freebo

Everyone tends to barrack for the place they live in. I live near Bris and have had about 5 total sandfly bites in the last year, not a reason not to move for me. Although its been unusually wet for the last 2 years in general Bris has the most sunshine of any capital. Its humid, but only 2 months of the year. I have previously lived in Sydney and the harbour is beautiful but the roads and beaches are crowded and property is on a whole other planet of expensive. Adelaide is a nice but small town, cold in winter and a little quiet for me, I have friends who love it though. Different cities suit different people, best physically visit them all before commuting.

On the Gold Coast also try Charis at Labrador - http://www.charisseafood.com.au/default.aspx?page=RETAIL we've only bought fresh fish to cook at home from there the cooked section seems very popular, its in a great spot on the Broadwater too, lots of pelicans, parkland, BBQ areas and safe swimming.

Depends where you're staying, Gold Coast Airport is at Coolangata, which is 22km's south of Surfers. The city of Gold Coast is a big place and the only part of it I would avoid at that hour is very central surfers, but if you're worried about that sort of thing you shouldn't be staying in surfers (better somewhere like Broadbeach). Although the news would have you believe its like the wild west like GCmag I wouldn't be worried at all, 99% of the GC will be deserted at 4AM, also the only public transport to the airport will be the train (which goes nowhere near the tourist areas), or a taxi, which will cost quite a few bucks.

Only advice I'd give is don't stay in a CBD hotel, its incredibly expensive, closest would be Kangaroo Point which is just across the river. As its off season look at holiday accommodation, check out stayz.com.au

I don't work in mining but have friends who do, from what I hear it would be very difficult, if he was physically there in the town, with a PR visa and some relevant experience he might get a job as a kitchen hand or similar but it sounds like he needs sponsorship for a visa too, almost impossible I'd reckon. There is a myth that any able bodied bloke can walk into a high paid mining job, from what I hear this is totally wrong, thousands of semi-skilled Australians want to get into mining and can't, if he was a geologist or petrochemist different story.

Because they can't, they surrendered control their currencies to the EU, if they still had the Dracma, Escudo, Punt and Lira they likely would have been printing them like crazy long before now. The ECB (Euro Central Bank) is up to all sorts of shenanigans, some of which are looking more and more like QE, much to the displeasure of the strong EZ economies (basically Germany) this will also fail to fix the crisis. The Euro is one of the few currencies doing worse than the pound at the moment.

Qualitative Easing has failed miserably at its stated intention - economic recovery but worked beautifully at its real one - devaluing the pound. When a currency is debased by excessive money printing (which is all QE really is) it benefits debtors by lowering interest rates and punishes savers both by lowering rates and also by causing inflation. It also makes debts easier to repay in devalued currency. When you realise that the government and the banks are the biggest debtors of all, it makes sense that they should try to print their way out of debt, but it won't work, sooner or later the market will loose confidence in the UK, borrowing costs will rise (maybe a lot) and the game will be up, any gains that are made will be at the direct expense of savers, who see the purchasing power of their savings continually falling as they are doing now.

It will decrease the value of the pound, which is the real reason they're doing it.

Unlikely they will in IT, the market simply isn't that big in Brisbane, not unless they all go back into their old jobs, which wouldn't surprise me, albeit on lower pay. There does seem to be a larger than average proportion of software dev happening here, which I think may have been due to govt subsidies. I'd imagine the IT market in Brisbane would be about the same size as the one in Bristol or Glasgow if that gives any context, for comparison I'd say Sydney would be about 25% of London and Melb 20% in terms of IT work.

Brisbane is a small town IT wise, especially if you're used to the UK. Jobs do exist but pay is lower than Syd/Melb. As the PP says a large %age of the 3,000 recently laid off by the govt where IT folk. Govt was previously the big IT employer.

We bought a brand new car in Sydney & moved to QLD less than a year later, process is as above, although I was a bit surprised I had to get a Roadworthy (MOT) on an 10 month old car, bear in mind annual roadworthies aren't needed in QLD for any age of car unless you sell it, which explains some of the old wrecks you see on the roads up here. You'll also have to surrender your CTP and buy another, even if its with the same insurer.

If you want one with apartment facilities (i.e. kitchen) take a look at the Meriton, its brand new and the tallest building in Brisbane, maybe not especially posh but clean and modern and the views from the high rooms are amazing, we stayed on the 74th floor just before christmas and could see for miles.

1) Establish communications with friends & rellies (internet and phone) - takes more planning than you may think 2) Have fun!

We'd also be interested in any groups around the Gold Coast - not Man City fans though <--

£31k seems highish, especially for healthcare workers but I'd be happy if they kicked out all those sponging off benefits. Same goes for Australia (although it doesn't seem as common there).

I'm typing this from Dubai Int Airport (28C here BTW at 4AM), en route form QLD to Northern England, I confidently predict it will feel baltic in the UK, we've packed sweaters and coats

In terms of a rental, it took us about 6 weeks but we found quite a few which where OK before that, depends what you're looking for and budget, we wanted waterfront/pool/large garden etc based on a quick search there seems to be a few available. Staying in a hotel to start with's a good idea, make sure you get a room with kitchen laundry etc unless you fancy paying for restaurants every day or living off take aways. We stayed at the Meriton in Southport and it was really good, especially if you get an ocean view, last year we scored an opening offer rate but I think its still good value, especially if you make a longish booking (maybe a day or two to make sure you like it first).

Patchy at best I'm afraid, Govt is the largest IT employer and they just went on a hiring freeze with talk of lots of contrators laid off. Depends on your skills though, a mate of mine managed to land a perm role after only a few weeks looking.

Look on the Australia Visa Wizard (google it) to see if you have any PR/TR visa options, but I'm pretty sure "recent work experience" is needed i.e. last 12 months. You'll be better off posting on the migration forum, this one is Queensland specific but your questions revolve around immigration, which is a complex business. Not all occupations need qualifications but most do, again the wizard should point you in the right direction. Best of luck!

I've been here 2 years and love 90% of it, but I guess the nature of a forum such as this is to write about things that are different or negative with others who have come from a similar place and would understand. Many of the downsides you list are real for many people though. The driving rant post is a good example, the poster felt that driving standards were worse here than in the UK and probably wanted to vent with others from the UK, no use saying to an Aussie that the driving is worse here as, unless he's lived overseas its all he knows. Aus is a fabulous place with lots going for it but nowhere is perfect (although some seem to think so) and its probably human nature to write about the downsides. I reckon if there was an "Ozzies in Pommieland" forum there would be a fair few on there winging about the rain, the cost of petrol and how crowded everywhere is etc. Even Aussies can winge, I've heard quite a few of my new mates over here do just that. Australia is a wonderful country, we all have the choice to return to the UK if we think its better over there, that doesn't mean it suits everyone though.

Take a look here - no idea how accurate it is though http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Carpenter/Hourly_Rate

I knew when I read the first post how this would go, some pretty thin skinned types on here :laugh:

I'm in QLD. Driving styles here are very different to the UK, never mind which nationalities are actually doing the driving, although I looked up road mortality rates after reading/contributing to this, result is that Aus is good (surprised me), but UK is better by most measures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate Heaps of cyclists here, and they seem to do OK. Maybe you'll find driving "different", maybe not but its a different country and not everything will be the same, not everything will be better.

Sorry? So if someone goes to overtake, gets their front bumper a few cm ahead of you then turns in and hits you, you're to blame? How about someone who pulls in front of you from a side road? BTW cameras are on Ebay for about $50 or more expensive/better? from here (who where on ACA) http://www.autoblackbox.com.au/index.php?route=common/home

Funny thing is when I moved our 10 month old car from NSW to QLD I had to get a roadworthy cert, yet you see all manner of ancient wrecks on the road, no brake lights, bald tyers etc and so long as they don't get sold they never get checked. As for the driving it really must be down to education and policing, I drive 100km+ on QLD's busiest freeway and don't see a single cop from one month to the next, when you do see them its invariably as a speed trap, as noted above its driving behaviour rather than speed which is truly dangerous round here. Where do you get those camera's again?