samshep

We were the same as you, paid $60 for a pool man to come out and go through everything with my husband, testing, maintenance etc, we now know what to do, we take a sample to our local pool shop and then but salt etc from bunnings as cheaper. If the pool needs anything other than general maintenance we get the owners to sort it out. It's worth paying to get a good knowledge as said above a green pool is a nightmare, pump now on 8 hrs a day as summer mode, but we run 4 hrs of it at night as cheap electricity, sooooooooooo worth it as children and husband now in it every day

Ormiston state is the best but has catchment area, wellington point, cleveland and thornlands good. If you want to pay then Sheldon is the best, Vicky point isn't known for its schools, mount cotton?

Welcome, an exciting time for you. I have a boy 9 and girl 6 and am in wellington point, can def meet up if you want to, so know how you feel, so can hopefully give you some tips.

sam

I'm a midwife, private sector is the way to go, contact the mater and greenslopes hospitals, I'm at greenslopes, they are recruiting still as its a brand new unit only opened feb. I love it there.

I would look for work for you, I'm bayside which is lovely as it is easy access for gold and Sunshine Coast, I'm a midwife, work is pretty easy to get for us, but your skills may not be recognised here which is a pain. My husband was a brickie in the UK, doing renovations, skills not rec here so has changed direction.

I'm a nurse and midwife, with a diploma and degree, still needed my IELTS, got me my points I needed. I used a migration agent as we are a family of 4 and didn't have the time to do it myself, if you have the time do it yourself. You do need transcripts from nursing course which is easy to get and lots of other paperwork.

good luck, it's worth the hassle.

Annette, pm me, I'll meet up with you, have a son and daughter who turns 6 next week.

I'm in wellington point, been here just over a year now. Have made great friends through, neighbours and work. Any info needed feel free to ask or if you want a coffee and a chat pm me, know some great coffee places locally. Also, some nice mums from school.

We did no reccie, had never even been to oz until the day we landed here permanent. Couldn't afford it for 4 of us. No regrets, love it x

Yes definitely, they are expensive over here, bring everything, if you use it bring it.

I live in wellington point, when we arrived we stayed in redland bay at a place called redlands retreat, I found it through this website. Whilst its about 20 mins from wellington point it was all we could find. It's 3 bedroomed, basic but clean, has everything you need and a good base. Not to expensive, there is otherwise not many options in the area. I would say it is fine for what you want it for, next to the bush so good experience of wildlife. If you need any further info feel free to pm me and send me your email, am always willing to help, I've been here 14 months now.

Just go with the few cheapest, haggle between them as you'll get it down further. Your gut instinct will also come into it, we went with dorree bonner and they were fantastic, would recommend them. Pick fords were cheaper so dorree came down a bit, nt quite as cheap as pick fords but we had a good feeling about dorree, it went brill.

Try greenslopes or mater hospital, they sponsor and some wards do long days x

Anyone that comes to stay has to bring me English chocolate, just declare and it's fine, I miss it x

Hi sam, didn't look at welly point school as viewed ormiston first and just loved it, had the gut instinct that we wanted that one. You may e in the catchment area for ormiston in certain areas of wellington point, I would email the schools and find out there catchment areas, ormiston doesn't have many rentals compared with wellington point and cleveland.

Hope the move is going well, don't envy you, it was stressful. Feel free to ask any further questions.

Wait for visa, you can get quotes but do nothing until that visa is in your hand.

There is no rush to get them into school, you need to settle, look at schools, then apply. My eldest was here for 3 weeks before he started and my youngest 4 weeks, so don't rush!

Gets more expensive the later you leave it as initially they have cheap seats, any of the big airlines I would fly with, the deciding factor for me is where the change of flight is and how long you wait for a connecting flight.

Redlands college is very religious are a few of them. I'm looking at redlands for high school, not sure I can stomach "god died for you" as a means to get them to value their education.

Ormiston state school is the best! We have been here a year now in wellington point and after having to go through the whole looking at schools we chose ormiston state, we love it and our children are very happy there, aged 8 and 5. It is now so good they have introduced catchment area, so you may need to take that into consideration when looking at houses. The other schools are ok, don't worry about rushing to find a school, when you get here visit them and get a Feel for them. Thornlands is very good, if I lived there I would send them their. Stay clear of Alex hills, I would not live their, however I think the school is ok.

privately, ormiston college is the last I would choose, expensive "voluntary contributions", very focused on academic results and if your child doesn't meet their standards they ask you to leave!

Feel free to pm me if you have any more questions as I know what your going through.

​sam

Telstra prepaid, if you top up $30 per month it gives you good amount of minutes to call UK, approx 30 mins I would guess, which is great if your not calling all the time, if you think you would Skype or FaceTime on iPad so it's free

I live in wellington point, have been here a year now, it's a lovely family area. There are some great schools as well. It's about an hour on the train. Feel free to pm your email and I can answer any questions x

What visa are you hoping for? I am here on a permanent visa, contacted the hospital direct whilst still in UK, had interview over the phone - job done. hadn't even started the process with AHPRA, they held my job for 12-18 months for me as they understood the whole application process. Been here 5 weeks now, all ok so far.

we used Dorree Bonner, not the cheapest quote we had (we did manage to get the quote down a few hundred) but the best vibe we had. they were the only company as well that actually kept touching base with us once they had been out.

the packers i have to say were FANTASTIC, I was nice to them so they did a good job, left out a kettle and biscuits for them. i had also put things that weren't to go in rooms that were not to be touched and labeled any cupboards they were not to touch - i'm a control freak!! But they said i had made there life easy.

Haven't got to the other end yet so can't comment on that - but so far so good.

Packers update.............

well back in the house as the packers have gone, packed downstairs today and will do upstairs tomorrow and load it onto container. they were superquick but they are putting that down to my super organised house, they would have got it all done today but have allowed for tomorrow as well so need to leave some for tomorrow.

Masses of boxes and strange shaped packaged everywhere.

Will again say so far so good, very friendly and professional packers whom will be back at 0730ish tomorrow, i'll be at work so will leave them to let themself in and pack again - gave them a key.

House feels very strange, am glad not sleeping here - a little sad as well, shall miss my house as have some great memories here.

Oh well, lets hope tomorrow is as good.

Sam