RAG62

Our visa application is with DIMIA at the moment. But as many have said - there are doubts.....sometimes BIG doubts...... whether you are doing the right thing. So, to help alleviate those doubts, in April I will be flying out to Brisbane to see what it's like before making a final commitment that all the family should move out there. My report back to family will play a big part in our decision (we have never been to Australia before).

I have started to put a list in my mind, of the things I need to suss out when there (a fortnight). I am sure that those of you who have been out there or perhaps have moved there will be able to offer some more things to the list. I don't want to come back and think.....I wish I had sussed that out when I was there, or for wifey to ask "what was so and so like?" only for me to appear dumb and say "oh, I never thought to look/ask/do"! You get my drift? ANY thoughts more than welcome.
My starter was:
Houses and prices
Neighbourhoods
Schools
Hospitals/GP surgeries (wife's a nurse)
explore city centre
What are the shops like
Get a feel for how safe the neighbourhoods are
Job prospects for me (not going to spend too much time on this!!)
Is the lifestyle really any different?

If anyone would like me to report to them on any specific points I will be only too glad to do my best.
Rich

Dave, Tracy & Emily

Don't forget to visit Sothbank and O'Reily's if your into walking and the rain forest. At Stones corner there is also a great sushi train (one of the first places we are visiting when we return).

Absolute must do, go to the lookout at the top of mt. Cootha, expecially at night to see a view of the city, amazing, there is a good resterant there.

Another thing to do, just sit in the middle of Queenstreet city centre, at one of the cafe's enjoying an ice coffee and just watch .

cazz

The kids will love Steve Irwin feeding the crocs at Australia Zoo.

jad n rich

Houses, ask the agents for their open house list, should be a trail of open houses each saturday/sunday, you can actually view inside of lots of houses easily and quickly this way.

Schools, the uniforms look lovely, but now ask the principal to see the work being done in your kids years, and how many hours a day of learning they acually get, some schools I saw on monday are actually only in class just over 4 hours a day!

Drive around at least once from the area you like about 8 am do the school and work run, it will give a much better idea of time.

Dont bother too much with shops, go to one big center, thats because most shopping centers have almost exactly the same shops here, so it doesnt matter how many there are, so long as theres one near you.

Check prices carefully, new cars often add several thousand for the drive away price, display home costs are get you in the door will cost heaps more etc , and most of all cost everything on your likely aussie wage. Watch the news each night, take back of newspapers, ask costs of non holiday stuff, private health, dentists, price a grocery shop, price back a trip to UK. Ignore the petrol price and work out your K's instead! You know just do it all from a I live here angle

DagBoy

Concentrate on the things that cannot easily be done from back there or the things where any advice you get on here will be subjective.

So, checking out houses (both prices and types) is a must, as is checking out suburbs.

For any suburb you want to see, the houses open for inspection is a good idea. They tend to be open at weekends, so you will need to plan this one a bit. Get the Saturday Courier Mail and buy the UBD (streetmap book), then look at the open for inspections listed in the paper and try to get to half a dozen (it is a bit hectic, but can be done - especially if you are doing suburbs that are close to each other).

Try and see something described as post war (typically 40s-50s) a 60s-70s highset, a modern lowset brick and tile, a modern (often rendered) 2 storey (the dreaded McMansion), a townhouse and a traditional Queenslander.

Suburbs there are lots of suburbs in and around Brisbane and they are all different, but..... aspects of them tend to be similar, so try and check out a few.

Modern suburb - with sprawling estates of modern brisk and tile houses - all much the same - Go and look at Murrumba Downs/Mango Hill.
Inner City suburbs - many traditional workers cottages/queenslanders on postage stamp blocks - Red Hill, Paddington
Yuppified up market suburbs with a mix of traditional and new housing - Ascot
Older suburbs slightly further out - a lot of queenslander and post war housing - Graceville/Sherwood.
Go out to Pullenvale or Brookfield to see what established acreage looks like.

I am sure there are other good places that will give you a good idea. they key thing is that when you go back to the UK and then see a house on realestate.com and ask on here what the suburb is like, we can describe it in terms of the things you have seen.

Hope that helps a bit - any more specific questions - ask.

Cheers,

DagBoy

moneypenny20

Just bear in mind that this will happen, no matter how thorough you are

jc_hoops

If it's of any help, I'm doing the same thing for ten days at the start of March. So, when I get back, I'll let you know what I managed to get done and what I thought of the Suburbs I got to go to.

Oh, and whether there are any decent Bozzers there as well

E=mc2

Is he ever there now he is a big star? Seriously, we have been three times and only caught a glimpse of Steve Irwin once as he whizzed past in his 4WD.

RAG62

Thanks All,
I will print this off and take with me. So much to do and not enough time.

jc_hoops ; it would be great to see how you get on do send me an email or PM when you get there or return. Piccies would be great!

Richard

lynnlovessun

Yes he is still there - I was at australia zoo last year on holiday and was at baby Bob's christening - incase you don't know that was when baby bob his son went to feed the crocs with dad I have that incident on videocamera. The show was great and we saw Steve and Terri around the park all throughout the day. Its just luck though whether he is there - maybe you could try phoning to ask. The croc shows are great, I love the whole aim of the zoo - he is doing great things with education and conservation in queensland.

Lynn

GCS15

G'day Rich

House Prices - Like the UK, NZ, USA, Sth Africa we are at what many believe is the peak of a large housing bubble. So prices are somewhat inflated at the moment. By all means check out the real estate agents windows but as your time is limited I suggest that you find the suburbs you like and check the prices on realestate.com.au when you get home.

Neighbourhoods - I prefer the northside. Whenever we get a bad storm it seems that the southside gets trashed and we just suffer from heavy showers.

Schools - This can be a bit more tricky. Do you want state or private. My money is on Padua, Mt Alvernia, St Anthony's at Kedron. Run by Franciscan Monks (well originally. there aren't to many of them around now).

Hospitals - Plenty around. Although there seem to be more on the southside. Royal Brisbane Hospital in Herston is our flagship. Hires about 5'000 staff. Of course if your missus is in a specialty that she wants to stay in you may have to research which hospitals employ her. Whilst here grab the Saturdays courier mail. It has a lift out job section with a list of agencies for her to give a call to.

Explore city centre - Sure check it out but I haven't been there for years.

What the shops are like - Boring. Buy your stuff then go.

Safe suburbs - can be a bit tricky to find out unless you have contacts with the cops. My train line is apparently the second most violent in Brisbane... and my missus wonders why I get upset when she catches it I catch the bus

Job prospects for you - what field are you in? Australia has plenty of part time/ casual jobs with no security. Don't blame me I didn't vote for hoWARd

Is the lifestyle any different - like everything it's what you make of it. If you do the same things you'll get the same results.

Whilst here may I suggest that you pick up a refidex (street directory)? Then you can see where all the schools, hospitals and shops are. Then you can mark out the ones you are interested in and use that to find where you would like to live.

Hope things work out for you

jayr

As said elsewhere, drive up Mt Coo Tha for a view of the city.
take the City Cat (river ferry thing)
attempt to drive out of the CBD at around 5-5:30pm,
take a bus at peak times - preferably not one of the fancy new a/c ones
get on a train
visit South Bank
shop in Woolies/Coles
have a BBQ in a park
go to Fortitude Valley
attempt to drive around the CBD one way system (it's easy when you know how)
visit New Farm park to see the fig trees by the kids playground
take the Kookaburra Queens for a leisurely trip down the river
explore the Sunday markets at Eagle Street Pier (CBD)
imagine that something priced at $10 actually costs GBP10 (i.e don't convert)

jc_hoops

Will do.......

Brissiegirl

visit the Powerhouse market, early in the morning at New Farm - http://www.brisbanepowerhouse.org/content/?id=54 it's fantastic.

Visit Mount Coot-tha botantic gardens - lovely for a walk, especially early morning. Mount Nebo/Mount Glorious also fab. Get out of the city, preferably with a hire car so you can see how far it is for a day trip to the beach on the weekend. Brisbane Forest Park at The Gap is a nice little place to visit (think it's on Mount Nebo Road - can't remember ? )

also visit Straddie and Moreton islands.

lynnlovessun

Still struggling to get my head around why you don't convert AUD to pounds? It has been explained to me before but still confused Is it because you should not expect to pay the same for an item/ good in Australia to what you would pay in the UK? How am I meant to know if something in Australia is worth its $ pricetag?

Lynn