tina0101

We put everything onto memory stick, but we have passports (obviously!) drivers licences and bank cards on us. When you rent a house you need 100 points from an ID list. If you have a bank here with money in, get a statement from them too. With any passports/drivers licences and bank cards, you shouldn't have too much of a problem. We registered for medicare straight away too - it takes a few weeks to get the card, but its another form of id

Agreed - we saw some properties that looked fab online. When we got there, it was a very different story. Went to view a house the other day that looked like it needed some work. What the pictures didn't show was all the holes in the wall - it looked like someone had let off a rocket launcher!!! I would never recommend getting a rental (or buy) without seeing it first!! And now I think about it, all the agents we saw when we were looking to rent said about the 100 point check. If I was a landlord, I'd be very unhappy if procedures weren't followed.

We had to get to the 100 points. Wasn't hard with bank cards, driving licences and passports. We just took everything in when we found a property we wanted.

Exciting for you!!! We're in Wellington Point, right by Cleveland - Zoedan24's list of things is really good and I'd agree that there isn't anywhere 'bad' but there are areas that personally we didn't want to live in. If you guys want to go for a coffee while you are here, or ask any questions let us know :-)

If you're shipping them, they'll take a while to get here and you probably would've bought new ones by the time they arrive. I wouldn't bother with the hassle of it. It's not expensive for new herbs/flour/sugar over here :-)

Lakaal, that is so honest and straight up. I hope you don't have too many regrets - life is to short to dwell and I wish you all the luck in the world.

On the other side to Lakaal, I have met lots who love it here and have been here ages and would not go back. It's not for everyone, but it's good to get a balanced view from someone like Lakaal.

Vanduex and I are in the Bayside area with our 17 year old son. We arrived at the end of August with a job interview lined up for him and a couple of school visits booked in for our son. Luckily he got the job and then, within a week of arriving, we had found a rental property too!! It took me a couple of months to get a job, but I wasn't really trying as we could survive for a bit on the one salary. I actually had a couple of offers and settled on one just near Woolongabba - been there a month now!! just bought our first house and hoping to move in in about a month!! Youre re lucky to have some people here - I would also recommend joining Facebook groups (if you do Facebook) as there are quite a few that arrange meet-ups and things. We've met some great people by just popping along to BBQs on the beach and drinks in the pub. Good of luck with it all!!! Brisbane is fab :-)

I agree with Blossom - this looks like it has been hurriedly put together and is badly written. It says it is for both parents but seems very bias towards mothers. I would not sign it in it's current form.

I think most people have a 'omg what have I done' moment before they leave!! We certainly did :-) Do you know people out here? Where are you looking to move to? We came out knowing nobody and have met lots of people through PIO and Facebook groups. We have older relatives and saying goodbye was very hard, but they are all supportive of our move and would hate it if we hadn't gone because of them. Enjoy the next 12 weeks; it'll fly by and you'll be here before you know it!!

Where you going to in Brisbane? We've been here 4 months and we love it :-)

We live on the Bayside in Brisbane - been here 4 months from the UK. We see the odd spider in the house (not many though) and don't get geckos in the house but have seen a few on the walls outside. I do get mozzie/midge bites on a regular basis though!! It's 30 minutes to drive to Brisbane CBD and roughly the same to get to the airport and it's always been a pretty easy drive and we've never had problems parking - the trains are also very easy and cheap. Straddie and the Gold/Sunshine Coasts are all easy day trips out if you want to go to the beach. It's ever-so-slightly cooler by the Bayside than the rest of Brisbane (although I'm still finding it crazy hot!) Never been to Perth so can't comment on there!! Absolutely love it in Brisbane :-)

Barclays shut my account after it lay dormant for a few years. I think it's in the small print when you open an account. Follow the steps others have given and you should get your money back.

Yup, but you don't need 20% in the UK. Here you get hit with big Indemnity fees if you have less than 20%. I was just offering that advice for further down the line - it's easy to think of all the immediate expenses to live on but if you bleed yourself dry, you've got no hope of buying until you've saved.

If you are considering getting your own place, you will need some kind of deposit and when buying a house here, you get charged an insurance fee if you do not have 20% deposit. Onviously this is looking further down the line, but it's worth bearing in mind if you do want to ever consider the property market :-)

Feel free to pm me with any questions :-)

Wow, a lot has happened so here is our update!! We landed in Brisbane at the end of August and spent our first 3 nights in the Meriton. Absolutely lush - 10 floors from the top on the river side, the weather was fab, the views were amazing and we couldn't believe how wonderful everything was!! I love Brisbane. It's so much more chilled out than the M4 corridor! 2 days after landing hubby (Vanduex) had an interview for Head of Pedagogy at a local school. So off he went, slightly jet lagged, and negotiated the Brisbane rail system. Their trains are easy to use, very cheap compared to the UK and clean. Fortunately, the school only made him wait over the weekend before we found out he had the job, to start in January 2015, but wanted him to come in and do supply work from October. Absolute result!!! Once he had started doing supply, they decided that as he was at the school each day, they may as well start him on a contract sooner. We then moved to Coomera, just above the Gold Coast. Being that hubby's job was in Wynnum, it became very apparent that we didn't want to be staying that far away. So we immediately started hunting for a rental. With hindsight, I wish we'd rented a place with a pool. We decided we wanted to be on the Bayside and started looking in the Cleveland/Wellington Point areas. I would say that we noticed a big difference between houses that were under $550 a week and the ones over. We found one in Wellington Point, and managed to secure it straight away using 6 months rent upfront, references from our UK employers and estate agent and our bank statement (house sold in the UK, so it was very healthy!). We moved in 10 days after landing. We viewed 3 schools for our son. He had just done GCSEs in the UK, but we have not found this to be a problem. He went into Year 11 in October and will be starting Year 12 when they go back in January. His GCSEs can count towards his OP for university. He's settled into his school really well and seems happier with education than he ever was in the UK. He's pretty bright and I think that because we can afford private school fees here, it has made a difference. I have also now got a job - I was so bored at home each day (although I did manage to fit in lots of coffees with people from PIO and Facebook!). I would recommend to anyone coming out to join groups, go along to meet ups and meet as many people as you can. We both know we've been very fortunate to secure employment for both of us within 3 months!! I love that the beach is right on our doorstep. And that you don't have to pay to park there!! There is an abundance of things to do and places to see in the area. We've found our shopping bills each week to be comparable to the UK. Petrol is cheaper. We have a car and a motorbike. Alcohol is more expensive, but we aren't big drinkers, so we haven't really noticed it. And the the biggest news is that we've bought a house today!!!!

Running through my head here are other things that go out each month/few months for us: TV package (even if the TV here is rubbish!), school uniforms, RACQ cover x

I've seen quite a few bar staff with tattoos and lots of people in beauty have them too, so it shouldn't be a problem! As someone else mentioned, because it's hotter, more skin is on show so you see them more. Which I like as I love tattoos (as long as they're tasteful). If you go for a job it sounds like they'll be able to see your tattoos and if they reject you on that basis, would you want to work for them anyway?!? I wouldn't worry about it

Depends on the kind of work - it seems to be pretty similar to the UK really - I work in a private school and have to keep mine covered.

When we were booking to come to Australia, the price was the same 6 months before as they were the day before flight. i think it's hit and miss really. Some people would like to get their flight booked up to be safe, others will leave it late and hope there are still seats.

We were quoted and paid a price. Once packed, the company told us it was less than expected (not as much as yours) and we still got a refund. I'd get the small print out on the quote and start going through it with a fine toothcomb!

For car hire you need a driving licence (UK one will do) and credit card (again UK one will do). For renting you will probably need a bank statement showing a healthy Australian bank balance to prove you can pay, a job contract with start date and salary, your passport and driving licence, references from your UK landlord or estate agent who sold your house. We also had copies of our pre-written job character references I would recommend getting a Medicare card as soon as possible as it takes a few weeks to arrive. if you offer 6 months upfront too, that may help

If you're on a 189 you can claim Centrelink and they backdate it. I think ink if you are good at budgeting, you will be fine.

Welcome to the forum. We got lots of useful info from here. Don't be afraid to ask anything! Where are you looking to move to and what type of visa?