Mrs M

Hello all, I will be arriving in Brisbane on the 20 feb for a two week reccie /info gathering trip i am leaving the family at home, so i am finding the idea a little daunting and would appreciate any info which may be useful,we have two teenage daughters and need to look at schools etc. Also we are hoping to rent a house so any tips advice i.e. good/not so good areas to look at. Also any areas i should not bother with unacompanied.I would also like to meet up with any expats between 21/2-2/3 if any meetups are around.
Many thanks Mrs M.

woogle

Hi, what area are you looking at ?

alkristensen

describe your perfect area and some may help more.
be as detailed as you like and the more boxes ticked the better.

Also do a search on this site with search box on Brisbane suburbs

New farm is my favourite so far. Nice and quiet and on the edge of fortitude vally which is full of bars and cafes and a chinatown. New farm is next to the river and has its own jettyt next to a lovely park for the seacat into town.

try http://www.bowentceaccommodation.com/. Its in new farm. They pick you up from the airport free. Its nice and quiet and has parking and internet access. Its a home from home and Jon the owner is a property developer/architect and knows loads about the local area and is willing to sit over a brew in the morning and give loads of great advice.

Great place for single people too as this has a brand new kitchen to make your own food(biggish supermarket 2 mins up the road as well as delis and every other shop you need. ) and and maybe a bar out on the top deck/sundeck and i know they should have a pool in by now

Its an informal peaceful place and very close to the story bridge and entrance to the gold/sun coast highway.

Its classed as a hostel, but in no way is it this. its a 13 bedroom old lovely queenslander. Me and the missus have been there 5 times and cant recommend it highly enough.

My missus had m.e. at the last time we went and needs her peace n quiet and she slept sound every night.

They are pretty cheap too.

You can book them though the website and remember to take a copy of their number to call em when you arrive at the airport and theyll pick you up within 15 minutes.

Its about £15 a night for a single room, and we found when on our reccie that having a kitchen and a bbq on the deck that it saved us loads of money not eating out every night. One quick shop to coles round the corner for cereal and bread eggs milk bacon and salad stuff and a bit of cheese and we were set for brekkie and lunch all week for about a tenner. We got a few slabs of meat and some veggies for a tenner too and that was tea for a few nights.

There is a bottle shop and 24 hr shop as well as loads of restaurants 100yds away on the main road and newsagents etc. You couldnt ask for better location as a base.

If you book, say al and clare from manchester say hi. They will remember us as they treat you like a menmber of their auusie/italian family.

They even took us out for a meal to celebrate someone of their mates getting a new car!! It really is a home from home. And it will be less daunting that sitting in a room on your own. Most people there are lone travellers.

Ther is also a tv room and dining table to eat, with massive fridges to store your stuff in. Laundry room and showers. The kitchen is full stainless steel and they keep the place pretty clean.
Good luck.

al

smiths

Hi,

Need a bit more info - Brisbane's a big place.

Try narrowing your criteria down. Start by thinking what work you do and where you're likely to be working - i.e. if you do "office type" work then the best paid jobs tend to be in the CBD, so ease of commuting to CBD becomes important.

Also, do you want to be near water? To get proper ocean beaches you need to go to either sunshine coast or gold coast (bit far to commute to Brisbane CBD). Redcliffe has a sandy beach but most other areas in Moreton Bay area tend to have sand/silt composition - OK to walk on but you wouldn't want to sit on it.

Also price of housing to consider - generally the closer you are to CBD and water, the more expensive.

Do you want to be near expats - south bayside area from Wynnum down to Vicky Point generally popular with expats - Mango Hill / North Lakes areas popular in North.

We live in Cleveland area in south and there's a regular coffee meet up on Thursday lunchtimes with some expat 'girls' which you'd be very welcome to attend.

We have two teenagers (one of each) who attend Cleveland High School - seem to be getting on OK and both like it but bit of a 'bog standard' state high school. Private colleges tend to have a better reputation and are generally better equipped (due to the fees no doubt), but can't really comment - you need a bit of feedback from someone whose kids go to a private college.

Once you get here you really need to hire a car and have a drive round to get a feel for certain places as there are many nice places to live in Brisbane, you just need to find the place which ticks most boxes.

Good luck on your reccie.

Smiths

Mrs M

Thank you for your replies and I will look into the accommodation recommended.