Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
Jul 27th 2010, 10:04 pm
#16
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Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
We will have the same problems to contend with, we are due to land in Brissy on 18th August, reading your experience instills a bit of confidence and positivity, as we are still in the UK at that last minute stress stage of sorting everything out, just can't wait to get over there!
Hope your adventure continues to be a great one.
Jul 27th 2010, 11:15 pm
#17
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 599
Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
What a really great post....we too shared some of your miss-givings b4 we arrived, but we've had no dramas....and that was 5 yrs ago 
Brisbane is a fantastic place to live and bring up a family...all you need is a positive outlook and an acceptance that things will be different than what your used too, and you'll be fine.
The best decision we ever made was coming here...
Brisbane is a fantastic place to live and bring up a family...all you need is a positive outlook and an acceptance that things will be different than what your used too, and you'll be fine.
The best decision we ever made was coming here...
Jul 28th 2010, 5:44 am
#18
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Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
I found out by saying I'm rooting in my desk!
Jul 28th 2010, 5:50 am
#19
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Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
We will have the same problems to contend with, we are due to land in Brissy on 18th August, reading your experience instills a bit of confidence and positivity, as we are still in the UK at that last minute stress stage of sorting everything out, just can't wait to get over there!
Hope your adventure continues to be a great one.
Hope your adventure continues to be a great one.
Mind you - shipping due here next week .... who knows what stress lies ahead ? Hubby's glad he'll be at work 
Shout out if we can help when you arrive!!What a really great post....we too shared some of your miss-givings b4 we arrived, but we've had no dramas....and that was 5 yrs ago
Brisbane is a fantastic place to live and bring up a family...all you need is a positive outlook and an acceptance that things will be different than what your used too, and you'll be fine.
Brisbane is a fantastic place to live and bring up a family...all you need is a positive outlook and an acceptance that things will be different than what your used too, and you'll be fine.
Jul 28th 2010, 8:19 am
#20
Lost in BE Cyberspace
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Location: Brisbane
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Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
. I've also said I'm rooting for the other team, oh how everyone laughed!So what do they call "root treatment" at the dentist then?
Jul 30th 2010, 7:42 am
#22
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Location: Brisbane, Qld
Posts: 285
Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
myrtle
nice update - we will be doing this in a few weeks.
Can I ask you - were you checking out schools at the same time? What i mean is did you just look at catchment areas - or how did you work that out?
We are in Sydney at present and will be moving to Brisbane early September - I'm hoping to get sorted so I can send the kids (11 & 9) into school in October. We will be taking a trip up some time in August and may try to secure a house then - but as yet we're undecided where to look.
any tips appreciated
Thanks
Poitin
nice update - we will be doing this in a few weeks.
Can I ask you - were you checking out schools at the same time? What i mean is did you just look at catchment areas - or how did you work that out?
We are in Sydney at present and will be moving to Brisbane early September - I'm hoping to get sorted so I can send the kids (11 & 9) into school in October. We will be taking a trip up some time in August and may try to secure a house then - but as yet we're undecided where to look.
any tips appreciated
Thanks
Poitin
Jul 30th 2010, 10:27 am
#23
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Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
Happy to help
To be honest ... we were a bit all over the place at first - trying to do schools AND suburbs. Worse thing we did was fall in love with an area and visit a fantastic school ... only to find no suitable rentals in our price range. Just so you know, we were only considering state schools (money being an issue early on) and soon realised that the better ones had very fixed catchments. The principals we spoke to all said we could try to apply from out of catchment but our chances for getting our son in would be slim. We then decided to hold off on visiting any more schools until we were pretty much settled on a suburb which we knew had a few rentals available. We decided we needed to be a little more organised. So we searched here for school results ( http://www.myschool.edu.au/ ) and here for catchments ( http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/...-brisbane.html). We then compared our suburbs and looked at the results of the schools. We arranged to see rentals and when we found one we liked, we contacted the school and arranged a visit. Have to say .... it is all about getting everything to fit. The school wouldn't enrol our son until we had a lease agreement. It's difficult to get everything to balance, but in my opinion, there's very little point visiting schools until you have picked a possible area(s). Feel free to pm me if I can help with anything else
Aug 1st 2010, 12:43 pm
#24
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Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
Speedy update ....
OH starts work tomorrow so feeling a little nervous. Our son now has his school uniform - which he was not impressed with, well apart from the hat which he thinks makes him look like a cowboy and so is "well cool." He met his teacher last week and she came across as approachable and friendly, so he is really keen now and looking forward to starting a week Monday! We had another peek at our rental and found the owner there putting in blinds, curtains, mail box etc (it's a new house) and cleaners giving it all the once over. The owner told us we have a large blue tailed lizard (?) who lives at the bottom of our garden - look forward to meeting him .....
We've bought some bits of furniture today and would definitely urge all newbies to haggle everywhere. We did really well at The Good Guys and SuperAmart - OH was mortified and him and our son sloped off, giggling when I got going .... But, he was quick to change his tune when I got a fair bit of discount 
Shipping came in bang on time - no issues with quarantine, so will be delivered on Friday. Hoping and praying it all arrives in the condition it went off in! We have also sneaked in some chilling time too - did SeaWorld last Friday and had the most glorious weather and a fantastic day. We bought the VIP passes for $99 each so plan to visit the other two worlds soon. Enjoying our adventure so far .... and looking forward to the next stage ... in our lovely new home
OH starts work tomorrow so feeling a little nervous. Our son now has his school uniform - which he was not impressed with, well apart from the hat which he thinks makes him look like a cowboy and so is "well cool." He met his teacher last week and she came across as approachable and friendly, so he is really keen now and looking forward to starting a week Monday! We had another peek at our rental and found the owner there putting in blinds, curtains, mail box etc (it's a new house) and cleaners giving it all the once over. The owner told us we have a large blue tailed lizard (?) who lives at the bottom of our garden - look forward to meeting him .....
We've bought some bits of furniture today and would definitely urge all newbies to haggle everywhere. We did really well at The Good Guys and SuperAmart - OH was mortified and him and our son sloped off, giggling when I got going .... But, he was quick to change his tune when I got a fair bit of discount Shipping came in bang on time - no issues with quarantine, so will be delivered on Friday. Hoping and praying it all arrives in the condition it went off in! We have also sneaked in some chilling time too - did SeaWorld last Friday and had the most glorious weather and a fantastic day. We bought the VIP passes for $99 each so plan to visit the other two worlds soon. Enjoying our adventure so far .... and looking forward to the next stage ... in our lovely new home
Aug 1st 2010, 8:53 pm
#25
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Joined: Oct 2009
Location: Hampshire - soon to be somewhere between Brissie and Gold Coast!!!
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Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
Speedy update ....
OH starts work tomorrow so feeling a little nervous. Our son now has his school uniform - which he was not impressed with, well apart from the hat which he thinks makes him look like a cowboy and so is "well cool." He met his teacher last week and she came across as approachable and friendly, so he is really keen now and looking forward to starting a week Monday! We had another peek at our rental and found the owner there putting in blinds, curtains, mail box etc (it's a new house) and cleaners giving it all the once over. The owner told us we have a large blue tailed lizard (?) who lives at the bottom of our garden - look forward to meeting him ..... We've bought some bits of furniture today and would definitely urge all newbies to haggle everywhere. We did really well at The Good Guys and SuperAmart - OH was mortified and him and our son sloped off, giggling when I got going .... But, he was quick to change his tune when I got a fair bit of discount Shipping came in bang on time - no issues with quarantine, so will be delivered on Friday. Hoping and praying it all arrives in the condition it went off in! We have also sneaked in some chilling time too - did SeaWorld last Friday and had the most glorious weather and a fantastic day. We bought the VIP passes for $99 each so plan to visit the other two worlds soon. Enjoying our adventure so far .... and looking forward to the next stage ... in our lovely new home
OH starts work tomorrow so feeling a little nervous. Our son now has his school uniform - which he was not impressed with, well apart from the hat which he thinks makes him look like a cowboy and so is "well cool." He met his teacher last week and she came across as approachable and friendly, so he is really keen now and looking forward to starting a week Monday! We had another peek at our rental and found the owner there putting in blinds, curtains, mail box etc (it's a new house) and cleaners giving it all the once over. The owner told us we have a large blue tailed lizard (?) who lives at the bottom of our garden - look forward to meeting him .....
We've bought some bits of furniture today and would definitely urge all newbies to haggle everywhere. We did really well at The Good Guys and SuperAmart - OH was mortified and him and our son sloped off, giggling when I got going .... But, he was quick to change his tune when I got a fair bit of discount Shipping came in bang on time - no issues with quarantine, so will be delivered on Friday. Hoping and praying it all arrives in the condition it went off in! We have also sneaked in some chilling time too - did SeaWorld last Friday and had the most glorious weather and a fantastic day. We bought the VIP passes for $99 each so plan to visit the other two worlds soon. Enjoying our adventure so far .... and looking forward to the next stage ... in our lovely new home
Aug 1st 2010, 11:00 pm
#26
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 14,284
Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
Speedy update ....
OH starts work tomorrow so feeling a little nervous. Our son now has his school uniform - which he was not impressed with, well apart from the hat which he thinks makes him look like a cowboy and so is "well cool." He met his teacher last week and she came across as approachable and friendly, so he is really keen now and looking forward to starting a week Monday! We had another peek at our rental and found the owner there putting in blinds, curtains, mail box etc (it's a new house) and cleaners giving it all the once over. The owner told us we have a large blue tailed lizard (?) who lives at the bottom of our garden - look forward to meeting him ..... We've bought some bits of furniture today and would definitely urge all newbies to haggle everywhere. We did really well at The Good Guys and SuperAmart - OH was mortified and him and our son sloped off, giggling when I got going .... But, he was quick to change his tune when I got a fair bit of discount Shipping came in bang on time - no issues with quarantine, so will be delivered on Friday. Hoping and praying it all arrives in the condition it went off in! We have also sneaked in some chilling time too - did SeaWorld last Friday and had the most glorious weather and a fantastic day. We bought the VIP passes for $99 each so plan to visit the other two worlds soon. Enjoying our adventure so far .... and looking forward to the next stage ... in our lovely new home
OH starts work tomorrow so feeling a little nervous. Our son now has his school uniform - which he was not impressed with, well apart from the hat which he thinks makes him look like a cowboy and so is "well cool." He met his teacher last week and she came across as approachable and friendly, so he is really keen now and looking forward to starting a week Monday! We had another peek at our rental and found the owner there putting in blinds, curtains, mail box etc (it's a new house) and cleaners giving it all the once over. The owner told us we have a large blue tailed lizard (?) who lives at the bottom of our garden - look forward to meeting him .....
We've bought some bits of furniture today and would definitely urge all newbies to haggle everywhere. We did really well at The Good Guys and SuperAmart - OH was mortified and him and our son sloped off, giggling when I got going .... But, he was quick to change his tune when I got a fair bit of discount Shipping came in bang on time - no issues with quarantine, so will be delivered on Friday. Hoping and praying it all arrives in the condition it went off in! We have also sneaked in some chilling time too - did SeaWorld last Friday and had the most glorious weather and a fantastic day. We bought the VIP passes for $99 each so plan to visit the other two worlds soon. Enjoying our adventure so far .... and looking forward to the next stage ... in our lovely new home
Aug 2nd 2010, 1:11 am
#27
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2009
Location: Brisbane, Qld
Posts: 285
Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
Hi there ...
Happy to help To be honest ... we were a bit all over the place at first - trying to do schools AND suburbs. Worse thing we did was fall in love with an area and visit a fantastic school ... only to find no suitable rentals in our price range. Just so you know, we were only considering state schools (money being an issue early on) and soon realised that the better ones had very fixed catchments. The principals we spoke to all said we could try to apply from out of catchment but our chances for getting our son in would be slim.
We then decided to hold off on visiting any more schools until we were pretty much settled on a suburb which we knew had a few rentals available. We decided we needed to be a little more organised. So we searched here for school results ( http://www.myschool.edu.au/ ) and here for catchments ( http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/...-brisbane.html). We then compared our suburbs and looked at the results of the schools. We arranged to see rentals and when we found one we liked, we contacted the school and arranged a visit. Have to say .... it is all about getting everything to fit. The school wouldn't enrol our son until we had a lease agreement. It's difficult to get everything to balance, but in my opinion, there's very little point visiting schools until you have picked a possible area(s). Feel free to pm me if I can help with anything else
Happy to help
To be honest ... we were a bit all over the place at first - trying to do schools AND suburbs. Worse thing we did was fall in love with an area and visit a fantastic school ... only to find no suitable rentals in our price range. Just so you know, we were only considering state schools (money being an issue early on) and soon realised that the better ones had very fixed catchments. The principals we spoke to all said we could try to apply from out of catchment but our chances for getting our son in would be slim. We then decided to hold off on visiting any more schools until we were pretty much settled on a suburb which we knew had a few rentals available. We decided we needed to be a little more organised. So we searched here for school results ( http://www.myschool.edu.au/ ) and here for catchments ( http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/...-brisbane.html). We then compared our suburbs and looked at the results of the schools. We arranged to see rentals and when we found one we liked, we contacted the school and arranged a visit. Have to say .... it is all about getting everything to fit. The school wouldn't enrol our son until we had a lease agreement. It's difficult to get everything to balance, but in my opinion, there's very little point visiting schools until you have picked a possible area(s). Feel free to pm me if I can help with anything else
Glad to hear you container arrived okay - I had ours delayed by 2 weeks as I knew we were going to be here in Sydney - but it ended up being delayed by a month - so it will be a bit later than planned.
Good luck
Thanks again.
Aug 2nd 2010, 1:36 am
#28
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Location: Semi-rural wonderworld, Brisbane
Posts: 15,109
Aug 2nd 2010, 4:02 am
#29
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Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
Myrtle -
What an awesome experience you've had! I'm so glad things are going so well....and your belongings will be arriving soon too
Hope it continues to go well for you!
What an awesome experience you've had! I'm so glad things are going so well....and your belongings will be arriving soon too
Hope it continues to go well for you!
Last edited by tiger222; Aug 2nd 2010 at 4:09 am. Reason: Questions answered by reading posts
Aug 2nd 2010, 4:08 am
#30
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Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,594
Re: Early Days ... Three and a half weeks in Brisbane
Hi Myrtle, I know others that have been caught out with this one too. One female friend asked a male colleague to accompany her to a store-cupboard for a root-around, He thought his dreams had come true! until someone else pointed out what she had actually asked him for, in the Australian context, it just left him very disappointed and her a little embarrassed.
We will have the same problems to contend with, we are due to land in Brissy on 18th August, reading your experience instills a bit of confidence and positivity, as we are still in the UK at that last minute stress stage of sorting everything out, just can't wait to get over there!
Hope your adventure continues to be a great one.
We will have the same problems to contend with, we are due to land in Brissy on 18th August, reading your experience instills a bit of confidence and positivity, as we are still in the UK at that last minute stress stage of sorting everything out, just can't wait to get over there!
Hope your adventure continues to be a great one.