having our bank all set up with credit and debit cards from the UK meant that we could use our Aussie cards from the moment we stepped off the plane rather than using our UK ones. This saves a lot of hassle and money.
We had an appointment arranged with St Paul's school at Bald Hills before we left the UK for the Thursday, 2nd Nov, which turned out to be a really great school and the kids were able to start the following Monday for the last four weeks of term - they love it and have made new friends which they see through the holidays.
OH had to return to UK for 10 days a couple of days after moving into the apartment but I can honestly say that even though I didn't know a soul and the kids were at school all day, I felt really happy and 'at home'.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, within the first two weeks we had:
Bought 2 cars
Found and moved into a rental
Bought all the furniture and electrics we needed
Settled the kids into their new school
Got contract phones
Really begun to live the life we have always wanted!
Now we will have been here for two months on Christmas Day and absolutely everything is sorted - TFN, Medicare, QLD Driving Licence, even all the Christmas Shopping is done! And to top it all we have just had our offer accepted to buy on our very own little slice of Australia! We complete 4 weeks!
OH, kids and myself all love it here, everything feels so right like it was always meant to be. I don't miss anything or anyone from the UK, I don't mean that nastily, its because everyone has phones and web cams and keep in touch regularly. We are looking forward to Christmas (we are all going diving next week!) and especially looking forward to the new year and the rest of our lives here.
Have a very merry Christmas everyone!
Have a great first Christmas in OZ...
Dec 22nd 2006, 9:35 am
#9
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Perth ( via Adelaide )
Posts: 776
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
What a wonderful positive post ...so very pleased you have settled in so well and we wish you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2007 
Bindi and Vince.
...so very pleased you have settled in so well and we wish you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2007 Bindi and Vince.
Dec 22nd 2006, 11:12 am
#10
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: From Scotland to Brisbane
Posts: 1,604
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Hi so good to hear how you have all settled in so well. It sounds like you did alot of the leg work before leaving the UK. All the best to you and your family. Merry Christmas. Donna & Neil
Dec 22nd 2006, 11:25 am
#11
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: May 2004
Location: Birkdale QLD
Posts: 7,642
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Originally Posted by Crazy Diamond
Now we will have been here for two months on Christmas Day and absolutely everything is sorted - TFN, Medicare, QLD Driving Licence, even all the Christmas Shopping is done! And to top it all we have just had our offer accepted to buy on our very own little slice of Australia! We complete 4 weeks!
!
You take 'Organised' to a whole new level!!How did you check out, test drive, and haggle and buy a car here from the UK. And why did they leave choccies and champers in it?
How did you manage to arrange bank accounts, and DEBIT CARDS from the UK? The banks laughed at us when we arrived. It was a 'three months worth of pay slips in Oz and then we might think about it' attitude. So we told them to shove it.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, within the first two weeks we had:
Bought 2 cars
Found and moved into a rental
Bought all the furniture and electrics we needed
Settled the kids into their new school
Got contract phones
Really begun to live the life we have always wanted!
Bought 2 cars
Found and moved into a rental
Bought all the furniture and electrics we needed
Settled the kids into their new school
Got contract phones
Really begun to live the life we have always wanted!
Just chill, she'll be right.
JTL
Dec 22nd 2006, 11:51 am
#12
Cheesy Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 1,033
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Originally Posted by JackTheLad
Bloody hell You take 'Organised' to a whole new level!!...
Right you are scaring me now.:scared: Don't you realise we are all lazy bums in Brisbane. We don't need any frenetic organised types here.
Just chill, she'll be right.
JTL
You take 'Organised' to a whole new level!!...Right you are scaring me now.:scared: Don't you realise we are all lazy bums in Brisbane. We don't need any frenetic organised types here.
Just chill, she'll be right.
JTL
Cheers,
DagBoy
Dec 22nd 2006, 12:29 pm
#13
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,693
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
[ Have a very merry Christmas everyone! [/QUOTE]
Bloody excellent ! ,well done, glad ure enjoying it.
Dave
[/QUOTE]Bloody excellent ! ,well done, glad ure enjoying it.
Dave
Dec 24th 2006, 12:00 am
#14
Here at last
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: On the beach!
Posts: 441
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Originally Posted by themerlin
How do the kids get to St Paul's ? Thinking of sending our kids there but it's on the expensive school list
Dec 24th 2006, 12:06 am
#15
Jedi Princess
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: Melbourne,Australia
Posts: 2,089
Re: Brisbane - 2 months in
Originally Posted by Crazy Diamond
Hi everyone, first time on here since arriving so I thought I had better let anyone who wants to know how its been going for us.
We arrived at Brisbane airport on the morning of Wednesday, 25th October, our son's 13th birthday. After dropping our mountain of luggage at the hotel we went the bank, picked up a bank draft and on to the the car dealers where my new car was waiting for me - complete with a boot full of goodies (champagne, choccies, etc.) So glad I organised buying the car from the UK, it makes things so much easier.
The next couple of days were spent driving around to find an area we liked to live. We decided on Redcliffe/Scarborough and by Friday, 27th found a fantastic apartment right on the beach. Our weekend was then spent trying to buy some furniture for the apartment - we ended up getting it all from Ikea as it was the only place we could find where furniture was available immediately. We got it all delivered and found a local handyman to put it all together.
One thing to bear in mind when shipping is that its really hard, if not impossible to get a fully furnished rental for the 2 or 3 months before your container arrives. In order to live 'normally' in any way we had to buy the basics straight away including crockery, cutlery, saucepans etc, beds, sofa, washing machine, fridge/freezer, kettle, toaster, TV. So now our container has arrived we have got so much surplus stuff taking up all our garage space until it can be sold! Really wish now we hadn't bothered shipping so much! By the way the container arrived in tact with nothing missing or damaged exactly 2 months from leaving our house in the UK - And we didn't bother with insurance - Phew!
Another thing to bear in mind is that having our bank all set up with credit and debit cards from the UK meant that we could use our Aussie cards from the moment we stepped off the plane rather than using our UK ones. This saves a lot of hassle and money.
We had an appointment arranged with St Paul's school at Bald Hills before we left the UK for the Thursday, 2nd Nov, which turned out to be a really great school and the kids were able to start the following Monday for the last four weeks of term - they love it and have made new friends which they see through the holidays.
OH had to return to UK for 10 days a couple of days after moving into the apartment but I can honestly say that even though I didn't know a soul and the kids were at school all day, I felt really happy and 'at home'.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, within the first two weeks we had:
Bought 2 cars
Found and moved into a rental
Bought all the furniture and electrics we needed
Settled the kids into their new school
Got contract phones
Really begun to live the life we have always wanted!
Now we will have been here for two months on Christmas Day and absolutely everything is sorted - TFN, Medicare, QLD Driving Licence, even all the Christmas Shopping is done! And to top it all we have just had our offer accepted to buy on our very own little slice of Australia! We complete 4 weeks!
OH, kids and myself all love it here, everything feels so right like it was always meant to be. I don't miss anything or anyone from the UK, I don't mean that nastily, its because everyone has phones and web cams and keep in touch regularly. We are looking forward to Christmas (we are all going diving next week!) and especially looking forward to the new year and the rest of our lives here.
Have a very merry Christmas everyone!
We arrived at Brisbane airport on the morning of Wednesday, 25th October, our son's 13th birthday. After dropping our mountain of luggage at the hotel we went the bank, picked up a bank draft and on to the the car dealers where my new car was waiting for me - complete with a boot full of goodies (champagne, choccies, etc.) So glad I organised buying the car from the UK, it makes things so much easier.
The next couple of days were spent driving around to find an area we liked to live. We decided on Redcliffe/Scarborough and by Friday, 27th found a fantastic apartment right on the beach. Our weekend was then spent trying to buy some furniture for the apartment - we ended up getting it all from Ikea as it was the only place we could find where furniture was available immediately. We got it all delivered and found a local handyman to put it all together.
One thing to bear in mind when shipping is that its really hard, if not impossible to get a fully furnished rental for the 2 or 3 months before your container arrives. In order to live 'normally' in any way we had to buy the basics straight away including crockery, cutlery, saucepans etc, beds, sofa, washing machine, fridge/freezer, kettle, toaster, TV. So now our container has arrived we have got so much surplus stuff taking up all our garage space until it can be sold! Really wish now we hadn't bothered shipping so much! By the way the container arrived in tact with nothing missing or damaged exactly 2 months from leaving our house in the UK - And we didn't bother with insurance - Phew!
Another thing to bear in mind is that having our bank all set up with credit and debit cards from the UK meant that we could use our Aussie cards from the moment we stepped off the plane rather than using our UK ones. This saves a lot of hassle and money.
We had an appointment arranged with St Paul's school at Bald Hills before we left the UK for the Thursday, 2nd Nov, which turned out to be a really great school and the kids were able to start the following Monday for the last four weeks of term - they love it and have made new friends which they see through the holidays.
OH had to return to UK for 10 days a couple of days after moving into the apartment but I can honestly say that even though I didn't know a soul and the kids were at school all day, I felt really happy and 'at home'.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, within the first two weeks we had:
Bought 2 cars
Found and moved into a rental
Bought all the furniture and electrics we needed
Settled the kids into their new school
Got contract phones
Really begun to live the life we have always wanted!
Now we will have been here for two months on Christmas Day and absolutely everything is sorted - TFN, Medicare, QLD Driving Licence, even all the Christmas Shopping is done! And to top it all we have just had our offer accepted to buy on our very own little slice of Australia! We complete 4 weeks!
OH, kids and myself all love it here, everything feels so right like it was always meant to be. I don't miss anything or anyone from the UK, I don't mean that nastily, its because everyone has phones and web cams and keep in touch regularly. We are looking forward to Christmas (we are all going diving next week!) and especially looking forward to the new year and the rest of our lives here.
Have a very merry Christmas everyone!
BTW: Not necessary to buy furniture, whitegoods, etc etc upon arrival if waiting for your container to arrive as their are places that do rent/lease these items out. Usually a 3 or 6 mth term I think.