Kralphy

Hi,

My husband has a Visiting research visa for 1 year at UQ, Brisbane from September 2014, so myself and our 5 year old twins will also be leaving the UK with him.

I just want to ask is there a thread with lots of info about moving to Brisbane on a temporary basis already going? I've been looking at the threads for emigrating and most of that information isn't relevant to us.

I've a 101 questions so I'm sure to be a regular on here!!

Thanks in advance,

Katy

KJCherokee

What sort of information do you need? Do you know where you will be living? UQ has several campuses (campi?) but I expect you will be at St Lucia which is on the river 6km SW of the CBD. Best way into the city is by the CityCat ferry service up the river - car parking in the city is the most expensive in Australia!
Entertainment - Brisbane offers the full gamut of cultural activities from the big shows (Warhorse, Chitty Chitty, etc) that come for limited seasons once they have finished in Sydney and Melbourne through to small community theatre, concerts, live music venues and the big tours such as the Rolling Stones. Your twins will just about be old enough to enjoy the Gold Coast theme parks - Dreamworld, Movieworld, Seaworld, White Water World, Wet & Wild - plus Australia Zoo and other such places.

Shopping - the two main supermarkets are Coles and Woolworths with Aldi making inroads into their market share. They are improving slowly but are nowhere near the standard of Sainsbury or Waitrose. Your nearest major shopping centre would be Indooripilly: Toowong is a bit closer but doesn't have nearly as much choice.

Hope that answers some of the 101. Ask away.

stuie83

Oh and the Indooroopilly (Indro) shopping centre upgrade will be all finished when you get here. They've knocked down half my road to build it!

Chortlepuss

Sometimes you can find good accommodation here:

http://www.sabbaticalhomes.com/

Kralphy

Hi again,

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, my husband will be working at UQ in St Lucia and we've been pointed towards Graceville for accomodation and hopefully our kids can start at Graceville school come Jan 2015.

I've been looking at the rentals in the area and didn't think they would be so pricey! We'll also need furnished but i'm just wondering how furnished they are? Just furniture or do a lot of places have tv's, kitchen equipment .

We're away for a year so want to make it homely with our own nick nacks and kids toys, bikes, scooters. How do we get those there? I've been reading some of the threads on containers and shared containers and once again the costs threw me.

We'll also need a car. What's the best way to do this? Lease/buy?

And finally healthcare insurance. I know we qualify for medicaid but i understand we still need some level of insurance. I'm not sure what level we need to get. We're a healthy family, touch wood so would a minimum level be ok?

I hope this makes sense...lots of things flying around my head thinking about the logistics of it all!

Katy

Pollyana

The container costs will be the same whether moving for a year or permanently I'm afriad. Pricey business.
If its a temporary visa you will qualify for Medicare but only for emergencies, you would need to look at private insurance as well, especially with kids. Hav a look through the forum for posts about Medicare (not medicaid) on a 457 and you will see it is limited. Many temp visas won't even be granted without proof of private insurance, and some of those other threads will point you to companies offering that service.

Graceville is a nice area (unless we have another flood !) and so its expensive unfortunately. Brisbane rents have rocketed in areas like that in the last few years, not least to cover repars and future insurance after the floods of 2010-11

Kralphy

Thanks Pollyanna,

It's gonna be an expensive year! 457? I presume that's the visa. We will be on a 402 i think.

Katy

Pollyana

Similar visa I think, a 457 is a temp work visa so you will alomost certainly be in a similar position healthcare wise.
I won't kid you that it won't be expensive, but if you are prepared for that give it a go - you know what you are going back to at the end of the year, and you will have a good experience while you're here I'm sure (that from me, as someone who has never really settled here....!!!)

If you only want to bring a few things, not a massive heap of 'stuff' have a look at Seven Seas, Excess Baggage and wedelivertheworld.co.uk (I use them a lot) - they can ship a few boxes relatively quickly and more cheaply than a large scale shipping firm.

KJCherokee

For the car, unless you particularly want a new one I suggest buyng a 2-4 year old one and selling it at the end of your year: you will lose less money that way. Depending on the manufacturer it will still be under warranty for all or part of your time here. Look at Carsales to get an idea of what you will need to pay for the car you like, then add a year to the age to see how much you should be able to sell it for when you leave.

Chortlepuss

You may want to look at home swaps as well - you won't have the choice of area but furnished rentals are tough to find. Note that Holland Park/Greenslopes have direct buses to UQ via the excellent busway - my youngest went to Holland Park primary which was v good.

ScouseMan

Hi Katy,

My partner and I recently returned from a one year stint in Brisbane where I worked as a postdoc in UQ, St Lucia. We have no kids and so just the two of us, and going for a year is fantastic as you know your time is limited and you’ll try to fit in as much as possible. It really felt like a yearlong holiday for us and we had a great time.

UQ is a fantastic campus, green and with good sports facilities. I loved the 50m lap pool and a morning swim before work in the beautiful sunshine ….. Universities have seen some big investment the past decade and there are lots of new buildings and well equipped labs. There is generally good public transport to UQ, but parking on or around campus is limited. It is generally fine is you arrive before 8am as there are $3 per day pay and display places available, after 8am it is very difficult/impossible to find a space. Parking passes for staff are available, but there is a waiting list and even with the pass there is no guarantee of a space unless you arrive early. Good public transport links may be something to consider when house hunting.

We moved into a furnished apartment which had everything and was beautifully furnished with modern technology, a little pricey though at $590 a week for a 2 bed. We just bought cheap bedding from K-mart and that was all. Amazingly there were no fees to rental agents to pay! A big difference from the UK when our last rental cost us around £350 in fees before moving in.

We bought a used car, Astra convertible (when in Rome) from gumtree and sold it before moving back. It depreciated by around $2500 over the year, but we added 20,000 kms to the odometer and it was by far the cheapest option when compared to leasing.

On a 457 you require private health insurance to enter the country and hold you over until you register with Medicare, after which you are not required to have private insurance due to the reciprocal health care arrangement between Aus/UK. As two healthy and youngish (29 & 30) people we chose not to get health insurance and we never once required a doctor or hospital visit, so it was the right choice for us, but with 2 young children your decision may be different.

Good luck with your move!