Originally Posted by rebnatoli (Post 5043464)

We arrived in Brisbane on 4th June at about 7.30pm - all very tired but the flights had gone as well as they could (flew with Singapore who are always good) - hadn't really worked out how we were going to xfr all our luggage to our airport hotel but fortunately they had maxi taxis which could fit the 4 of us and all our stuff in. Got to the hotel - our hire car (free as we'd bought a car but it wasn't ready in time) was there ready and waiting. Went straight to bed and managed to get enough sleep to keep going.

The next day we headed off to our first 2 week rental in Burbank - we stayed at Prout Cottage which was fantastic and the owners were so helpful and friendly - unfortunately its so popular we could only get 2 weeks there. We were all a bit stunned really with all the planning etc to get there we found ourselves just not knowing where to start - with no jobs we werent tied to an area but had decided from the uK that Bayside looked as though it would suit us. The first thing we bought was the UBD map (Refidex or something) which is fantastic and for me better than a sat nav. After a quick drive around on the first day we realised that really there wasn't much difference between the suburbs - Cleveland, Ormiston, Birkdale etc are all really like one area.

The weather was a bit of a shock - it started raining on our second day (this obviously was a good sign given the drought) so while we were jet lagged and it was raining we just wandered around shopping centres. The rain was great but the cold wind that followed wasn't so great and my suitcase of summery clothes pretty useless - just as well I had 2 pairs of jeans and a fleece.

We did spend one day driving around North Brisbane - I had liked the look of Albany Creek and wanted to see North Lakes for myself. I actually really liked Albany Creek and Strathpine but we decided as everwhere seemed nice we would stick with our first choice and find a rental in Bayside.

I suddenly decided to panic about schools - it hadn't worried me much until we got to Oz but once there I wanted to make sure we found a good one but realised we knew nothing about the schools or how to decide if one was good or not. Fortunately a school was recommended to us and we had a look around - the children loved it instantly as did we - however it was a catholic school and we're not so we knew we might not get a place. We had to meet the priest as well as the headteacher and then had to wait a couple of days to find out if we got places - at this stage we didn't have anywhere to live but it meant we could narrow our search down to somewhere driving distance to the school.

The first real estate agent we went to didn't have any rentals so that was a good start! - but we went to every agent in all the suburbs and managed to get a reasonable list. We then started to do some drive bys and we got really depressed as it became spot the rental - drive down a nice road full of nice houses and the rental was the one with the overgrown garden and looking like a dump. It became obvious that we needed to up our budget by $100 a week to get something decent and happily we have found a lovely rental with a pool. We were the only ones looking at it (it actually wasn't available for 3 weeks which was ok for us as we had temporary accom booked)and put our application in - none of the id we took with us from the UK was acceptable - basically our passports and a couple of references from people in Oz (that I had known for only a few days) were acceptable + on offer to pay 3 months rent upfront.

Shortly after having the rental application accepted we got confirmation of school places which was great - we could finally relax. We had to move to Sandgate for a couple of weeks and decided to treat it as a holiday - however more rain meant more shopping centres! Fortunately we discovered the Westfield centre at Chermside - fantastic place for shopaholics like me - in general we have been to several Westfields and although I know I will miss Next I have actually been happy with the shops here (I even like the supermarkets)

We did also have some great weather for days out - went to Australia Zoo, MovieWorld, Broadbeach on the GC, Mooloolaba, Bribie Island, Redcliffe etc - although we were cold in the evenings it was still amazing to think that it was the middle of winter but we could have so much sun. The kids loved the parks everywhere - all free and toilets and no vandalism - a few bits of graffiti here and there but not bad.

When we returned to south Bayside we realised that we really had chosen the right place to settle - it felt like home and although its early days we're really happy and just can't imagine going back. The kids have been at school 2 days and loving it so far. We're still waiting for our container to arrive but have bought a fridge, tv, washing machine, mattresses to sleep on and on outdoor table + chairs which are our indoor ones for a while. Now we're having a couple of weeks with the kids at school before we start looking for jobs.

Anyway - I've waffled on enough and used up my library Internet time so off to pick the kids up.

Originally Posted by sarahntonygoingtooz (Post 5046464)

Hope everything carries on so well. Sounds like everything is going so well, :) good luck with the job hunting!!