Gbye grey sky Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Hi there For anyone that may be interested we have reached the end of our recce in Brisbane (well, one more day here) so in case it is useful have posted a few thoughts. Sorry if it a bit long and vague. We have stayed in Manly but focussed primarily on the Wellington Point and Ormiston suburbs and have visited 3 private schools with our daughter who will be 11 when we intend to move next year. Firstly schools. We have had meetings with Moreton Bay Girls school, Ormiston College and Sheldon College. Preferring co-ed we have a straight choice between the last two and it is tricky. Sheldon really impressed our daughter and they even arranged a try out day at short notice for her which she really enjoyed. That said she loved Ormiston too so whilst they are very different schools in many ways both are impressive. Sheldon is further removed being a little out 'in the sticks' and for this reason we are leaning at the moment towards Ormiston as we feel there is a better chance that any friends our daughter will make there are more likely to live nearer to her - which with no other family around will be important. Suburbs. Ormiston, Wellington Point, Cleveland and Thornlands have much in common. Housing is expensive and space is at a premium with plots generally too small for the property sitting on it so many houses feel hemmed in. It seems you are expected to pay around $100k more for anything more than a glimpse of the sea from your property. Further afield in Victoria Point and Redlands Bay you get more for your money and inland at Alexandra Hills and Mt Cotton much more space generally. Overall Wellington Point was our favourite suburb because it had a pleasant centre but we needed longer really to reach a definite conclusion. There is often an interesting mix of housing styles away from the newer developments but quality of build generally is not impressive and many houses are not insulated it would seem. Our rental has been very cold at night and first thing in the morning though it looks lovely in many ways it is like living in a caravan for all it's insulating properties. If you move over outside of winter be sure to consider heating. Weather. In our 11 days we have had a mix with some glorious sunny days, some a bit cool and windy and one very wet day. Max temps between 18 and 24 which is pretty great for midwinter but the sun sets just after 5pm and the temperatures fall quite quickly. I know that we like it warm but for early in the morning and after 5pm a warm jacket is essential. Wearing layers is essential for when it warms up - generally by 10am. General. The locals have been without exception charming, helpful and friendly. Service in shops, cafes etc has been exceptional compared with what I often experience in the UK. I am aware that many complain about driving in Oz but in my experience this is hogwash. Back in Surrey I see at least one stupid or dangerous piece of driving every 10 minutes. I have driven all around the area and the standard of driving here is way better. Constant sirens is a given in the suburb I live in back home but never hear anything here. Of course it is easier to drive too with wide roads, limited parking on street, massive car parking spaces (all free I might add). It has been quite hard work initially with jet lag and, since, a heavy cold but despite never feeling great I am still feeling very positive. Once autumn chill sets in at home I am sure I will be longing for the move proper. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I was at Welly Point visiting my daughters the weekend before last. I thought it was lovely at the Point had a lovely lunch there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 What a great update, thanks for sharing. Is this your first time in Brisbane, do you think its everything you want? Have a safe journey home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Thanks for the information, always lovely to hear. When are you moving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Gbye Grey Sky this is a fabulous post. You've pretty much done exactly the areas we are looking at when we arrive next week!! X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanduex Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Great post! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 What a great update, thanks for sharing. Is this your first time in Brisbane, do you think its everything you want? Have a safe journey home. Thank you. Not looking forward to the flights I must admit and it sounds as though autumn already on the way back home. It is the first time I have stopped and spent any time here. My wife lived here in Manly for 18 months back in 1998/99 and much is familiar to her. I am level headed enough to try to look beyond a 12 day visit and a permanent move but in all honesty it feels right to me. Our daughter has been won over and we have not exactly oversold it trying as much as possible to live normally with cooking, washing, time at home in the evenings. Just a couple of excursions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 I was at Welly Point visiting my daughters the weekend before last. I thought it was lovely at the Point had a lovely lunch there. We watched a fabulous sunset down there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Thanks for the information, always lovely to hear. When are you moving? Signature says August 2015 but more likely July now. We want our daughter to finish year 6 in England as we feel that would work well for her spiritually and educationally. We have that time to save some more into our pensions too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Gbye Grey Sky this is a fabulous post. You've pretty much done exactly the areas we are looking at when we arrive next week!! X Good luck with the move. We did not really look at rentals on this trip however one thing I have noticed is that when you look at sale prices, take off the last 3 numbers and that is the approximate weekly rent for that property. $500,000 home would be $500 a week and so on. It might give you an idea if there are relatively few rentals to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Signature says August 2015 but more likely July now. We want our daughter to finish year 6 in England as we feel that would work well for her spiritually and educationally. We have that time to save some more into our pensions too. Whoops missed that bit. We were hoping for August 2015 too, but ours is now going to be Sept 2015. My daughter also finishes year 6 and has asked to be able to attend all her leavers parties. She is happy not to be moving onto high school and instead to head over to Australia. My youngest too, was due to start primary school in 2015 too, so it all seems to have worked out well with timing. I don't suppose you have any thoughts on whether we should apply for UK schools anyway? I have visions of school truancy officers turning up questioning me on my plans! Especially as we wont be able to move till at least the 8th September! Iv ran out of things to worry about, so now I have these silly thoughts. We are also heading to QLD, starting with a 4 week rental in Gold Coast and then following the work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Whoops missed that bit. We were hoping for August 2015 too, but ours is now going to be Sept 2015. My daughter also finishes year 6 and has asked to be able to attend all her leavers parties. She is happy not to be moving onto high school and instead to head over to Australia. My youngest too, was due to start primary school in 2015 too, so it all seems to have worked out well with timing. I don't suppose you have any thoughts on whether we should apply for UK schools anyway? I have visions of school truancy officers turning up questioning me on my plans! Especially as we wont be able to move till at least the 8th September! Iv ran out of things to worry about, so now I have these silly thoughts. We are also heading to QLD, starting with a 4 week rental in Gold Coast and then following the work! Our daughter attends a private school. We did look at one option in the UK but our heart wasn't in it but if something unforseeable happened that would be our fall back. The back up plan is difficult though so probably suggest applying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Brisbane's winter weather really is great (in the day anyway) basically been sunny pretty much every day. You should have a day trip over to Stradbroke Island in the future - absolutely fantastic place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zk2102 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Brisbane's winter weather really is great (in the day anyway) basically been sunny pretty much every day. You should have a day trip over to Stradbroke Island in the future - absolutely fantastic place Visited Stradbroke on our reccy, can't wait to go back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Brisbane's winter weather really is great (in the day anyway) basically been sunny pretty much every day. You should have a day trip over to Stradbroke Island in the future - absolutely fantastic place We had planned to go but the days it was possible for us were very windy and that put us off. Figured we have plenty of time to do that when we move over proper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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