From The Caribbean To Brisbane To Cairns
Oct 16th 2007, 1:05 am
#1
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From The Caribbean To Brisbane To Cairns
Hi All,
I got some great information and advice from this website before making the move to Oz, so I thought it was about time I gave something back for other people wanting to do the same thing.
Brisbane was a bit of a shock in some ways after having lived on a small island in the Caribbean for the last three years. I found it to be pretty much just like any other big city in the world, but more friendly, and better parks. There is lots of people and traffic, and people rushing everywhere. We lived out at Wellington Point which was a really nice part of the world, the only problem with it is that its a bit of a hike into the city, but to be honest, you have everything you need out there, so there is rarely a reason to have to go into the city.
Finding a rental in Brisbane was really tough, it was almost like having to apply for a job! We had to have copies of references, bank statements, utility bills, etc, etc, etc. It was made harder by the fact that we were looking for short term rental, in the end we just had to take a six month lease and break it (no big deal, you just pay advertising fees to the state agent - they were not bothered.) We really wanted to find furnished accommodation, but this was next to impossible to find, especially as we had cats which seemed to be a big issue to landlords. Bit of advice when you get to Brissy, get a Tom Tom GPS. We spent the first two days driving around in circles getting lost trying to navigate from the Refodex, then we bought a GPS and it made life so much easier, and meant we did not waste voluble time.
Our cats arrived in Brisbane some three or four weeks after they landed in Sydney, they looked fine after third traveling and quarantine experience, one of our cats which is plump to say the least, even lost some weight which is great! Needless to say he has put it on again already! Arranging the whole trip for the cats was a nightmare, but probably worse as we were coming from the Caribbean, I dare say most people on this board are coming from the UK so it will be much easier, as you can just pay someone who knows what they are doing, to do it for you.
We spent around four months in Brisbane while I did a training course. We enjoyed our time there, and took the opportunity to see Strabroke Island, and go down to Byron Bay, and one or two other places. The Brisbane winter was a bit of a shock to us, we did not realize how cold it got, but then we were in an old Ozzi house with no insulation. I think if you are a city person Brisbane would be a great place to live, we are not however, which was why we chose to head up to Cairns once we had finished our training course (this was already arranged before we arrived in Oz.)
Having been in Cairns for a little while now we have no regrets, it has everything you need, but is not too big, its really more like a large town that a city. There is so much to do, there are loads of great restaurants, or you can just go down to the Esplanade with some food to cook on the BBQ's down there, then there is Kuranda, Atherton Tablelands, the reef, and loads more to do. It seems to be shorts and t-shirt weather up here all year which suits us, its also very laid back, and there is very little in the way of traffic (there does not really seem to be a rush hour as such.)
Finding a rental up here was as hard as down in Brisbane, there are just not enough of them, so its a bit of a "sh!t fight" so to speak. There is a lot of development going on up here too, loads of estates being built, I just hope the place does not become a victim of its own success and become overdeveloped. The whole housing purchasing frenzy is going on up here too, house prices have skyrocketed from what they were.
So anyway, its early days yet, but we have no regrets, for those thinking of living in Cairns I would really recommend it, it really is a beautiful place to live up here.
I got some great information and advice from this website before making the move to Oz, so I thought it was about time I gave something back for other people wanting to do the same thing.
Brisbane was a bit of a shock in some ways after having lived on a small island in the Caribbean for the last three years. I found it to be pretty much just like any other big city in the world, but more friendly, and better parks. There is lots of people and traffic, and people rushing everywhere. We lived out at Wellington Point which was a really nice part of the world, the only problem with it is that its a bit of a hike into the city, but to be honest, you have everything you need out there, so there is rarely a reason to have to go into the city.
Finding a rental in Brisbane was really tough, it was almost like having to apply for a job! We had to have copies of references, bank statements, utility bills, etc, etc, etc. It was made harder by the fact that we were looking for short term rental, in the end we just had to take a six month lease and break it (no big deal, you just pay advertising fees to the state agent - they were not bothered.) We really wanted to find furnished accommodation, but this was next to impossible to find, especially as we had cats which seemed to be a big issue to landlords. Bit of advice when you get to Brissy, get a Tom Tom GPS. We spent the first two days driving around in circles getting lost trying to navigate from the Refodex, then we bought a GPS and it made life so much easier, and meant we did not waste voluble time.
Our cats arrived in Brisbane some three or four weeks after they landed in Sydney, they looked fine after third traveling and quarantine experience, one of our cats which is plump to say the least, even lost some weight which is great! Needless to say he has put it on again already! Arranging the whole trip for the cats was a nightmare, but probably worse as we were coming from the Caribbean, I dare say most people on this board are coming from the UK so it will be much easier, as you can just pay someone who knows what they are doing, to do it for you.
We spent around four months in Brisbane while I did a training course. We enjoyed our time there, and took the opportunity to see Strabroke Island, and go down to Byron Bay, and one or two other places. The Brisbane winter was a bit of a shock to us, we did not realize how cold it got, but then we were in an old Ozzi house with no insulation. I think if you are a city person Brisbane would be a great place to live, we are not however, which was why we chose to head up to Cairns once we had finished our training course (this was already arranged before we arrived in Oz.)
Having been in Cairns for a little while now we have no regrets, it has everything you need, but is not too big, its really more like a large town that a city. There is so much to do, there are loads of great restaurants, or you can just go down to the Esplanade with some food to cook on the BBQ's down there, then there is Kuranda, Atherton Tablelands, the reef, and loads more to do. It seems to be shorts and t-shirt weather up here all year which suits us, its also very laid back, and there is very little in the way of traffic (there does not really seem to be a rush hour as such.)
Finding a rental up here was as hard as down in Brisbane, there are just not enough of them, so its a bit of a "sh!t fight" so to speak. There is a lot of development going on up here too, loads of estates being built, I just hope the place does not become a victim of its own success and become overdeveloped. The whole housing purchasing frenzy is going on up here too, house prices have skyrocketed from what they were.
So anyway, its early days yet, but we have no regrets, for those thinking of living in Cairns I would really recommend it, it really is a beautiful place to live up here.
Oct 16th 2007, 7:37 am
#2
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Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Durham
Posts: 519
Re: From The Caribbean To Brisbane To Cairns
Hi All,
I got some great information and advice from this website before making the move to Oz, so I thought it was about time I gave something back for other people wanting to do the same thing.
Brisbane was a bit of a shock in some ways after having lived on a small island in the Caribbean for the last three years. I found it to be pretty much just like any other big city in the world, but more friendly, and better parks. There is lots of people and traffic, and people rushing everywhere. We lived out at Wellington Point which was a really nice part of the world, the only problem with it is that its a bit of a hike into the city, but to be honest, you have everything you need out there, so there is rarely a reason to have to go into the city.
Finding a rental in Brisbane was really tough, it was almost like having to apply for a job! We had to have copies of references, bank statements, utility bills, etc, etc, etc. It was made harder by the fact that we were looking for short term rental, in the end we just had to take a six month lease and break it (no big deal, you just pay advertising fees to the state agent - they were not bothered.) We really wanted to find furnished accommodation, but this was next to impossible to find, especially as we had cats which seemed to be a big issue to landlords. Bit of advice when you get to Brissy, get a Tom Tom GPS. We spent the first two days driving around in circles getting lost trying to navigate from the Refodex, then we bought a GPS and it made life so much easier, and meant we did not waste voluble time.
Our cats arrived in Brisbane some three or four weeks after they landed in Sydney, they looked fine after third traveling and quarantine experience, one of our cats which is plump to say the least, even lost some weight which is great! Needless to say he has put it on again already! Arranging the whole trip for the cats was a nightmare, but probably worse as we were coming from the Caribbean, I dare say most people on this board are coming from the UK so it will be much easier, as you can just pay someone who knows what they are doing, to do it for you.
We spent around four months in Brisbane while I did a training course. We enjoyed our time there, and took the opportunity to see Strabroke Island, and go down to Byron Bay, and one or two other places. The Brisbane winter was a bit of a shock to us, we did not realize how cold it got, but then we were in an old Ozzi house with no insulation. I think if you are a city person Brisbane would be a great place to live, we are not however, which was why we chose to head up to Cairns once we had finished our training course (this was already arranged before we arrived in Oz.)
Having been in Cairns for a little while now we have no regrets, it has everything you need, but is not too big, its really more like a large town that a city. There is so much to do, there are loads of great restaurants, or you can just go down to the Esplanade with some food to cook on the BBQ's down there, then there is Kuranda, Atherton Tablelands, the reef, and loads more to do. It seems to be shorts and t-shirt weather up here all year which suits us, its also very laid back, and there is very little in the way of traffic (there does not really seem to be a rush hour as such.)
Finding a rental up here was as hard as down in Brisbane, there are just not enough of them, so its a bit of a "sh!t fight" so to speak. There is a lot of development going on up here too, loads of estates being built, I just hope the place does not become a victim of its own success and become overdeveloped. The whole housing purchasing frenzy is going on up here too, house prices have skyrocketed from what they were.
So anyway, its early days yet, but we have no regrets, for those thinking of living in Cairns I would really recommend it, it really is a beautiful place to live up here.
I got some great information and advice from this website before making the move to Oz, so I thought it was about time I gave something back for other people wanting to do the same thing.
Brisbane was a bit of a shock in some ways after having lived on a small island in the Caribbean for the last three years. I found it to be pretty much just like any other big city in the world, but more friendly, and better parks. There is lots of people and traffic, and people rushing everywhere. We lived out at Wellington Point which was a really nice part of the world, the only problem with it is that its a bit of a hike into the city, but to be honest, you have everything you need out there, so there is rarely a reason to have to go into the city.
Finding a rental in Brisbane was really tough, it was almost like having to apply for a job! We had to have copies of references, bank statements, utility bills, etc, etc, etc. It was made harder by the fact that we were looking for short term rental, in the end we just had to take a six month lease and break it (no big deal, you just pay advertising fees to the state agent - they were not bothered.) We really wanted to find furnished accommodation, but this was next to impossible to find, especially as we had cats which seemed to be a big issue to landlords. Bit of advice when you get to Brissy, get a Tom Tom GPS. We spent the first two days driving around in circles getting lost trying to navigate from the Refodex, then we bought a GPS and it made life so much easier, and meant we did not waste voluble time.
Our cats arrived in Brisbane some three or four weeks after they landed in Sydney, they looked fine after third traveling and quarantine experience, one of our cats which is plump to say the least, even lost some weight which is great! Needless to say he has put it on again already! Arranging the whole trip for the cats was a nightmare, but probably worse as we were coming from the Caribbean, I dare say most people on this board are coming from the UK so it will be much easier, as you can just pay someone who knows what they are doing, to do it for you.
We spent around four months in Brisbane while I did a training course. We enjoyed our time there, and took the opportunity to see Strabroke Island, and go down to Byron Bay, and one or two other places. The Brisbane winter was a bit of a shock to us, we did not realize how cold it got, but then we were in an old Ozzi house with no insulation. I think if you are a city person Brisbane would be a great place to live, we are not however, which was why we chose to head up to Cairns once we had finished our training course (this was already arranged before we arrived in Oz.)
Having been in Cairns for a little while now we have no regrets, it has everything you need, but is not too big, its really more like a large town that a city. There is so much to do, there are loads of great restaurants, or you can just go down to the Esplanade with some food to cook on the BBQ's down there, then there is Kuranda, Atherton Tablelands, the reef, and loads more to do. It seems to be shorts and t-shirt weather up here all year which suits us, its also very laid back, and there is very little in the way of traffic (there does not really seem to be a rush hour as such.)
Finding a rental up here was as hard as down in Brisbane, there are just not enough of them, so its a bit of a "sh!t fight" so to speak. There is a lot of development going on up here too, loads of estates being built, I just hope the place does not become a victim of its own success and become overdeveloped. The whole housing purchasing frenzy is going on up here too, house prices have skyrocketed from what they were.
So anyway, its early days yet, but we have no regrets, for those thinking of living in Cairns I would really recommend it, it really is a beautiful place to live up here.
Trudi
Oct 16th 2007, 4:04 pm
#3
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Joined: Nov 2006
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Re: From The Caribbean To Brisbane To Cairns
Great post gald to hear you have settled in cairns may you continue to enjoy 
Oct 16th 2007, 5:56 pm
#4
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Re: From The Caribbean To Brisbane To Cairns
Really interesting post!
Where in caribbean were you? We have lived in BVI in past!
Where in caribbean were you? We have lived in BVI in past!
Oct 16th 2007, 11:11 pm
#5
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Re: From The Caribbean To Brisbane To Cairns
We were in the Cayman's never got to BVI but i heard it was nice!
Oct 17th 2007, 2:49 am
#6
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Joined: Aug 2005
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Re: From The Caribbean To Brisbane To Cairns
Thanks for that positive post Im moving to cairns on the 8th january Im really nervous I have to admit now that Im selling off my liestyle here bit by bit (sold my caravan at the weekend sad day) I know the rental situation is going to be a worry when we arrive we have 2 dogs coming with us too so even more to contend with. All the best for the future
Trudi
Trudi
