kevinbloomfield

Hi all
We have just gone over the 2 years here on the lovely Sunshine Coast. We have a great group of friends and we are looking forward to getting our citizenship (apart from the fact we have lost our UK passports).

We spend our time fishing, camping, going to the beach, 4WD'ing, going out on our friends boat and generally having a great time.

I setup an IT business 14 months ago which is going well and my wife works in a small restaurant down in Maroochydore, she is also studying at the Sunshine Coast uni and is hoping to get on a nursing degree next year. Our son David is now a apprentice glazier and turning into a proper tradie (like getting excited by cordless drills and spirit levels!)

We have one big regret though, we wished we'd came over 10 years ago when our son was younger so maybe he would have got into the surfing, lifesaving etc. Otherwise we love it here. Personally I have no desire to go back to the UK at anytime, I really can't see any attraction. We have pretty much everything here.

I think the most important thing for anyone coming over here is to have a good bunch of friends. it's all well and good having a big house with a pool and a big 4WD car but without friends I reckon it would be very hard. We have been very lucky with our friends here and we wouldn't swap them for anything.
A special thanks to (in no particular order) Andy, Jayne, Steve, Judy, Roger, Jeanette, Simon, Debbie, Simon, Ange and anyone else I may have forgotten (sorry)

To anyone contemplating the move over then don't think about it just do it. Australia is so much better than the UK it's unreal, just the weather itself is enough reason to move
To see some photos of what we've been up have a look here
http://flickr.com/photos/bloomster/
And here
http://picasaweb.google.com/devilishdeans
Our friend Jayne photos everything and anything and uploads them to Picassaweb within 30 minutes of the photos being taken (well it seems that way)

That's it for now, I'll post an update in October 2009 when we should be citizens and tru blue aussies :-)

Pagani-Rennox

Hi there

Fantastic post - makes me feel great! We are arriving in the Sunshine coast Dec 31st - NEW YEAR, NEW LIFE. Have a rental apartment in Cotton Tree (Burlington Apartments) then are looking to settle in a permanent rental (got to have a pool) once we find one.

So glad to hear the Sunshine Coast is as good as we hope it will be. We have 2 kids age 5 and 8 and I honestly think we are all going to love it there. Just one downside - I start work on Jan 5th so not enough time to enjoy myself first!!

Looking forward to meeting people when we get out. Any expat meetups arranged?

Thanks for the lovely post

kevinbloomfield

Hi
You'll love it here I'm sure, we really wished we came out when our son was 5 years old as it's a much nicer environment to bring kids up than the UK.

There's plenty of time to enjoy yourself outside of work hours, just make the most of the weekends and the outdoor lifestyle.

Good luck on the rentals though, budget on paying $450 - $500 a week for something decent in a good school area (Mountain Creek, Sippy Downs etc)

As to Expat meets, just arrange one yourself when you get here, I'm sure you'll get a few people along but I'd suggest having it at the Mooloolaba Spit rather than the Kawana Hotel where it normally is. At least you can all go and have a play on the beach or in the ocean - so much nicer than a dark old pub.

Pagani-Rennox

Thanks for the info Kevin. Is Sippy Downs a good area to settle? Hadn't really thought about going there, as don't know much about the area. Was thinkng more of Currimundi, Maroochydore, or Mountain Creek areas but willing to keep an open mind.

Cheers
Claire

kevinbloomfield

I'd say Mountain Creek would be ideal as there are good schools (Primary and High), it's 5 minutes to the beach and pretty much close to everything.
Good for walking the dog as well if you have one (or are getting one) as the council are now putting in some new walking tracks in the bushland behind the Glenfields estate.
Maroochydore high school doesn't have such a good reputation and I've no idea about Sippy Downs but there's loads of building going on up that way and there's going to be a new town centre at some point in that area.

Brisben

I came when my two boys were 5 and 7 and glad we did, they love the outdoor lifestyle, their life is far better than what it was in the UK.

I agree Australia is much better than the UK, Personal opinion and outlook.

I have family now seeing how we live and wish / want to bring their children over so they can enjoy the same.

When I come home and swim in the pool with the kids, play on the beach or just ride our bikes I realise everytime how fortunate we are.

Good on ya Kevin, keep enjoying it.

kevinbloomfield

Hey Ben, seems a long time ago now that we were both in the UK doesn't it?
Aint the weather just gorgeous here at the moment? lovely blue skies and hovering between 24 - 28
I wonder what the UK is doing (grey, around 12 degrees brrrrrrrrr)

bradburns2

It's nice to hear that you're still enjoying the ozzie life, hope you all have many more wonderful years ahead of you.

I think you are spot on with what you said about needing to have good friends. There's no point in being in a beautiful place, being lonely. I just hope we are fortunate enough to make good friends too.

We are hoping to move up to the Sunshine Coast at the end of Jan. I am getting slightly worried about the cost of rentals though. When i have looked on realestate.com, i have seen 3 and a couple of 4 beds up for $400 per week. Is this not really the case then? I don't really want to be spending more than that on a rental. The areas i've been looking at are Caloundra west (Bellvista) and the surrounding areas.

Lisa

Brisben

It does Kev, seems like a distant memory.

The UK is very cold and gloomy, winter is beginning to kick in so its all depression here on in for the next four / five months.

I might even hit the beach soon

Good on ya Kev keep enjoying and when I am up your way I'll give you a shout.

kevinbloomfield

All depends on where you want to be, the Mountain Creek schools have a good reputation so the house prices are higher (to buy and rent). The house next door to us is a rental and it costs $450 a week, it's a 4 bed lowset without a pool. To buy it would be around $500,000.
Caloundra is cheaper I believe and it's lovely down there but it is a bit old fashioned. As long as you don't want to be out after 9pm you'll be fine as there is a special police force down there (the pyjama police) that arrests unruly types who stay out late :-)

bradburns2

I've heard of the Mountain Creek schools and we will look around there too, but we are on a student visa, with lots of restrictions on us and there are lots of fees to pay too, which limits us, on what we can pay for a rental. Obviously i would prefer to be close to a very good school, but in this case it is more where we can afford to go than where we want to go. Saying that though we love it in Caloundra and it seems to have what we are looking for. Except for the pyjama police. We are not dead set on Caloundra yet though we have lots more searching yet.

Thanks Kevin

marvinc

Good feel update and loved looking at your pics, airport ones you are all so happy and smilie, hope I am

joeyballantyne

evening all!...Kev you should know that there are different time zones for the pyjama police to deal with in Caloundra...Golden Beach are in bed first at 8.59m - as the seafood shop and BWS closes... then the rest of Caloundra gradually falls asleep as there is no longer the hum of V8's...however Pelican Waters, Bellvista and Ivadale Lakes are always last at around 3am!...due to watching live Premiership footy

how did the futsal team go???

J

Caloundra is cheaper I believe and it's lovely down there but it is a bit old fashioned. As long as you don't want to be out after 9pm you'll be fine as there is a special police force down there (the pyjama police) that arrests unruly types who stay out late

kevinbloomfield

Caloundra's a great place really though, a lot more character than Maroochydore (which has no character at all). Lovely beaches and the RSL is good. I reckon it'll wake up over the next few years and it'll be the new Noosa (without the pretentious people).

It's funny what you say about Pelican Waters etc, I suppose the same could be said about Mountain Creek and Chancellor Park or wherever there's a high amount of pommies living. I personally can't stand watching footie on the telly so I'm always in bed at 9:30 - 10pm.

Never got into the Footsal, we do however have a team (Fulchester United) down at Buderim that plays on Wednesday nights. I say it's at Buderim but it could be in north London as there's plenty of cockneys down there :-)

If anyone is reading this on the 5th November, it's absolutely pissing it down here today, I do hope it's not like last year when it seemed to rain for months all over the Xmas period :-(

bridie

I remember the days we were waiting for our visas.... where does the time go?
Glad it's all working out for you