andy6326

Hi - we emigrated from Staffordshire but I'm originally from Cornwall and Jane from Bristol. We got a holiday rental initially while we found somewhere permanent and it does tend to be easier to find somewhere when you're here. Yes we have a family, but by the sounds of it a bit older than yours - our daughter is 14. Bundy / Bargara doesn't close down over Xmas period so it won't disrupt your arrival if you come then. Jane is Head of Primary at St. Luke's school, so we're obviously biased to recommend their Early Learning Centre which has kindy and pre-prep leading into prep in the main primary school. However, there are other good options such as Acorns nursery. Feel free to ask any more qs - if you PM me I'll send you our email as don't check in on PiO very often

Hi - we've been here four years and love it. Recommend living in Bargara by the beach. Feel free to ask any qs. Where will you be teaching?

Ps - mustn't forget seeing the turtles come up to lay (around november - January) then the hatchlings (January - march / April) on Mon Repos beach - next bay along from Bargara - fantastic experience. And (in my view slightly less important , but probably relevant for the shoppers amongst you) as of earlier this year we now have Sunday trading. From next week (and this is exciting) we'll have JB HiFi

We love Bundy and Bargara - happy to answer any qs you have. Bundy is a small regional city which has all the retail you'd expect - big box electrical and hardware shops etc. Two indoor shopping centres. Unlike a lot of Aus places it has also retained a nice main street (Bourbong Street) with lots of planting and small shops. lot more local shops and less chains than a UK high street. Entertainment there's a multiple- screen cinema, theatre and a good little regional art gallery as well as parks etc, and a couple of specialist museums - Hinkler hall of aviation and the sugar museum. Quite a good range of cafes and bars and restaurants but no real high end ones. The most exclusive one is probably Spinnakers on the river but it's really only a surf and turf type place. Having said that there's good Thai, Italian and a really nice seafood place - Grunskes by the river. Night life is surprisingly good with a few good bars and quite a few having live music and / or djs on Friday and Saturday night. Our favourites are the Customs bar and the club hotel. A number of Aussie and international acts include Bundy on their tours. We've recently seen The Potbelleez ( who opened Sydney NYE celebrations in 2012) Birds of Tokyo (Aussie indie chart band) in Bundy and comedy - Ross Noble from the UK. For a city fix - Brisbane is easy to get to and has great museums, restaurants, nightlife etc I'm from Cornwall originally but lived in the Midlands for a long time so the opportunity to live by the ocean was hard to resist. Bargara is a great small town, great beaches, a few restaurants and bars, two supermarkets and a few small shops, baker, butcher newsagent etc. It's an easy 15 - 20 minute commute to Bundy and there's a few routes in. A lot of imports to Bundy Aus and overseas live at Bargara so the demographic is changing as it was traditionally more of retirement place. We've just Moved into a house we've had built after renting for two years so that's been great. We've made lots of friends, ex Brits and Australian and have found people to be very welcoming here. It is a different culture though and you need to be prepared to embrace that. A lot of people who it doesn't work for seem to be expecting UK in the sun. Aussies work hard - the work ethic is probably stronger than the uk - but play hard too. We do have rain and once you're acclimatised you'll notice the seasonal temp differences. We don't tend to swim May to October. But to be fair even in middle of winter the ocean isn't too different to the UK in summer. We've been finding it cold recently with nights dipping down below 10 degrees but middle of day it still gets up to early 20s. Looking forward to spring and summer though Lots of schooling / child care options. Private schooling less elite and cheaper than the uk so more people use it. There are also some good state schools and a couple who's reputation isn't so good - just like anywhere.

Becky - see my reply to your other post. We ave friends working at friendliest so can give you a bit f a low down. Any info you want on arriving / finding somewhere to live etc just just let us know. Look forward to having you round for a beer and BBQ.

Hi there - we've been living in Bargara for two years and love it. We have a great bunch of friends, pommels and aussies and a brill social life. PM me and we'll send you contacts so you can get in touch when you come over - look forward to meeting up - Andy & Jane

There's normally a reasonable choice of rental properties but the good ones do get lots of applicants and go quickly. If you have a professional job you will be popular with landlords and therefore more likely to secure one. Also a fair bit of furnished holiday rentals which are probably worth going for in first instance at least while you look around - lots of people take the first permanent rental they find and then regret it so worth looking around. I guess Mater might provide you with some initial accommodation. I know the Friendlies do but it's not great so might be worth finding somewhere yourself anyway. For holiday rentals Bargara real estate is a starting point - July will probably get you a good deal particularly if you offer to take it for several weeks.

Recommend Bargara every time - we love Bargara and Bundy. PM us when you arrive and we'll have a drink

Hi - Bargara is great to live in. Good state primaries include Kalkie, Woongarra and Bundaberg East (catchment system doesn't really exist so you don't have to make decision on where to live based on school). St Lukes is a great school but is fee paying. Might be particularly worth considering for year 7 as its all through prep - y12 - in QLD your y7 one would be going back into primary after starting high school in UK if you use state system. At st Lukes primary up to y6, middle school 7-9 and senior 10-12. PM us if you want more info or to meet up - Andy

Happy to have a chat about any qs you have - pm us and I'll give you our contact details

Hi we've been living in Bargara since July and loving it - pm us if you'd like to get together Andy & Jane