Brisbane - three days in...
 

Brisbane – finally arrived! Oh my god there’s so much to do! What first?

We flew with Eva Airlines, from Heathrow, with a quick stop off in Bangkok and Taipei. Fair dues, they were pretty good. No one was more surprised than me when our 4 suitcases appeared first on the luggage carousel at Brisbane and all together! The only issue we had with Eva was that they only allow 20kg each, which was hard. They’re pretty strict so I’m glad we weighed everything before we left. They were asking for £39 per kilo over – no way was I getting spun for that!

It was emotional leaving the family as expected, but it’s one of the steps you have to go through.

Have just installed Skype on my brother in laws PC and have linked in with my family already. I told them that we went to South Bank yesterday. The kids had a swim with a free open air movie in the background on a massive cinema size screen. It was really well organised, combined with the great weather there were lots of happy people.

The sound quality on Skype is excellent by the way. Picture depends on quality of web cam though, but remember it’s free. I can definitely recommend it.

It feels strange that we’re currently homeless, carless and jobless. Am staying with brother in law at the moment but there is so much to do. House, bank, credit cards, cars, mobile phones, kids schooling, tax codes, child benefit, buy beds, TV, etc etc…..

Rented a car from Avis yesterday using one of those cashback websites everyone is talking about. Got $50 back off so am renting a 4 litre Holden for peanuts. I think it’s fair to say the big engines are quite popular over here.

Used White and Co to transport most of our smaller things as we sold the larger items on ebay throughout last year. We did pretty well (there is something for everyone on ebay that’s for sure) Did not want to take the larger items with us as they were pretty old and once we realised the cost of a full container we decided to buy new when we arrived. Booked a date for pick up with White and Co, filled in all the forms and booked a days holiday from work. Called them the day before to make sure they were coming and low and behold, they had no record of us. At that point I was worried that things would not go smoothly. We rearranged a new date and when the removal men arrived they were quite abrupt and proceeded to promptly drop a couple of the boxes very clearly marked fragile. We complained to the office but were advised they were just having an off day. Anyway we waved goodbye to our things in the hope they would turn up in the condition we packed them. Well, apparently they arrived here on the 4th of Jan. No phone call, email or delivery. Watch this space!

We’re really excited and looking forward to the future. We are under no illusions though that the first couple of years will be pretty tough. I will try and make sure the kids are happy as that takes some of the pressure off the parents. Happy kids + happy parents = less stress for all.

Will post an add on the meet ups – it would be great to meet up with some other ex-pat families in and around Brisbane.

Kangaray

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

welcome to aus:thumbsup: and just dont try and do everything at once:eek:

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Welcome to Brisneyland - don't worry, the weather's not always this British! :rofl:

The advice above is good - pace yourselves and it will make the transition a lot easier :) Also remember to post any questions you might have - the BE crowd are a pretty helpful bunch!

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi,
Welcome to oz:rofl:Just a few helpful points to make life a little less stressful. You need to find yourself a permanent address as you might have trouble getting your medicare, TFN and changing your driving licence to QLD one.Once you have permanent address sorting the above should be straight forward. You can apply for TFN online, to change your driving licence over ,go to any QLD Tranport office, we paid $67 for ours to last 5 years. GO to Medicare office after about 5 days of arriving to give the data from immigration to be passed onto them that you have arrived in OZ. We went after 3 days and had to go back because they hadn't received acknowledgement that we had arrived.
When you get around to buying furniture and all house hold goods, dont pay what they are marked up at. ASK FOR DISCOUNT!!!!You will get at least between 12-25% off. We saved ourselves quite alot . We had discount on everything we bought so dont forget to ask, especially if you pay cash they will bend over backwards.
We have only been here since Nov and so far so good, everyone we've met has been great ,really helpful ,polite and happy which is a refreshing change.
Anyway ,welcome to Oz and goodluck for the future.


Ally

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

where do i look, as need to rent a car soon

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

I used buckscoop.com.au which is similar to quidco.com, which i used in the UK. Type in Avis as there is an offer for $33 off and then cash back aswell.

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

excellent advice - thank you.

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Thanks for your posting - just waiting for the next installment.

We are coming out to validate early April as we still haven't managed to get a buyer - hopefully we'll get the chance to attend an ex-pat meet then.

all the best,

Shelley

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Where about in Leeds and where abouts in Queensland, we're not far from you

NEXT INSTALL PLEASE WE CAN'T WAIT

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

we are looking into moving to OZ but have no idea where. My hubby works in a Oil Refinery so we need to live within a 40min drive of any oil refinery out there. We know of one in Kwinana, Perth but again know nothing of the area. We also have a young family ranging from 13wks-9 years so schools are really important too. PLEASE HELP!!!

Thanks
Natasha

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

brilliant update:thumbsup:
I hope everything keeps going well
best of luck
bec

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Have found a brand new 3 bed town house to rent fairly near to where we are building on North lakes. It has a community pool and gym and it’s pretty cheap too.

We’re very close to choosing a builder but the costs have gone up an incredible amount in 12 months so we wish we had decided to build back then. We like Plantationhomes.com.au and mccarthyhomes.com.au but there are soooooo many builders to choose from. We’ve heard good and bad stories for most of them so all much of a muchness. However build time is important to us as it will save us renting and as plantation are quoting 16 months this may be an issue.

Update White and Co. – well we contacted Whites and they said they would email us that day which they didn’t so we had to call again the next day. They are blaming the shippers this end saying that they should have contacted us. However the shippers this end (when we called them) were apparently supplied with the wrong details by Whites back in the UK. It’s sooo frustrating as we were so careful giving the right contact numbers, addresses and email addresses. How hard is it for goodness sake?

TIP – find out which company your shippers are using Aus side and contact them directly.

The boxes have not passed through customs yet so it will take 10-14 working days. We have resent all the paperwork to the shippers here and will arrange delivery. I’ll be so surprised if our stuff is in one piece but will update you when we get it.

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi,
The problems your experiencing with your shippers is why we chose a company call CROWN RELOCATIONS because they located both in u.k and australia. We had to wait 3 weeks before our stuff was released from customs.I have to say they gave us a first class service and nothing broken and we only brought about 20 boxes of stuff.

Ally

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Thanks - I'll have to use them next time.

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Welcome to Oz. BEen here three years and luvin` it!

We used SIMPSONS relocation Company in the UK and shipped 35 boxes! all in 1 piece! ANd delivered ahead of projected time!

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi,

Rothwell - as for qld - probably south brisbane/gold coast hinterland. We've got friends in Ashmore but we can't afford to live there. Mitchell will probably end up (fingers crossed) working southside brisbane so realistically anywhere he can commute to really.

How about you?

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

castleford, hopefully somewhere near Bayside area verrrrrry soon. You going to the meet up tomorrow

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi Natasha,

Have seen BP refinery in Brisbane, I have have friends who work in Karratha out from Perth (also BP) - maybe a place to start.

Ruth

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Regarding shippers Kangaray, My stuff was also reported to have arrived on the 4th Jan. Shipped with White andCo and currently being dealt with by international shipping movements in kingston.

Just watch the bastards don't try and charge you a custome fee of $160, they tried it with me but that was included in my quote in the UK.

I still haven't got my stuff either.

Jazzys

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

We're currently trying to sort out all the documentation that White and Co should have passed on. We'll watch out for the $160 fee - thanks.

on the plus - cars are definately cheaper over here! :thumbup: Wanted a cheap runaround and found a brand new Ford Fiesta 1.6 5 door in silver for 6k (UK Pounds). Ok it's a Ford but with a 3 year Ford Warrenty it seems pretty good to me.

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi,

We arrived in Brisbane on 4th Jan and loving it so far, managed to get a rental with a pool, bought a second hand car and started work at the Mater hospital, all good so far, kids start school tues, even managed to add a labrador to the family, still trying to make friends.. which seems to be the hardest part..

Tracey

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

We will be arriving there next Tuesday! The advice on this thread is great!

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi, just give it time and you will be ok. It is hard at first as you are so new to the place, but being open minded helps. I have been here 17 years now and have no regrets. Brisbane is a great place.

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Our stuff has not cleared customs yet….a real pain but hopefully any time now.

However, we have found a 3 bed semi ‘townhouses’ on a managed estate with a good community pool and gym. The houses are soooo close together but they are brand new and it’s only 15 mins drive from the boys new school so it’s pretty convenient. We’re paying $300 a week which seems very reasonable to me.

In the meantime we just need to chose a decent builder. We were going to go with Plantation but there build time is 18 months now so we’re thinking of going with mccarthy homes now which they say is only 6 months.

We have our driving licences now too. The transfer to a QLD licence was very efficient.

I handed the V6 Commodore back to Avis with a sad face, and then went and bought something nice and cheap. :( Got a brand new 5 door Fiesta with a 6 year warranty on for £6k which is great as a run around car. Yes I know it’s a fiesta but when the speed limit is 40 kph (24 mph) on small roads and 100 kph (60 mph) its seems pointless having a big car at the moment.

Managed to catch our first huntsman spider last night! Wow are they fast!! It was across the floor in seconds. It came from under the sofa. Once I had got off the kitchen sink (I needed to assess the situation ;) I tried to catch him in a small tub but it was not big enough so I ended up using the boy’s lunchbox. It instinctively went into a defence mode going back on its hind legs. Got him out safely though as they do a lot of good outside. Am off out to buy a decent spider catcher tomorrow!!!

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi, I work at Mater too, day oncology so give me a call and we can meet for coffee?( Been in OZ 17 yrs, 2 of them in Brisbane, so can answer questions for you)

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

You guys work in the private or public sector of Mater ?

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi,

I work in the public...ED dept...not to busy

Tracey

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

I'm at Mater public,you?

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi Brisben
Sorry to butt in the conversations ! I saw you was from Wynnum. We are hoping to move there (subject to visas) We have friends in Manly. They are loving it. My partner would like NSW but I liked Qld better. We looked at Wynnum on the web and as its near a coast line so my partner is happy. We have a 15yr old son, I have checked out the schools web sites
Whats your outlook on Wynnum if you dont mind.:thumbup:

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

OK for me I love it truly, It is fantastic, Manly is very very nice too, but very expesnive, I suggested you need around 200,000 gbp to buy a property in Manly, Wynnum cheaper ! Lota even cheaper, but all bayside suburbs. Close enough to everything you need etc. I love the place and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. To find out more check out

ourbrisbane.com :)

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

One thing to know about the bay that Wynnum is on is that its not really 'beachy' in the way that Bondi etc is, more muddy and mangroves than sandy beach. Still theres nice walks and a sea breeze which you need in the summer!

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Thanks Brisben
I'm always checking every site I can find! Nice to speak to a person that lives there. We wont buy anything right away. We rent in the uk at the moment. Our council house would cost over 200,000 GBP to buy so we have been saving instead. Thought we would rather own over there and have a better lifestlye than over here in the UK and be stuck in coz of the weather:rofl: thanks:thumbup:

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Hi Gayle
I would just love a summer! Bondi is lovely and Coggee, stayed there when we visted.
thanks

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

Lived in Coogee myself when I first came to Australia, was unable to buy there though, you need a fortune to even get a 1 bedroom flat. We have had very little summer up here in Brisbane, as the drought seems to have finally broken. Winters up here are sunnier and drier than the summers, which can be humid with tropical downpours (which is happening as I type!)

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

hi Gayle just spotted you work in Day oncology. I work as Chemotherapy nurse in Uk treat about 40 patients daily on unit Did you do same in Uk how does the job compare. Any things uou dont like about Qld. Be interested to hear especially about the work ,wages etc Thanks Carolyn x

Re: Brisbane - three days in...
 

All boxes deilvered today....eventually! MIM (on the Australian side) were really good. they rang us before delivery and were very polite when they arrived. The boxes do look like they've been round the world a couple of times, but luckily only 2 breakages (a big lamp and a remote PS3 controller). Phew!!! I would think hard about using Whites again though (UK end)....oh I don't have to...:rofl: