freebo

No real wet areas in the downstairs area affected, this was a downstairs toilet, the full downstairs bathroom is in a raised part of the ground floor but yeah, if they'd put a drain in, for instance, the laundry that would've helped. It's an individually architect designed place, probably an oversight and an off-plan home would have had one! To be honest though I don't think a normal in-floor drain could've coped with the water flow, it was massive. Your experience was awful too, at least this was clean water!

2 Days ago I was woken by the dog wimpering at 3AM. I went downstairs to check on him and as I took the last step off the stairs my foot landed in 3cm of water, the whole ground floor of my house was flooded. It didn't take long to find the cause, water was gushing from under the sink in the downstairs bathroom, like a fountain, to a height of about 1m above the sink. The reason turned out to be a hole blown in the flexi hose that connects the tap to the plumbing, these are braided hoses which are used on pretty much all modern taps, I have a total of 14 of them in my house. This is the offending hose from my house – https://1drv.ms/i/s!AhesoQwXCo1Eg8Ixs0Wr8Ic-6EA2Jg So, the insurers sent a clean up crew to remove the water and dry the house, this will take several days and meanwhile we're in a hotel, lots of my furniture and carpets and other items are ruined and its a big pain in the arse. Thankfully my insurers, Suncorp, are being good so far. Thing is, the flood crew and the building assessors told me that the vast majority of the jobs they do are exactly like mine and much worse if the burst occurs upstairs, these flexi-hoses have a lifetime of "5-10" years. The flood guys recon the insurers are considering insisting owners replace these hoses regularly. Our place is about 10 years old, I'm going to have all the hoses replaced. Seems I'm not alone: https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/blog/how-a-10-pipe-can-cause-thousands-of-dollars-of-water-damage-to-your-home.html http://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/flexible-braided-pipes-responsible-for-more-than-20-per-cent-of-water-damage-claims-20170503-gvy8l0.html https://www.theplumbette.com.au/plumbing/are-water-flexible-hoses/ Posting as a cautionary tale.

Aria is very good - https://www.ariarestaurant.com/brisbane/

I lived in Kellyville for a while and it is immense, unless you're right on the edge you can't really walk anywhere, no shops, no restaurants (unless you count the mean fiddler, shudder), just endless rolling hills of houses and the odd park. I think WPH is similar but not sure, it is cheap by Sydney standards though.

Does he have job offers in both places? CW - I live across the river at Sanctuary Cove, mozzies are not a huge problem but define 'plenty to do', its not Las Vegas, they have a small town centre with a few shops, cafe's and (I think) a pub, its quite isolated too with the nearest bridge across the river several km's away basically its at the end of a cul-de-sac. In the 5 years I've lived nearby I've been there once, no real reason to. Lots to do here in SC but its more expensive. Maybe have a look at Hope Island but again its not exactly party-central. NW Syd, that's a big area, where do you mean? Maybe more to do but you'll get less for your money there. Mind you, I lived in Kellyville a long time ago and it was just a giant housing estate, not much to do there either, suburbia in Aus can be very, very quiet. Jobs are the key, start there.

Us too, felt it was right for us, our Australian mates who came said they were glad we'd made an effort and the pics looked good too.

Good job we're all different! I don't much like Brisbane, esp the city, which I think is one of the poorer cities in Aus, shame I have to work there!

Very true, I like the Sunshine Coast but I Love the Gold Coast, but don't judge it by Surfers Paradise, there are a huge number of suburbs and its only one, look instead at Currumbin, Broadbeach, Isle of Capri, Main Beach, Runaway Bay, Paradise Point (and that's only a few of the ones near the coast), inland you have Robina, Varsity Lakes, Pac Pines, Hope Island etc etc etc. Further inland you have the hinterland (or jungle as "I'm a celeb" calls it, its filmed near Springbrook), which is beautiful and a short drive from the beach. The Gold Coast is a big place, along about 50kms of wonderful beaches, its Australia's 6th biggest city, and the largest non-capital. SC is nice enough but a bit quiet for my tastes, except on a tourist weekend when its just as packed with interstate travellers as the GC. GC is also easier to get to Brisbane when you have to. I loved the description "Blackpool with sharks", and surfers is, but like the above, I rarely go to Surfers, and I've lived here twice, about 4 years each time.

There is an Optus shop selling Sim cards inside the arrivals area just to your right at BNE international, if like me you just need to get connected ASAP, as someone else said it may not be the best deal but I usually find time to short to shop around when arriving in a new country.

I'd never heard of it but thought I'd check it out. - Its lots of land for little money, building a house there would cost a bit due to material and labour transport costs I'd guess - S Coast hinterland is a lovely location but pretty isolated, fine if you want to start a farm and don't need to commute anywhere for work - Nearest I've visited is Eumundi, nice, quiet area - Why did the original farmers not want it back I wonder

Got a 6+ a few weeks back, seemed massive at first after my 5, now the 5 seems tiny. 6+ works well but it is large - biggest downside is its easy to tilt it a long way from mouth when talking due to its size but yeah, I'm happy enough with it.

We drive through SP every day on the way to Brisbane from the North Gold Coast, I don't know the area from a residential point of view but that's where the traffic starts, so for us, 30km to SP takes about 20 mins, the remaining 30km to the city is a further 40 mins on an average day. I suppose my thoughts on SP are dominated by the freeway, its a busy old road & I wouldn't want to live too close to it. To answer some of your questions, yes the traffic is bad, really bad from 5AM to 9AM and all afternoon pretty much, transport links are the freeway but I think the express bus goes down to around Daisy Hill, nearest express train would be Beenleigh although we drive so I may be wrong.

Rather than trying to qualify it I'll just say Sunshine Coast, by a mile, for me.

Yep, we owned a house in Oyster cove on Saltwater creek, lovely area. Now we live on a golf course (renting while we build in SC), not on water any more but we do have kangaroo's on the lawn and a golf buggy to drive to the pub in, sometimes you forget & just take it all for granted but it is a great area to live in.

Meritons are great and you often can get a good rate.

Ah yes, GCC - I'd forgotten about them, useless - you can use their app to book then watch the driver approach you & then get a better booking and head off the other way - never rely on them. Too true. Welcome to 4212, sounds like you're doing great well done & glad your husband is managing the commute, we've done it for 3.5 years...

Haven't used them personally but freedom pools seem OK (they're at Springwood).

We've been living in/around Hope Island & working in Brisbane for 3.5 years now, early on we tried the train but rapidly got fed up with it, now we drive which is also a pain but usually quite a bit quicker. Train fares are not cheap but neither is parking in the CBD. The train journey Helensvale->Central takes 1:05 to 1:10 and total commute depends on how far you live/work from the station at either end but from Hope Island to the Bris CBD was at least 1.5h each way for us, the peak hour trains get pretty full and often you're standing, especially on the way back. Driving is usually an hour(ish) sometimes a bit quicker/occasionally a lot longer (train can be delayed too). Peak hour by car or train starts very early, we usually leave at 6:30 but I've done it at around 5AM and its still very, very crowded, not sure when peak hour ends, I've done it at 10AM also and by then its starting to quiet down, coming back its anytime after 3PM to well beyond 6PM. Our sleep patterns have totally changed, we are in bed by 9PM every night and up around 5:00, this is far from uncommon as its light early/dark early. Sorry to be a bit of a voice of doom, its a lovely area but the commute is a fair commitment, however you do it.

Also check out Hope Island.

About 4 weeks before the ceremony itself. I understand this is normal and that the ceremonies are monthly, I spoke to them on the phone (originally my wife was invited but not me) and all invites had gone out for Oct, this was about 2 weeks ago.

We have a few days off in a couple of weeks and I was wondering about taking a trip to Darwin, NT would be the only mainland state we haven't been to but I'm wondering what we'd see & do up there (middle aged couple without kids in tow). I know it will be hot/humid but that doesn't bother us too much. We took a road trip to Longreach a few months back and it was a good journey but not much there when we arrived! Cheers!

Just a quick update in case anyone reads this in future, we did our exam in May and we've been invited to a ceremony in Oct.

You get very used to this, I now find the centre of Bris pretty crowded, going back to the UK becomes a bit of a culture shock! Having said that look at rush hour traffic anywhere near the Bris CBD, it seems as busy as anywhere in the world. Only other thing I'd mention is the dark nights take some getting used to and you end up going to bed early (everything closes early) and getting up with the Sun (for us, we're up every day before 6AM). You've arrived at a nice time of year (although there really aren't any bad ones) enjoy!

Exactly, whereas I had to travel to Melbourne for a days work last month, it was 26C and sunny at our place on the GC but 8C, blowing a gale and hail in downtown Melbourne, one of our customers was asking us to help him get a job in QLD as he couldn't stand the weather, he has one now and is moving up in a couple of weeks. I was only there for a day, thankfully! I'll happily take dark evenings and a few weeks a year of humidity for SE QLD's wonderful climate!

yeah, me too. I've lived a few kms from HV for 3 years now, parts of it are lovely (the bits near Hope Island) and none of it is too bad.