Hi there, after much deliberation my hubby and I think it would be very beneficial to do a reccie visit so we can look at schooling, setting up home etc. Ok so our rough plan at the mo (pending me checking my work shifts and getting time off) as we are able to farm out the kids to their grans for up to 2 weeks, looking at end Aug/beg Sep for 10-12 days if we can, but need any advice on 1) accommodation:-
we have looked at some accommodation but you can never be sure over the internet so has anyone stayed in Brisbane or south of brisbane (preferably over the river) little B&B ideal, don't want to be paying out loads on it
2) locations/suburbs to live with school nearby (7 and 11 year old) haven't looked into this much at this stage, but need to be communiting distance to south river where hospital is
3) any other words of wisdom of folks who have done a reccie how they went about it what they did, what they didn't do but should have and vice versa!
Any advice great received.
Jeanette
We did two sort of reccie's last year. We stayed in the areas we thought we may like to live and had a good look round. You will definitely need to hire a car + sat nav if you don't want to get lost and it could save time (and arguments)! We stayed in hotels but I am sure there are people in Oz now who can help with cheaper accommodation. The hotels are quite expensive.
I would hire the car once you get there as I believe this is cheaper than hiring it from UK. There are plenty of hire places at the airports which is where you would get the car if booked from UK. You could always consider hiring a camper van type thing that you live in to drive around as there are plenty of really nice camp sites with good facilities all around and may work our cheaper.
Where are you going?
Les
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Hi.
Try Fields On Chasely Student Homestay Accommodation Brisbane Queensland. I have done 2 reccys. First time was just me and the wife. Then in March with kids. I have a job and am moving to Southside Brisbane shortly. Initially I am staying at an apartment. Website Fields On Chasely Student Homestay Accommodation Brisbane Queensland. $400 per week which is as cheap as it gets located near the city. It is north side of the river but literally 10 mins from southside and walking distance to city. River cat on the doorstep. I am working southside next month. Wife and kids move over end July. My plan is to find a rental, get it furnished so its livable when they move over end of July so its not to much hassle. The above apartment looks decent. Will let you know what its like when I stayed there. You def need to see Brisbane / Australia before moving as it is different to what you may imagine. That is how we found it. It has many similarities to the Uk. Westfield shopping centers almost identical with similar shops. The people are very friendly and do go out there way to help. If you get lost they will walk with you to show you where to go sometimes. Lorikeets/ Parrots fly in the wild. The beaches are the best I have seen in the world. At least 17 up on the sunshine coast. Then theres the gold coast. You could go to a different beach every weekend of the year if you liked. The water parks are on Southside and do annual passes for $80 so we intend to get one of those each. Both times coming back to the uk it broke our hearts as Oz is very desirable place to live. Landing back in the UK is 'sickening'. Can't wait to get out there.
Brissie is our favourite place of all in Oz!!! You will love it, it will be great for the kids. Have a look north of Brisbane at Sunshine Coast - you can fly there it has their own airport can't remember spelling but it's something like Marochydoor. It's a great place for families and about 2 hours drive from middle of Brisbane. Gold Coast is great but a bit hectic - more like a mini version of Florida - theme parks, etc. and high rises, etc.
We want to live in Sunshine Coast eventually but have to go to Melbourne initially - only way we could get a visa. However, we do like Melbourne as well just doesn't have the climate! Also, research YEPPOON it's north of Brissie (you need to fly to Rockhampton). We stayed there it is very up and coming and basically a bit undiscovered so you have best of both worlds, no tourists but a beautiful area. There is also one of the barrier reef islands just a short boat ride from Yeppoon which is heavenly. There is a large resort there too and they are building a massive golf course which is going to rival the best we have apparently! They are also building a new shopping centre so eventually will probably be similar to Sunshine Coast.
It's a bit of a minefield really because you will like ALL of it, you just have to pick where the schools are, your work, etc.
Lots of luck xxxxxx
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App 27 Jul 07
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CO 03 Feb 08
Meds 19 Mar 08
PCs 21 Apr 08 VISA GRANTED 7 MAY:jiggy:
I know it is mind boggling but at least I am hoping a reckie will at least give us some idea as to what it's like even if we dont' have long over there (thanks to my work). But hey ho we will just have to make the most of it, been looking at flights and I'm either losing the plot as I thought I posted a question (unless I did it when I was dreaming) about flight times, looking at quantas and singapore seem to have the best ones with only 1 stop and minimum time in air, this is gonna sound a really stupid question but it's doing my head in till I understand it, flight time says depart london Heathrow 1155 am, one stop in Singapore and arriving in Brisbane 22 hrs or so later +1 day at 1920, now in my understanding this is the friday (leave on the 28th Thurs) so is that 1920 Brisbane time or 1920 our time and have to add 9 hours on to it to get brisbane time????
I am going to book flights today so any advice welome what have people thought of quantas and singapore airlines? Jx
Location: From Bury,Manchester To Jimboomba, Brisbane
Posts: 6,184
You may have posted a reply so dont get the nuthouse out for you yet,lol.PIO had a big crash and lots of new posts were lost ,we are sorry but it was beyone our control.
As for Flights ,we flew Singapore Airlines ,twice,they are great and i cannot fault any part of their service,both times we stopped in Singapore for a few hours and landed here around 7am ,this seemed to combat any jetlag!! not sure why thou.
Good luck with everything and if you need any help about suburbs or which direction to go ,drop me a pm ,if your over this way you are welcome to pop in for a brew and chat.
Cal x
Hi Cal, thanks ever so much for your reply, I think we will do that! I note you live Sinnamon park area, what's that like, which school do you use and are there others in area south of brisbane roughly half hour or so that are popular or have good reputation, pref state school. We intend to pop round and see some when we come over. Is it worthwhile visiting real estate peeps to get our details down and ideas of what we will be looking for? I am on nights tonight and tomorrow so if I get some quiet times I will be on here looking for useful info, I can spend hours crusing thru posts finding little snippets! How sad am I? I am glad you said about the site crashing I really thought I'd lost it! Jx
hi guys we are going fo rour reccie in a few weeks and staying with headstarthomestay you should give them a try. they are dale and francine and lovely people and very very reasonable! they are on here aswell as the same name drop them a pm and see what they say, we are flying with emirates and got a pretty good deal tho we are going in ozzie winter so maybe slightly cheaper? goodluck anyhow have fun
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Location: From Bury,Manchester To Jimboomba, Brisbane
Posts: 6,184
Its actually Jo (johatts) who lives at Sinnamon Park ,it does seem a pretty good are and not to far from anything ,she may be along later to fill you in with more details.We are at Flagstone Estate about 20 mins away from there,the more driving around you do the better it is ,if your not planning on moving here straight away i wouldnt really bother with agents just yet,leave that till a week or two before you move for good.I m still a firm believer in walking into agents as half of them dont ring you back anyway,lol,have you had a look at my website we cater for reccie trips too if you get stuck ,,but feel free to call down for a brew and a nosey around anyway ,we can have a chat about anything that confuses or bothers you ,,
Cal x
I know it is mind boggling but at least I am hoping a reckie will at least give us some idea as to what it's like even if we dont' have long over there (thanks to my work). But hey ho we will just have to make the most of it, been looking at flights and I'm either losing the plot as I thought I posted a question (unless I did it when I was dreaming) about flight times, looking at quantas and singapore seem to have the best ones with only 1 stop and minimum time in air, this is gonna sound a really stupid question but it's doing my head in till I understand it, flight time says depart london Heathrow 1155 am, one stop in Singapore and arriving in Brisbane 22 hrs or so later +1 day at 1920, now in my understanding this is the friday (leave on the 28th Thurs) so is that 1920 Brisbane time or 1920 our time and have to add 9 hours on to it to get brisbane time???? 
