Wolla Bolla Bing Bong Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Most of you will not know me but that's OK as I am here to help out where I can. Huge apologies for taking so long to get back on here but I have been extremely busy with living life here in Brisbane and frickin loving it. I am a Carpenter living in East Brisbane and have been here since arriving in October 2011 on a 176 Sponsored state visa, which was kindly changed to a PR. I had to complete the Carpentry assessment exam so if you have any questions pass them on. I also have recommendations in where to live, places to see, what to do on the weekends in the River City plus so much more so dont be shy, say hello. Just a little about myself, I love to cycle (but no lycra shorts thank you very much), Kayak and Scuba dive. This great state offers it all. You can repay me in cups of Yorkshire Tea and / or fig rolls :wink: In addition I am originally from Manchester and know a sneaky place out west which has all the comfort foods of home. Right I best go, kettle is on. Get in touch people:cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Good to hear everything is going well for you and your still loving Brissy. Welcome back to PIO Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolla Bolla Bing Bong Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Hi Cal, You are always the first person to give me a warm welcome when I return here. You must live on here, literally! I see you are from Bury, I am originally from Worsley in Manchester. So how are things going for you in Jimboomba? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Hi Cal, You are always the first person to give me a warm welcome when I return here. You must live on here, literally! I see you are from Bury, I am originally from Worsley in Manchester. So how are things going for you in Jimboomba? LOL, That's called dedication,lol, although i think my hubby refers to it as my 'addiction',lol. Yes we are still loving life out here and have no regrets, we will celebrate 9 years here in November and have been in the same area since week 1 ,so we got somethings right,lol Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Welcome back - good to hear you're loving it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birch4 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) Hi Wolla Bolla Bing Bong (do you have a shorter name?:laugh:) Well I am fairly new to this and just sent off my qualifications to be assessed as a Secondary Teacher. My OH is an Electrician. We are planning to head to Brisbane next year on 189 visa all going well. Our plan would be to start looking and applying for jobs/expressing interest once we have the visas from this end. We have one son aged 11 and he is very sporty. We are not really sure the best areas to look at and I guess it will all depend on work/schools. My cousin is currently in Cairns and heading to the Sunshine Coast to live next year. However, I was thinking we would have more work opportunities in Brisbane. I am aware that I would probably just pick up supply work/ temp cover work and then hopefully eventually get a longer contract. Our plan is to come over and see how it goes. Keeping the house here etc... nothing ventured nothing gained. We would be looking for an area with close links to the city and good secondary schools. Any suggestions re the best areas to have a wee look at online? I have been searching here but it is hard from the UK to get the full picture.... Lx Edited April 7, 2015 by Birch4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolla Bolla Bing Bong Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 (edited) Hi Birch4, My shorter name is Matt or Matthew or Sir Matt, whatever you prefer What are your names? Great to hear you are coming over to the River City. My friends daughter who is a teacher used an agency to gain work as a supply teacher which became very successful for her. I shall find out the details over the weekend and pass them over to you. As for your husband being an electrician I can honestly say that he will not have any trouble gaining employment in this state and especially this City. Just make sure (which I am sure already will) that he brings over all his Qualification Certificates / Licences etc. I had come to Australia as a backpacker many years ago so I still had agency details which are the best thing to do before arriving. If your husband can contact these agencies before coming out here supplying them with all the details and especially when he will be available for work. So once you arrive all he will have to do is physically register with the agency and Bingo! With any luck they will have work ready for him. Telum (Great agency) Randstad Hays Once you guys get your visa your husband would need to apply for a 'White Card' which is basically like the UK's CSCS card. He wont get on any site nor will any agency take him on until he has this card. The best place to complete this course online and only takes minutes is https://bluedogtraining.com.au/courses/queensland-white-card I live in East Brisbane which is a nice quiet area but close enough to the city or public transport like the City Cat (Ferry) which only takes 10 minutes to get to the city. I am not the most experienced with schools but I have asked a few friends who have recommended an all boys secondary school, called Anglican Church Grammar school. One of the best schools for girls is 'All Hallows Catholic School'. But I dont know obviously what your religion is if any :wink: If you check out the link http://bettereducation.com.au/school/secondary/qld/brisbane_top_secondary_schools.aspx It should give you a better understanding of the schools around. Great idea about keeping hold of your house back in the UK. Will you be renting it whilst you are away? Great areas to live; Bulimba Hawthorne East Brisbane Ascot Hamilton New Farm Teneriffe I would highly recommend the top three of these places. They are very family orientated towns which also have great outdoor facilities such as parks and also restaurants for you guys to relax. If you have anymore questions then dont hesitate to Personal Message (PM) me or reply on this forum/ Only to happy to help. Time for a brew :cool: Edited April 8, 2015 by Wolla Bolla Bing Bong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Hi Wolla Bolla Bing Bong (do you have a shorter name?:laugh:) Well I am fairly new to this and just sent off my qualifications to be assessed as a Secondary Teacher. My OH is an Electrician. We are planning to head to Brisbane next year on 189 visa all going well. Our plan would be to start looking and applying for jobs/expressing interest once we have the visas from this end. We have one son aged 11 and he is very sporty. We are not really sure the best areas to look at and I guess it will all depend on work/schools. My cousin is currently in Cairns and heading to the Sunshine Coast to live next year. However, I was thinking we would have more work opportunities in Brisbane. I am aware that I would probably just pick up supply work/ temp cover work and then hopefully eventually get a longer contract. Our plan is to come over and see how it goes. Keeping the house here etc... nothing ventured nothing gained. We would be looking for an area with close links to the city and good secondary schools. Any suggestions re the best areas to have a wee look at online? I have been searching here but it is hard from the UK to get the full picture.... Lx If you are a teacher, don't forget to register with Queensland College of Teachers as you will not be able to teach until you have done that (took my husband about 12 weeks, so make sure you do it well before you get here). With regards to schools, it depends if you want to go state or private for your son. Anglican Church (where I work) and All Hallow's are great, but expensive. Most Catholic schools usually are happy to take kids of other/no religion, as long as they believe in the school ethos (usually about being a good person and helping others). There are varying degrees of how good the state schools are. I'm near Cleveland (on the Bayside) and that has a great reputation as a state school. It's about 45 minutes to the CBD by car and close to a couple of small beaches. Do a google search for schools in the area and look at http://www.myschool.edu.au/. It's not a great website, but gives you a vague overview of the schools. Brisbane is great. We love it here!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birch4 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Hi Birch4, My shorter name is Matt or Matthew or Sir Matt, whatever you prefer What are your names? Great to hear you are coming over to the River City. friends daughter who is a teacher used an agency to gain work as a supply teacher which became very successful for her. I shall find out the details over the weekend and pass them over to you. As for your husband being an electrician I can honestly say that he will not have any trouble gaining employment in this state and especially this City. Just make sure (which I am sure already will) that he brings over all his Qualification Certificates / Licences etc. I had come to Australia as a backpacker many years ago so I still had agency details which are the best thing to do before arriving. If your husband can contact these agencies before coming out here supplying them with all the details and especially when he will be available for work. So once you arrive all he will have to do is physically register with the agency and Bingo! With any luck they will have work ready for him. Telum (Great agency) Randstad Hays Once you guys get your visa your husband would need to apply for a 'White Card' which is basically like the UK's CSCS card. He wont get on any site nor will any agency take him on until he has this card. The best place to complete this course online and only takes minutes is https://bluedogtraining.com.au/courses/queensland-white-card I live in East Brisbane which is a nice quiet area but close enough to the city or public transport like the City Cat (Ferry) which only takes 10 minutes to get to the city. I am not the most experienced with schools but I have asked a few friends who have recommended an all boys secondary school, called Anglican Church Grammar school. One of the best schools for girls is 'All Hallows Catholic School'. But I dont know obviously what your religion is if any :wink: If you check out the link http://bettereducation.com.au/school/secondary/qld/brisbane_top_secondary_schools.aspx It should give you a better understanding of the schools around. Great idea about keeping hold of your house back in the UK. Will you be renting it whilst you are away? Great areas to live; Bulimba Hawthorne East Brisbane Ascot Hamilton New Farm Teneriffe I would highly recommend the top three of these places. They are very family orientated towns which also have great outdoor facilities such as parks and also restaurants for you guys to relax. If you have anymore questions then dont hesitate to Personal Message (PM) me or reply on this forum/ Only to happy to help. Time for a brew :cool: Hi Matt, I am Lisa :hug: Wow! Thank you so much for that information that is great! I'm off this week and next week so getting paperwork together and researching! We are using visa agent Go Matilda and so far they have been keeping me right with the paperwork (hunner of it!) I am going to check out those links - THANK YOU!!. Re the OH yeah I think he has a skills course to do in London too. At the moment I have just sent off all my qualifications to be assessed and I was supposed to sit the IELTS exam a few weeks ago... however, I had to postpone it. New date to sit this is the 18th of April :eek: Once again thanks for you advice. I will be back with loads more questions!! Lisa x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birch4 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 If you are a teacher, don't forget to register with Queensland College of Teachers as you will not be able to teach until you have done that (took my husband about 12 weeks, so make sure you do it well before you get here). With regards to schools, it depends if you want to go state or private for your son. Anglican Church (where I work) and All Hallow's are great, but expensive. Most Catholic schools usually are happy to take kids of other/no religion, as long as they believe in the school ethos (usually about being a good person and helping others). There are varying degrees of how good the state schools are. I'm near Cleveland (on the Bayside) and that has a great reputation as a state school. It's about 45 minutes to the CBD by car and close to a couple of small beaches. Do a google search for schools in the area and look at www.myschool.edu.au/. It's not a great website, but gives you a vague overview of the schools. Brisbane is great. We love it here!! Hi Tina 0101 Thank you :wink: Yes I had read about registering well before we plan to arrive. Did your husband find work on arrival? or apply from here once visas arrive? What kinds of things do you guys do at the weekends ? Lisa x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Hi Tina 0101 Thank you :wink: Yes I had read about registering well before we plan to arrive. Did your husband find work on arrival? or apply from here once visas arrive? What kinds of things do you guys do at the weekends ? Lisa x We had a friend from the UK who worked in a school here, and put my husband in contact with the Deputy Head while we were in the UK. We found it really hard to get any interviews from the UK. We arrived the Wednesday night in August and on the Friday morning he had an interview at our friends school and they offered him a job to start in January. After a few weeks he went in for supply work and the school decided that as he was there nearly every day covering they'd bring his contract forward and he started in October on a proper contract!! You can apply from the UK, as it may help get your foot in the door with a couple of schools and I know some people have been successful in getting jobs that way. At weekends we see friends (I'd recommend joining facebook groups for the area you live in and go along to BBQs and gatherings where people will chat to you and get to know you), go to the beach (Gold or Sunshine Coasts are an hour or so away), we have just bought a house so some renovations interspersed with jumping in and out of our pool!! I really don't think we are ever bored at weekends!! Good luck - pm if you want to know any more :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birch4 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 We had a friend from the UK who worked in a school here, and put my husband in contact with the Deputy Head while we were in the UK. We found it really hard to get any interviews from the UK. We arrived the Wednesday night in August and on the Friday morning he had an interview at our friends school and they offered him a job to start in January. After a few weeks he went in for supply work and the school decided that as he was there nearly every day covering they'd bring his contract forward and he started in October on a proper contract!! You can apply from the UK, as it may help get your foot in the door with a couple of schools and I know some people have been successful in getting jobs that way. At weekends we see friends (I'd recommend joining facebook groups for the area you live in and go along to BBQs and gatherings where people will chat to you and get to know you), go to the beach (Gold or Sunshine Coasts are an hour or so away), we have just bought a house so some renovations interspersed with jumping in and out of our pool!! I really don't think we are ever bored at weekends!! Good luck - pm if you want to know any more :-) Thanks Tina! Great advice! I don't know where I'd be without this forum. My husband has family who live in the Gold Coast and my cousin is in Cairns and planning a move to the Sunshine Coast next Year. It is good to have some contacts. I'll get to that once I have the visa stuff out of the way. Guess we need to make sure we can get the visas first! It is exciting and makes me nervous at the same time! :jiggy: I will defo pm you soon with some questions. Thank you! Lisa x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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