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Go Home or try Brisbane?

Go Home or try Brisbane?

Old Aug 7th 2010, 2:04 am
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Originally Posted by NiknAid
We have been in Melbourne for nearly 2 years but have not really settled. Although we have made some nice friends we still feel quite isolated and can't get used to the quietness of suburbia. I know that it is winter but it is like the world switches off at 6pm, walking to the milkbar the other night and there was not a soul around and everything was in darkness.

Rather than give up and go home we think maybe we would be better suited to Brisbane. Oldest boy has paid rugby since he was 4 but has had to revert to AFL as there are no local rugby teams. We miss the hustle and bustle of city living but can't afford to move any closer to the city than we are (about 45km). It is the little things that we miss like going to the coast for the day, I know we have a beach here but it is not a 'seaside'. Brisbane was our original choice but hubby got a job here.

I would appreciate any comments from people that have done the Melbourne to Brisbane move, good or bad. We are probably looking south of Brisbane as this is where most of the jobs seem to be for my hubby.

Thanks

This is what is so difficult here, in the UK you can choose to live in a really quiet place and still be able to access lots of things,coast,cities,towns etc. Yes the beaches may not be as hot (although I personally think they are better they have things around them not just big sand pits).

We came from a lovely little village in the UK where we could retreat anytime we wanted or experience life very easily (we return in 3 weeks yahoo). I have a friend in Melbourne who says there is much more to do than Brisbane but she is still bored as once you've exhausted it where else can you go...?

Good luck to you
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 7:02 am
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Thanks everyone, we will go to Brisbane at Christmas and then maybe again once everyone has gone home in May/June.

Robertnhelen, thanks for your post, we did try the rugby in Seaford but unfortunately you have to travel every week for the matches as 80% of the teams play near or at the other side of the city. I don't want to live in a holiday place but it would be nice to jump in the car and go to a holiday place/theme park for the day.We do keep busy and have friends from work, school, kids AFL and soccer clubs but we do miss the lifestyle we had at home and I guess we are trying to find that without just giving up and going home.

Jad n Rich, thanks for your post too - the fly situation is enough to make me pack up and move right now : On current wages we can afford $400,000 ish - not sure what that would get us but I will be looking on realestate later.

La Vida Loca, not sure what I want to happen after 6pm, guess I just don't like the surreal feeling that I am the only person in the world!!
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 8:27 am
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

I love Brisbane - perfect for families. Really couldn't be happier here.
I think not everyone is the same.....you need to see and feel for yourself.
Nix
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 8:46 am
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Backpackers who have traveled around OZ have an advantage when they immigrate to OZ becasues they have seen alot of the country and know which places they like and are suitable for them and which arent.
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 10:35 am
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Smile Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Originally Posted by NiknAid
We have been in Melbourne for nearly 2 years but have not really settled. Although we have made some nice friends we still feel quite isolated and can't get used to the quietness of suburbia. I know that it is winter but it is like the world switches off at 6pm, walking to the milkbar the other night and there was not a soul around and everything was in darkness.

Rather than give up and go home we think maybe we would be better suited to Brisbane. Oldest boy has paid rugby since he was 4 but has had to revert to AFL as there are no local rugby teams. We miss the hustle and bustle of city living but can't afford to move any closer to the city than we are (about 45km). It is the little things that we miss like going to the coast for the day, I know we have a beach here but it is not a 'seaside'. Brisbane was our original choice but hubby got a job here.

I would appreciate any comments from people that have done the Melbourne to Brisbane move, good or bad. We are probably looking south of Brisbane as this is where most of the jobs seem to be for my hubby.

Thanks
I think for these reasons that you are not settled in Melbourne -

Originally Posted by NiknAid
it is like the world switches off at 6pm
and

Originally Posted by NiknAid
I know we have a beach here but it is not a 'seaside'.
you would be even less settled in Brisbane than you are in Melbourne.

BB

Last edited by Buzzy--Bee; Aug 7th 2010 at 10:37 am.
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 11:42 am
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Originally Posted by Nix and Mike
I love Brisbane - perfect for families. Really couldn't be happier here.
I think not everyone is the same.....you need to see and feel for yourself.
Nix
I agree, no one is the same.

I left Sydney, as I never settled there, but ended up settling in the Brisbane area.
 
Old Aug 7th 2010, 9:46 pm
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Originally Posted by mohogony
Backpackers who have traveled around OZ have an advantage when they immigrate to OZ becasues they have seen alot of the country and know which places they like and are suitable for them and which arent.
we havent managed to get over there yet, still in uk for a huge variety of reasons but have to agree with what mahogany posted. Ive backpacked round aus several times, and there is such a vast difference in each state its difficult to give pros and cons to each. Its really what you feel is ok for you and your family ... but def try the other states before coming back to the uk. i loved the gold coast and would live there in a heartbeat, but my oh loves adelaide so thats where we are heading (eventually, whenever that might be!)
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 10:06 pm
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

There is more rugby in NSW and Queensland for sure- it is on telly all the time!! You don't have to buy, so try renting for a while, if you can find somewhere.
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 10:10 pm
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

For what it's worth I'm an Aussie from Brisbane, lived there all my life and 18 months ago I moved to Vancouver... I'm coming back to Australia, Melbourne in particular....

If you find Melbourne a tad on the boring side, jesus you're in for a shock when it comes to Brisbane!

I would highly recommend living on the Gold Coast... it's the sixth largest city so it's not exactly sleepy town but it gives you a nice beachy lifestyle but all the perks of a bigger city with Brisbane only being up to an hour away.

Plus Coolangatta when it's updated will be a decent international airport too.
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 10:35 pm
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Originally Posted by NiknAid
We have been in Melbourne for nearly 2 years but have not really settled. Although we have made some nice friends we still feel quite isolated and can't get used to the quietness of suburbia. I know that it is winter but it is like the world switches off at 6pm, walking to the milkbar the other night and there was not a soul around and everything was in darkness.

Rather than give up and go home we think maybe we would be better suited to Brisbane. Oldest boy has paid rugby since he was 4 but has had to revert to AFL as there are no local rugby teams. We miss the hustle and bustle of city living but can't afford to move any closer to the city than we are (about 45km). It is the little things that we miss like going to the coast for the day, I know we have a beach here but it is not a 'seaside'. Brisbane was our original choice but hubby got a job here.

I would appreciate any comments from people that have done the Melbourne to Brisbane move, good or bad. We are probably looking south of Brisbane as this is where most of the jobs seem to be for my hubby.

Thanks
You sound like us back in 2006 we lived in Somerville so just down the road from you for 2.5yrs but we made the move back to the UK for 2 yrs. We have just done 2 yrs in Brisbane (north) and we are so settled and no thoughts of moving back to Blighty. Try it is all I can say. It is so expensive to be moving back and forth we learnt the hard way and we have since said why didnt we give somewhere else a try before heading back to the UK. We dont go to the coast everyday but the lifestyle is more what we were looking for. We get more of the outdoor life which is great. If we could get daylight savings life would be perfect.

PM me if you want to know anything else.

Jo
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Old Aug 7th 2010, 11:03 pm
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

From the sounds of it I think you are going to be unsettled regardless of where you live in Australia because it is simply not home. The thing is there is nowhere in Oz that could ever be considered busy on a world scale, people move here because of the laid back nature of the place and sunshine (amongst other things).

Living just outside a city in my opinion is the worst place you can go, you aren't really a part of 'it', there is not much happening, you aren't in the countryside or by the sea it is just the middle of the suburbs. Having grown up in such an area (not Langwarring) i can really vouch that they can be the most boring areas, family friendly but boring.

Do you have to live near a city? there are some great places that are too far to commute to the city but offer the lifestyle that you may be after. For example what about Byron Bay? right on the beach, quite a lot of hustle and bustle going on, things stay open at night because of the tourist trade, warm and sunny, close enough to the theme parks to go for a weekend or you can go up to brisbane if you need to go to the city for some reason, its got the cafe lifestyle, you are 10 mins from some amazing drives in the countryside etc. Whilst yes it can be expensive I am assuming you don't want to live right on the oceanfront so for $400,000 you could find something.

As long as you aren't needing to be right near a city don't discount areas like this because it may have what you are after.
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Old Aug 8th 2010, 4:13 am
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Before going back to the uk , i would give brisbane a go,
We live in Adelaide, which for us , is not australia...
We gave sydney a try then moved back to adelaide, as it was just to big.
I have now been planning the move to the gold cost for over a year , i have visited 6 times, and each time also went Brisbane,
The East coast is more what we expected from australia, And hopefully for us it will work, if not then we would consider the move back to the UK.
It most does not help with the line of work i am in , and the type of people i deal with on a day to day basis, but really analysing the facts and outcomes Brisbane and the east coast does have more to offer.
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Old Aug 8th 2010, 10:34 am
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Originally Posted by NiknAid
We have been in Melbourne for nearly 2 years but have not really settled. Although we have made some nice friends we still feel quite isolated and can't get used to the quietness of suburbia. I know that it is winter but it is like the world switches off at 6pm, walking to the milkbar the other night and there was not a soul around and everything was in darkness.

Rather than give up and go home we think maybe we would be better suited to Brisbane. Oldest boy has paid rugby since he was 4 but has had to revert to AFL as there are no local rugby teams. We miss the hustle and bustle of city living but can't afford to move any closer to the city than we are (about 45km). It is the little things that we miss like going to the coast for the day, I know we have a beach here but it is not a 'seaside'. Brisbane was our original choice but hubby got a job here.

I would appreciate any comments from people that have done the Melbourne to Brisbane move, good or bad. We are probably looking south of Brisbane as this is where most of the jobs seem to be for my hubby.

Thanks
It depends what you want in life really. I'm a very sociable person and when we first came here I was incredibly lonely. We now have great friends and a social life that has overtaken the one we had in UK. I do miss certain things from UK ie family and friends but our quality of life in Oz is better in that we have the things that we want, nice house, days off from work together and friends that have the same interests as us. We aren't into clubbing (hubby is past that at 62) we just like dining out, cinema and site-seeing of which there is plenty of opportunity in Brisbane. 99% of people in Bris will tell you its the best place to live, but obviously it depends on your own personal tastes. Perhaps you should give Bris a try,its gotta be cheaper than moving back to the UK and then wondering whether you should have tried Brisbane eh!
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Old Aug 8th 2010, 1:57 pm
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Originally Posted by Buzzy--Bee
I think for these reasons that you are not settled in Melbourne -



and



you would be even less settled in Brisbane than you are in Melbourne.

BB
(I know you're biting your lip mate!)

I have to agree - the world switches off a lot faster in QLD. It's darker earlier.

It may well be though that other things would come to the fore..apart from rugby, for example.
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Old Aug 8th 2010, 11:26 pm
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Default Re: Go Home or try Brisbane?

Originally Posted by BadgeIsBack
It may well be though that other things would come to the fore..apart from rugby, for example.
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