BestyBlue Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Hi everyone, We've been in Toowoomba QLD for just over two weeks, so thought it was time to give you our experiences so far. We flew with Etihad and found them to be excellent, our tickets for the three of us came to £1530 which we thought was a bargain. Because of the time of year the plane wasn't too busy, so we could stretch out and sleep a bit better. We even managed to watch the England game live, shame they lost.... The food on the plane was excellent and seemed never ending. Our daughters meals were also very good and she ate really well. I would highly recommend this airline! We arrived in Brisbane in the morning and caught a taxi to our hotel, we stayed at the Ibis for the night as I couldn't bare anymore travelling. It was the cheapest one we found that still looked reasonable, cost $79 room only. Just the job, based in Turbot Street, we were in the middle of everything pretty much. Tiredness was really kicking in come lunch time and I gave in and rested my head on the pillow, 30 seconds later there was a knock at the door and one of my friends from uni was standing there. Huge surprise, so lovely! She then came out to lunch with us at the Breakfast Creek Hotel. Awesome steak and chips!! Our first job was to visit the AHPRA offices to finalise my registration so that I could work. I was under the impression that all I had to do was present at the office with my passport and visa. Turns out that this is not enough proof of identity, so was requested to get a statement from the bank with our address on. So, off we went to ANZ.... We were there for over an hour just to get our bank account activated and to get a statement. They were rubbish, firstly they didn't activate our account properly, so our cards kept getting denied and secondly we left with no statement. We were so tired that we didn't notice. By this time, everywhere was closing and we didn't get AHPRA sorted. Word of advice, make sure you get your 100 point identification right.... We sorted this the following weekend The following day my new boss collected us from the hotel and drove us to Toowoomba to the furnished accommodation that they had booked for us for two weeks. Lovely little Queenslander cottage, has been great as it was one less thing for us to worry about. So far we have fallen head over heels in love with Toowoomba, what a lovely place to bring up our daughter. Everyone we have met so far has been so helpful and friendly. We've had some odd looks though as it is obviously the depths of winter and people are walking around in thick jumpers, coats and scarfs. Whereas we are clearly newly arrived pommies in our t-shirts and shorts.... I'm sure we won't be like this next winter. Haha I started work straight away, so haven't had a huge amount of time to explore, however I have spent a lot of time in Queens Park. It's so nice and clean, with great play equipment for the kids, even with solar powered games. Am looking forward to trying out the BBQ's there in the coming months. We have also been up to Picnic Point a few times. The view over the Range is mind blowing! We have done a little shopping whilst here too, to include buying a car, a sat nav and a pay as you go sim. For all three I required my passport, however needed a 100 point check for the car. We have used RACQ for our car insurance, purely because they were recommended by my boss. They were extremely helpful when we went into the office, but have no idea if we got the best deal. I'll worry about that next year when it comes to renewing the policy We have had a look in Coles and found it rather expensive, so have done the majority of our shopping in Aldi. We even bought a new 32" TV in there the other day for $222. Their offers in the central aisle are a million times better than the UK offers. Have also been surprised how cheap beef is, the steaks look amazing so I'll be sampling one this weekend. We found out this afternoon that our application for our rental was successful, so next week we'll be moving to Middle Ridge in Toowoomba. What's great is that the house falls within the catchment area of a great school for our daughter. We stuck to one of the smaller leasing agents and found them to be really helpful. Just need to start buying some furniture now as we currently only own a TV, some cutlery, saucepans, sharp knives and a dinner service. Not sure that these are going to aid my sleep too much... Secretly I'm looking forward to shopping this weekend That's all I can think of for the minute, here's a few photos we've taken since being here. The waterfalls at Picnic Point The view over the Range. Photos, really don't do this justice Queens Park Our new house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Looks very pretty. Lovely intro to your Aussie adventure. All the best :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Great photos. Sounds like your settling in a treat. Enjoy. X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobj Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Just wait for the jacaranda trees to come into flower in the town...Spectacular!! Then take a few photos. Cheers, Bobj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Thanks for the update and i agree Toowoomba is a lovely place. Its great to hear your settling in and have a rental and school sorted, that will certainly take the pressure off a little. Lots of luck with the future and keep the lovely photos coming,lol Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestyBlue Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 So today we decided to try and get some stuff for the new house. With the end of year sales and finding a shop that was closing down, we bought the following for just under $2500! Dining table & 6 chairs, matching TV unit, coffee table, lamp table & side board type thing. Sofa bed, Big silver fridge freezer, Washing machine, 2 Duvet covers, 2 Quilts, 5 Pillows, Queen bed, Single bed, Queen bedding, Kitchen utensils, Iron, Laundry basket, Loads of hangers, Toaster, Kettle, Pegs, Electric Blanket (my favourite item right now Is it me, or does this seem really good value? All I heard constantly before we came out was how expensive it was here. We haven't bought the cheapest products, so it just goes to show that there are some real bargains out there. Don't be afraid to ask for discounts too. If some of these products didn't already have huge discounts on them I am quite sure we could've got some money knocked off, just to secure the sale. What's the worst they can say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 TBH I dont find it that expensive compared to the UK, of course some things are but the majority of day to day stuff you can get here cheap enough if you look around and if you ask for a discount. The sales are brilliant here and there are always big savings to be had, hence any non important items i need, i wait for sale time,lol.. I think those who do find things expensive are fresh off the plane comparing everything to GBP and just head to the nearest big store they can find. Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestyBlue Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 Yeah I agree. Has come as a lovely surprise though, as was dreading how much everything would cost. We even managed to buy a 3 seater and 2 seater sofa today, end of range so managed to get the both for $699. Awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules RT Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Great to read your experiences. One question...we were planning on shipping over our household possessions, furniture etc and my car. Would you recommend this or is it more cost defective to start again? Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules RT Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 *effective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestyBlue Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 (edited) Hi Jules RT It seemed like a really good idea to bring furniture and electrics out with us, but we have nearly been here 3 weeks and our container still hasn't left the UK. So we are having to pretty much replace everything. With that said, electrical items are really cheap in comparison to the UK. For example our lovely 40" Samsung TV is in Myers (very much like John Lewis) and is nearly £200 cheaper. My guess is because we are much closer to China? If I was to do it again, I would start a fresh out in Oz. But, we have been lucky with the time of year that we've arrived so have managed to catch some awesome end of year sales. Can't wait for our photos and family stuff to arrive though, then our house will be a proper home As for the car, I really don't know. I was looking at bringing our my nearly new Fiesta, but was short by a month for my 12 month ownership. It looked pretty complicated and expensive. I now have a 10 year old Astra, cost $6500 and drives like a dream. I'm seeing so many kangaroo road kills on my way to work each day. Law of the sod would mean that one would've jumped in front of me the day after the Fiesta arrived.... haha So I guess it also depends on where you'll be living and what you're planning on shipping out :-) Hope that's helped a little. x Edited July 9, 2014 by BestyBlue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules RT Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Hi BestyBlue, Thanks for the info that was great. So a good time to arrive would be June then? Did you send any pets over? We have a 6 year old lab that will be coming with us. Jx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestyBlue Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Certainly for us in Toowoomba towards to the end of June is an amazing time to come, not sure if it is the same in the big cities though. Where will you be heading? Sadly we left our two beautiful pooches behind as shipping them both was crazy expensive. Molly our Parsons who is my avatar picture is nearly 6 and is now living it up in Cyprus with my step son and Lou Lou our beautiful stumpy legged Jack is now living with one of my old patients and appears to have made great friends with her 10 month old lab. Not sure which one has more energy... Leaving them behind has been the hardest part of our move so far. Absolutely devastating actually.... But, it was absolutely the right thing to do. Personally having now done the flight I'm not sure I would've been happy about putting them through it, but also we would've really struggled to find anywhere decent to live which I think would've affected how well we would've settled. In my heart I know that they are both blissfully happy, so that makes me happy. Mind you it doesn't fill the hole that's been left by them not being with us. But we knew all along that somewhere along the line a compromise would have to be made and unfortunately it was out beloved girls. I know that some people will probably judge us for rehoming them, but I know that it was the right thing for us and them. Best of luck bringing your lab over, I am very envious!! :-) Hi BestyBlue, Thanks for the info that was great. So a good time to arrive would be June then? Did you send any pets over? We have a 6 year old lab that will be coming with us. Jx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 ...With that said, electrical items are really cheap in comparison to the UK. For example our lovely 40" Samsung TV is in Myers (very much like John Lewis) and is nearly £200 cheaper. My guess is because we are much closer to China?...x Possibly due to strength of the Aus dollar when purchasing electronics from Chinese wholesalers/manufacturers ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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