ormrod7

My head is pounding!! So much information!!

Me and my family are moving to Brisbane in March and just don t know where to start!! We've looked at loads of previous threads and web sites and still don t know where to settle/rent We currently live in Cumbria not far from the lake district in a small town.
We would nt want to live in the centre of the city and could go as far out as an hour from the centre, we need somewhere that has good schools, good for children with things to do.
Am i asking to much? Is this what everyone wants?
Whats Redland Bay area like?
All ideas greatly apreciated

grahampaula

Have you visited Australia before and do you know anybody there that can offer any advise?
We are also heading for Brisbane and we have not been before (we might have to do a reccie to validate and that all depends on the sale of our house).
We are fortunate enough to know somebody who has lived there for about 10 years so they can offer us lots of advise, but I think that we will have to wait and see for ourselves and visit lots of different areas when we get there.
Good luck with what ever you decide to do and if you find somewhere with all that you are looking for please let us know so that we can have a look.

loz

Try looking at www.springfieldlakes.com.au you may find something you like. We moved here 3 weeks ago and are at present staying with my brother-in-law and family until our house is ready (hopefully in about 2 weeks!).
Springfield lakes is about 45 minutes west of Brisbane and is a new suburb, so new we haven't even got a pub yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a brand new school ready for opening after Xmas and a new town being built 10 minutes from the lakes.
The area is very family orientated and there is usually something going on down at the lake every weekend.
I know we may be a little biased cos we love it here but if you want any more info pm me and I'll see if I can help with anything.
Good luck with your search.

Loz x

kellyjs

Hi there
Whereabouts in cumbria and how village like? If you can, I would suggest giving yourselves a months "holiday period" so you can drive round and make up your own minds. But if you are from "proper" cumbria for gods sakes dont go to one of the new built places like northlakes or mango hill or you might die lol

ormrod7

Hi im from Barrow-in-Furness its quite a big town. Why should nt i go to them places whats wrong with them??

kellyjs

Hiya
I have friends (almost family) in Alston in Cumbria. That is a very small village and a bit hippyish and v remote but established. Mango Hill, and places like that are great but its a life style choice. Very much new suburbia, nothing wrong with that, but the people I know in Alston would stick out like a sore thumb lol. I would say these areas are best suited to families with young kids and you better be able to drive cos you cant get anywhere otherwise. Its the ideal lifestyle for some but hell for others, same as everywhere really if it doesn't suit

ormrod7

Hi

I ve never heard of Alston! Where just a normal every day town its got everything anybody would need as it quite big to say its a town. I d hate to be somewhere though where it was so big that nobody smiled and said morning or hello!!
Maybe im just in a dreamworld
The thing is my husband won t be with us for 8 weeks, as he works 8 weeks away 8 weeks home so need somewhere thats quite a socialable place for me and my 8 year old son. I d hate to be somewhere where i felt all alone.

kellyjs

sorry, cumbria is a big place! Alston is the furthest northern town before you hit Scotland, surrounded by the pennines and v remote. Thats why I asked ;-)
You will find most of Oz welcoming, especially with an 8 year old, All I would suggest is to get involved with his school as thats quite a big thing here and an excellent way to get to know people. I'm also here with my daughters but they are teenagers and god forbid I tried to get involved with their schools
I walked passed my youngest today who was with her mates after school (who incidentally after only two months is getting an ozzie accent and has loads of mates) I said hi and gave her a kiss and she nearly died of embarrassment! lol
Its not so much a case of where you decide to live just yet, try to make a list of what you WANT from where you settle and go from there. For instance, do you want to be by the sea? do you want direct train links to anywhere? can you drive? work etc? at least try to make a decision as to whether or not you want to love sea, mountains suburbs and then start to make a decision from there, hope that helps

kellyjs

by the way we are in redlands area, cleveland in fact. My daughters are at the state primary and state high school...and despite the slating that the state high school has got its absolutely fine! The area is fab but expensive to buy a house and v hard to find a rental unless you look at surrounding areas (birkdale, thornlands, vikky point, welly point, thornside)

TeresaG

If you haven't been before it might be a good idea to try and visit so that you can get an idea of the areas you might like to live in.

I've found these websites quite useful:

http://new2brisbane.com.au/home/
http://brisbaneforums.com/forum/
http://www.ourbrisbane.com/
http://www.brisbanecitylife.com.au/
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/

Try and have a think about what you want from where you live and that may help.

We are looking at Brisbane too or the Gold Coast as we have relatives there.

ormrod7

Thank you. You have been a great help, I can drive, i won t be able to get a job as i won t have anyone to look after my son unless it fit in with his school hours and because my husband won t be here for the 8 weeks. We live by the sea where we live now so not to bothered about that slight differance being its bloody freezing walking by the sea where i live!!!

kellyjs

you wont be freezing here ;-) can you come over for a month and travel round before you decide on an area? That would be the best bet as like so many before me on this site have already said, you cannot truly get an idea of an area until you visited it. If you are coming over in Nov it would be great if you could have a look round til dec with a view to deciding and getting yourself settled at xmas, then your son can get started at school for the new year in Jan, perfect! For us it was really important that we could easily move around as I dont drive (soon to be rectified, been learning since I got here) We also wanted somewhere that the girls could walk out and about and feel safe, and everything was on the doorstep but far enough away from the city not to be busy. For us Cleveland fitted the bill

ormrod7

Unfortunately we can't come out until March as my husband is away working until then but the bonus is that when we arrive he ll be off for his 8 week break so we ll have all that time to search. We just wanted some ideas of places, to narrow it down a bit, places to look and places to def stay away from!!