Quincy

My wife and I both struggle with the long winters in London and have been enticed by the wonderful stories of life in Aus, particularly Brisbane (we have family who lives there). We are flying out in December to check it out, but would be grateful to hear from those of you who have settled in Brisbane. Any ideas of how life in Brisbane compares to life in London? Some people say it's wonderful, others say it's a bit slow and too hot? Would be grateful to hear from you.

Centurion

Brisbane we find wonderful. Climate was a big reason that we chose to settle here and although winter now the daytime temperatures are around 23 degrees at the moment. Funny how you aclimatise though - thats cold!! The evenings are very cold and the temps drop to around 9 degrees some days. But the sun still shines!

Put into perspective though, compared to London winters the difference is obvious.

Summers are not unbearably hot. Temperatures are around 30 with the occassional hit of 34. Humidity can be high. Personally I do not find the temperature at all a problem. Excepting that I am writing this sitting around my heater

Life in any city is what you make it. World class sports stadiums, several interesting districts, a good street cafe scene, a great riverside park, a busy cultural calendar and a thriving nightlife.

Known locally as Bris Vegas, the city is renowned for its sun and the brash, glitzy hordes that follow it, but it's also a thriving arts capital, with dozens of theatres, cinemas, concert halls, galleries and museums

The Gold Coast and all its casinos, Surfers, Theme Parks an hour south. To the North the Sunshine Coast with fabulous beaches, the glass house mountains, chic Noosa, and so much more.

We're based on the Bay in Wellington Point and every day I get to walk my dog my the sea. Enjoy a laid back lifestyle and still be half an hours drive to the city.

I would not move back to London for $10m - my lifestyle is worth more.

Good luck with your decision!

Quincy

Thank you very much for your positive and informative reply. What a relief! During the past two hours I've read mixed reviews. Obviously there's no ideal place but the lifestyle in Brisbane certainly sounds better than life in London. Your winter climate sounds amazing! Of course my main concern is jobs and income - my wife is an accountant and I'm a psychologist. I've been looking at www.seek.com.au and other job sites, and overall the job market appears to be quite good. Apparently Brisbane's economy is also quite robust. I'm quite glad to hear about summer temperatures. I was a bit concerned that it may be too hot or humid - some people have told me it could sit in the mid 40's, whilst others have told me it seldom exceeds 30 degrees. Also happy to hear about the street cafe scene, theatres, galleries and museums, and the Sunshine Coast with its beaches and the glass house mountains! I'm getting more and more excited and am really looking forward to our holiday in Brisbane at the end of the year. Again, many thanks!

Antney

It's Brisbane all the way. I wasn't given a choice as to which city / state we wanted to live in when we emigrated as I was employee sponsored and the company I work for is based in Brisbane. Having said that though, my job takes me all over the world and certainly around most of Australia and I have to say that I still get an excited feeling and a realisation that I have a arrived home when I land at Brisbane Airport.

I grew up in London and worked in the city for many years and I know exactly what you mean about the winters. From my perspective in Australia you can keep Sydney as it's just a warmer version of London and Melbourne as the weather there is very similar to the UK. Perth I understand to have good weather and a nice lifestyle, but it is remote and in all honest Western Australia is like a country within a country.

If you want anymore information on BrisVegas then just PM me.

JohnAndNetta

Hi Quincy,
My husband and myself are from Essex, but spent a great deal of time in London. My husband worked at Canary Wharf. When we first holidayed in Australia we decided that Sydney would be the only place for us - we had also looked at Perth and Melbourne but thought Sydney was the dog's doo das - but thats before we discovered Brisbane.

Now ironically my husband works in Sydney during the week (Brisbane is not that hot on I.T jobs in my husbands field) but we live in Brisbane. And we are Soooooooo glad we chose Brisbane. If you are used to London life you will find (at first) that Brisbane is relatively laid back. But believe me it grows on you. I went to visit my husband in Sydney on our Wedding Anniversary and it came as a real shock. Even though I've been there 5 or 6 times (on hols) I hadn't realised just how manic it was. And its no-where near as friendly as Brisbane. Plus I found it bloody cold which really surprised me. Just shows how quickly I've acclimatised.

There ARE places in Brisbane that hit 40 during summer (it was 40 the day we went to visit Ipswich) but on the same day it might be low 30's on the Bayside or 35 in the city. So a lot depends on whereabouts in Brisbane you settle. For 2 months of this year it was VERY hot and there were quite a few humid nights but I've experienced much more uncomfortable sticky weather in places like Thailand, Bali, or Singapore. Now its low 20's and I'm freezing my backside off! But its absolutely glorious - the sun is shining every day and it really gives you a feel good factor. We could actually do with about a month of non-stop rain though as the water situation is quite desperate.

In my opinion there's just as much to do in Brisbane as the other major Australian cities and there always seems to be something free going on. And if you feel the need for a Sydney top up - well its only an hour and 20 minutes away, so for me its just like going to London theatre for the night, or visiting London for shopping during the day. It takes a while to get to know all the suburbs and what each has to offer but I certainly think we've made the best decision in choosing Brisbane.

Good Luck by the way
Netta

mand8002

Hi Quincy

I only ever really visited London for the day and to go to the theatre, but I think Brisbane is a wonderful city. I generally go in sometimes on a Saturday to have a look round the shops and the atmosphere is great, or we go to the theatre, or spend a Sunday at Southbank looking round the markets and generally relaxing in the parklands. If the mood takes us we drive the 40-60 mins down to the Gold Coast to go to one of the theme parks there, and I am ashamed to say that after being here 18 months we still have not been to the Sunshine Coast although I am hoping to get there soon.
We have not been here in the middle of summer yet as we spent last Christmas in the UK so can't comment on the weather at that time of year, but we live bayside and it always seems to be a few degrees cooler here than other places.
We have just paid a deposit on a house/land package and would not wish to live anywhere else.