kellyjamie Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Hi all, so weve been back over a week now after our reccie to brisbane, below i will detail all what we found out and hope i dont bore you all! apologies now if i drag on! First i wont repeat all sandra said as we met all the same people they did, we virtually holidayed together! Dale, Fran and Luke thankyou so much guys for wonderful accomodation and superb hospitality. We also spent time with chellem and co, jo eddie, tina, johatts and some other families and can honestly say were so happy to of met all you guys and chuffed to consider you all our new friends, we look forward to returning your hospitaliy. and of course our new found friends sandra mike and boys, whom we all just hit it off straight away! were all so alike and we are ecstatic we have found them as friends and look forward to many years of barbies and drinks! So Brisbane, well before i start i must state THESE ARE ONLY MY OPINIONS AND OZ WILL DEFINATELY NOT BE FOR EVERYONE. We flew with emirates glasgow-dubai-singapore-brisbane. planes are very spacious even my hubby managed whos 6'5, food wasnt bad and entertainment good. the staff on the glasgow to dubai and the same return leg were wonderful, the rest of the staff werent great. the flights themselves were fine and we experienced no delays. we totally hated dubai i wouldnt even go there for free! the airport is unbelievably busy, people lying on the floors sleeping everywhere and the people are so rude and abrupt! the whole place looks like one large building site and we really didnt like it, the walk from the plane to actually getting outside is so far, yes you get complimentry strollers but good luck finding one! i felt very uncomfortable there. we were only in singapore airport for a short time, which is very clean and we would definately like to visit singapore, tho it was probably the most strict airport ive ever been through. on arrival at brisbane airport our baggage was through in record time, then we realised my hubby left his wallet on the plane with EVERYTHING in it! so it was a mad dash to emirates desk to get it back, which they done without a problem. all things considered i wouldnt fly with emirates again and if for no other reason than to avoid dubai. So brisbane, well we absolutely loved it and have found it is definately for us! although we were there during "winter" the weather was great a pleasant 20-22 during the day and a surprisingly cold 8-11 at night. tho i must say they have no dusk or dawn and the light to dark is like turning off the light switch as is the change in temp! for those concerned by the lack of day light hours and early nights dont fret it definately does not stop people enjoying the lifestyle. Houses/areas. we stayed in mango hill next to north lakes, which has i feel undeservedly been titled little britain which i find hard to understand as apart from the people we were purposely introduced to everyone was aussie!! we loved this area and its probably number one choice for us. it has a lovely community feel to it, it feels safe and comfortable which after uprooting 11000 miles is probably just what we will need! we also checked and liked, narangba 10min further out, warner 15-20 closer to the city and also cashmere near to warner. the house market is slowing slightly even tho all the sales people will tell you (and told us) that its red hot and will only rise, the aussie gov held interest rates for a 4th time at 7.25% so people are definately not buying or spending as much, and the credit crunch is reaching their shores aswell. we found caboolture nice aswell. 10yr ago you wouldnt of considered it but now it has and is being totally redevelpoed and you can buy new builds there the exact same house as you would get in north lakes for $100k less as its the last train stop and 20 min further out the city! Shopping. i dont quite understand why people slate the clothes shopping? i found it totally fine and ask my OH thats no mean feat! i really didnt have a problem with it. they dont have next or gap but do have a store called colorado which is very similar. the rest of the clothes were great. Food shopping is very on par with the UK price wise. fruit and veg is a bit srange, here its the same price all year round over there the price depends on whats in season! we tried both coles and woolworths and definately prefer woolworths, it was slightly cheaper and the choice was amazing! their meat counters are unbelievable every flavour sausage you can imagine, great for the barbies! for those yearning the old brit foods they do stock some such as hellmans, heinz beans salad cream and for the scots - irnbru (being an adopted scot this was vitally important to my chances of settling!). the shopping centre at north lakes was fab and it still has more development to go. Cars and petrol. we checked out some show rooms and found that new cars are roughly priced the same as here but definately hold their value, as with the weather they dont rust as much. we seen cars on the roads that were 20 yr old. the price of petrol is rising aswell and to us theirs is cheap when converting to sterling, but when living there and on their wages its is getting expensive and is a talking point aswell.and the driving is no where near as bad as people say, tho on the highway they do put the foot down and they dont acknowledge if you let them out at a junction or anything, but we found driving easier, i never had road rage once! People. what can i say, we honestly hand on heart found them to be the friendliest people we have met, dont get me wrong we encountered a few rude and ignorant people but you do everywhere. but on the whole we were very taken aback by their way. nothing was a problem and whenever you go into a shop people acknowledge you and ask how you are and it rarely seems forced. my husband was surprised when he took our 2 yr old for a walk and 3 seperate people walked past and all of them said "hi, how you doin". any time we asked for help people were more than willing to help and would often ask whre we were from and if we were on hols and when we said we were going to emigrate, they answered with "good on ya mate thats great, all the best and enjoy australia"!!!!! as i say you will get arsehole everywhere we certainly have our share in the uk but generally, lovely people. Schools and work we looked at both private and state, all very good. we looked at north lakes state school, lakes private, genesis private and st.columbans private and were impressed with them all. i visited 3 hospitals about work when i get out there and 2 were great and very helpful told me to contact them nearer the time i need sponsorship and they will offer me sponsorship without a prob and help me get perm res. the other one (redcliffe) was awful and the woman totally unhelpful and basically told me no. my OH will be a plumber and will have no prob getting work, he actually made a contact in mcdonalds who told him providing hes willing to start at the bottom(he,l be newly qualified) he would pay him roughly $50k per year plus buy him tools, a company van mobile phone and help him get his regs! we were pleased with this as he will be starting a whole new career with little experience. travel, their transport system was excellent! very cheap and spotless. always on time cant say much more except we were very very impressed. on the whole for us a very sucessful trip and we have made very good contacts for the future. we have made some wonderful new friends and i must admit i had a couple of wobbly days out there where i wasnt sure and i felt disheartened but the new friends we have were wonderful and gave us invaluable advice and we have realised that these people will become our family eventually, so if you do nothing else when you move you MUST put yourself out there and make friends as they will be priceless in making the move successful. we loved every minute of it and we knew on the flight home that when we got back we would either appreciate what we have and want to stay here having enjoyed a wonderful holiday or, realise what we had just found, and for us we have found the place we want to live and bring up our kids and enjoy our life in and thats brisbane. now its definately not without its faults, my god you wouldnt believe how hard it is to find restaraunts with highchairs ireally was close to losing the plot! and they have bugs and critters tho to be honest we only seen spiders and snakes in zoos. and they annoyingly price things with 99c but yet when charging you round it all up to the nearest dollar. but apart from that we loved it. i can absolutely see why it wouldnt be for everyone and also why some people return home, but for us were happy with the decision and feel its right for us. we visited sydney for 3 days and i absolutely hated it if that was my only option to go to get into oz i wouldnt go as it wasnt for us atall, but others love it, so different strokes for different folks. i would say if you want to and can afford to do a reccie then do one as its invaluable, and no amount of research on the internet can compare to actually being there in the flesh! SO, i shall shut up now and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask and i shall answer if i can hope this helps some of you Kelly and family xx:wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kabroom Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Hi Kelly, Great post, thanks for that. We are flying out on the 1st September and are staying with Dale and Fran aswell, it's getting near now. Glad you mentioned the highchairs as I have been wondering about that, think I might buy an inflatable booster to take with me, they sell them in Argos. Wendy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest earlswood Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Glad you had a great holiday...but not being negative...the real test is when you live here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CosWeCan Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 How excited are you!!! That’s not a bad thing, I think that’s excellent!!!!!!!!!!!! We have been surfing the net looking at where we might live, we are thinking south. Beenleigh area, admittedly based on the net. I think its half way between Central Brisbane and Surfers. Did you go south? What made you choose the North? if you have that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellyjamie Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share Posted July 25, 2008 wendy - accomodation is great and yes take the inflatable it was a nightmare we actually walked out places because they had no highchairs! earlswood - your right the test will be living there but to be honest we didnt really treat it as a holiday when we were there we tried to keep as realistic as poss but i did have a few emotional days so im certainly not fooling myself that its going to be easy but im so glad i done the reccie as i think my expectations were way too high and when i got there i came down to earth with a bump as the streets were not paved with gold! and i found out for myself it also has its problems! coswecan- we only went down to seaworld so cant comment on the south but to be honest theres so much development going on right up the SE queensland coast thats its all going to be fairly similar i hear cleveland and redland bay are lovely. we like the north because its 30-45min from the city if you want it, 30min from the airport, next to the sunshine coast which is beautiful less commercialised and quieter than the gold coast, tho we loved bein able to nip down to the theme parks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sam&Si Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Hi Kelly, Thank you so much for this amazing post, you've made my day to be honest, we've been a bit down in the dumps as everything seemed to be against us what with the house sagas/exchange rate blah blah and this has totally cheered me up and reminded me why we wanted to go in the first place. Thanks again, x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellyjamie Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share Posted July 25, 2008 no probs glad its cheered you up a bit. admittedly the exchange rate is awful, but you can still get good houses for a decent price, we looked a houses 3,4 years old and this is as good an option as getting one newly built, i know everyone loves the idea of getting a new built massive aussie house with 4 beds 2 baths and a rumpus room but it seriously pays to shop around out there with houses, its a long hard process but keep reminding yourself of the end goal and in MY opinion it will be worth it x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scottie27 Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Hi Kelly, Thanks for a brilliant post makes me feel so much more positive about going, I had been getting a bit panicky! We fly to Brisbane on 23rd August. Barb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellyjamie Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share Posted July 25, 2008 you,ll be fine just sit back relax and enjoy! i know its easy for me to say as ive just been there and had a lovely time with no pressures etc but the type of people we are we honestly believe taht whats meant to be will be. i definately think you have to learn not to expect too much and to try and embrace everything as a new experience and definately make friends thats my top advice! you,l be fine your gonna love it x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scottie27 Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Thanks Kelly, Sometimes you get bogged down with all the stress that comes with the move, and forget why you're doing it! Barbx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete and Lou Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Thanks Kelly for a great post and all that info!! We are hoping to be in the Sunshine Coast early next year and we have decided not to do a reccie, but have previously spent a year in Oz in 1995 on a back packing tour bc (before children!) and loved it. Recently I have worried about wether it will have changed loads, but your post just reminds me of the Oz I know and love so has helped to banish some of my worries....thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JoanneHattersley Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Glad that you enjoyed your reccy. It was nice to meet you all. Earlswood is right....it is different when you live here and work here and so on.................BUT Not that different!!!!!!!!!! :0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrisbaneReturners Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 we moved back to brisbane (long story) about 2.5 months ago.. we live southside in Wishart.. I love this area it's so child friendly! if you need any advice re south brisbane suburbs I'd be happy to advise... also not sure what country you were talking about re the highchairs.. assume you were talking about Dubai is that correct? Brisbane is the most child friendly place we've ever lived and i've never been to a resturant or cafe that didn't have at least 5 or 6 highchairs.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrisbaneReturners Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Thanks Kelly for a great post and all that info!! We are hoping to be in the Sunshine Coast early next year and we have decided not to do a reccie, but have previously spent a year in Oz in 1995 on a back packing tour bc (before children!) and loved it. Recently I have worried about wether it will have changed loads, but your post just reminds me of the Oz I know and love so has helped to banish some of my worries....thanks! yes don't worry.. we were away from Brisbane for over 4 years and were so pleased to see how things have developed in Qld since we'd left.. things have really moved on in a good way.. lots of development and building but really well thought out building etc.. you'll be amazed at things in the city too.. the new state library really blew me away and we were so pleased at how childfriendly places were... lots and lots of activities for kids of all ages all the time everywhere.. below is a photo of the old state library.. and then the new one.. that sort of development has gone on everywhere it's great.. it was free internet access inside and play areas for kids, coffee shops and heaps of stuff.. we were amazed it used to be so stuffy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joetrac Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Sounds like you got that feeling of "this is for Us". Living and visting is very diffrent but you are more than half way there when you get that connection with a place.Good Luck I have loads of friends who live in North Lakes and they are all really nice people so hopefully you will meet loads of new friends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AndyandYvonneD Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Hi Thats a brilliant post, very imformative, like you we're going out to Brisbane, I too am a plumber and we'll be doing a reccie next April. Just hopes it's as good as people say it is out there, thanks very much for the info Andy&Yvonne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellyjamie Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 honestly guys we were surprised at the restaraunts that didnt have highchairs, towards the end of the holiday it became a standard joke with us to check for highchairs! there was a restaraunt at north lakes, an italian in redcliffe 2 chinese places in the valley and a few in the city. it is still extremely child friendly tho and to be honest it was even worse in sydney that was very child unfriendly, one night we walked for nearly an hour trying to find a place with a highchair! anyhow when we return megs will be out the HC, we had a beautiful sunny day here today and sat out with our great neighbours all day, BUT we still wish we were back there, were counting and biding our time x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shirley Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 hi kellyjamie, what a great read me and my family will be of to brisbane on tuesday to do a reccie any tips on what we should be packing thanks shirley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrisbaneReturners Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 honestly guys we were surprised at the restaraunts that didnt have highchairs, towards the end of the holiday it became a standard joke with us to check for highchairs! there was a restaraunt at north lakes, an italian in redcliffe 2 chinese places in the valley and a few in the city. it is still extremely child friendly tho and to be honest it was even worse in sydney that was very child unfriendly, one night we walked for nearly an hour trying to find a place with a highchair! anyhow when we return megs will be out the HC, we had a beautiful sunny day here today and sat out with our great neighbours all day, BUT we still wish we were back there, were counting and biding our time x omg i think you were just very very unlucky each time.. i've taken my kids to resturants all over brissie and never even encountered one without at least 4 or 5 highchairs...i'm kinda amazed that resturants would even dare to open without one really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykestykes Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 What a superb, well put together post. Thanks for sharing your experiences, Kelly, I could almost picture the things you described! You'll be there for good soon enough, too!:yes: Mrs Tyke xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Angelcake Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Glad you had a great holiday...but not being negative...the real test is when you live here. You can't just leave it can you:arghh: Always the voice of doom:wacko: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Angelcake Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Great post, very informative so thanks for posting! I'm hopefully heading to North Brisbane in Nov and will be bringing fold up booster seats with me now :-) Sounds like you had a great trip! Angelcake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pingpongpom Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Really good post Kelly! :smile: ..i have never been to Brisbane, so it's good to get an insight into a different part of Aus...glad you had a good trip which has helped you to make a decision one way or the other..all the best for the future to you and your family.. Tess:cute: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JoanneHattersley Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 You can't just leave it can you:arghh: Always the voice of doom:wacko: Im with Earlswood this time. I dont agree that he is the "voice of doom!" . I actually think in this post he is the "voice of realism!" There you go Earlswood! Someone loves ya! It is different being on a holiday or reccy to living. Will someone still feel the same when they are coming home to a strange house every night, going to work, working perhaps more hours in the heat!, not having the familiarity of what you know around you, not having family to rely on! some do find it hard to cope when the reality hits home!! Dont get me wrong, some find it easy! I did! In 2 weeks I knew that I was here to stay! Not everyone is that lucky! Earlswood, good comment mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrisbaneReturners Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Im with Earlswood this time. I dont agree that he is the "voice of doom!" . I actually think in this post he is the "voice of realism!" There you go Earlswood! Someone loves ya! It is different being on a holiday or reccy to living. Will someone still feel the same when they are coming home to a strange house every night, going to work, working perhaps more hours in the heat!, not having the familiarity of what you know around you, not having family to rely on! some do find it hard to cope when the reality hits home!! Dont get me wrong, some find it easy! I did! In 2 weeks I knew that I was here to stay! Not everyone is that lucky! Earlswood, good comment mate! that's very very true.. when my family first moved out in the 1980's we all felt like it was one big long holiday.. it took a long time to feel.. 'oh right we live here now'.. that being said.. i remember when we moved to Ireland over 5 years ago.. flying out of Brisbane earling in the morning and looking at the blue water and thinking 'i live here.. oh crap i used to live here!'.. it's an amazing place to live but i do remember the heat in mid summer even makes my aussie friends cry (literally)!. i used to try to get to work early so i didn't have to re-do my makeup and change my shirt due to sweat dripping down my face and back! and at lunchtime if i forgot my lunch i would have to wait till late afternoon to go out and walk around town to get it.. it was just too hot and again.. change of clothes and remakeup was required! you'll put up with stuff like that when on holiday but when you have to work every day it's a different story! still.. i'd swap baking heat for pouring rain any day when you've got little kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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