Al and Jacque

Hi folks, we had originally planned on going to Brisbane in August, but this morning we don't know if we should wait that long, so priced flights at easter and to our surprise just over £1700 for four of us to fly Dublin to Brisbane compared with £2100 in August. We originally thought of August as it would let the boy's finish their school year, but we guess this is not important as their future schooling will be in Australia. Now wondering what to do and if we can get all sorted in time, your views would help. If we arrive easter time it would be coming into winter so it would probably be easier to acclimatize, We are not shipping much, only some boxes of personal affects so if somebody knows of a cheap shipping company please let us know. Please could you tell me what the work situation is like for carpenters at the minute in Brisbane, as there is no work here at all in Northern Ireland been out of work since Oct 08, just had a few bits and pieces, nothing full time. Hope to celebrate Christmas and the New Year in Brisbane 2010.

Happy New Year

Al & Jacque

ps- My sons passport has expired with his pr visa attached how do we go about renewing it? do we just get a new passport and keep the old one to show his visa, or what is the procedure?

Wandering Hotelier

If it is only £400 of a difference for all of you, then I wouldn't make the decision based on that factor alone, I don't have kids but completing the school year seems a logical thing to do - that said, but then if you have been out of work for so long, I can see why it would be better to get over there, make a new start and find something new..

quoll

It all depends on how old your sons are. If they are 16 or about to turn 16 then I would be getting them here yesterday so they can begin year 11 with their cohort and not be disadvantaged by missing even just a small part of a consolidated 2 year course (begins late Jan, early Feb)

If they are any other age then it really doesnt matter one way or another but it is a nice rite of passage to get a completed school year under their belt. It will all be irrelevant when they get here though and kids can start a new school at any time really.

Al and Jacque

Thanks for the replies, our boys are Jake who's 7 born in September, and Joels who is 4 born in June, he started school in September and is the youngest in the whole school. We wanted to return this time last year, so he wouldn't have to start school so young but my parents told us that we were getting 22 acres of land left to us, so now a year later we know we were tricked, we just want to get to Australia achieve our dream and live our own lives and give our boys a great life.

Thanks
Al

fogfurn

hi there, we are just filling in our forms for australia, we are both 40 and our son will be 12 in april, im a cabinet maker and my wife is a chef.we are in wextford.i have heard that perth is looking for carpenters,not sure about brisbane,but is a nice place,well it was when we were there 15 years ago.from my memory i got a lot of work through agencies,its a good start if you are prepared to be ready to go when they ring you,but once you give a good impression you will always be in demand,also if they ask you to do a job other than carpentry do not say no,you will need to be flexible.
i would like to keep in touch as we are both in similar trades.did you use a immigration lawyer or apply your self.

Al and Jacque

hi fogfurn we used Thames consular immigration in london, everything was done over the phone and emails, we would love to keep in touch, as it's alway nice to meet like minded people in the same situation. We got our visa in Jan 2007 and alot of things have changed since then regarding visas, we have Pr visas and can work anywhere but have always been pulled towards Brisbane for some reason can't explain it. I would be willing to work at anything and always have been, I guess if you are willing to work you will find something, just at the moment in Ireland it is extreme circumstances with little to no work. When we look out to-nite, and see everything with a blanket of thick white ice and sitting in the house with heat on full blast with coats on LOL, we can't wait to arrive in sunny Brisbane. Our boys are mad about sea life and lizards so Australia Zoo and Sea World will be first on our list.

Thanks
Al & Jacque

flg03

They're going to have their school year disrupted however you do it. The Australian school year starts at the end of this month, and maybe it might be easier on your boys to start with the Australian school year? Probably not practical given how much there will be to organise/plan. I think they'll adapt whatever you choose.

eldoran

Hi Al & Jacque,

We arrived in Brisbane in Sept 09 and we only shipped 7 boxes from Staffordshire. We used Seven Seas Worldwide and they were excellent value for money with good customer service.

As for arrival times re: school. Our boys (16,12,11 & 9) finished school in July, then had their 6 weeks holiday. When we landed, we had a week to sort stuff out, by which time their aussie schools had started a 2 week holiday. All in all, our kids were out of school from July-Oct and it was too long.

They also then only had one term before the Oz 6 weeks holiday in December and this wasn't long enough to build up friendships i.e. they have friends who come round to play, but these visits are planned at school, so no school means no visits and the boys have had nobody to play with, but each other! So, I guess what I'm saying is that, in my experience and in my opinion, if I'd had a choice, I would've started my kids as early in the year as I could. But each kid is different and there are a thousand and one things to consider.

Whereabouts in Brisbane are you heading to?

hantsfamily1

The sooner you arrive the sooner you can crack on with your new life down under.

Work is definitely going on around Brisbane but you may have to look hard for a start, once you get a couple of contacts it gets easier.

The kids will adapt easily at 4 and 7 and the sooner they start school the quicker they make friends as well.

moneypenny20

Just renew the passport and travel with both. Once you're here you can go into any DIAC with the passports and they will put a new sticker in the new passport free of charge. Can no longer do it in the UK.

As for when to come, come in Easter and they will only miss one term of Aus schooling as opposed to three if you have them finish UK year - swings and roundabouts but being as their future education will be here they'd be better off doing as much here as possible.

Al and Jacque

Hi everyone thanks for your replies, we don't really know where we are going to settle, but will be taking a look at Ferny Grove area, as my wife's cousin was living there for a while and recommended it. Could anybody advise us of somewhere to stay for a couple of weeks when we arrive, as some of the short term accommodation we have been looking at on-line is very expensive. We will also be looking for a car asap, have been looking on Gumtree and there seems to be lots available, or if any of you lot lol are selling a car give us a shout. Would love to meet up with some families who have emigrated, for a bit of craic, and get a few tips on schools and the area.

Thanks
Al & Jacque