163ALLOUT Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 This could be a long one, I am known for waffling. if you’re interested, sit back, get a coffee and a few extra ciggies, if you smoke that is, this may take a while. We arrived on the Sunshine Coast on the 29th June to be greeted with the coldest weather they have had here for a long time and plenty of rain!!! Thankfully didn’t last too long and after a couple of days the sun came out and we have had warm (22/23c) days with blue sky in abundance, it’s still mid-winter!!. We spent 4 nights prior to arriving in Singapore to recuperate from the stresses of leaving the UK, It was wonderful to relax for a few days and take stock of where we were at before embarking on the next whirlwind of setting up a new life. Having arrived at our holiday let we soon realised we had made a mistake in the location, the house wasn’t the best either so we prioritised a more permanent let and spent the first week touring round until we found the right place. We found the house we have now lived in for a week (Pelican Waters) by driving round and around areas, we spotted a for rent sign in the garden would you believe, like most people we spent hours and hours searching realestate.com.au from the UK which in hindsight was a waste of bloody time as the house wasn’t even on the internet. You need to be here to judge the places properly, I’d disagree that the camera never lies when you see some of the places that look great in picture but aren’t in reality. We also made a mistake by securing our holiday let for 4 weeks and paying for it up front, a bit of wasted money there too. We chose to take it on the chin and move on with no regrets. Should have booked a week and then took it from there but hey, hindsight’s a wonderful thing and I’m sure we’ll make more mistakes along the way. As they say you live and learn!! Lifestyle Best way to sum it up was when I went into LJ Hookers and got talking to an original 60’s £10 pom. After asking me how long we’d been here he said “ welcome to paradise”. So far I’d agree with him. I have to keep pinching myself that we actually live here. It really is a lovely place to live. Cost of living A real mix bag is probably the short answer. Petrol is $1.35 (90p)a litre is a lot cheaper. I would say rentals are on a par with the UK, there are cheap places and expensive places, it all depends on your budget and what you can afford and want, we wanted a wow factor when we arrived so we’ve gone and rented a waterfront home, just need to sell a kidney to stay here longer than 6 months! Food is more expensive, you can shop around and get better value for money than the Coles/Woolworths of this world, it’s just takes time to find the places. They are out there though. Cars, bloody expensive! Second hand cars cost an arm and a leg compared to the UK. Tip of the day. If you can invest and buy a luxury European car like a Porshe, Bmw etc back in the UK 12 months before you leave then bring it with you. You can sell it here for double what you’d have paid for it in Blighty. I know not everybody can but if you have some cash then you’ll not regret it. You need to read up on the removal and tax costs but it’s well worth it. Check out the Red book in Australia which is the equivilant of our classes guide book. Furniture and household goods aren’t that bad, it depends where you shop. Like the UK you can buy a sofa for $800 or $8,000. It’s down to choice and quality. We've bought some basic stuff at A-Mart while waiting for our container and they were no dearer than the UK. We also found a second hand washing machine for a 100 bucks!! Bargains around if you look and ask!!! House prices are falling, lots for sale and no buyers, another 12 months before I’d even consider buying anything. It is cheaper to rent believe it or not, they have negative gearing which allows landlords to offset rental losses against their tax, bizzare but true. Overall I’d say it’s certainly not cheaper here than the UK but you can find bargains if you look. Economy Not been here long enough to get a full picture, first impressions talking to locals is that there is definitely a two speed economy here. Mining sectors booming everything else struggling a bit. There’s a lot of conjecture regarding interest rates, some of the banks are now saying that rates will have to come down to stimulate the economy, that in turn would greatly help the exchange rate if you have £’s. There are one or two who reckon rates will still go up, that will have a devastating effect if they do, a bit of a knife’s edge scenario at present. There’s some big infrastructure projects in the pipeline though that will give the construction industry here a much needed boost. It just seems the Pollies (Politicians) are on another planet and way out of step with ordinary folk. Mind you could say that about the Uk’s as well. I’m over here on a 163 business visa so I will bide my time for a short while and see how things pan out before jumping in The Locals Have to say the Aussies we have met are the most helpful and nicest bunch of people you could wish to meet in our experience. As long as you put yourself out there and communicate with people they are great, when we went to the bank to sort out our account they couldn’t have been more helpful. The lady dealing with our account even took us around the shopping plaza showing us where certain shops were. Can’t see someone from Barclays Bank doing that! We have also met up with an English family who have been here 3 years. Met them on this forum and they have been great, been out a couple of times with them which we have really enjoyed, they’ve even lent us a telly until ours arrive from the UK. Their eldest son is a similar age to mine and we’ve just had our first sleepover guest. If the kids are happy and settled it makes a big difference. Kids have now done there first week at school. Too early to tell on the quality of education but first impressions are that they are a little bit behind the UK. Time will tell though. The Teachers have been most welcoming though and first reports on class mates has been V good. My eldest has hooked up with a few new mates on facebook already so good signs. My eldest in an English lesson had to take turns in reading aloud for the class, when it was his turn the teacher kept him reading for ages compared to his other class mates. The Teacher apologised after and said she just loved hearing his accent! Lol. Summary Very positive start for us, lots still to do and very early days for us. I just think that if you’re going to be skint you might as well be here with no money than in the UK!! It’s bloody warmer for a start off. If you stuck with the thread then thanks for reading, if you haven’t then sod you (you won’t be reading this bit anyway) Lol. Best regards from The Sunshinecoast Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mummy Mann Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Thank you for your post. Lovely to read and some very useful info. We are hoping to head to sunshine coast or gold coast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Great post, i hope it gets better and better for you, all the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howies Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Hi - just read your thread and wanted to say thanks for sharing your experiences. It's good to hear positive comments although we are getting more and more nervous !!! Visa in place and just accepted an offer on the house so could be on our way very soon. We are looking at going somewhere around the Mooloolaba area but I think we will take your advice and expect to sort more out on arrival. We are a family of 4 (2 boys 9 and 4) and any tips are more than welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestyBlue Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Great post Jon, didn't want it to end! Pleased you are settling in well, fingers crossed one day I will also be writing one of these. :jiggy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I think the Sunshine Coast is just about the nearest thing to Paradise too. Glad you are enjoying your new life- I am looking forward to our next trip up North to see the sun after the Melbourne Winter. We have good friends up there who moved to Noosa years ago when it was still cheap. Best move they ever made I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kazphillips Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 This could be a long one, I am known for waffling. if you’re interested, sit back, get a coffee and a few extra ciggies, if you smoke that is, this may take a while.We arrived on the Sunshine Coast on the 29th June to be greeted with the coldest weather they have had here for a long time and plenty of rain!!! Thankfully didn’t last too long and after a couple of days the sun came out and we have had warm (22/23c) days with blue sky in abundance, it’s still mid-winter!!. We spent 4 nights prior to arriving in Singapore to recuperate from the stresses of leaving the UK, It was wonderful to relax for a few days and take stock of where we were at before embarking on the next whirlwind of setting up a new life. Having arrived at our holiday let we soon realised we had made a mistake in the location, the house wasn’t the best either so we prioritised a more permanent let and spent the first week touring round until we found the right place. We found the house we have now lived in for a week (Pelican Waters) by driving round and around areas, we spotted a for rent sign in the garden would you believe, like most people we spent hours and hours searching realestate.com.au from the UK which in hindsight was a waste of bloody time as the house wasn’t even on the internet. You need to be here to judge the places properly, I’d disagree that the camera never lies when you see some of the places that look great in picture but aren’t in reality. We also made a mistake by securing our holiday let for 4 weeks and paying for it up front, a bit of wasted money there too. We chose to take it on the chin and move on with no regrets. Should have booked a week and then took it from there but hey, hindsight’s a wonderful thing and I’m sure we’ll make more mistakes along the way. As they say you live and learn!! Lifestyle Best way to sum it up was when I went into LJ Hookers and got talking to an original 60’s £10 pom. After asking me how long we’d been here he said “ welcome to paradise”. So far I’d agree with him. I have to keep pinching myself that we actually live here. It really is a lovely place to live. Cost of living A real mix bag is probably the short answer. Petrol is $1.35 (90p)a litre is a lot cheaper. I would say rentals are on a par with the UK, there are cheap places and expensive places, it all depends on your budget and what you can afford and want, we wanted a wow factor when we arrived so we’ve gone and rented a waterfront home, just need to sell a kidney to stay here longer than 6 months! Food is more expensive, you can shop around and get better value for money than the Coles/Woolworths of this world, it’s just takes time to find the places. They are out there though. Cars, bloody expensive! Second hand cars cost an arm and a leg compared to the UK. Tip of the day. If you can invest and buy a luxury European car like a Porshe, Bmw etc back in the UK 12 months before you leave then bring it with you. You can sell it here for double what you’d have paid for it in Blighty. I know not everybody can but if you have some cash then you’ll not regret it. You need to read up on the removal and tax costs but it’s well worth it. Check out the Red book in Australia which is the equivilant of our classes guide book. Furniture and household goods aren’t that bad, it depends where you shop. Like the UK you can buy a sofa for $800 or $8,000. It’s down to choice and quality. We've bought some basic stuff at A-Mart while waiting for our container and they were no dearer than the UK. We also found a second hand washing machine for a 100 bucks!! Bargains around if you look and ask!!! House prices are falling, lots for sale and no buyers, another 12 months before I’d even consider buying anything. It is cheaper to rent believe it or not, they have negative gearing which allows landlords to offset rental losses against their tax, bizzare but true. Overall I’d say it’s certainly not cheaper here than the UK but you can find bargains if you look. Economy Not been here long enough to get a full picture, first impressions talking to locals is that there is definitely a two speed economy here. Mining sectors booming everything else struggling a bit. There’s a lot of conjecture regarding interest rates, some of the banks are now saying that rates will have to come down to stimulate the economy, that in turn would greatly help the exchange rate if you have £’s. There are one or two who reckon rates will still go up, that will have a devastating effect if they do, a bit of a knife’s edge scenario at present. There’s some big infrastructure projects in the pipeline though that will give the construction industry here a much needed boost. It just seems the Pollies (Politicians) are on another planet and way out of step with ordinary folk. Mind you could say that about the Uk’s as well. I’m over here on a 163 business visa so I will bide my time for a short while and see how things pan out before jumping in The Locals Have to say the Aussies we have met are the most helpful and nicest bunch of people you could wish to meet in our experience. As long as you put yourself out there and communicate with people they are great, when we went to the bank to sort out our account they couldn’t have been more helpful. The lady dealing with our account even took us around the shopping plaza showing us where certain shops were. Can’t see someone from Barclays Bank doing that! We have also met up with an English family who have been here 3 years. Met them on this forum and they have been great, been out a couple of times with them which we have really enjoyed, they’ve even lent us a telly until ours arrive from the UK. Their eldest son is a similar age to mine and we’ve just had our first sleepover guest. If the kids are happy and settled it makes a big difference. Kids have now done there first week at school. Too early to tell on the quality of education but first impressions are that they are a little bit behind the UK. Time will tell though. The Teachers have been most welcoming though and first reports on class mates has been V good. My eldest has hooked up with a few new mates on facebook already so good signs. My eldest in an English lesson had to take turns in reading aloud for the class, when it was his turn the teacher kept him reading for ages compared to his other class mates. The Teacher apologised after and said she just loved hearing his accent! Lol. Summary Very positive start for us, lots still to do and very early days for us. I just think that if you’re going to be skint you might as well be here with no money than in the UK!! It’s bloody warmer for a start off. If you stuck with the thread then thanks for reading, if you haven’t then sod you (you won’t be reading this bit anyway) Lol. Best regards from The Sunshinecoast Jon Hi Jon, Great post. Can I ask where on the sunshine coast you live, its just that my family and I are moving up there from Sydney - we came up for a reccie last weekend 15-17th July, flew to brisbane and drove to maroochydore ending up staying in Caloundra and really liked the place. Looks like we will be up by October as we have just been served notice on our rental in here sydney so only have a few months to get things sorted. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annagilda Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Wonderful post, thanks! Great to see it is working out for you, I hope everything else falls into place soon. Yeah, the Sunshine Coast is a wonderful place! I loved it there when I was backpacking around Oz. Again, thanks ever so much for taking the time to write the report, somehow reading these, makes it feel just that teeny tiny bit closer for me. X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabo Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Excellent post - thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartertucker Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Great post ~ Glad its going so well for you :cute: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billabong Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Great read Jon! Best of Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzamonster Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Hi Jon Nice to read your post and that things are going well for you. Lot of useful information so thank you for this. The exchange rate is awful isn't it? I think you know we got our visa now & we're just planning to sell house now and then go when it sells. May have to end up validating first but we'll see. Have you transferred your funds yet or are you holding out for a better rate? What about the businesses you're looking at - I was hoping business prices might have dropped as the economy was slowing down - at least I was hoping so just to compensate for the exchange rate. Any information you can give me on businesses would be great. Thanks Emma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest landdeal1@yahoo.com Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Jon, LMAO at your post good attitude, frank,i.e. without rose tinted specs and thus to the point; the post is definitely from a guy who is switched on, may I inquire that you may be Scottish lol? Jon, I am processing and thus waiting on my Visa, we are a family of four, nonetheless under the new points system I will have to sit the IETLS test and score above 8 (which I am told is quite difficult), due to be being 41 years of age. That is my only concern about not getting out there apparently IELTS 8 band it is not as easy as people think. I have a MSc in Real Estae Development & City Planning and also an MBA in Business (I did not start educating myself until I was 36 as I left school without any O levels). I have owned and operated my own business all my life, and recently until the crash wiped me out I bought and sold land to bigger builders. As a consequence i undertook the MBA and once leaving the UNI I have developed a small management consultancy i.e project and change management, basically sorting out other peoples business problems, but particularly specialsing the restructuring of real estate debts by taking on the UK banks for other developers who face losing their family homes etc. That is the main reason I want to leave the UK I am sickened that in a free country the activities of the banks is nothing short of morally repugnant, I want my kids to have a better chance at climbing the hill in OZ instead of the Everest we had to. I am therefore in terms of work out there real estate development focused but capable of the full range of general management posts I also note you are inquiring to buy a business, should, you need the financial performance of the trading accounts ripped apart post me direct it will be FOC anything to help an adventure entrepreneur. However, as stated I am trained in land economics and found your property market clarification extremely interesting and relevant of some properties I have been tracking entirely correct. Do you think they are heading for a property crash or is it simply just a slow down due to nervousness and the price of money. The negative gearing is incredible and also answers my other question relative to the price of property sold and rentals price offered, the loans would not stack up unless a huge deposit was placed, or as you have eloquently clarified negative gearing. Thank you for that. I was also interested in your post due to the fact I love the area of Periguin Springs etc i would love to settle up their in the Sunshine coast. I love the area from an internet research point and also I am considering taking a caravan with car, and or motor-home that I would also once having done a 3 month tour of our new homeland wish to sell and hopefully at the very least break even. I am aware of the 12 months situation etc, but the red book you highlighted is great for reference regardless, again thankyou. As a consequence of this two way economy you describe, can the slower economy be as bad as here, sometimes it can be frightening to put the tv on at night in case of more bad news i.e is there still jobs if you are prepared to try your hand at anything and if so can get a fair go on merit, not the usual establishment shxte that goes on here in terms of what school you went to, and I know your father over here? I want to have a go in the mines and energy sector and obviously chase the money for a few years, I am a certified project manager and as stated have skills relative to land development and assembly etc, is it hard to get in, and or is there conversions courses for example where I could use past skills sets and develop i.e whats required without having to go all the way back to school. Thanks again Jon for your post and look forward to your response Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakesh1977 Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Hi all, I move to maroochydore on the Sunshine coast 8 months ago. Have to say, life is pretty sweet. Things here move slowly and the pace of life is cruisy and scenery just gorgeous (when its not raining) Its very easy to settle into the coastal life here, and making friends is pretty easy too. If anyone moving here needs any help/advice etc. drop me a line Rakesh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ritchie43BD Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Looks like we will be up by October as we have just been served notice on our rental in here sydney so only have a few months to get things sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
163ALLOUT Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 Hi Everyone, This is the first time I have been on here for a very long while and I apologise for not replying to the numerous questions asked here. They are now out of date so I won't reply to them unless you still want the information. If you want to know anything please re-post and I will ensure I check back soon and reply! Life has been great over here, not perfect but where is. Economy isn't great, it's expensive...But it's a fantastic place to live... If you are prepared to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in then it's worth it. For anyone who may be remotely interested I have been doing a blog since we arrived...It's very random and hopefully it might make you smile !!! Once again, my apologies for not replying, I'm now standing in the naughty corner feeling guilty! Jon W www.3nicepomsandagit.blogspot.com.au/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest welly boots Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Great post, thanks for the info. The family and I are moving over in August, hopefully settling in Currumundi or an area close by, we can't wait to arrive and make it our home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny&Em Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 10 months on the Sunshine Coast .... PPPLLLEEEAASSSEEEE!!!!!!!! I would love to get your take on how its all unfolding.... :ssign17: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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