pricecelt Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Well ten years in the planning and we are finally here. Arrived from Glasgow via Dubai and Singapore on emirates. Great flights the A380 from Dubai to Singapore was mental. Wifi entertainment and so much room. I didn't even realise we had taken off as it was o quiet , thought we were taxiing to the runway . Final flight from Singapore to brissie was with qantas and I'm convinced Aussies have no fear, bumpy all the way but not a seatbelt light in sight until we just about touched own. I got no sleep on any flight as I'm a very nervous flyer but hey oh such is life, the three kids crashed from Dubai and did the me on the Singapore flight. Met two fantastic Aussie families on flight who gave us their contact details to hook up and stay in touch. My son was literally gob smacked at the open friendliness of people. His words " that wouldn't happen back home dad, it puts us to shame" out of the mouths of babes, that from my 11 year old son. Through customs no problem, son gutted as he is addicted to nothing to declare and had hoped to meet a customs dude from the telly. I was less disappointed. I had expected a cheering crowd when our visa got activated or even a congratulations but no nothing !!!! So arrival at brissie 5am picked up car and went to motel for night to catch up on sleep. Couldn't check in so decided to do some exploring and see how long we could last the day. Remember no sleep yet. By our chance found a little place called shornecliffe and found a little beach to stroll along, again met some locals who were openly warm and full of tips and pointers. Stayed there for few hours and then ack to mango hill, north lakes to find a school I was going to look at for work. Nice area as well with some stunning houses just being built. From there back to the motel checked in and decided to keep going. Thought we,d drive into the CBD to have an xplore and grab a bite to eat, found a lovely Asian place that served pork dim sum that my six yr old daughter had wanted since we told hereabout them from our first visit in 2000. $40 for parking for two hours ouch. Big shock but hey ho all part of the experience. Liked the city felt very cosmopolitan without the big city feel of London or Sydney, a little like Glasgow or Edinburgh. Got a good feel. The drive back o the motel was tough brain had shut down, my sat nav shut down and got us lost. It was time or bed. So against all advice we all hit the sack at 4pm on Tuesday. Woke up at 2am on weds but just lay and rested. Woke up finally at 7 am had breakup and decided to explore even more, we ended up in redcliffe and loved it. Kids playing in play park and me a lady from a town a few miles from our home own who had been out here for eight years. So friendly and full of good advice again ! Good signs Checked out and headed down to gold coast where e are meeting friends from Sydney for a week. Seem to have done loads already but having fun and kids enjoying it which is one of the big targets for this trip Few wee worries we have how tough it will be to get a rental when we come over perm in Jan. Any other good nice area to look at. Post them here !! Cheers guys will update more later. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Nice first post. Shorncliffe/Sandgate/Brighton area is a very nice area good way to start the trip. If you want some nice restaurants without extortionate parking check out New Farm/Teneriffe area. Plenty around there and still close to the city. Racecourse Road in Hamilton and Oxford Street in Bulimba also good options. As for areas to look at...Bayside seems to be pretty popular with expats, has a british curry house if you are missing it!. Things to do in Brissie....Have you been to southbank parklands? be fun for the kids. Kangaroo point cliffs a great stop as you can have a barbeque on the public bbq's with a great city view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Also take the kids to Australia zoo! Steve Irwin's family zoo. An absolute fantastic day out. Gold coast has many options for the kids so should have no problem entertaining them there for a week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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