Jessy69

Having a 3 week Brisbane reccy next month and have some questions.

Is it worth inquiring about jobs? (i'm hairdresser)
Looking at areas where we will rent house in future, any places to avoid?
How much do flights cost to Perth / Sydney?
Any other stuff worth doing on a reccy?

Nerine

Hi there, yes of couse it's worth asking about jobs. Not sure but I think hairdressers may have to have an Oz recognised qualification. The Brisbane school of hairdressing is in the city centre on Queen Street so it should be quite easy to pick up the necessary qualifications if you need to.

When we were looking at places to live when we first looked at Brisbane different people had so many ideas on where to live that all I can say is that you really need to decide for yourself, based on your own requirements. There is a lot to choose from.

If you're wanting to do a reccy outside the city there's Australia Zoo and the Sunshine Coast to the north, Gold Coast and the hinterland to the south (it's not just beaches and theme parks) further afield there is Cairns, The Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef which is always well worth a visit.

>Trigger<

The first few days you'll be knackered with jet lag..so go visit the beach.any beach..theyr'e all good.

Then possibly visit a few suburbs either Northside or Southside and maybe out west..you soon get a feel for what suits you..for example you may want something with a little nightlife..or be near to moreton bay or even acreage depending on your budget/family needs.

Then you'll be knackered again so go to the beach...

As for jobs for hairdressers..papers are full of ads,changing on a weekly basis..you will always get a job.

Places to avoid..nah...some are real good..the others are just good!

Flights to perth...It's flaming miles away..don't worry about perth..we all know its shite..just from reading about it on here!

And once you've done all that go to the beach!


PS..get a decent hire car...with bloody good air con...it's warming up nicely

Nerine

!

Good advice about the hire car, remember to get a white one!

Centurion

Reccy = Holiday really. Dont worry about anything. Go around areas you think you like the sound of and just get a feel for the country if you've not been here before.

Not really worth asking for jobs is it ?

"Er Hi there - I'm a pom on holiday who may or may not be moving here next year/decade/when my house sells/when I get my visa, so about a job then hey ?"

TsukinoDeynatsu

OK.

1) Yes. Definitely. Hairdressing's one of the courses all the internationals do at TAFE to get a PR Visa, so it's needed, and they're always advertised.

If you do need an Aussie Qualification, pop on down to Southbank TAFE or Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (Where I work!) and ask about Recognition for Prior Learning (RPL). It's where you tell them your experience and they give you a qualification (never done it so I'm sure it's more involved, but that's the gist!).

2) Don't go to Woodridge, Kingston, Inala, Beenleigh, anywhere around those areas.

The big estates (Springfield Lakes, North Lakes, Forest Lakes) may look very nice and attractive when you have a young family, but once they're teenagers you'll need to drive them for miles everyday or buy them a car, so just don't bother! If you must, the order of best -> worst choice (including location, amenities etc.) is Forest -> Springfield -> North.

Sunnybank and surrounds are full of Asians, do you like Asian food and does bad driving not bother you?

St Lucia and surrounds, Mater Hill & surrounds and Newmarket & surrounds are full of students. St Lucia and Newmarket are very nice and upmarket anyway.

Give me more details and I can tell you where are good places to look What sort of things do you like doing? Budget wise? Kids? Public Transport? etc. etc.

Expat or not, I've been here 8 years now so it's 'my' city and I know it like the back of my hand.

3) Ooh, that's the tricky one.

If you have kids:
Southbank Parklands (take your swimming costume, they've just finished a new waterpark there - all free!) - inner city
Alma Park Zoo (never been...) - northside
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - western suburbs
Science Museum - inner city - up the road from the parklands, actually!
New Farm Park - Really big park - right on the river - nice farmers markets on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month (I think?) - HUGE kids play area that's really ingenious. New Farm's inner suburb on the north side.

If you don't:
QPAC / Twelth Night Theatre are good for shows and plays
(there's another in paddington, don't remember the name)
Roma St Parklands / Gardens Point (walk across the river from Southbank to the City, turn right and keep going... you'll hit them )
Mt Cootha - would be good with the kids anyway - you can see almost all of brisbane from the top. For romance, maybe head up there for sunset, eat dinner then check out the night view. Be warned, the restaurant (poses as a cafe) is exxy.

I'm sure there's more, but just realised that i was supposed to finish work 20 min ago so slightly unfocussed

Hope I'm helpful

asprilla

Add on Daisy hill koala sanctuary too, for a bbq. Lovely place for a picnic. Plus there are some nice, fairly priced houses in that area too for you to look at.

Also, check out the Brisbane forest park centre at the gap, really nice and there's a mini-zoo which is great, only $5 for entry ! Also - the gap is a nice suburb to check out...

stop into the GOMA (gallery of modern arts) they've got a good andy warhol show on at the moment...while you're in the area, have a look around West end, nice place to live I reckon (expensive though).

have fun !

TsukinoDeynatsu

I didn't even know about Daisy Hill Koala Sanctuary! I'm a 'Logan Snob' (as in, you live further out than Kuraby and I automatically assume you're a druggie unless you live on Acreage (and then you could just be a druggie with taste). I'm blaming it on being a recently reformed teenager ) so I don't go out there much.

Actually, yeah, Rochedale, Rochedale South, Daisy Hill and maybe Greenbank? would be good places to live if you're into Acreage. Daisy Hill would get my vote out of those if you have kids because they have public transport! (albeit limited, but better than the other two)

I'm going to go look into that forest park centre now too ^_^

Jessy69

Wow, thx for help. I like to go running, have a car and want a swimming pool if possible.

TsukinoDeynatsu

go northside. Cheaper houses, more space, less 'ethnics', may drive you crazy if stupid hicks annoy you but

apparently there was some bloke assaulting women running around the red hill area, but I tend to think that they can't have been running all that fast...

(sorry. most of them escaped though I think)

Benefits and Cons:

Northside:
Pros: Generally cheaper, more 'white' area (if this bothers you), less built up, more space
cons: Less transport, I think the food's more expensive, many, many dumb people

Southside: Better access to public transport, quite ethnic (including all of the shops and restaurants and community centres that go with that), more built up (more flats etc.)
cons: a bit less space, more expensive, many, many, many dumb drivers.

West & East I don't know much about, though my snobbery says west = ipswich = BAD RUN NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

May just be cause I had a friend who went to school in Ipswich, and they used to talk about it being the 8th Wonder of the World: A Hole Above Ground.

Buzzy--Bee

Here's the link to my reccie of Brisbane -

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412993

Buzzy

spartacus

To quote the late, great Jim Morrison . . . 'the west (as long as its north of the river) is the best'.

themerlin

Drive from the Suburbs to the CBD in rush hour traffic, thats always fun

spartacus

Beaut run at the minute, half hour door to door. All the yummy mummies on the school run to Nudgie have evaporated.

marvinc

As others have said not worth enquiring about jobs, waste of time but maybe get local papers and have a look at jobs vacant to get an idea of salaries and also house price in areas you are interested in etc.

We mostly just used the reccie to visit areas we thought would suit us, that we'd researched on the net and to see it with our own eyes, inbetween that just did the touristy thing. Enjoyed Australia Zoo. Enjoy your reccie