World tour of QLD!

[Sandsmuir]

Absolutely ecstatic that we got our visa. A new beginning for our family which we intend to make the most of! We have a plan but there are some gaps which some of you guys may be able to fill in!

The Plan - Land in Brisbane, stay there for a week to chill a bit. Then over the next 5 weeks, move up the coast spending 4-5 days in all the places we been looking at for the past 14 months to look at small business' for sale, job prospects, schools & home rentals . We will Carry on all the way up to Port Douglas. Once there we are hoping that there has been a stand out place for us and that is where we will go to and settle.

 

Hole No.1 - Transport! We need a vehicle big enough for 2 adults & 2 kids & Insurance but we wont have an address! Ideas anyone?

Hole No.2 - We got UK driving licenses, can we go the whole 6-8 weeks on these?

Hole No.3 - Money! Which bank has branches all the way up the coast that allows us access to our money. We wont have any OZ bank cards as we only just arrived and no fixed address to send them to anyway!

Hole No.4 - Is it even feasible to do such a thing? From here it is easy to say but it may be different on the ground due to circumstances that we wouldn't know about!

 

Any advice on the above will be gratefully accepted!:smile:

[Celt Down Under]

1. Rent a car for the 5 weeks.

2. Yes, you can use your UK licences for that time.

3. Check the CBA. I am sure that they will have branches all the way up.

4. Yes, it is feasible. A long drive, but keep your option flexible re stays in various places. Some places a couple of days may be enough to decide that that area is not for you. Others, you may want to stay longer. Not sure if you are pre booking accommodation, or seeing what is available when you arrive in places.

[flag of convenience]

Calling QLD the world will ensure your on a winner when you arrive.

[Sandsmuir]

1. Rent a car for the 5 weeks.

2. Yes, you can use your UK licences for that time.

3. Check the CBA. I am sure that they will have branches all the way up.

4. Yes, it is feasible. A long drive, but keep your option flexible re stays in various places. Some places a couple of days may be enough to decide that that area is not for you. Others, you may want to stay longer. Not sure if you are pre booking accommodation, or seeing what is available when you arrive in places.

 

can you rent with no fixed address?

I guess it would need to be a 1 way rent too as taking it back to brisbane if we ended up in townsville might be a trek and a half!

[xxlornaxx]

You can pick up bank cards in branch n open them from uk..I use westpac n hav travelled all over qld n not had problem accesing money...I would buy a second hand car/van..we got an old mitsubishi magna for 500 n took us all over from melbourne to cairns n back before it died..u can rent a car using a uk address..but be expensive to drop off somewhere different from pick up..you can use uk licences for that time...I used temp accommodation/hotel adresses for somethings..even though I knew I would prob never b back there it filled some gaps on forms if needed.

[Celt Down Under]

can you rent with no fixed address?

I guess it would need to be a 1 way rent too as taking it back to brisbane if we ended up in townsville might be a trek and a half!

 

You can rent as they will use the address on your UK licence.

I was going to mention buying a 2nd hand car, but it is dicey incase you end up with a lemon that could cost you more in money and time in the long run if is breaks down. Do your sums re a one way rental, and compare against what you would pay for a newish second hand car, especially if this your move out here, and not a reccie. If a reccie, you have to get rid of the car after, so it will be at car yard prices, which may not be the best.

Alternative is to rent a motorhome, so no need to bother with looking for accommodation other than at van parks, which may be easier than finding a hotel/motel with vacancies. That way, you can stop when you want to, leave when you want to, and no worrying about booking accommodation ahead.

[Gbye grey sky]

Absolutely ecstatic that we got our visa. A new beginning for our family which we intend to make the most of! We have a plan but there are some gaps which some of you guys may be able to fill in!

The Plan - Land in Brisbane, stay there for a week to chill a bit. Then over the next 5 weeks, move up the coast spending 4-5 days in all the places we been looking at for the past 14 months to look at small business' for sale, job prospects, schools & home rentals . We will Carry on all the way up to Port Douglas. Once there we are hoping that there has been a stand out place for us and that is where we will go to and settle.

 

Hole No.1 - Transport! We need a vehicle big enough for 2 adults & 2 kids & Insurance but we wont have an address! Ideas anyone?

Hole No.2 - We got UK driving licenses, can we go the whole 6-8 weeks on these?

Hole No.3 - Money! Which bank has branches all the way up the coast that allows us access to our money. We wont have any OZ bank cards as we only just arrived and no fixed address to send them to anyway!

Hole No.4 - Is it even feasible to do such a thing? From here it is easy to say but it may be different on the ground due to circumstances that we wouldn't know about!

 

Any advice on the above will be gratefully accepted!:smile:

 

We have decided the area we are going to live, SE of Brisbane, but we are also planning a 5 to 6 week tour of QLD. Arriving in Brisbane we have 2 weeks to sort some things out. The plan then is to fly to Cairns and hire a car one-way back to Brisbane (but still open to alternatives) so ours is solely a holiday and can't wait.

 

When are you planning to go?

 

You may struggle with an open-ended hire car arrangement though. I think if one-way hire this has to be a fixed destination. Motor homes are really costly to hire and lack flexibility as when you pitch up at a site it is trickier to get around places in that area. Buying may be best for what you are planning to do and is something we haven't ruled out but conscious that a rushed buying decision might be a bad one and getting stuck with a dud car would be a real downer.

 

Having done a recce in one area staying 10 days in total my thoughts are that you may be being a little ambitious about what can be achieved in 4/5 days in each place. You will all be absolutely exhausted by the end of it too.

[ramot]

Just a bit of advice.

Book the next nights accommodation ahead.

we spent 3 weeks driving back home from Cairns and loved it.

 

however we arrived in Townsville on a Monday night about 6'sh, and Townsville was full.

It took us till almost 8pm to get the last room available, there was so much going on there. This was in late August.

people were really kind and checked on the internet or phoned places for us, but every where was full apart from a fairly grotty pub, that had 1 left. Actually couldn't fault the place for the money though.

 

well worth staying in the Atherton Table lands for a few nights, also visit Parrenella (?) Park it's quite something, was built by I think a Spanish man for his fiancé who was still in Spain.

Also Eungella National park inland from Mackay, we saw platypus there.

 

have a great trip.

 

Home is the Sunshine Coast

[Ozmaniac]

Absolutely ecstatic that we got our visa. A new beginning for our family which we intend to make the most of! We have a plan but there are some gaps which some of you guys may be able to fill in!

The Plan - Land in Brisbane, stay there for a week to chill a bit. Then over the next 5 weeks, move up the coast spending 4-5 days in all the places we been looking at for the past 14 months to look at small business' for sale, job prospects, schools & home rentals . We will Carry on all the way up to Port Douglas. Once there we are hoping that there has been a stand out place for us and that is where we will go to and settle.

 

Hole No.1 - Transport! We need a vehicle big enough for 2 adults & 2 kids & Insurance but we wont have an address! Ideas anyone?

Hole No.2 - We got UK driving licenses, can we go the whole 6-8 weeks on these?

Hole No.3 - Money! Which bank has branches all the way up the coast that allows us access to our money. We wont have any OZ bank cards as we only just arrived and no fixed address to send them to anyway!

Hole No.4 - Is it even feasible to do such a thing? From here it is easy to say but it may be different on the ground due to circumstances that we wouldn't know about!

 

Any advice on the above will be gratefully accepted!:smile:

1. Car rental will use your UK address.

2. You can drive on your UK licences for up to 3 months. By that time, you must have Australian licences or you will be considered to be driving unlicensed. You won't need any tests.

3. I suggest Bank of Queensland. They use the RediTeller ATM network and you'll find ATMs in the most out of the way places all over Queensland and the rest of Australia. It's a brilliant bank and most branches are run by owner operators so the service is very friendly and personal. Or NAB - they also use the RediTeller network of ATMs.

4. Yes, it's feasible unless you're travelling in the wet season (until about end of April). In the wet, it can be very difficult to get around up north because of flooding.

 

I disagree with one suggestion. I would advise against booking accommodation ahead unless the next town/city is no more than a couple of hundred k away. In Queensland, it's very unusual to have trouble finding accommodation and having bookings can tend to force you to drive at dusk on occasion (Very Bad Idea because of kangaroos and other hazards), drive tired (another VBI on our dreadful northern roads) or to miss great side trips that you would otherwise have taken were it not for the fact that you already have bookings elsewhere. At least don't do it until you've become accustomed to Australian distances and driving conditions.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

We have done this route numerous times. The first thing I need to ask is

1) When will you be travelling? I wouldn't attempt this between November and March, wet season can see you stranded and it's not just up North, we currently have a low out in the Coral Sea which has the chance of turning in to a cyclone and hitting the SE area of Queensland.

 

2) Are you bringing lots of luggage as this can take up a lot,of space and you may need a larger vehicle.

 

I will now try and answer your questions.

 

Hole 1 - Just use the address of the holiday accommodation you are in the first week. It is going to be cheaper in the long run to buy your car for this trip rather than rent. One thing I would say is make sure you take out RACQ it has been a lifesaver to us twice now.

Car wise if buying and you have a lot of luggage you are going to need something with plenty of space, ie 4x4, mini van or station wagon (estate car) is this the kind of car you are going to want long term. If not you can do rentals but remember whatever price you see to rent you usually have to double it for insurance. The cars we have hired usually work out at $90 a day, you would get a discount for a long term rental but also check that you get one with unlimited km. To rent a campervan I think we paid around $250 a day but then we stayed in caravan parks so we had power and that cost an extra $60 a night.

 

Hole 2 - What visa are you on? If temp you have no rush at all to transfer your license. If you are on PR then you have 3 months from when you arrive.

 

Hole 3 - I would highly recommend that you open an account with NAB there should be a link here somewhere. The reason I say NAB is that they have your cards already waiting for when you arrive, the other banks wait until you have shown your ID and then usually post them out to you within 5 working days.

 

Hole 4 - Hell yes it's feasible and a great trip.

 

I will try and help with an itinary later.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Just a quick one with booking accommodation ahead or not. It mainly depends on your route and the time of year. If you are staying in small motels or caravan sites a lot of them their reception closes at 5pm. So this is where planning ahead and booking in advance helps. However, I also wouldn't want to limit the distance you travel by having to rush to the next hotel etc. We use to do this and there have been times we haven't made it in time and lost our money, or we had passed an area with not a lot to see and we would have liked to have progressed further.

[ramot]

I agree about booking ahead, normally we meander along, stopping anywhere, it's just that we had such a bad time that once, and as you say nearly all the receptions were closed with no vacancy signs everywhere.

certainly learnt to arrive earlier.

honestly thought we would be sleeping in the car, still can't believe how full Townsville was on that occasion, and we have done quite a few drive about trips.

 

Another suggestion, fossicking is good fun, we have been to Emerald and Saphire, didn't make our fortune but had a good time.

[Sandsmuir]

We have done this route numerous times. The first thing I need to ask is

1) When will you be travelling? I wouldn't attempt this between November and March, wet season can see you stranded and it's not just up North, we currently have a low out in the Coral Sea which has the chance of turning in to a cyclone and hitting the SE area of Queensland.

 

2) Are you bringing lots of luggage as this can take up a lot,of space and you may need a larger vehicle.

 

I will now try and answer your questions.

 

Hole 1 - Just use the address of the holiday accommodation you are in the first week. It is going to be cheaper in the long run to buy your car for this trip rather than rent. One thing I would say is make sure you take out RACQ it has been a lifesaver to us twice now.

Car wise if buying and you have a lot of luggage you are going to need something with plenty of space, ie 4x4, mini van or station wagon (estate car) is this the kind of car you are going to want long term. If not you can do rentals but remember whatever price you see to rent you usually have to double it for insurance. The cars we have hired usually work out at $90 a day, you would get a discount for a long term rental but also check that you get one with unlimited km. To rent a campervan I think we paid around $250 a day but then we stayed in caravan parks so we had power and that cost an extra $60 a night.

 

All sound advice here thank you. I think we will go for the buying option!

 

Hole 2 - What visa are you on? If temp you have no rush at all to transfer your license. If you are on PR then you have 3 months from when you arrive.

 

We are on a 489 Provisional PR Visa

 

Hole 3 - I would highly recommend that you open an account with NAB there should be a link here somewhere. The reason I say NAB is that they have your cards already waiting for when you arrive, the other banks wait until you have shown your ID and then usually post them out to you within 5 working days.

 

Done this!

 

Hole 4 - Hell yes it's feasible and a great trip.

 

if not it will be a hell of a holiday!

 

I will try and help with an itinary later.

 

Thanks Pom Queen!