Booked our 1 way tickets

Had our 189PR visas granted in Oct and this week we've booked our flights for 30th Sept to Brisbane.

Not 100% pin pointed our area to land and find our feet. Was drawn towards heading towards Sunshine Coast but now maybe Gold Coast side of the city. I Know the main thing is to land them jobs ASAP and then find longer term rental in an area we decide. Coming out with two very energetic boys (9&5).

Im a carpenter 15 years and wife works in Banking at the moment but has dedicated herself to become a recently Qualified personal trainer.(thinking of the big move)

Any tips you have throw my way. I have been doing heaps of research. Brothers in Melbourne and know a few guys in Queensland but nobody in and around Brizzy. Apart from friends sister who I will be tapping up for tips.

thought I'd share our news of FLIGHTS BOOKED As friends/family don't get toooo excited when u tell them.

Exciting times and nerve racking times too. Let the adventure begin.

Congrats, it's a really exciting moment! Best of luck with the move

We fly out on the 24th, it sure comes round quickly!

Good for you. Sounds exciting!

Brisbane is fab...

B

Good luck with everything, could you stay inbetween the two for your first few weeks? maybe somewhere just out of Brisbane city then you could then job hunt North and South relatively easy.

Cal x

Congrats mate. I'm a Sydneysider but from what I know the Sunshine coast is a bit of a trek if you're commuting daily to the city, Gold coast is a bit more doable.

If your missus goes back into banking, Suncorp would be her best bet as they are HQ'ed in Brisvegas. Bank of Queensland is a smaller regional player who may be worth a look.

The PT market is fairly saturated and competitive as far as I know.

thats exciting. the time between then & now will pass quick :jiggy:

Congrats mate. I'm a Sydneysider but from what I know the Sunshine coast is a bit of a trek if you're commuting daily to the city, Gold coast is a bit more doable.

 

If your missus goes back into banking, Suncorp would be her best bet as they are HQ'ed in Brisvegas. Bank of Queensland is a smaller regional player who may be worth a look.

 

The PT market is fairly saturated and competitive as far as I know.

Good advice. Just to add...

Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to Brisbane city for commuting are both an absolute trek. Do not fall into that trap like lots of new migrants.

I agree banking would be a better bet and there is lots of construction work ongoing in Brisbane City.

Sounds good. Can't help with the area as its not my part of Aus but I think you've got it in the right order in terms of secure work and then build out from that in terms of where might be best to locate in the longer term and schools and so on will follow.

We ruled out lots of areas based on our want/wish list for a house and lifestyle and I had a couple of ways of narrowing it down so I didn't keep looking in places were were never really going to seriously consider as schools were not of a standard etc that we were after. No point settling in an area if we were not happy with the facilities and options for our family, even if they did have some lovely houses and other things ticking our boxes. It did mean we spent the first 7 months living in a lovely rather expensive beach suburb but realised over the first few months it wasn't for us and the local primary school was IMHO really pretty average at best and given the price of property I'd have hoped for more school wise. So we looked elsewhere and slowly realised where we wanted to be and it happened. And can't say I've had one single regret or doubt over our choice of home or area and what it offers. Just glad we took the time and were able to realise over the course of a number of months what we wanted. It did certainly go from one end of the spectrum to the other in terms of location and what it offered :cute: Beachside to hills living. It did also mean we moved schools but to one that is much better IMHO and we've never looked back.

Is that very close to your first entry date cut off? I just ask as recently someone was unable to possibly make first entry at nearly the last minute (ie last week of timeframe in which to validate) and obviously had to to validate their visa or risk losing it. So long as you are aware of the first entry by date and are prepared for all scenarios as far as possible.

Cograts...the countdown begins!!

We arrived in September and stayed for the first two months at a cabin in Brisbane Holiday Village - a great little place to get yourself established. There is a risk of cabin fever a little bit (our kids are 4 and 2), but there is a decent amount on site, and bike trails nearby. Public transport into the city is good via the busways, and it's close to the M1.

There's also a pretty good Westfield shopping centre around the corner.

Good luck with the coming move!!

.

Cheers everyone. I know it's going to come round quick. Too quick probably as lots to sought but that's the best way sometimes. Im not thinking of a commute from GC or SC as I have worked out that the commute is at times crazy. The m1 there as is here a headache when something goes wrong. Was pretty much thinking of staying central to start then pushing out slightly north or south once we got a few things rolling.

ive had a year out there many moons ago so we are not going in totally blind but with a family of 4 know it's a whole new ball game. My boys are sports CRAZZZZZY. Footy mad. I'm also the eldest football coach so want to slot him into something pretty sharpish if possible as he's doing REALLY well here so want him to carry on with what he loves. My youngest is also playing but seems to take his hand to any sports. Both play tennis too so that would also be something we will eventually like to keep going once funds start coming back in the accounts.

We are not shipping big container at the moment looking into the idea of maybe a MOVECUBE size shipment. Do people bring items such as Washing machines/printers/hovers and either run off travel plug or is it possible to wire Aus plugs to items. Only say this as just had to buy new washer. Not bringing large items like wardrobes sofas or beds.

Hope the heats not been too much for you been polaropposite here the last couple of weeks.

kind regards JAMIE

Excellent! Now, enjoy, stop stressing and have fun! It's an adventure. Yes you'll need to work and pay bills and hoover however hope it brings everything you're looking for. With a bit of sunshine thrown in :-)

Get out and enjoy the outdoors. Let the boys run off some energy!

I have heard man people say to take whitegoods. I'm sure someone with knowledge will come along to let you know about fuses etc.

We're going to use movecube - large size. We're also going to use movecube to send over about 15 boxes which has been quoted at around £300.

Have fun!

Plenty of people ship white goods and stuff. Change plugs on most things and away you go. May want to get an electrician to do that though. If you are using a Movecube, depending on how much you want to ship personal effects wise there may not be masses of room for large white good items. Check the sizes and what else you want to ship. We used a large Movecube but didn't ship white goods and only a small amount of furniture as we mostly shipped personal effects and kitchen stuff. So kids toys, clothes, books, crockery, pots and pans, DVD's, bedding, towels, a rug and some other things. We bought white goods here second hand to start and then upgraded as and when. We still have the second hand fridge freezer we got when we arrived and its 3 plus years later and going strong Seemed easier to do this when using the movecube as we'd have had to have waited for it to arrive and had to have had something in the meantime.

We bought a new printer over here. Was a good one we got pretty cheap. I'd honestly not ship something like that but that is me, if you want to bring it, squish it in. My husband laments we got rid of his cricket bag, kit and bats and his second road bike. And his third :rolleyes: :cute:He doesn't care or mind that we didn't ship our old printer or fridge freezer. He just wished he'd brought the things that are hard to replace that he built up over time and would have lasted him.

By footy do you mean soccer? It soccer here, footy is footy, AFL, and if your kids love sport, they may enjoy giving the Aussie game a go. Our son loves it and is in his third season playing Aussie rules. Loves his cricket too. Has no interest in soccer here but then didn't in the UK as we don't either so he never got into it. Where we live in Aus AFL is the big game and soccer exists and is quite popular at local level but its AFL that wins big time in terms of active participation for kids and adults.

Exciting times, we were fortunate that we had white goods that failed us in our last couple of months. It took the option out of the equation for us! We also sold a few higher worth options and got cheap second hand ones to last a few months that we didn't mind tipping if we needed to. We were quids up. :wink: