The story so far !!!!
Jul 2nd 2007, 5:05 pm
#1
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: north east england to south east queensland(cleveland in fact )WE WON THE CUP
Posts: 5,867
The story so far !!!!
Left teeside airport 26th june for heathrow and managed to incur a £150 surcharge even though we were allowed 64kgs each as flights were business class with Air Newzealand(It was the fact that we had 5 pieces rather than the permitted 4 cos they were chocker and didn't really want to leave anything behind but as they say s**t happens !! )Never flown Business class before but because of unforseen circumstances and being unsure about the change of citizenship rules after july 1st we decided to treat ourselves as we were flying for approximately 37hrs consecutively. First leg of the flight was to LA in the USA approx 10 hrs. Service food and attention onboard were absolutely fantastic (Hats off to Air Newzealand staff ).2nd leg was from LA to Auckland (just short of 12 hrs) and once again everything was tickety boo apart from a few humps and bumps along the way.In Auckland for only 1 hour then the last leg was to Brisbane which took just under 4 hrs i think.All in all 2 happy very tired customers.Taxi from airport to city with 4 case and 3 holdalls not too bad at about 50 dollars.Currently staying at Oakes on Margaret street and they very kindly let us have a room straight away at 10am,4hrs before check in time.Spent the rest of the day trying to get some sleep ! Dinner that evening was at a steakhouse at Eagle Street pier which was most delightful but as i've got a memory like a cheese grater i forget what its called !
Friday . After breakfast we decided we'd take the train straight to Cleveland to try to sort out a rental accommodation for the time being(too much of a coward to drive in the city at the moment!). A ny way public transport in Brisbane has always been very good in the past so we just decided it would be a more chilled out way of travelling!Cost of Day ticket was $8.80 and this can be also used on buses and city cat as well as the train (good bargain).Spent several hrs visiting loads of real estate agents and a few fone calls later arranged for 3 viewings for Saturday which we considered ourselves very fortunate as there were only about 8 rentals available according to the estate agents printouts. A very tiring day was rounded off with a few well earned bevvies in the city ! Hoorah !
Saturday. As the rental viewings were all in the afternoon we decided to go and exchange our English driving licences to Aus ones .Bad mistake absolutely dozens of people waiting to do the same thing so we gave it a miss !Travelled once again to Cleveland via train. 1st viewing 3 bed townhouse in a gated complex house wasnt suitable so trotted on to second viewing .This was for a 4 bedroom house unfurnished at $360 / week on a six month lease.Nice area but was quite shocked that there were 9 other viewers there at the same time (apparently rentals are very hard to come by at the moment in this area hence all the attention) Any way got the relevant application forms and off we trotted again to the other side of cleveland for viewing number 3.This again was a fully furnished 2 bed town house on a gated complex and there were no other people viewing this time as well (maybe no one likes gated complexes !!) This house was much better layout than the last one even though it was only 2 beds.John the manager couldn't do enough for us and eventually we came to an agreement to rent for a 2 month period with a longer option if required and possibility of moving into a 3 bed unfurnished house when our furniture arrived at a cost of $360 / week .Once the rental has been sorted the pressure removed is immense in our opinion as it gives you some sort of reassurance and the opportunity to keep looking for something else if required .As we'd achieved our main objective we decided to try our luck again with driving licences at the Cleveland office thinking there would be fewer people there !Totally gobsmacked once again as there were more here than in the city!(well theres always next week !)Got back to Hotel that night with very sore feet and just collapsed.
Sunday was to be a new experience for us as we were to attend our 1st expats meet up at southbank arranged by Ginny .We decided to stroll across to southbank as the weather was a nice 20 degrees.On arrival we were one of the first ones there but a good crowd upwards of 2 dozen gathered throughout the day and we met some very nice people indeed and thoroughly enjoyed the crack with everyone and had a couple of drinks later with netty and paul to round the day off and we'll definitely be popping down to Broad beach in a fortnights time for the next time.
Monday.We decided yesterday to have a relaxing day and that's just what we did.We had a stroll down by the river in the morning then done a bit of shopping in the afternoon before catching our 1st rays around the hotel pool after dinner.Then i decided to rent 24hrs on the internet within the hotel at a cost of $20
Linda sorted our Tax file number in the meantime on the internet before i took over the computer for the rest of the day. I know that there's probably not a lot of information for people on this thread and it is rather long winded but if there's any of you out there who like me enjoys reading about other peoples experiences i hope this is of some interest to you.Got to dash to bed now as my typing finger is numb and i must catch a few winks as its 3:00am .Bye for now !
Have a nice day everyone
regards Bobby & Linda
Friday . After breakfast we decided we'd take the train straight to Cleveland to try to sort out a rental accommodation for the time being(too much of a coward to drive in the city at the moment!). A ny way public transport in Brisbane has always been very good in the past so we just decided it would be a more chilled out way of travelling!Cost of Day ticket was $8.80 and this can be also used on buses and city cat as well as the train (good bargain).Spent several hrs visiting loads of real estate agents and a few fone calls later arranged for 3 viewings for Saturday which we considered ourselves very fortunate as there were only about 8 rentals available according to the estate agents printouts. A very tiring day was rounded off with a few well earned bevvies in the city ! Hoorah !
Saturday. As the rental viewings were all in the afternoon we decided to go and exchange our English driving licences to Aus ones .Bad mistake absolutely dozens of people waiting to do the same thing so we gave it a miss !Travelled once again to Cleveland via train. 1st viewing 3 bed townhouse in a gated complex house wasnt suitable so trotted on to second viewing .This was for a 4 bedroom house unfurnished at $360 / week on a six month lease.Nice area but was quite shocked that there were 9 other viewers there at the same time (apparently rentals are very hard to come by at the moment in this area hence all the attention) Any way got the relevant application forms and off we trotted again to the other side of cleveland for viewing number 3.This again was a fully furnished 2 bed town house on a gated complex and there were no other people viewing this time as well (maybe no one likes gated complexes !!) This house was much better layout than the last one even though it was only 2 beds.John the manager couldn't do enough for us and eventually we came to an agreement to rent for a 2 month period with a longer option if required and possibility of moving into a 3 bed unfurnished house when our furniture arrived at a cost of $360 / week .Once the rental has been sorted the pressure removed is immense in our opinion as it gives you some sort of reassurance and the opportunity to keep looking for something else if required .As we'd achieved our main objective we decided to try our luck again with driving licences at the Cleveland office thinking there would be fewer people there !Totally gobsmacked once again as there were more here than in the city!(well theres always next week !)Got back to Hotel that night with very sore feet and just collapsed.
Sunday was to be a new experience for us as we were to attend our 1st expats meet up at southbank arranged by Ginny .We decided to stroll across to southbank as the weather was a nice 20 degrees.On arrival we were one of the first ones there but a good crowd upwards of 2 dozen gathered throughout the day and we met some very nice people indeed and thoroughly enjoyed the crack with everyone and had a couple of drinks later with netty and paul to round the day off and we'll definitely be popping down to Broad beach in a fortnights time for the next time.
Monday.We decided yesterday to have a relaxing day and that's just what we did.We had a stroll down by the river in the morning then done a bit of shopping in the afternoon before catching our 1st rays around the hotel pool after dinner.Then i decided to rent 24hrs on the internet within the hotel at a cost of $20
Linda sorted our Tax file number in the meantime on the internet before i took over the computer for the rest of the day. I know that there's probably not a lot of information for people on this thread and it is rather long winded but if there's any of you out there who like me enjoys reading about other peoples experiences i hope this is of some interest to you.Got to dash to bed now as my typing finger is numb and i must catch a few winks as its 3:00am .Bye for now !Have a nice day everyone
regards Bobby & Linda
Last edited by bobbyftm; Jul 2nd 2007 at 5:08 pm.
Jul 2nd 2007, 5:18 pm
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Perth, Western Australia baby!!!
Posts: 351
Re: The story so far !!!!
Left teeside airport 26th june for heathrow and managed to incur a £150 surcharge even though we were allowed 64kgs each as flights were business class with Air Newzealand(It was the fact that we had 5 pieces rather than the permitted 4 cos they were chocker and didn't really want to leave anything behind but as they say s**t happens !! )Never flown Business class before but because of unforseen circumstances and being unsure about the change of citizenship rules after july 1st we decided to treat ourselves as we were flying for approximately 37hrs consecutively. First leg of the flight was to LA in the USA approx 10 hrs. Service food and attention onboard were absolutely fantastic (Hats off to Air Newzealand staff ).2nd leg was from LA to Auckland (just short of 12 hrs) and once again everything was tickety boo apart from a few humps and bumps along the way.In Auckland for only 1 hour then the last leg was to Brisbane which took just under 4 hrs i think.All in all 2 happy very tired customers.Taxi from airport to city with 4 case and 3 holdalls not too bad at about 50 dollars.Currently staying at Oakes on Margaret street and they very kindly let us have a room straight away at 10am,4hrs before check in time.Spent the rest of the day trying to get some sleep ! Dinner that evening was at a steakhouse at Eagle Street pier which was most delightful but as i've got a memory like a cheese grater i forget what its called !
Friday . After breakfast we decided we'd take the train straight to Cleveland to try to sort out a rental accommodation for the time being(too much of a coward to drive in the city at the moment!). A ny way public transport in Brisbane has always been very good in the past so we just decided it would be a more chilled out way of travelling!Cost of Day ticket was $8.80 and this can be also used on buses and city cat as well as the train (good bargain).Spent several hrs visiting loads of real estate agents and a few fone calls later arranged for 3 viewings for Saturday which we considered ourselves very fortunate as there were only about 8 rentals available according to the estate agents printouts. A very tiring day was rounded off with a few well earned bevvies in the city ! Hoorah !
Saturday. As the rental viewings were all in the afternoon we decided to go and exchange our English driving licences to Aus ones .Bad mistake absolutely dozens of people waiting to do the same thing so we gave it a miss !Travelled once again to Cleveland via train. 1st viewing 3 bed townhouse in a gated complex house wasnt suitable so trotted on to second viewing .This was for a 4 bedroom house unfurnished at $360 / week on a six month lease.Nice area but was quite shocked that there were 9 other viewers there at the same time (apparently rentals are very hard to come by at the moment in this area hence all the attention) Any way got the relevant application forms and off we trotted again to the other side of cleveland for viewing number 3.This again was a fully furnished 2 bed town house on a gated complex and there were no other people viewing this time as well (maybe no one likes gated complexes !!) This house was much better layout than the last one even though it was only 2 beds.John the manager couldn't do enough for us and eventually we came to an agreement to rent for a 2 month period with a longer option if required and possibility of moving into a 3 bed unfurnished house when our furniture arrived at a cost of $360 / week .Once the rental has been sorted the pressure removed is immense in our opinion as it gives you some sort of reassurance and the opportunity to keep looking for something else if required .As we'd achieved our main objective we decided to try our luck again with driving licences at the Cleveland office thinking there would be fewer people there !Totally gobsmacked once again as there were more here than in the city!(well theres always next week !)Got back to Hotel that night with very sore feet and just collapsed.
Sunday was to be a new experience for us as we were to attend our 1st expats meet up at southbank arranged by Ginny .We decided to stroll across to southbank as the weather was a nice 20 degrees.On arrival we were one of the first ones there but a good crowd upwards of 2 dozen gathered throughout the day and we met some very nice people indeed and thoroughly enjoyed the crack with everyone and had a couple of drinks later with netty and paul to round the day off and we'll definitely be popping down to Broad beach in a fortnights time for the next time.
Monday.We decided yesterday to have a relaxing day and that's just what we did.We had a stroll down by the river in the morning then done a bit of shopping in the afternoon before catching our 1st rays around the hotel pool after dinner.Then i decided to rent 24hrs on the internet within the hotel at a cost of $20Linda sorted our Tax file number in the meantime on the internet before i took over the computer for the rest of the day. I know that there's probably not a lot of information for people on this thread and it is rather long winded but if there's any of you out there who like me enjoys reading about other peoples experiences i hope this is of some interest to you.Got to dash to bed now as my typing finger is numb and i must catch a few winks as its 3:00am .Bye for now !
Have a nice day everyone
regards Bobby & Linda
Friday . After breakfast we decided we'd take the train straight to Cleveland to try to sort out a rental accommodation for the time being(too much of a coward to drive in the city at the moment!). A ny way public transport in Brisbane has always been very good in the past so we just decided it would be a more chilled out way of travelling!Cost of Day ticket was $8.80 and this can be also used on buses and city cat as well as the train (good bargain).Spent several hrs visiting loads of real estate agents and a few fone calls later arranged for 3 viewings for Saturday which we considered ourselves very fortunate as there were only about 8 rentals available according to the estate agents printouts. A very tiring day was rounded off with a few well earned bevvies in the city ! Hoorah !
Saturday. As the rental viewings were all in the afternoon we decided to go and exchange our English driving licences to Aus ones .Bad mistake absolutely dozens of people waiting to do the same thing so we gave it a miss !Travelled once again to Cleveland via train. 1st viewing 3 bed townhouse in a gated complex house wasnt suitable so trotted on to second viewing .This was for a 4 bedroom house unfurnished at $360 / week on a six month lease.Nice area but was quite shocked that there were 9 other viewers there at the same time (apparently rentals are very hard to come by at the moment in this area hence all the attention) Any way got the relevant application forms and off we trotted again to the other side of cleveland for viewing number 3.This again was a fully furnished 2 bed town house on a gated complex and there were no other people viewing this time as well (maybe no one likes gated complexes !!) This house was much better layout than the last one even though it was only 2 beds.John the manager couldn't do enough for us and eventually we came to an agreement to rent for a 2 month period with a longer option if required and possibility of moving into a 3 bed unfurnished house when our furniture arrived at a cost of $360 / week .Once the rental has been sorted the pressure removed is immense in our opinion as it gives you some sort of reassurance and the opportunity to keep looking for something else if required .As we'd achieved our main objective we decided to try our luck again with driving licences at the Cleveland office thinking there would be fewer people there !Totally gobsmacked once again as there were more here than in the city!(well theres always next week !)Got back to Hotel that night with very sore feet and just collapsed.
Sunday was to be a new experience for us as we were to attend our 1st expats meet up at southbank arranged by Ginny .We decided to stroll across to southbank as the weather was a nice 20 degrees.On arrival we were one of the first ones there but a good crowd upwards of 2 dozen gathered throughout the day and we met some very nice people indeed and thoroughly enjoyed the crack with everyone and had a couple of drinks later with netty and paul to round the day off and we'll definitely be popping down to Broad beach in a fortnights time for the next time.
Monday.We decided yesterday to have a relaxing day and that's just what we did.We had a stroll down by the river in the morning then done a bit of shopping in the afternoon before catching our 1st rays around the hotel pool after dinner.Then i decided to rent 24hrs on the internet within the hotel at a cost of $20
Linda sorted our Tax file number in the meantime on the internet before i took over the computer for the rest of the day. I know that there's probably not a lot of information for people on this thread and it is rather long winded but if there's any of you out there who like me enjoys reading about other peoples experiences i hope this is of some interest to you.Got to dash to bed now as my typing finger is numb and i must catch a few winks as its 3:00am .Bye for now !Have a nice day everyone
regards Bobby & Linda
Plzz keep em coming
Jul 2nd 2007, 6:17 pm
#3
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: NW England ::> Perth
Posts: 562
Re: The story so far !!!!
Hi bobby & linda
Great post, its nice to hear people getting there safe and well. Hope you settle into your rental ok - keep the updates coming
Great post, its nice to hear people getting there safe and well. Hope you settle into your rental ok - keep the updates coming
Jul 2nd 2007, 7:03 pm
#4
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Halls Head, W.A.
Posts: 848
Re: The story so far !!!!
Excellent post, keep them coming and enjoy!
Nic
Nic
Jul 2nd 2007, 7:16 pm
#5
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: Maroochydore Qld Sunshine Coast
Posts: 180
Re: The story so far !!!!
hey well done bobby mate glad your there safely and settled take care great thread speak soon jim/lorraine
Jul 3rd 2007, 1:34 am
#6
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: north east england to south east queensland(cleveland in fact )WE WON THE CUP
Posts: 5,867
Jul 3rd 2007, 3:24 pm
#7
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2003
Location: Away with the Fairies!!
Posts: 349
Re: The story so far !!!!
Left teeside airport 26th june for heathrow and managed to incur a £150 surcharge even though we were allowed 64kgs each as flights were business class with Air Newzealand(It was the fact that we had 5 pieces rather than the permitted 4 cos they were chocker and didn't really want to leave anything behind but as they say s**t happens !! )Never flown Business class before but because of unforseen circumstances and being unsure about the change of citizenship rules after july 1st we decided to treat ourselves as we were flying for approximately 37hrs consecutively. First leg of the flight was to LA in the USA approx 10 hrs. Service food and attention onboard were absolutely fantastic (Hats off to Air Newzealand staff ).2nd leg was from LA to Auckland (just short of 12 hrs) and once again everything was tickety boo apart from a few humps and bumps along the way.In Auckland for only 1 hour then the last leg was to Brisbane which took just under 4 hrs i think.All in all 2 happy very tired customers.Taxi from airport to city with 4 case and 3 holdalls not too bad at about 50 dollars.Currently staying at Oakes on Margaret street and they very kindly let us have a room straight away at 10am,4hrs before check in time.Spent the rest of the day trying to get some sleep ! Dinner that evening was at a steakhouse at Eagle Street pier which was most delightful but as i've got a memory like a cheese grater i forget what its called !
Friday . After breakfast we decided we'd take the train straight to Cleveland to try to sort out a rental accommodation for the time being(too much of a coward to drive in the city at the moment!). A ny way public transport in Brisbane has always been very good in the past so we just decided it would be a more chilled out way of travelling!Cost of Day ticket was $8.80 and this can be also used on buses and city cat as well as the train (good bargain).Spent several hrs visiting loads of real estate agents and a few fone calls later arranged for 3 viewings for Saturday which we considered ourselves very fortunate as there were only about 8 rentals available according to the estate agents printouts. A very tiring day was rounded off with a few well earned bevvies in the city ! Hoorah !
Saturday. As the rental viewings were all in the afternoon we decided to go and exchange our English driving licences to Aus ones .Bad mistake absolutely dozens of people waiting to do the same thing so we gave it a miss !Travelled once again to Cleveland via train. 1st viewing 3 bed townhouse in a gated complex house wasnt suitable so trotted on to second viewing .This was for a 4 bedroom house unfurnished at $360 / week on a six month lease.Nice area but was quite shocked that there were 9 other viewers there at the same time (apparently rentals are very hard to come by at the moment in this area hence all the attention) Any way got the relevant application forms and off we trotted again to the other side of cleveland for viewing number 3.This again was a fully furnished 2 bed town house on a gated complex and there were no other people viewing this time as well (maybe no one likes gated complexes !!) This house was much better layout than the last one even though it was only 2 beds.John the manager couldn't do enough for us and eventually we came to an agreement to rent for a 2 month period with a longer option if required and possibility of moving into a 3 bed unfurnished house when our furniture arrived at a cost of $360 / week .Once the rental has been sorted the pressure removed is immense in our opinion as it gives you some sort of reassurance and the opportunity to keep looking for something else if required .As we'd achieved our main objective we decided to try our luck again with driving licences at the Cleveland office thinking there would be fewer people there !Totally gobsmacked once again as there were more here than in the city!(well theres always next week !)Got back to Hotel that night with very sore feet and just collapsed.
Sunday was to be a new experience for us as we were to attend our 1st expats meet up at southbank arranged by Ginny .We decided to stroll across to southbank as the weather was a nice 20 degrees.On arrival we were one of the first ones there but a good crowd upwards of 2 dozen gathered throughout the day and we met some very nice people indeed and thoroughly enjoyed the crack with everyone and had a couple of drinks later with netty and paul to round the day off and we'll definitely be popping down to Broad beach in a fortnights time for the next time.
Monday.We decided yesterday to have a relaxing day and that's just what we did.We had a stroll down by the river in the morning then done a bit of shopping in the afternoon before catching our 1st rays around the hotel pool after dinner.Then i decided to rent 24hrs on the internet within the hotel at a cost of $20Linda sorted our Tax file number in the meantime on the internet before i took over the computer for the rest of the day. I know that there's probably not a lot of information for people on this thread and it is rather long winded but if there's any of you out there who like me enjoys reading about other peoples experiences i hope this is of some interest to you.Got to dash to bed now as my typing finger is numb and i must catch a few winks as its 3:00am .Bye for now !
Have a nice day everyone
regards Bobby & Linda
Friday . After breakfast we decided we'd take the train straight to Cleveland to try to sort out a rental accommodation for the time being(too much of a coward to drive in the city at the moment!). A ny way public transport in Brisbane has always been very good in the past so we just decided it would be a more chilled out way of travelling!Cost of Day ticket was $8.80 and this can be also used on buses and city cat as well as the train (good bargain).Spent several hrs visiting loads of real estate agents and a few fone calls later arranged for 3 viewings for Saturday which we considered ourselves very fortunate as there were only about 8 rentals available according to the estate agents printouts. A very tiring day was rounded off with a few well earned bevvies in the city ! Hoorah !
Saturday. As the rental viewings were all in the afternoon we decided to go and exchange our English driving licences to Aus ones .Bad mistake absolutely dozens of people waiting to do the same thing so we gave it a miss !Travelled once again to Cleveland via train. 1st viewing 3 bed townhouse in a gated complex house wasnt suitable so trotted on to second viewing .This was for a 4 bedroom house unfurnished at $360 / week on a six month lease.Nice area but was quite shocked that there were 9 other viewers there at the same time (apparently rentals are very hard to come by at the moment in this area hence all the attention) Any way got the relevant application forms and off we trotted again to the other side of cleveland for viewing number 3.This again was a fully furnished 2 bed town house on a gated complex and there were no other people viewing this time as well (maybe no one likes gated complexes !!) This house was much better layout than the last one even though it was only 2 beds.John the manager couldn't do enough for us and eventually we came to an agreement to rent for a 2 month period with a longer option if required and possibility of moving into a 3 bed unfurnished house when our furniture arrived at a cost of $360 / week .Once the rental has been sorted the pressure removed is immense in our opinion as it gives you some sort of reassurance and the opportunity to keep looking for something else if required .As we'd achieved our main objective we decided to try our luck again with driving licences at the Cleveland office thinking there would be fewer people there !Totally gobsmacked once again as there were more here than in the city!(well theres always next week !)Got back to Hotel that night with very sore feet and just collapsed.
Sunday was to be a new experience for us as we were to attend our 1st expats meet up at southbank arranged by Ginny .We decided to stroll across to southbank as the weather was a nice 20 degrees.On arrival we were one of the first ones there but a good crowd upwards of 2 dozen gathered throughout the day and we met some very nice people indeed and thoroughly enjoyed the crack with everyone and had a couple of drinks later with netty and paul to round the day off and we'll definitely be popping down to Broad beach in a fortnights time for the next time.
Monday.We decided yesterday to have a relaxing day and that's just what we did.We had a stroll down by the river in the morning then done a bit of shopping in the afternoon before catching our 1st rays around the hotel pool after dinner.Then i decided to rent 24hrs on the internet within the hotel at a cost of $20
Linda sorted our Tax file number in the meantime on the internet before i took over the computer for the rest of the day. I know that there's probably not a lot of information for people on this thread and it is rather long winded but if there's any of you out there who like me enjoys reading about other peoples experiences i hope this is of some interest to you.Got to dash to bed now as my typing finger is numb and i must catch a few winks as its 3:00am .Bye for now !Have a nice day everyone
regards Bobby & Linda
Jul 3rd 2007, 3:53 pm
#8
on the Goldie
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: 4226.au
Posts: 12,364
Re: The story so far !!!!
Good Post and good luck with your further adventures
Jul 3rd 2007, 4:27 pm
#9
In Aus and loving it!
Joined: May 2006
Location: Thornlands, Qld
Posts: 852
Re: The story so far !!!!
Thanks for the insight - we are off to Cleveland too in about 6 weeks so your thoughts on the rental situation are of particular interest to us.
Keep passing on what you find out
Keep passing on what you find out
Jul 10th 2007, 8:25 pm
#10
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 120
Re: The story so far !!!!
Left teeside airport 26th june for heathrow and managed to incur a £150 surcharge even though we were allowed 64kgs each as flights were business class with Air Newzealand(It was the fact that we had 5 pieces rather than the permitted 4 cos they were chocker and didn't really want to leave anything behind but as they say s**t happens !! )Never flown Business class before but because of unforseen circumstances and being unsure about the change of citizenship rules after july 1st we decided to treat ourselves as we were flying for approximately 37hrs consecutively. First leg of the flight was to LA in the USA approx 10 hrs. Service food and attention onboard were absolutely fantastic (Hats off to Air Newzealand staff ).2nd leg was from LA to Auckland (just short of 12 hrs) and once again everything was tickety boo apart from a few humps and bumps along the way.In Auckland for only 1 hour then the last leg was to Brisbane which took just under 4 hrs i think.All in all 2 happy very tired customers.Taxi from airport to city with 4 case and 3 holdalls not too bad at about 50 dollars.Currently staying at Oakes on Margaret street and they very kindly let us have a room straight away at 10am,4hrs before check in time.Spent the rest of the day trying to get some sleep ! Dinner that evening was at a steakhouse at Eagle Street pier which was most delightful but as i've got a memory like a cheese grater i forget what its called !
Friday . After breakfast we decided we'd take the train straight to Cleveland to try to sort out a rental accommodation for the time being(too much of a coward to drive in the city at the moment!). A ny way public transport in Brisbane has always been very good in the past so we just decided it would be a more chilled out way of travelling!Cost of Day ticket was $8.80 and this can be also used on buses and city cat as well as the train (good bargain).Spent several hrs visiting loads of real estate agents and a few fone calls later arranged for 3 viewings for Saturday which we considered ourselves very fortunate as there were only about 8 rentals available according to the estate agents printouts. A very tiring day was rounded off with a few well earned bevvies in the city ! Hoorah !
Saturday. As the rental viewings were all in the afternoon we decided to go and exchange our English driving licences to Aus ones .Bad mistake absolutely dozens of people waiting to do the same thing so we gave it a miss !Travelled once again to Cleveland via train. 1st viewing 3 bed townhouse in a gated complex house wasnt suitable so trotted on to second viewing .This was for a 4 bedroom house unfurnished at $360 / week on a six month lease.Nice area but was quite shocked that there were 9 other viewers there at the same time (apparently rentals are very hard to come by at the moment in this area hence all the attention) Any way got the relevant application forms and off we trotted again to the other side of cleveland for viewing number 3.This again was a fully furnished 2 bed town house on a gated complex and there were no other people viewing this time as well (maybe no one likes gated complexes !!) This house was much better layout than the last one even though it was only 2 beds.John the manager couldn't do enough for us and eventually we came to an agreement to rent for a 2 month period with a longer option if required and possibility of moving into a 3 bed unfurnished house when our furniture arrived at a cost of $360 / week .Once the rental has been sorted the pressure removed is immense in our opinion as it gives you some sort of reassurance and the opportunity to keep looking for something else if required .As we'd achieved our main objective we decided to try our luck again with driving licences at the Cleveland office thinking there would be fewer people there !Totally gobsmacked once again as there were more here than in the city!(well theres always next week !)Got back to Hotel that night with very sore feet and just collapsed.
Sunday was to be a new experience for us as we were to attend our 1st expats meet up at southbank arranged by Ginny .We decided to stroll across to southbank as the weather was a nice 20 degrees.On arrival we were one of the first ones there but a good crowd upwards of 2 dozen gathered throughout the day and we met some very nice people indeed and thoroughly enjoyed the crack with everyone and had a couple of drinks later with netty and paul to round the day off and we'll definitely be popping down to Broad beach in a fortnights time for the next time.
Monday.We decided yesterday to have a relaxing day and that's just what we did.We had a stroll down by the river in the morning then done a bit of shopping in the afternoon before catching our 1st rays around the hotel pool after dinner.Then i decided to rent 24hrs on the internet within the hotel at a cost of $20Linda sorted our Tax file number in the meantime on the internet before i took over the computer for the rest of the day. I know that there's probably not a lot of information for people on this thread and it is rather long winded but if there's any of you out there who like me enjoys reading about other peoples experiences i hope this is of some interest to you.Got to dash to bed now as my typing finger is numb and i must catch a few winks as its 3:00am .Bye for now !
Have a nice day everyone
regards Bobby & Linda
Friday . After breakfast we decided we'd take the train straight to Cleveland to try to sort out a rental accommodation for the time being(too much of a coward to drive in the city at the moment!). A ny way public transport in Brisbane has always been very good in the past so we just decided it would be a more chilled out way of travelling!Cost of Day ticket was $8.80 and this can be also used on buses and city cat as well as the train (good bargain).Spent several hrs visiting loads of real estate agents and a few fone calls later arranged for 3 viewings for Saturday which we considered ourselves very fortunate as there were only about 8 rentals available according to the estate agents printouts. A very tiring day was rounded off with a few well earned bevvies in the city ! Hoorah !
Saturday. As the rental viewings were all in the afternoon we decided to go and exchange our English driving licences to Aus ones .Bad mistake absolutely dozens of people waiting to do the same thing so we gave it a miss !Travelled once again to Cleveland via train. 1st viewing 3 bed townhouse in a gated complex house wasnt suitable so trotted on to second viewing .This was for a 4 bedroom house unfurnished at $360 / week on a six month lease.Nice area but was quite shocked that there were 9 other viewers there at the same time (apparently rentals are very hard to come by at the moment in this area hence all the attention) Any way got the relevant application forms and off we trotted again to the other side of cleveland for viewing number 3.This again was a fully furnished 2 bed town house on a gated complex and there were no other people viewing this time as well (maybe no one likes gated complexes !!) This house was much better layout than the last one even though it was only 2 beds.John the manager couldn't do enough for us and eventually we came to an agreement to rent for a 2 month period with a longer option if required and possibility of moving into a 3 bed unfurnished house when our furniture arrived at a cost of $360 / week .Once the rental has been sorted the pressure removed is immense in our opinion as it gives you some sort of reassurance and the opportunity to keep looking for something else if required .As we'd achieved our main objective we decided to try our luck again with driving licences at the Cleveland office thinking there would be fewer people there !Totally gobsmacked once again as there were more here than in the city!(well theres always next week !)Got back to Hotel that night with very sore feet and just collapsed.
Sunday was to be a new experience for us as we were to attend our 1st expats meet up at southbank arranged by Ginny .We decided to stroll across to southbank as the weather was a nice 20 degrees.On arrival we were one of the first ones there but a good crowd upwards of 2 dozen gathered throughout the day and we met some very nice people indeed and thoroughly enjoyed the crack with everyone and had a couple of drinks later with netty and paul to round the day off and we'll definitely be popping down to Broad beach in a fortnights time for the next time.
Monday.We decided yesterday to have a relaxing day and that's just what we did.We had a stroll down by the river in the morning then done a bit of shopping in the afternoon before catching our 1st rays around the hotel pool after dinner.Then i decided to rent 24hrs on the internet within the hotel at a cost of $20
Linda sorted our Tax file number in the meantime on the internet before i took over the computer for the rest of the day. I know that there's probably not a lot of information for people on this thread and it is rather long winded but if there's any of you out there who like me enjoys reading about other peoples experiences i hope this is of some interest to you.Got to dash to bed now as my typing finger is numb and i must catch a few winks as its 3:00am .Bye for now !Have a nice day everyone
regards Bobby & Linda
can you recommend any good areas in Brisbane please.
Family orientated, good schooling and decent housing but affordable and within reasonale distance to beaches and shopping facilities.
Don't want much do we !
Cheers,
Mike & Leah .
