Anyone planning on moving Mackay???

[nicrock]

Me and my OH are looking at a regional sponsored visa 487 for welders. The areas we can relocate to include Mackay/Rockhampton/Whitsundays.

 

I love living in Burleigh Heads and am very frightened to move so far up North but may not have a choice! There's no work down here and the company that were sponsoring my OH for welding are closing soon.

 

Any advice on living in Mackay would be greatly appreciated. Is it going to be a big culture shock for us compared to the Gold Coast?

 

Worried about flooding? finding rental accommodation? heard North Mackay is the best region? Jobs? Is it very quiet? So stressed! ha ha.

 

Thanks All.

[Bobj]

Me and my OH are looking at a regional sponsored visa 487 for welders. The areas we can relocate to include Mackay/Rockhampton/Whitsundays.

 

I love living in Burleigh Heads and am very frightened to move so far up North but may not have a choice! There's no work down here and the company that were sponsoring my OH for welding are closing soon.

 

Any advice on living in Mackay would be greatly appreciated. Is it going to be a big culture shock for us compared to the Gold Coast?

 

Worried about flooding? finding rental accommodation? heard North Mackay is the best region? Jobs? Is it very quiet? So stressed! ha ha.

 

Thanks All.

G'day mate, Burleigh to Mackay?? Well, the Mackay area is fabulous for young families without the stress of SE Qld living. With about 90,000-95,000 people in the city and 120,000 in the area, it has more of a country town feel as opposed to a city. It is possibly the fastest growing city in Australia.

Flooding is a problem in the city area (70 inch rainfall average- most of it from Dec-March). However, there are several areas that are flood free, notably Mt Pleasant and the northern beaches....Anywhere off the river flats is OK.

Plenty of google links for rental properties. Cheaper rentals as you get further from the city proper, such as Walkerston, Glen Ella, Northern Beaches. Sarina is about 30 minutes' drive south, Farleigh is about 15 miutes' drive north west.

Sport: one of the best sporting towns in Australia for its size. Several sporting venues in and around the area, depending on what you prefer.

Plenty of excellent schools for kids.

4 supermarkets in and around the city, with 2 in the city, 1 in Walkerston and 1 in Bucasia...I think. Maybe someone else can expand on this...

A great shopping precinct at Mt Pleasant.

Fishing...,:hug:, barra , reefies and mackerel etc. Plenty of excellent fish to be caught at the harbour.

Magnificent places to see within 1.5 hour's drive, such as the Whitsundays, Eungella Nat. Park, coastal rainforest at Cape Hillsborough.

Weather: tropical; range, from 8 deg C in winter( the odd frost at night up the valley) to 36 C in summer. The humidity is rather oppressive in the Wet, averaging 75-85%.

In the 10 years I have lived in the Mackay area, have only experienced 1 day over the old century mark-101 deg F.

 

Cheer, Bobj.

[Guest yazza]

Hiya pal.

Thanks for the offer but you might regret it after you read this lot.:biglaugh:

I am guessing you are from the Isle of Man from your sig, or are you just into fast bikes. That is a place i would like to go to one day.

 

How are you feeling about the big OFF,

 

You are no doubt very busy at the moment I am sure.

 

I do have one or two questions for you if you don't mind.

 

1, Have you been already.

 

2, What you doing out there.

 

3, Have you secured a place yet.

 

4, If no to the above where the heck are you gonna go when you land.( as we have not got anywhere yet and we are a little worried):err:

 

5, Who you flying with and moving with.

 

6, What is it you do for work?

 

Sorry for the barrage of questions but you know how it is.

 

No doubt we will meet soon I hope.

 

Mid October is when we are aiming at fling out so you should be a little settled by then and ready to show us around.

 

Cheers again and good luck.

 

John Tara Rob and Boo

 

 

Just wondering if you ever had a reply to the above questions? I've just joined PiO and am doing as much research as I can regards emigrating to Australia. My husband has lodged his 175 application earlier this year so we are now just waiting to see whether he gets a visa or not - since his trade has been taken off the CSL, the wait could be a long one but that may not be a bad thing due to the current recession.

 

I was just wondering if anyone could advise regarding jobs as a brickie, especially in the Mackay region or Perth so any help would be really appreciated (i.e how do you go about looking for a job on site, are there any specialist recruitment companies or is it a question of flying out there and trying to get a job?)?

 

Also we have 3 kids (3 boys who are currently 11 12 and 13) so a good school would also be necessary!!

 

Finally, if all else fails, would it be easy for my husband to get a job in the mining industry, since it is currently doing ok???

 

Thanks for any help!!!

[Eera]

First of all, thank you for considering regional Queensland, we need more people to look ouside of Brisbane.

 

It's pretty quiet here for brikkies; I'm getting reno work done and quotes have fallen from 55K to 35k in the last few months as they're getting desperate. I've been told we're better off than most major centres as the coucil are pretty affluent and are pressing ahead with works. From my experience on major works sites there's a real lack of skilled operators for things like pile driving and graders, if your husband could get a ticket on something like that, or doing formwork or constructing reo cages, anything additional to putting bricks together then you'll have a much better chance.

 

Mining isn't an option as a back-up, it's a pretty hard industry to get into in the first place unless you get on as a contractor, but they're always the first to get fired. Last night BMA announced the suspension of works at one of its local mines, putting another 400 or so out of work. If you have no professional skills which are currently required (mining engineering, surveying and so on) there is pretty much no chance whatsoever of getting into the industry. There have been thousands of unskilled operators laid off recently (haul truck and water cart drivers etc) plus all the ones from WA who have come over to the East Coast, so positions are tight.

[Guest yazza]

First of all, thank you for considering regional Queensland, we need more people to look ouside of Brisbane.

 

It's pretty quiet here for brikkies; I'm getting reno work done and quotes have fallen from 55K to 35k in the last few months as they're getting desperate. I've been told we're better off than most major centres as the coucil are pretty affluent and are pressing ahead with works. From my experience on major works sites there's a real lack of skilled operators for things like pile driving and graders, if your husband could get a ticket on something like that, or doing formwork or constructing reo cages, anything additional to putting bricks together then you'll have a much better chance.

 

Mining isn't an option as a back-up, it's a pretty hard industry to get into in the first place unless you get on as a contractor, but they're always the first to get fired. Last night BMA announced the suspension of works at one of its local mines, putting another 400 or so out of work. If you have no professional skills which are currently required (mining engineering, surveying and so on) there is pretty much no chance whatsoever of getting into the industry. There have been thousands of unskilled operators laid off recently (haul truck and water cart drivers etc) plus all the ones from WA who have come over to the East Coast, so positions are tight.

 

 

Thanks very much for replying!!

 

so how did you get a job? Did you go over as self employed because I heard that if you want to be self employed you need a licence or something? and if that's the case, how easy is it to get a licence?

 

My hubby can do most things really, he's not what you would call your average site basher - he can basically build a house from scratch including plumbing and (if necessary) electrics!! But we thought that to get to know how ozzies work, it may be best for him to get a site job first to get to know how they work etc. Any tips on how to get a job would be most gratefully received, i,e names of building companies etc.

 

finally which part of Oz are you in? And is it nice? and is it good for kids?

 

Sorry for all the questions - we just want to make sure that we are making the right choice - don't get me wrong - we're not moving to make a whole heap of money - we want the lifestyle because even now, if we could sell our house over here, we would be in a position to be mortgage free down under which is a good position to be in, plus the fact that I am a legal secretary and would probably work out there too!

 

Thanks again and sorry for whittering on.......!!!:biggrin:

 

Regards

 

Yasmin

[Eera]

I'm actually a geotechnical engineer, so my side of things is looking at the groundwork and certifying things are being built as per design, I work on major civil projects and mines, so I can't help you with the getting into the business side of things except to say he'll need a licence for everything seperately; as far as I know a chippie can't do electrical work or plumbing without a plumbers or electrical licence (guys in the trade might correct me here), and he'll need BSA certification. Contact BSA directly (I thinks it's just BSA.com.au) and they should help - it's Queensland specific though, I don't know what they need in WA.

 

I'd go to the online yellow pages and entre "building contractors" and start firing off CVs and see if there are any bites or if they could give him advice if he needs something else. The only other thing to watch out for is that they tend to be very wary of taking on overseas people with no local experience, it might be worthwhile trying some of the larger guys like Golding or Civdec first as they tend to be a bit more open minded, they'll be listed under "civil contractors".

 

I'm in Mackay. I like it dispite the wet season, having spent a significant part of my youth in a bushfire prone part of Victoria I'd take a cyclone over that any day.

[Guest ANDREA WRIGHT]

First of all, thank you for considering regional Queensland, we need more people to look ouside of Brisbane.

 

It's pretty quiet here for brikkies; I'm getting reno work done and quotes have fallen from 55K to 35k in the last few months as they're getting desperate. I've been told we're better off than most major centres as the coucil are pretty affluent and are pressing ahead with works. From my experience on major works sites there's a real lack of skilled operators for things like pile driving and graders, if your husband could get a ticket on something like that, or doing formwork or constructing reo cages, anything additional to putting bricks together then you'll have a much better chance.

 

Mining isn't an option as a back-up, it's a pretty hard industry to get into in the first place unless you get on as a contractor, but they're always the first to get fired. Last night BMA announced the suspension of works at one of its local mines, putting another 400 or so out of work. If you have no professional skills which are currently required (mining engineering, surveying and so on) there is pretty much no chance whatsoever of getting into the industry. There have been thousands of unskilled operators laid off recently (haul truck and water cart drivers etc) plus all the ones from WA who have come over to the East Coast, so positions are tight.

 

Holy cow, that's terrifying! :nah:

My hubby visited Mackay earlier this year to meet up with family and he was told that with his craning skills, he'd have no problem getting work as a crane operator in the mining industry.

It's one of the reasons we chose Mackay as a home for ourselves. Is there much work in the craning industry? I really don't want Darren to go down the contractor route, it just doesn't look stable. I'm really starting to sweat it now :sad:

 

Sorry for hijacking every-ones 'Mackay' threads...:wubclub:

 

Thanks, Andi.

[ozsurfie]

its called the GFC the post prior to yours was over a year ago - getting a lot better fomr what we here

[Guest ANDREA WRIGHT]

Hi Ozsurfie,

 

what's GFC??

[ozsurfie]

global financial crisis

[Wispa]

Hi all my first post on here and thought even though this thread started a few yrs ago! this was the best place to start! :confused: me and my OH have just been told Mackay will prob be the location we will be moving to march ish time 2012! (not long!) he has just been offered a great job,with a 457 visa, hes a welder and will be workin for a massive international company (so not to worried about them struggling etc) we have 3 x children son 16 2x daughters 12 and 2 he will be workin away 1 week on 1 wk off leavin little old me :shocked::goofy: Im really excited bout the move but also V. worried at the same time :wideeyed: a few things i think will be a SHOCK ... 1, flooding! any advice!? the M I MAPS link from the council wont load :mad: (even though im from manchester uk loadsa rain! not cyclone prone! though)

2, schools catchment areas etc does this mean they are struggling with the growth of Mackay? and might have trouble getting them in? and at 16 will my son still be at high school?

3, RENTALS!! the company will be paying for 4 weeks and i think this includes finding a suitable place when we first get out there.. but after that im not sure is it still the case that we will have trouble without prior Australian rent references?? and is there still a shortage i have been keeping an eye on this for a while http://www.realestate.com.au/rent

and it doesnt look great but im not there and i know the net doesnt always show true amounts?!

4, also anyone that has moved to Mackay and disliked it and moved back to the UK? I would also love to hear from you because i am not one for going at things thinking it will all be a bed of roses i want the truth good and bad! (even if i wouldnt necessarily agree) pros and cons would be GREAT!!

so if theres anyone that could help with my mountain of questions plz get in touch :cool::cool:

 

also is there anyone who is also moving to Mackay in the next yr or has just done so very recently that would like to link as support for each other?? as a problem shared is a problem halved (as they say) always better knowing your not alone in all this! plz pm me! lol xx

[Guest lala28]

Hi wispa I private messaged you

[vixxy666]

cant find the Facebook group am I missing something? can someone add me vicky White from county Durham goats head profile picture (don't ask lol) thanks