Peachy Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Hi everyone, Thought I would post a quick arrival report. Probably a bit premature as we haven't been here very long :-) Pros 1. Rented house from UK with only internet pics as a guide - turns out it is perfect :-) Actually bigger than pics suggest which is great although a bit echo-ey at the moment without any furniture. 2. Cost of living - have discovered the malls - everything is so much cheaper than I envisaged from some of the posts on here. Kmart and Target fab for the basics. Whilst not top quality is great for setting up house. Comparable with discount stores in the UK. Food also fine cost wise if you buy wisely although bakeries and similar are quite pricey 3. Transport - train system is excellent. Reasonably priced, very efficient and clean 4. Parks - loads of open parkland and kids play parks - beautifully maintained with water points and clean toilets! 5. Medicare and TFN - very quick and easy - medicare took 10 mins, TFN took 2 mins online. 6. Gumtree - great for good quality second hand white goods. Got great deal on fridge. 7. People - so far everyone has been amazingly friendly. From the man who jumped out of his car to help us getting our stuff up the drive, to people on the train. People have been very willing to offer information and taken their time to give tips to newbies. Cons 1. So far having difficulties with finding a reasonably priced car. Does seems a little more expensive than the UK but I am (reliably ;-) ) informed by all the salesmen that cars last longer here!! Think that I will need to work on my negotiation this week. 2. Centrelink for child payments - spent 2 + hours signing up - lost the will to live.... 3. Traffic - pretty much like the UK - standstill within the city at rush hour - but see above re trains. 4. Weather - so far we have had drizzle and more drizzle. Have had to buy $5 blankets from Target as actually a little chilly. So much for the Sunshine state ;-) All good so far. Already feels like it could be home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Sounds like your doing great:wink: 2nd cars here seem to hold there value more....don't be scared of high mileage though. my first car here was about as old as me:elvis: bought it for a grand, used it a year, not having spent a penny on it. sold it on for the same price to a friends son. he has had it a year, still no issues. saw it the other day....aw loved that car:wubclub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Thanks for the update. We are right behind you (arriving in Brisbane on 30 July!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Good luck with your move. From your posts I think you will love it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Glad things are going so well, look forward to hearing more about how you settle in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Lovely to hear from you and a lovely report to read, keep them coming when you get a chance. I am sure the weather will soon warm up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronyaur Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Hi everyone, Thought I would post a quick arrival report. Probably a bit premature as we haven't been here very long :-) Pros 1. Rented house from UK with only internet pics as a guide - turns out it is perfect :-) Actually bigger than pics suggest which is great although a bit echo-ey at the moment without any furniture. 2. Cost of living - have discovered the malls - everything is so much cheaper than I envisaged from some of the posts on here. Kmart and Target fab for the basics. Whilst not top quality is great for setting up house. Comparable with discount stores in the UK. Food also fine cost wise if you buy wisely although bakeries and similar are quite pricey 3. Transport - train system is excellent. Reasonably priced, very efficient and clean 4. Parks - loads of open parkland and kids play parks - beautifully maintained with water points and clean toilets! 5. Medicare and TFN - very quick and easy - medicare took 10 mins, TFN took 2 mins online. 6. Gumtree - great for good quality second hand white goods. Got great deal on fridge. 7. People - so far everyone has been amazingly friendly. From the man who jumped out of his car to help us getting our stuff up the drive, to people on the train. People have been very willing to offer information and taken their time to give tips to newbies. Cons 1. So far having difficulties with finding a reasonably priced car. Does seems a little more expensive than the UK but I am (reliably ;-) ) informed by all the salesmen that cars last longer here!! Think that I will need to work on my negotiation this week. 2. Centrelink for child payments - spent 2 + hours signing up - lost the will to live.... 3. Traffic - pretty much like the UK - standstill within the city at rush hour - but see above re trains. 4. Weather - so far we have had drizzle and more drizzle. Have had to buy $5 blankets from Target as actually a little chilly. So much for the Sunshine state ;-) All good so far. Already feels like it could be home. Hi all sounds positive. I wonder if you could tell me how you managed to sort a rental before you arrived? Did you have to pay a year up front? Be very interested to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House Biatch Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Hi all sounds positive. I wonder if you could tell me how you managed to sort a rental before you arrived? Did you have to pay a year up front? Be very interested to know. I too would be interested to hear more about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polly McG Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Would be good to know as i thought you had to view property in person?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srg73 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 All looks good and would add the following... 1 get a Go Card and public transport is even cheaper. 2 not sure where you have based yourself however for others, trafic is much less than UK and Brisbane does not compare to big UK cities. 3 weather is cool at the moment and colder to come. Spring is amazing. 4 sorry more waiting but get yourself a QLD drivers licence ASAP. 5 cars are there just keep looking. We bought a 2009/10 golf TDi with sports pack etc. Best car I've owned and will be sad to sell however now have company car. The dealer is correct, cars last and are serviced very regularly circa every 10k Best of luck with it all S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Are you based somewhere west? Only area I ever get bad traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srg73 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 There are some nightmare roads.... Bruce Highway Western Freeway Gateway Motorway Lynton Road (Shafton Av) There are some local hotspots too however you learn to avoid them. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Weather is pretty unusual at the moment in Brisbane - Blue skies will be on their way very shortly.... meanwhile you get a chance to ease in.... cars are pretty expensive here... try gumtree or carsales. You get a better deal by going privately, garages (like the world over) tend you spin you a line.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelensvaleHoward Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Great update Keep them coming Always love reading them We sorted our rental also beofre we arrived We had to have it viewed which my brother did for us as he's over here also It can work out great and it did for us we are now buying the house we rented when we first arrived Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Re house - we submitted an application online via form1. Most agents do require you to view but we were lucky that the house we were after was on with a small agent. On Form 1 you can specify that you are overseas and accept unseen. We uploaded heaps of supporting docs - mortgage statements from our house here, docs confirming job offer. Also wrote in last "any other info" section about us, our children and how as we were now landlords in UK we would be looking after property. We have 3 cats and these were approved as well! Did the trick and paid 2 weeks in advance. Was a little worried that there was something wrong with it as we were approved really quickly but all fine. Re Traffic - live in Ferny Grove but have had to go south of the river quite a bit to pick up stuff. Other points - can't believe how loud the wildlife is!! It is like living in a safari park and woken up every day to the sound of birds shouting. Amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Good to hear things are going well and great to hear the rental is OK, ive read so many stories of people renting unseen and arriving to a dump so good to see it can work both ways. June, July and August IMO are the coldest months and you do need blankets at night. Its surprising how quick the temps jump back up, so when your shivering just keep thinking 10 more weeks and it will be hot again,lol, that works for me.. The trick with buying cars is to banter, banter and banter some more, never ever pay the asking price. Also remember you pay a % of the purchase price when you go to register the vehicle in your name so budget for this to. Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Regularly around Ferny, was some decent markets on at the station if they are still on. Great outdoor 50m pool too in Ferny hills and I regularly get cheap fruit and veg from Charlie's market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Lots of negotiation - nothing is ever the price advertised!! Agree about the weather - I actually prefer it when it hammers down to the constant drizzle!! But it's meant to get nice tomorrow!! Glad it's all working out for you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srg73 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 With cars... Garage have to give 3 month warrantee which can be extended at additional cost Private sale, bought as seen. Wildlife, yes load especially at 4am during the summer months! S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Other points - can't believe how loud the wildlife is!! It is like living in a safari park and woken up every day to the sound of birds shouting. Amazing! :-) I stayed with a friend in Gold Coast back in March and was astounded at the dawn chorus there... one of the most interesting parts of moving to Aus for me is that almost all the birds are unfamiliar and exotic. Some are bloody noisy though -- Cockatoos wouldn't win any prizes, Noisy Miners obviously earned their names, and even the beautifully colourful Lorikeets make a proper racket when they're partying in a nearby tree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Cost of living - everything is so much cheaper than I envisaged from some of the posts on here. Yes I have noticed a lot of people on here, bemoaning the "cost of living", constantly comparing the pound versus the dollar in their heads like some demented exchange rate calculator, and putting the fear of god into new arrivals. I actually find it a cheap place to live overall. Kmart and Target fab for the basics. Whilst not top quality is great for setting up house. Comparable with discount stores in the UK. Kmart and Target are great for the basics. And you can always upgraded later when more settled. I also like Fantastic Furniture, councils roadside clean-ups and Gumtree for picking up basic furniture. And I have recently picked up some brilliant (almost new) top quality furniture totally free on: https://trashnothing.com/groups/australia/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted October 2, 2015 Author Share Posted October 2, 2015 Reasonably priced until OH takes kids shopping with him and is persuaded to buy all manner of crap. Not happy that he managed to spend $240 on the weekly shop yesterday!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 It's Friday and not a cloud in the sky , bring on the weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 It's Friday and not a cloud in the sky, bring on the weekend Bring on the long weekend in Sydney. Public holiday on Monday. I have taken today (Friday) off work. Looks like sunny weather is expected all weekend. Beach, picnic (prawn salad) and a crisp glass of chardonnay or three.........here I come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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