Peachy

Depends on your budget/ where you are working/ what sort of area you want to live in - Queenslander, apartment/ unit/, brick, newbuild. There are some great suburb reviews posted in this section.

I am sure that this is down to personal choice!! I am a duvet type of person and there are plenty on offer here. I really don't think you need to worry about choice of bedding when considering your big move.

Samford Village is my dream location. Pricey to buy though and outside of my own budget. Beautiful location; an 8 minute drive to Ferny Grove train station; lovely community; enough shops to keep you going. I spend a lot of time in Samford and would be a fantastic place to live and work. P

Seems a lot to pay for something that it easily accessible on googling. There is a great free site which lists all the toilets and opening times of the toilets. Searching the local area brings up the BBQs. Would only be useful in a remote area, but in this situation I would be travelling to a specific location and the availability of a BBQ would not alter my choice. I wouldn't pay and I am not sure that there is any market for it, apart from people new to the country who haven't tried googling.

Hi A week should be okay if you are organised, but it may take a couple of days to get adjusted to the change in time zones, particularly if you have a little one that thinks it is day time when it should be sleeping. Living arrangements depend upon whether you want family home or apartment living. Wilston, Windsor, Ashgrove and Paddington are very nice. Slightly cheaper alternatives are Alderley, Grange, Lutwyche. Bowen Hills and Fortitude Valley are great if you are under 25 and out on the town! Would Air BnB it for a couple of weeks so that you can get a feel of the area you want to be in. Will you have parking at work? If not, RBWH is about a 15 min walk from Bowen Hills station. Wilston, Windsor and Alderley are all on the train line. Good luck P

Hi Have a look at rentals on real estate. Then google street view their location to get a feel of the location. Family friendly places to live northside (I live northside and don't venture much across the river!!), within your budget and travel to cbd would be: Albany Creek (bus), Ferny Hills (train), Ferny Grove (train), Mitchelton (train); The Gap (bus), probably lots more but got a bit bored checking the rental prices for you! Train service is excellent and cheap (in comparison to UK). Areas I am not keen on (but I am sure that others will have a different view and I am not writing off the whole of these suburbs!): Zillmere; Deception Bay; Chermside (traffic is horrific!); Stafford, parts of Gaythorne. Suggest you google, have a look at the street view. From a quick look on real estate if you want to be in a nice area then you are unlikely to get a swimming pool within that budget, but you never know what might pop up. Good luck! P

Hi Suggest that you see my comment on the other post re suburbs. Depends on budget, sort of housing you are after, type of schooling (private, state, religious - a lot of people go with private or religious here as reasonably cheap in comparison to uk), shops, seaside or more towards the mountains. You can buy with 10% deposit but you will need to pay indemnity insurance (but they can add this to the loan). Have a chat with a mortgage broker when you get over here. Definitely best to rent first. P

PS make sure you look at the flood map before you pick somewhere. Flooding is a significant issue. It is not usual for houses to flood in bad storms. When looking make sure you ask the question. Even if houses have nice conversions in the garage/ lower floor, these may flood.

Hi For people to give you some guidance you will need to provide a little more info. For example, budget (you can get a nice house for $450,000 in one area or $1m + in another); school - state, private, religious; Queenslander v New build; new estate v established; quaint shops v large shopping malls and cosmopolitan area; train v bus v car to city; Northside v Southside. The suburbs are very different in feel - this is a bit generalist but for example, Albany Creek - family orientated, bus to city, decent shops v Nundah - up and coming, trendy, lots of apartments and Queenslanders v Paddington - $1m + for nice house, highly sought after, regarded as the 'posher' end of Brisbane. Narrow down what you are after and we can give you a bit more help. P

Do you mean comments on North Lakes in particular or Northside or Brisbane? I am not a huge fan of North Lakes (although the shopping centre is excellent!) because it is a little hub of English people and I am keen to integrate! Some things to do: - Sunshine Coast and Bribie Island - NL is ideally located for an easy trip - Australia Zoo - good value annual passes so you can go as often as you want - great with young kids - Redcliffe Lagoon - a favourite of mine - 10 mins from NL - free parking and free lagoon - community groups in Strathpine and NL for babies/ toddlers - Lake Samsonvale - easish transport links to the city. - cycle paths I could list heaps of things, the vast majority of which are free. Re house prices - completely depends on what you want and your budget. NL is very 'estatey' which some people love - lots of pristine new builds. Have a look at realestate to get a feel for the sort of house that you are after. I wouldn't be tempted by the cheaper houses in Deception Bay or Caboolture - they have increased crime rates in comparison to the surrounding areas. P.

Completely disagree with this!! We rented a large 4 bedroom house in a nice area for $480 a week in Brisbane. With a rental you don't pay the council rates and pay reduced water. For 2 people, with no dependents, you would manage just fine on $6,000 a month. Our biggest costs are now mortgage, school fees & school clubs/sports (which a retired couple wouldn't have) and feeding 4 of us (with 2 boys who empty the fridge!). Travel costs not very expensive. You may have higher electricity fees if you are home more of the day and have the aircon on. Many families of 4+ live comfortably on far less than $100k a year. I am also not sure about the comparison of £30,000 to $120,000 a year. Whilst I don't want to go into my salary, I was a very high earner in the UK. I have taken a 50% reduction in earnings by moving out of the private sector into government. My lifestyle is the same over here (probably better - more meals out, much cheaper travel, kids in private school). Perhaps Perth is rather more expensive but the OP is asking about Brisbane.

You may have more luck asking via fb sites. There are heaps of fb sites for Northside parents: Brisbane Northside Mums, North Brisbane Parents Group etc. There is always someone asking for recommendations for kindys/ schools and a good response rate.

I think that 1 hr and 40 mins is too much. As an adult I would balk at that length of commute to work. My husband does 1 hr 20 mins and finds it a bit of an effort. To expect a child to do this is unreasonable, particularly because we then expect our kids to participate in family life, do chores, homework and activities. I would look for somewhere closer or consider moving.

It's not really a 'hissy fit' though is it? We were in the same situation as you with regard to the value of the property, the renovation while living it in etc. We checked the mortgage terms prior to departure, quick call to bank, filled in 1 form and heard within 7 days that approved the consent to let. The mortgagor has lent you a considerable sum of money and complying with the terms of the loan is your obligation. It isn't a 'hissy fit' - you have breached the terms of your mortgage. If it is an issue try a UK mortgage broker as others have said because they have a much wider range of lenders that they can tap into.

Length of process depends on how fast you are able to do your skills assessment. We started to gather the documents in October, EOI December, invite January and visa March. We arrived in June 2015. Definitely would not go with sponsorship if you can avoid it - risky with a largish family. In terms of income, you could manage on $75k if you had one second hand car and rented in a less popular area. We worked out that as a family of 4 we could manage for 1 year on $65k - it would have been tight and not provided a cushion if something went wrong but it would have been doable. Luckily we both found work. If you wife wants to work, then au pair is a good option - heaps of au pairs looking for work. Look up facebook site Brisbane babysitters for an idea of cost + availability. If money is tight would weigh up whether or not to ship your stuff over - you can get fairly cheap household goods from Kmart or Target. Equivalent of Argos quality. Gumtree and facebook selling sights are fantastic for getting furniture at cheap prices. However, you do need to factor in white goods - most rentals come with a cooker but not fridge or washing machine and these are more expensive than UK to buy new - we bought ours from Gumtree and have worked absolutely fine for the last 18 months. I think you just need to manage your expectations - you probably won't be living in a beautiful new build with 4 x 4. But it is just a matter of giving it time. There are masses more free activities here - beach, mountains, cycling, free museums and lagoons, free parking in most places. You can have fun filled weekends and spend nothing. P

My understanding is that your son would be treated as an international student so would have to pay much higher fees and no student loan. You have to live in the UK for a certain amount of time to qualify for domestic fees/loan. P

Hi If you can work in Australia - presumably a working holiday visa? then do you need to be assessed by AASW? You don't need to be registered with them to work as a social worker. Most social workers are not registered with AASW. If you are going for a skilled visa (189), then you will require 12 months post qual work in Australia or 3 years in UK. This is a different process. I am not sure from your post what you have in mind. P.

Like the post. I hope our story in 9 years is similar to yours :-)

We brought our old TV over. It isn't anything fancy. It will run off the aerial and internet TV. We did have to re-tune it and it actually thinks we are in Indonesia now but it doesn't impact on the functionality.

An well, I must have, in the same way that people in UK never see kids playing outside! But many is the time my granddaughters have had the playground to themselves when I've taken them - not the parks so much as the neighbourhood playgrounds, the parks are well populated wherever you go. The playgrounds are good in Canberra, I grant you, as they are here. But here you can guarantee that there will be a kid playing on them any time you walk past. Are we seriously going to argue about how many children play in playgrounds in the UK v Australia.... I don't see how this is useful to the OP. And this is why I don't come on the forum very much. Although it is also probably because my kids are playing outside in the local playground with all the other kids that are there.

I have found the contrary and that we have made some close friends in a very short space of time through shared interests. We have found Australians in general to be extremely welcoming and accepting. It is a matter of putting yourself out there. I don't agree that over effort makes things worse - unless you go out of your way in a new country, you aren't going to have much luck with bonding - why should other people make the effort if you aren't prepared to? Me and my family are busier socially than we were in the UK. I am not a natural social animal but I find that socialising here is so much more relaxed - sitting around a pool, bbq or at a park comes much more naturally. I wouldn't move for the social life, but I do think that the opportunities that Australia offers, and the openness of the people that we have met, have changed our family dynamic for the better. If you are giving up good careers and a nice home then you need to think very carefully but Australia does have a huge amount to offer. For the OP, you need to form your own views. While this forum is useful, and I absolutely don't wish to offend, comments from a lot of people who spend a considerable portion of their time online, isn't necessarily what you are aiming to reflect. While outside of my comfort zone, my aim is to make connections in the real world and if you give to your community then you will see the return.

Hi There is a lot of talk about the pros and cons of Perth. I have never been there. However, I can definitely sell the benefits of Brisbane. We love it here. I wouldn't say that the job market is buoyant but it certainly isn't stagnant. It is a lovely area for families - everything you need from a city without being impersonal like London or Sydney. There are heaps of nice suburbs to choose from depending on the sort of lifestyle that you are after - city apartment living to acreage, all within easy reach of the city. Beaches are an hour or so from most locations. My husband and I have found people very friendly - we have a better social life than in the UK. Weather - you definitely need to think about. I love the spring, autumn and winter. Summer is doable, but you have to be prepared to accept that you will walk around dripping with sweat! It is very humid. However, we have a pool and spend most afternoons in there at the moment to cool off. Spent the morning cutting the hedge and it is a huge effort doing something physical like that in 30+ degree heat + humidity. Whichever you choose, it will be a BIG change from the Isle of Man. When you say that you want a better lifestyle for your family, I am not sure what you mean. What do you think that Australia will offer you that Isle of Man doesn't? If it is work opportunities, then probably in Brisbane, yes. If it is a community spirit, then I would be surprised that Isle of Man isn't better. If you want city, beach, mountains, reasonable job opportunities then Brisbane is your place :-)

Get some professional advice and/ or come on an extended holiday. Since moving to Brisbane from the UK a year ago, I have been astonished at the number of people here suffering with asthma. Friends of my children are often off school with asthma or complications from asthma; colleagues are often off sick with it. They report that it is very much worse when there is a change in the weather. It will depend upon the triggers for your children but I would be surprised if you see a big improvement that would merit moving states.

In an attempt to get the thread back on track I am going to actually try and answer the OP's question! My view is that you have a huge amount to lose and not that much to gain. You haven't moved, for whatever reason, in the last 4.5 years so the drive to get to Australia can't be that great. Yes, I love the lifestyle here and I think that it is better than the UK for my family. In answer to your questions will Oz provide me the quality of life now and in the future I currently have in the UK? Probably not. Your quality of life will probably be quite poor to start with if you don't have a job lined up. Your kids may settle really well, or they may not - they are at a slightly tricky age and may be resentful of a move. If you have a good job, happy life and happy children then why move? You may feel that you have missed an opportunity, and you probably will always have that thought if you stay, but life is about choices not regrets. You are unlikely to truly regret not moving to Australia - it is more likely to be a slight yearning for what might have been. Brexit is a sore point but the UK should recover and your kids have a bit of time before they will be in the job market and it certainly isn't carefree on the job market over here. I have been lucky and would encourage almost anyone to move, but in your case you seem to want assurance that all will be okay with a move. It may not be; my advice - don't do it!!

Hi I took my perfume in the hold luggage - I don't think the extreme temperatures in the container will do the perfume much good. With the other stuff, I took a couple of tubes of shampoo to tide me over until I found a brand I liked. I had a couple of nail varnishes in the container - primarily because I forgot to put in my luggage before the removalists came. The nail varnish did not travel well and was unusable upon arrival. Would have thought body lotions etc would be fine though, as not alcohol based/ flammable or quite so susceptible to the change in temperatures. A good opportunity to have a clear out and start with new brands in Australia! P