Jimmy P Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 So, we have been in Brisbane for just over 3 weeks and are having a great time. We feel settled and happy in this first phase of our life changing adventure.The few weeks before the actual move were just mad, in hindsight. Finishing work, packing up and loading the container ourselves (report to be posted when it is unloaded), plus the uncertainty of the house sale- finally exchanged contracts on the Monday, completed on the Tuesday, flew on the Saturday. Myself, Andrea and children Marie (18), Madeleine (16) and Edward (8) all had a lot going on before we left. Marie finished A levels, Madeleine her GCSE's and Prom, while Edward had an emotional send off from school at the end of his sports day. A Centre Parcs weekend with Andreas side of the family, and a weekend with my side all made up for a mentally, emotionally and physically draining few weeks. Flew with Malaysian from Manchester via Heathrow and KL. Bags delayed by LHR baggage issues, and they took nearly a week to get here. Fortunately we all had hand baggage with essential clothes and the most important paperwork. Flights OK. LHR-KL on A380 had good food, KL to Brisbane was OK, entertainment was only fair compared with Etihad last year. But we all got here safely which is all that matters. Picked up car from Thrifty at the airport and straight to Brisbane Holiday Village at Eight Mile Plains. We are in a penthouse apartment, which is clean, serviced weekly and "convenient for the motorway" Did a lot of the admin in the first couple of days. Picked up bank cards, opened Medicare accounts etc. Being a bit OCD with these things I had printed out a map of the area where all these things are, and what ID is needed, so that saved some stress. It is ID all the way, and thank fully all the paperwork was in hand luggage. Got sorted with PAYG SIM cards through Aldimobile. 12c per min to phones in Oz, but only 10c per min to UK! How does that work?? They needed sight of ID, and this was done by taking pictures of documents with the iPad, and emailing them through. I've been able to do this a few times, including a full property rental application sent through to an agency. iPad has been invaluable so far! Andrea spent over 2 years researching areas that we might want to live in and we settled on the Samford, Gap, Eatons Hill, Albany Creek areas, so in the first week we were doing the trawl around, and settled on the Samford area, as we wanted a bit of space. Armed with the new satnav we did the Open House trail on a Saturday, seeing a huge range of properties, and getting to grips with the way house buying is done over here. Agents were falling over themselves to try to get us into properties. We knew in our minds eye what we wanted out of a property, but ticking all the boxes proved harder than we thought. So we are putting the buying of a house to one side for a while, and have got a rental. This was easier than imagined. Saw a house, took forms away and emailed photos of each sheet, plus a shed load of ID. Offered 6 months rent plus bod up front, and we're approved in less than 24 hours. Got a 3 bed plus study, garage and pool for $595 pw We are enrolling the children into two local state schools. Samford state for Edward (8) and Ferny Grove Sate High School for Madeleine (16). Ed will be starting in yr 3 (he will be one of the oldest in the class, having been the youngest in UK, which we are happy with). Madeleine will be starting off in yr10, then starting her final two years in January. There is another family from UK starting at the school around the same time as her (18 August). We were really impressed with both schools, they felt right for our children. Eldest (18) awaiting her A level results, not really knowing what she wants to do. We can focus on her when everyone else is settled in! In amongst all this, we have tried to have some relaxing days out. Been to Bribie Island. Where I got pulled for a breath test at 11.30 am. I think they were suspicious of me not indicating, but using widescreen wipers on a bright sunny day. Still sometimes make that mistake now! Everything on the car identical to UK except indicators and wipers the other way round. Went to South Bank, wandered around Roma Street Parklands-beautiful, Burleigh Heads for the day, farmers market at Wynnum and the scenic drive around there yesterday, and Samford Show, which was great. Freestyle moto cross demo, sheep shearing, wood chopping contest, reptile show, pig racing, and all the fun of the fair! Moving out of this accommodation in a week, so have had to find alternate before we can move into the rental. We are going to have a proper break after the full on nature of these first few week so have booked 11 days at the place we were meant to stay in on Sunshine Coast when we came on our reccie last year before our plans changed. So, another busy week looms with buying and arranging delivery of a few essential for our new place. Container should arrive just as we move in, with a bit of luck Costs and prices. We have done most our food shopping at Aldi, as we were fully converted to them in UK. Over here not quite the same breadth of range, but we think it's pretty good value. Also popped into Coles and Woollies for bits- also useful for the discounted fuel voucher. Worried about what household things like new bedding was going to cost, having read lots of threads about it. Went into a huge K Mart in Logan and was really impressed by range and prices. It struck me as a cross between Argos, Matalan, Primark and Wilkinsons, with prices to match, so no worries there! Anyway, everyone's probably bored by this now, so I'll be off. We have had a fantastic introduction to Australia, and I hope this report may have helped anyone about to come over. I know I have gleaned a huge amount of practical information from this forum over the last 2+ years! Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Welcome to QLD, Samford is a lovely area i am sure you will be happy there. Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) Samford is one of my favourite areas, a really good choice and not that far out of the city either. Ferny hills has a great value fruit/veg market, picked some great deal from there recently. It's on ferny way. Also I love Bribie Island, but go on a trip to North Stradbroke Island, absolutely fantastic Edited July 20, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Thanks for posting this!! We arrive in Brisbane next month and it's so nice to read positive stories :-) Our son is the same age as your daughter and will be doing a term in Year 10 too. Good luck :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidensarah Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Sounds lovely Some of my friend's family lived in Samford for a while. Is it in a bit of a valley? From what I remember. Now they live in Bridgeman Downs. I went to a few lovely shops in Samford. I remember there being some really lovely unique greetings cards in one shop that I bought a lot of. I love Brisbane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestyBlue Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Welcome to QLD, sounds like you're having a similar experience to us so far :cool: Keep the updates coming. x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Living in Samford these markets might interest you: http://www.thegapfarmers.com.au (Only been running a few weeks) http://www.moggillmarkets.org.au (runs alternate weekends to The Gap market) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy P Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Thanks for your responses. I can't get over how friendly and welcoming everyone has been. Looking forward to having a look at the farmers markets. Edward looks great in his school uniform, and loves his big, wide brimmed hat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ash68 Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Great to read a positive post, thanks a lot. Am moving over later this year and getting ever so slightly nervous, so any positve posts are good to see. Nice to read your views on shops/prices too after all the horror stories about 'expensive'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikey Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 You sound really organised. Hope it keeps going well for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 A fantastic arrival report. Thanks for taking the trouble to post all that. Really interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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