When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

We have not even got our Visa yet, but there is one thing keeping me awake at night, and that is where do you go when you get there??

What I mean is do you

a) Book into a hotel for 2 weeks to sort yourself out, get over jet lag, have a nice comfy bed :zzz: good drink and a meal :beer: etc etc etc

b) Book into a Holiday Villa/Cottage type thing for a couple of weeks/months

c) Rent a house from the UK before you get to Oz so you have something to arrive at (main worry we arrive and it is totally EMPTY!! :scared: NO beds etc etc)

d) Do you buy a Winniebaygo :eek: (God knows how you spell it!!)

So what I am looking for is people been there and done it what did you do and did it work and any tips!!??!! :D

Many thanks in advance!!

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

here's how we did it (and we'd do it again this way)

1. arranged a cheap rental in a complex with a manager BEFORE we left the UK
2. contacted the manager who arranged all our gas and electric connection the day before we flew
3. hired furniture - the company we used furnished the house the day before we moved in, that inclded all electrical equipment!
4. arranged a holiday apartment for 4 days to get over the jet lag. We went over to Moreton Island, a beach villa which was just fabulous as its the first memories the kids have of aus
5. unlock your UK mobiles and top up with £50
6. pay for 3 mths rent in advance.
7. arrange a hire car BEFORE leaving the UK. We got a fab deal on a little hyundai getz for $19 a day
8. make sure you book a taxi to collect you from the airport that is big enough for all your suitcases! :D

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

:D yeh I must admit this used to give me me sleepless nights. I'm not bothered anymore to be honest....my hubby tells me I need to chill out so I am! We have visas, flight tickets and that is it!

We plan to rent a holiday cottage for 2 weeks when we arrive then this will give us time to suss our the areas and find a rental in that time - hopefully!!!! Most of our furniture is being shipped, but not beds and sofas so we will buy those asap.

Rachel

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

OK thanks that gives me something to go for sure!!!

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

Hi

We rented a furnished apartment in Brisbane for 3 weeks, hoping that this would give us time to find a rental. We moved into the rental just over 2 weeks after arriving and the apartments only charged us for the days we were there which I thought was good.

We also hired a car for 3 weeks and picked this up at the airport. We hired a Falcon Wagon so it was big enough for tall our luggage and also to transport anything we bought to the rental as we did not ship anything over. We bought a car before the end of the 3 weeks.

Once we had found the rental we then went about buying furniture for it, making sure that it could be delivered the day we moved in. It was amazing how obliging the shops were.

Hope this is of some help

Onc

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

I note the use of 'we' in the original post, so have taken the libery of assuming you have a family. You have a few common sense options:

1. Hire a relocation agent - at cost - who will sort everything out.
2. Someone from the family goes out ahead of the rest of the family, lives cheaply before finding somewhere to live, then ships out the rest of the family out.
3. You all go out and hire, say, furnished apartment (very common) and find somewhere to rent/buy.

Renting over here is less hassle than the UK, and they are very geared up to new migrants (at least with proof of some funds). Me and my family chose the second option. with hindsight I'd still do it that way. But that is my family.

If you are heading for regional Australia I am not sure how realistic options 1 and 3 are.

Neil

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

The problem is we want to keep the family together so one of us going ahead and setting up was not an option. The thought of flying alone with 3 kids in tow was terrifying!

We tried to organise everything before we left the UK and I'm so glad we did. friends of ours had terrible times trying to find rentals as there were so many shit holes out there charging stacks of money. Complexes are good, even if its for a short period.

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

hi there, just wondering if you could tell me who you used for your car hire and who for your accommodation - thanks
regards
vb2

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

Fortunately the company I am putting me up for 4 weeks at the corporate apartments they rent. And they are paying :D.

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

The most comfortable and probably most cost effective way of doing it is to rent a short term furnished property before you leave the uk. It depends on you, but some rent for a couple of weeks until they have secured a rental others book for the whole time until their furniture arrives and clears customs, giving them plenty time to find a suitable rental property and not have to rough it. Most of these properties will be well furnished and equipped with everything you need, some even go as far as to supply internet connection, games cosoles for the kids and games and books. Booking something like this will allow you to start off in comfort with space and privacy for the whole family meaning you don't rush into an unfurnished rental which may not be suitable for you. Prices are usually cheaper than booking a family room in a hotel.

Lynn

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

No problem Priority car rentals in Brisbane. They were great. They can pick you up and do a drop off at the airport if you need to

Moreton Island accommodation was via Tangalooma Villa, Greg and Natalie Nash, 3 nights approx $300. Ferry over $92

main accommodation Victoria Cove, 3 bed 2.5 bath house in complex, very nice and certainly does the trick at $225 a week. Have a look at www.seqrents.com.au

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

Here is how we did it

Booked house Poms in Perth on internet night before we flew out for one week.

Arrived checked rentals.

One week later moved into rental bought air beds duvets kettle crockery etc from Big W.

Camped in house lol for first week then gradually bought bits and pieces.

It was an adventure and would do it again lol.

PS. We had very little money approx $12000 and a suitcase each of clothing ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the days hahahahahah!

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

many thanks

vb2

Re: When you get to Australia....HELP!!
 

We booked our flights, 4 weeks car hire and 4 weeks resort accomodation (we wanted a more than comfortable start to our residency in OZ, as we knew we'd be running around every day finding a suitable house to rent / car to buy / TFN's to sort / Medicare / finding jobs(!) / buying furniture / appliances etc etc to kit our new home out and by the time we relaxed every evening, we wanted it to be somewhere really nice).

Everything went well for us, 'cept our rental was 4 days late (new build not completed on time) and so we had 4 extra days in a 'motel', until we moved. damn glad we didn't stop in a motel with two kids under 5 and a M-I-L in tow as it drove us all mad.

Anyways best advice is book your car hire and first 4 weeks accomodation before you land - makes the whole thig so much easier - theres enough to be getting on with when you land in a new country.

Good luck. :)