info on brisbane and surrounds

[kellyjamie]

hi all not really sure if this of any use to anyone but i recently met a couple from the gold coast here in the uk on holiday and she told me a few different bits of info so thought id share them, nothing too amazing

apparently dont go swimming in the canals or rivers as there are bull sharks that swim up stream and there have been a few attacks

for any nurses there is a new 1000 bed hospital being built on the gold coast corridor due to open in 2 years

prepare yourself for the public transport, she said that compared to here their transport system is years behind us, something to consider for those going to be working in the CBD?

dont get to frustrated if things are not done quickly she says they are very laid back and dont get very stressed

invest in air con in your homes before a pool you will need it! dec, jan, feb are humid and they can find it hard to cope so if you can pick your time of year to land try and do it outside these months.

cars hold their value! they dont think twice about driving the same car for 10 years as the weather doesnt wreck their cars like ours do.

snakes!!! my fear! she reckons your very unlikely to seem them unless your home backs on to bush or your out walking, this applies more to the gold coast where she is as its so built up

also for those on or going to the gold coast in her opinion its very touristy but absolutely stunning and they love queensland and say they wouldnt live anywhere else in the world!!

[beermeister]

Hi
I'm not trying to have a go at you or your friend who gave you the advice, but I feel like I need to give my opinion on some of these....

Originally Posted by kellyjamie

apparently dont go swimming in the canals or rivers as there are bull sharks that swim up stream and there have been a few attacks

You probably got more chance of winning the lottery than being eaten by a shark in a canal

Originally Posted by kellyjamie

prepare yourself for the public transport, she said that compared to here their transport system is years behind us, something to consider for those going to be working in the CBD?

Unless something changed in the last 7 years, this is complete rubbish....the trains are superb in Brisbane (they've had air conditioned trains for over 25 years - how many more years will it be to get A/C on the London tube?), half the number of breakdowns, and half the price. Try the city cats on the Brisbane river - I've never seen a more efficient and advanced transport system. It's the other way around - UK public transport is like going to the stone age.

Originally Posted by kellyjamie

invest in air con in your homes before a pool you will need it! dec, jan, feb are humid and they can find it hard to cope so if you can pick your time of year to land try and do it outside these months.

True: it's damn hot, but A/C is very heavy on electricity and noisey for your neighbours. I grew up with just ceiling fans which are OK, but with A/C units having come down in price recently, a lot more homes are installing them. Please, just think about your environment responsibilities before installing them.

Originally Posted by kellyjamie

cars hold their value! they dont think twice about driving the same car for 10 years as the weather doesnt wreck their cars like ours do.

No way - I'm sure cars drop in price just as quick as they do here and the coastal weather turns a lot of cars into rust buckets within a few years. Have a look on glass's website and compare the depreciation rates (Glass's Information Services - New and Used Vehicle Prices (Buying or selling your car get car prices here...))

Originally Posted by kellyjamie

snakes!!! my fear! she reckons your very unlikely to seem them unless your home backs on to bush or your out walking, this applies more to the gold coast where she is as its so built up

Sure you might see snakes, but just be alert and take precautions. Do a bit of research into how many people die from snake bites - not many, and they're usually pi**ed at the time, trying to be heroes. Snakes and spiders are so over-hyped by Brits looking to move to Oz, probably perpetuated by Aussies in the first place.


I guess it all goes to show that people have different opinions on what it's like in different places in Oz - heck, I might be spinning pure tosh.....if you really want to know, you need to do some research and fact finding for yourself, plus go there and see first hand if you can.

[saunders clan]

I saw a programme last night about a woman who saw a black snake in her garden. She called up the local 'hero' to come and get rid of it and as he was doing so he realised there were actually 2 and one went up his trouser leg!!!!!!!!!!!

Basically he said that because the people had horses in their garden then - manure - mice - snakes. So another piece of advice if anyone needs it.


I agree on the car value thing from my experiences.


Kate

[kellyjamie]

oh my god imagine it going up your trouser leg!!! id of died on the spot! beermeister disagree all you like mate thats just what the woman told me and shes lived there all her life she gave me other bits of info aswell but they were just a few as i said may of been useful may not, she did say she had ceiling fans for years but that apparently alot of new build homes are built with ac already in them? im off to brisbane in a couple of weeks so i,ll have a sketch for myself but we were on a few oz car dealership sites the other day and the cars held their prices, or atleast compared to here( ishould of put that in OP) for example a 10 yr old car was still going for $8000, now im not sure of milage etc etc but here that wouldnt happen here it would just be scrapped tho maybe thats the problem we live in a throw away society?. as for the transport she had been in london and edinburgh and couldnt get over the difference in public transport her words not mine. anyhows it was just a few bits of info id been given so was just passing them on i,ll see for myself soon enough cant wait!!! tho i,ll be wearing tight trousers the whole time

[Jo&Rich]

Good post; we're on the Gold Coast, and found out a lot of that the hard way, especially about the humidity!
We've been warned about bull sharks, on the broadwater, too. Never seen a snake yet, although I'm sure they're waiting til I let my guard down!
Jo x

[kellyjamie]

i was quite surprised when she told me about the bull shark thing apparently theyre one of the few shark species that can live in fresh water! she just said be very careful where you swim as there have been attacks and with the water being more murky than the ocean its harder to spot the blighters. we are going to check out the display village at upper coomera do you guys know what its like?

[Lynandsean]

Originally Posted by kellyjamie

i was quite surprised when she told me about the bull shark thing apparently theyre one of the few shark species that can live in fresh water! she just said be very careful where you swim as there have been attacks and with the water being more murky than the ocean its harder to spot the blighters. we are going to check out the display village at upper coomera do you guys know what its like?

It's regularly mentioned in the paper, on the news etc bout the bull sharks in the canals but I haven't heard about any attacks. It is true that you should not swim in murky waters because bull sharks cannot see what they are biting. In the news recently there was an article about a couple of robbers who swam across a canal to escape the police. The issue wasn't the robbery but the fact that they had the b*lls to swim across a canal! LOL I'm given to understand that there are certain times of the year when this is an absolute no no! - now being it! so I would say that is true.

My son travels from Robina to Brisbane every weekday - train is on time always, clean, fast and they have recently added 2 new trains to the timetable at peak times and its amazingly cheap - distance approx 80K one way, for student its $8 return, $22 I think for adult.

IMO, cars do hold their value the older they get (if that makes sense). They drop in price as soon as they leave the showroom just as they do in UK but from there on in they remain much higher. We are trying to find a car for my son. In UK we bought an 8yr old corsa for my daughter with average mileage, good nick etc cost £2600, over here it would cost around $8/9 or £4000/4500 - has come of something of a shock!

Dunno about the snakes as thankfully haven't seen one yet - live in glorious suburbia (yuk) coz I haven't got the courage to live anywhere more rural (stupid I know as lived very rural in UK but then the chance of seeing a snake is much lower!!)

There are quite a few display villages around Upper Coomera - they are just a collection of show homes in areas that are being developed. Coomera/Upper Coomera are lovely though so I would check out the whole area if I were you but be aware that this area is expected to be developed massively so what it looks like now and what it will look like in the future may be completely different.

Also be careful when they give you the starting prices for the houses on display coz by the time it comes to it - you have your piece of land and are ready to build, the reality is that house will be around $100k more - that's not how much it will have increased in value by then, just that they aren't very upfront about the 'real' cost

Lyn

[kellyjamie]

thanks for that lyn thats a good piece of advice i shall remember when we go for a look. i didnt think in my own opinion the transport would be that bad maybe she was more taken with the size and amounrtof transport we ahve in the uk? never the less as long as its clean arrives on time and gets you to your destination thats all that matters, thanks again kelly x