one year on heres our story!
Mar 26th 2007, 3:49 pm
#16
Addicted Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: UK Soon to be Brisbane
Posts: 37
Re: one year on heres our story!
Well guys for those that remember me, its been a year since our arrival in australia - and whoaaaaaahhhh what a ride!!!!
lets start at the beginning, my family and I came out here in march last year on a 139 designated area sponsored - which i believe no longer exists now!!
anyway, we arrived in stanthorpe - which is a lovely country town out west and stayed with my family for a few weeks, we needed the R&R after a traumatic last week in england, saying goodbye and living in a hotel after we had sold the car and house - frightening thought but exciting all the same.
We arrived in stanthorpe excited and looking forward to our new life, and i can honestly say i havent been disappointed yet!
We stayed with a friend in a suburb called indooroopilly for a week, which i can definitely recommend as a nice suburb, close to the city. Then our quest began for a house, we trawled the internet and newspapers and first found a house on the east coast at ormiston which was lovely, but unfortunately 4 other couples thought so too so we missed out on that one!! (as is the norm here when renting - especially close to the city)
we decided to let fate take its course and pretty much closed our eyes and simply "picked" somewhere between stanthorpe and brisbane, and low and behold along came Parkinson!!! on the southside
great suburb nice houses, nice people, good schools etc. etc. so we looked around on the net again and found a house that we liked it was a four bedroom lowset, ensuite, double garage again pretty much the norm for new estates at a cost of $330 per week. We got it and lived there happily on a 12 month lease, parkinson is 30 mins from the city and 45 from the gold coast, 1 hour from the sunshine coast so pretty central to everything, i decided on a complete new career change so decided to retrain in hairdressing!!! we bought completely new furniture from scratch at a cost of approx $15,000 all in all but that can be drastically reduced!!!! we also bought a car etc. arranged medicare, insurances, utilities, tax, usual stuff.
as the year has gone on, we have met lots of people along the way, enjoyed bris and the coasts on weekends and just enjoyed life. We have recently moved to the northside of brisbane and are enjoying that too, same size house etc but a bit cheaper lol!! my son is in a new school (he settled ok in his old one) my husband is working a casual stress free job and i finish my course in 8 weeks, i work in a salon part time and they have asked me to go full time when i finish.
We absolutely love australia, the stress and stain of the past couple years going through the whole TRA and application is definitely worth it, i have no thoughts or inclination to return to the UK and i dont particularly miss anything about the UK (apart from one or two friends of course!!) i wouldnt swap our life for the world!! we look out of our window and see a beautiful freshwater reserve and park and feel generally much safer here (rightly or wrongly!!) the weather is fantastic 99.9% of the time and even when it rains its still a great day.
in a nutshell for me, the worst days here are still tons better than the best days in the UK!!
so hang in there people your time will come!!
regards
vb2
lets start at the beginning, my family and I came out here in march last year on a 139 designated area sponsored - which i believe no longer exists now!!
anyway, we arrived in stanthorpe - which is a lovely country town out west and stayed with my family for a few weeks, we needed the R&R after a traumatic last week in england, saying goodbye and living in a hotel after we had sold the car and house - frightening thought but exciting all the same.
We arrived in stanthorpe excited and looking forward to our new life, and i can honestly say i havent been disappointed yet!
We stayed with a friend in a suburb called indooroopilly for a week, which i can definitely recommend as a nice suburb, close to the city. Then our quest began for a house, we trawled the internet and newspapers and first found a house on the east coast at ormiston which was lovely, but unfortunately 4 other couples thought so too so we missed out on that one!! (as is the norm here when renting - especially close to the city)
we decided to let fate take its course and pretty much closed our eyes and simply "picked" somewhere between stanthorpe and brisbane, and low and behold along came Parkinson!!! on the southside
great suburb nice houses, nice people, good schools etc. etc. so we looked around on the net again and found a house that we liked it was a four bedroom lowset, ensuite, double garage again pretty much the norm for new estates at a cost of $330 per week. We got it and lived there happily on a 12 month lease, parkinson is 30 mins from the city and 45 from the gold coast, 1 hour from the sunshine coast so pretty central to everything, i decided on a complete new career change so decided to retrain in hairdressing!!! we bought completely new furniture from scratch at a cost of approx $15,000 all in all but that can be drastically reduced!!!! we also bought a car etc. arranged medicare, insurances, utilities, tax, usual stuff.
as the year has gone on, we have met lots of people along the way, enjoyed bris and the coasts on weekends and just enjoyed life. We have recently moved to the northside of brisbane and are enjoying that too, same size house etc but a bit cheaper lol!! my son is in a new school (he settled ok in his old one) my husband is working a casual stress free job and i finish my course in 8 weeks, i work in a salon part time and they have asked me to go full time when i finish.
We absolutely love australia, the stress and stain of the past couple years going through the whole TRA and application is definitely worth it, i have no thoughts or inclination to return to the UK and i dont particularly miss anything about the UK (apart from one or two friends of course!!) i wouldnt swap our life for the world!! we look out of our window and see a beautiful freshwater reserve and park and feel generally much safer here (rightly or wrongly!!) the weather is fantastic 99.9% of the time and even when it rains its still a great day.
in a nutshell for me, the worst days here are still tons better than the best days in the UK!!
so hang in there people your time will come!!
regards
vb2
great update. I am heading over to Brissy in June and would like to retrain as a hairdresser. I went to an Expo in London yesterday and got some details from Wynne-Hoelscher Academy. Have you heard of them? Which route to training did you take? I would be truly grateful for any advice you could give.
Regards,
A cockeyed optimist wearing Rose Tinted Contact Lenses :-)
Mar 26th 2007, 8:39 pm
#17
Ping-ponging Pom
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: Midlands - Brissy - Midlands - Brissy
Posts: 355
Re: one year on heres our story!
Well guys for those that remember me, its been a year since our arrival in australia - and whoaaaaaahhhh what a ride!!!!
lets start at the beginning, my family and I came out here in march last year on a 139 designated area sponsored - which i believe no longer exists now!!
anyway, we arrived in stanthorpe - which is a lovely country town out west and stayed with my family for a few weeks, we needed the R&R after a traumatic last week in england, saying goodbye and living in a hotel after we had sold the car and house - frightening thought but exciting all the same.
We arrived in stanthorpe excited and looking forward to our new life, and i can honestly say i havent been disappointed yet!
We stayed with a friend in a suburb called indooroopilly for a week, which i can definitely recommend as a nice suburb, close to the city. Then our quest began for a house, we trawled the internet and newspapers and first found a house on the east coast at ormiston which was lovely, but unfortunately 4 other couples thought so too so we missed out on that one!! (as is the norm here when renting - especially close to the city)
we decided to let fate take its course and pretty much closed our eyes and simply "picked" somewhere between stanthorpe and brisbane, and low and behold along came Parkinson!!! on the southside
great suburb nice houses, nice people, good schools etc. etc. so we looked around on the net again and found a house that we liked it was a four bedroom lowset, ensuite, double garage again pretty much the norm for new estates at a cost of $330 per week. We got it and lived there happily on a 12 month lease, parkinson is 30 mins from the city and 45 from the gold coast, 1 hour from the sunshine coast so pretty central to everything, i decided on a complete new career change so decided to retrain in hairdressing!!! we bought completely new furniture from scratch at a cost of approx $15,000 all in all but that can be drastically reduced!!!! we also bought a car etc. arranged medicare, insurances, utilities, tax, usual stuff.
as the year has gone on, we have met lots of people along the way, enjoyed bris and the coasts on weekends and just enjoyed life. We have recently moved to the northside of brisbane and are enjoying that too, same size house etc but a bit cheaper lol!! my son is in a new school (he settled ok in his old one) my husband is working a casual stress free job and i finish my course in 8 weeks, i work in a salon part time and they have asked me to go full time when i finish.
We absolutely love australia, the stress and stain of the past couple years going through the whole TRA and application is definitely worth it, i have no thoughts or inclination to return to the UK and i dont particularly miss anything about the UK (apart from one or two friends of course!!) i wouldnt swap our life for the world!! we look out of our window and see a beautiful freshwater reserve and park and feel generally much safer here (rightly or wrongly!!) the weather is fantastic 99.9% of the time and even when it rains its still a great day.
in a nutshell for me, the worst days here are still tons better than the best days in the UK!!
so hang in there people your time will come!!
regards
vb2
lets start at the beginning, my family and I came out here in march last year on a 139 designated area sponsored - which i believe no longer exists now!!
anyway, we arrived in stanthorpe - which is a lovely country town out west and stayed with my family for a few weeks, we needed the R&R after a traumatic last week in england, saying goodbye and living in a hotel after we had sold the car and house - frightening thought but exciting all the same.
We arrived in stanthorpe excited and looking forward to our new life, and i can honestly say i havent been disappointed yet!
We stayed with a friend in a suburb called indooroopilly for a week, which i can definitely recommend as a nice suburb, close to the city. Then our quest began for a house, we trawled the internet and newspapers and first found a house on the east coast at ormiston which was lovely, but unfortunately 4 other couples thought so too so we missed out on that one!! (as is the norm here when renting - especially close to the city)
we decided to let fate take its course and pretty much closed our eyes and simply "picked" somewhere between stanthorpe and brisbane, and low and behold along came Parkinson!!! on the southside
great suburb nice houses, nice people, good schools etc. etc. so we looked around on the net again and found a house that we liked it was a four bedroom lowset, ensuite, double garage again pretty much the norm for new estates at a cost of $330 per week. We got it and lived there happily on a 12 month lease, parkinson is 30 mins from the city and 45 from the gold coast, 1 hour from the sunshine coast so pretty central to everything, i decided on a complete new career change so decided to retrain in hairdressing!!! we bought completely new furniture from scratch at a cost of approx $15,000 all in all but that can be drastically reduced!!!! we also bought a car etc. arranged medicare, insurances, utilities, tax, usual stuff.
as the year has gone on, we have met lots of people along the way, enjoyed bris and the coasts on weekends and just enjoyed life. We have recently moved to the northside of brisbane and are enjoying that too, same size house etc but a bit cheaper lol!! my son is in a new school (he settled ok in his old one) my husband is working a casual stress free job and i finish my course in 8 weeks, i work in a salon part time and they have asked me to go full time when i finish.
We absolutely love australia, the stress and stain of the past couple years going through the whole TRA and application is definitely worth it, i have no thoughts or inclination to return to the UK and i dont particularly miss anything about the UK (apart from one or two friends of course!!) i wouldnt swap our life for the world!! we look out of our window and see a beautiful freshwater reserve and park and feel generally much safer here (rightly or wrongly!!) the weather is fantastic 99.9% of the time and even when it rains its still a great day.
in a nutshell for me, the worst days here are still tons better than the best days in the UK!!
so hang in there people your time will come!!
regards
vb2
We've been to Brissie twice and loved the place, especially as it's close to a lot of things to see and do (plus it's beautiful).
Roll on next January!....
Dave, Chez and 'ickle Jacob
Mar 27th 2007, 12:10 am
#18
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Rockingham, Perth
Posts: 5,170
Re: one year on heres our story!
Hey VB I think we need to have another reccie at some point. When we came we didn't like it too much. My sis lives at Redcliffe and I have to admit it wasn't for us having said that we had no-one to show us around the good places. There are some spectacular places to live but nothing grabbed us by the hand.
I wish it would have cos all my friends live there
boo hoo
no mates here..........
hugs Lace xxxx
I wish it would have cos all my friends live there
boo hoo
no mates here..........
hugs Lace xxxx
Mar 27th 2007, 9:40 am
#19
bradford 2 brissy at last
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 575
Re: one year on heres our story!
hey lace, you just need someone to show you round properly as you said lol!
give me a knock if you are over this way again we will show ya round!!!!
regards
vb2
give me a knock if you are over this way again we will show ya round!!!!
regards
vb2
Hey VB I think we need to have another reccie at some point. When we came we didn't like it too much. My sis lives at Redcliffe and I have to admit it wasn't for us having said that we had no-one to show us around the good places. There are some spectacular places to live but nothing grabbed us by the hand.
I wish it would have cos all my friends live there
boo hoo
no mates here..........
hugs Lace xxxx
I wish it would have cos all my friends live there
boo hoo
no mates here..........
hugs Lace xxxx
Mar 27th 2007, 9:44 am
#20
bradford 2 brissy at last
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 575
Re: one year on heres our story!
hey thanks for your reply, i havent used their academy and to be honest i havent heard of them - which is surprising as you kind of get to know the major players when you are in the industry, but thats not to say they arent any good etc. i used brisbane school of hairdressing - check them out on the net you can organise the student visa yourself or go through an agent, then you need to do a two year course - which is actually 18 months in total and then apply for TRA and residency when it is finished - unless you get residency beforehand from the UK then you come here and do the 12 months course which bring you out at cert 3 - you then need to do at least a year in a salon to apply for senior cert etc.
hope that helps pm me if you need any further info
regards
vb2
hope that helps pm me if you need any further info
regards
vb2
Hello V2B,
great update. I am heading over to Brissy in June and would like to retrain as a hairdresser. I went to an Expo in London yesterday and got some details from Wynne-Hoelscher Academy. Have you heard of them? Which route to training did you take? I would be truly grateful for any advice you could give.
Regards,
A cockeyed optimist wearing Rose Tinted Contact Lenses :-)
great update. I am heading over to Brissy in June and would like to retrain as a hairdresser. I went to an Expo in London yesterday and got some details from Wynne-Hoelscher Academy. Have you heard of them? Which route to training did you take? I would be truly grateful for any advice you could give.
Regards,
A cockeyed optimist wearing Rose Tinted Contact Lenses :-)
Mar 27th 2007, 11:02 pm
#22
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Rockingham, Perth
Posts: 5,170
Re: one year on heres our story!
Lol cheers for that petal I will but I cannot see us moving in the near future.
Jobs and all
hugs and stuff meeeeeee xxx
Jobs and all
hugs and stuff meeeeeee xxx
Apr 3rd 2007, 7:18 pm
#23
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
Posts: 2,141
Re: one year on heres our story!
Lovely uplifting post, a nice read... Congrats!
S-j x
S-j x
Apr 8th 2007, 8:18 am
#24
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 24
Re: one year on heres our story!
It's nice to hear grate stories like this one! we're just filling in the 136 form. We're doing ourselves, as my Husband is a Carpenter and we got 125 points without trying for them, so I guess it should be a case of just ticking the right boxes and collating the corect information.
not sure if we're doing the right thing though - think it's just because we'd never thought about emmigrating until we visited the Sunshine Coast for a month in December. Then, our whole world was turned upside down!
We quite liked Beerwah as it's a bit out of the way from Caloundra where we stayed. I think over the next few months we'll know for sure - it's just such a big step but something inside is telling us that we've got to do it, if not for the children and their future. I don't feel that they have a future here.
Pleased you like it - it does give us a more positive vibe that most people feel they have made the right decision!
Sharon.
not sure if we're doing the right thing though - think it's just because we'd never thought about emmigrating until we visited the Sunshine Coast for a month in December. Then, our whole world was turned upside down!
We quite liked Beerwah as it's a bit out of the way from Caloundra where we stayed. I think over the next few months we'll know for sure - it's just such a big step but something inside is telling us that we've got to do it, if not for the children and their future. I don't feel that they have a future here.
Pleased you like it - it does give us a more positive vibe that most people feel they have made the right decision!
Sharon.
