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Hi All,

My family and I ( husband, daughter 13, son 10), are heading to Australia.

We have our perm Res Visa and most things in place UK end but have had to put our move on hold for a while due to personal reasons.

While we have slowed everything down we have got thinking!!! we were heading to WA "secret harbour" but have been looking at Queensland,mountain Creek down to brisbane/gold coast. My husband is an Electrician, my daughter loves shopping, horse riding and cinema, my son plays rugby going out on his scooter etc.

If anyone has any advice i.e. Been in similar situation, jobs,housing, cost of living, wages, things to do for young teens, schools etc.

We welcome any thoughts

Regards a confused Pom !! Anouska x

 

Hi,

Welcome to LIQ,

I have not answered your post on here as I gave you my opinion on PIO. Hopefully others will be along to offer an opinion. :smile:

 

Thank you srp,


yes you did and with your advise I'm on here!!!

Hopefully I will get some more help

Regards

Anouska

 

HI, not sure if i will be much help as we are in a similar situation!! Hoping to come out to Australia next spring and are having massive problems making the decision about where to go! After hours and hours of research and a reccie last February we have it down to either western Australia, south of the river or Queensland,possibly sunshine coast.
I have done hours of internet research and looked at houses, schools, climate etc and it hasn't helped a lot. Seems a bit cheaper in parts of queensland and we love the idea of being on the east coast and be able to travel up and down with more ease.The only thing against it really is the humidity, worried how we will cope with that.
Perth and it's regions seems lovely too, climate looks superb but it does seem very isolated and absolutely drowning in english migrants!! Would like to meet a few Australians!
Good luck with your decision, any closer to knowing where you are at?

 

Hi judyq

Thank you for your reply

How funny that we have both narrowed it down to the exact same areas !!! We like secret harbour SOR and sunshine coast!!

We like Perth and it does seem very easy to live and settle in, but....! We like the idea of being on the east so we can travel up and down and thinking may be with our children getting older (13 and nearly 11) will they prefer the east as they reach school leaving age? It's such a stuff one ?? and it is getting nearer to our deadline

What part of the UK are you from ? We are in Hampshire.

Keep me updated if you find out anymore info and what you decide.

Regards Anouska

 

Hi Anouska, That is a coincidence! Both amazing places i guess!
We are in Bedford and have to enter oz by July 21st! We have three children,8,5 and 2. House is on the market but no buyers as yet so may have to validate next spring if no luck.

To be honest, despite the expense it may be a good thing! We had a reccie in FEBRUARY this year and travelled from Queensland down to Sydney.Absolutely loved it !!Especially Gold Coast and the area. If we have to do a validation trip will go to Perth and have a really good look around, that should help. I visited Perth over ten years ago and it is lovely but just didn't have the pull that parts of Queensland have. It felt sunny and clean but more like the states than the rest of oz to me. It is a hard one and i think you are right...the kids may want to spread their wings a bit when they are older! Have you had a look around anywhere?
The trouble is if you speak to anyone that lives in either place they will always strongly favour where they are! We are really worried that we will make the wrong decision and then have to uproot the children again after a year or so to go to the other side!
Good luck with it, I really do know what it feels like!Keep me posted!

 

Thank you Judyq

I will keep you posted,

I heard that mountain creek primary and high school are really good both are state schools, I have looked at the schools in Perth in the areas I like and schools are not as good so would have to send them to an independent school which means less money each month? :/

So hard!!!!
Anouska

 

G'day to you both,

It's a toughie!!

Mind you, as I live here in Cleveland (25k east of Brisbane, on Moreton Bay), it's not really so tough. But this is a QLD site so you would expect me to be biased!

However, on the "too many poms - want to meet aussies" point, my advice is not to get carried away with that ideal. Aussies are generally very friendly, very helpful, honest and genuine (especially in QLD!!). But it can be difficult to break into an Aussie social circle, although it's not that they are exclusive. I'm taking a guess here, but when was the last time that you accepted foreigners into your social circle on a regular basis? If the answer is "not often", the reasons for that will the same here. I expect that the greatest opportunity that you will find to be accepted will be through your kids by way of school, clubs, sports etc. (And if that's in WA, 50% of the other kids will be poms!!!) All nationalities have a predilection to stick together; it's a natural response. Just have a look at all of the different nationalities in the UK.

As for the weather here, January and February are the rainy and humid months. It can get above 35c, but not often. There are days when you get out of the shower and just can't dry off, but not many. We don't get the 40c+ that you can find in WA.

And we don't live in the most isolated city in the world!!

'Nuff said!

 

Thank martyn

Good advice how do you find work and schools?

Thanks again Anouska

 

QUOTE=Martyn Elmore;10034]G'day to you both,

It's a toughie!!

Mind you, as I live here in Cleveland (25k east of Brisbane, on Moreton Bay), it's not really so tough. But this is a QLD site so you would expect me to be biased!

However, on the "too many poms - want to meet aussies" point, my advice is not to get carried away with that ideal. Aussies are generally very friendly, very helpful, honest and genuine (especially in QLD!!). But it can be difficult to break into an Aussie social circle, although it's not that they are exclusive. I'm taking a guess here, but when was the last time that you accepted foreigners into your social circle on a regular basis? If the answer is "not often", the reasons for that will the same here. I expect that the greatest opportunity that you will find to be accepted will be through your kids by way of school, clubs, sports etc. (And if that's in WA, 50% of the other kids will be poms!!!) All nationalities have a predilection to stick together; it's a natural response. Just have a look at all of the different nationalities in the UK.

As for the weather here, January and February are the rainy and humid months. It can get above 35c, but not often. There are days when you get out of the shower and just can't dry off, but not many. We don't get the 40c+ that you can find in WA.

And we don't live in the most isolated city in the world!!

'Nuff said![/QUOTE]



HI, Thanks for your reply Martyn. You really do sell it well
I guess i should validate what i said about meeting too many poms...sounded a bit rich coming from a pom about to emigrate!
When i lived in Australia in the mid nineties i lived in Sydney and,as you say, tended to move towards socializing with other brits. After a few years i found i had very few british mates. I think this is because it did take me a long time to get into friendships with australians but when i eventually did they were very good friends.
The english people i knew were , at that time, high maintenance in that they had issues about home sickness and always in a dilemma about going back to the uk.
What i meant about Perth was that i did not want to live in a place totally full of English people ! I think a balance is healthy!
I am leaning towards Queensland noe for this very reason! Thanks.

Judy

 

Hi Judy

You are spot on with your analysis. Most of the poms I've met that have been here less than 5 years or so, still have issues or thoughts about returning. After around 5 years they have generally blended in and developed social networks. It takes time, and cannot be rushed. So the poms that do return (the boomerang poms) tend to be those that fall into that category. And then there's those that realise when they get back to the UK why they left in the first place, and return to Oz; they're the ping pong poms!! And there's nothing wrong with any of that, it sometimes takes longer for some people to work out what it is that they want; horses for courses.

I'm glad that you're leaning towards QLD; how can I further convince you? House prices are flat, in fact they are dropping and lenders are falling over themselves to give money away by dropping their rates. Additionally, there's a $7000 grant for first time home buyers (which excludes any property outside Australia) and another $10000 if the property is new. These are grants (free money) available in QLD. Does that help?

And the sport is so much better!!!

 

Great advice guys

What is the job front like martyn ? My husband us an electrician.

Do you know what mountain creek is like ? I have heard that the high school is good ?

Thanks again Anouska

 

Hi, we have just come back from our recce and its Queensland, Sunshine coast for us - it has it all - yes the weather but culture, shops and great access to the Reef, Sydney and the rest of Asia. As for schools we looked around 10 in five days - from Noosa to North of Brisbane. Everyone is good, you have to decide what you like - eg some are very new so facilities are brilliant but year groups small etc. Mountain Creek was lovely - they do the IB if you are interetsed and the school is split - senior school starts leesons at 07:30 and finishes at 1:30 pm - junior starts at 10:30 and goers through to 3pm, this helps maximise the school's facilities. Everyone we met raves about the place - and when other Ussies move there it always tells me that the region is good. Good luck

 

Cheers Martyn, very helpful and certainly the house stuff is good news, had no idea you got a grant as well!
tcg,what a positive post! Sounds like there is no doubt in your mind!
Can anyone tell me what it's like around Kawana, Caloundra?
My O.H.may have a job possibility in that region so that would help a lot too!

 

Thank you tcj

Great advice I had heard lots of positive things about mountain creek high

We are swaying forwards Queensland and your words help!!

Keep us posted on your move

Thanks again

Anouska x

 

Bump !!!!

Anyone else with some info/help?

Anouska

 

I've lived in Perth before and now in Brissie. Went back to the UK in between the 2 for 5 years. Both are nice places but I prefer Brissie, I think the climate is better (humid I know but not those really dry horribly hot 40 days Perth can get) also more accessible to get to other places easily if you like to go away for a weekend. I found Perth very isolated in the end and I have to say in the end it drove me nuts, I just felt that to get anywhere different you had to fly or drive for hours and hours and even then you would still be in WA! I didn't really notice that there were any more POMS in WA than here, Brissie has it's fairshare of POMS too but I've met people from all over the world here which has been nice.

We moved to Brisbane from Edinburgh in October with 3 young kids and my hubby works in the city.

Good luck with your decision, let me know if you need any further help with anything.

Jane

 

hi madcatjane! That makes sense, when i lived in Australia i visited Perth a few times and it did feel very isolated. Are you more settled now?
Also Anouska...are you any nearer making a decision yet? it is so hard.
We have, at last, made the decision and it just feels so right! Sunshine coast it is!! We have had an offer on the house and it all seems to be going ahead! Fingers crossed will be out there by April!
i think in the end it was just being so far away from the east coast that did it, coupled with the rising prices in Perth!
Good luck to allx

 

Thank you madcatjane,

Some really good advice
It has been such a hard decision.

Hi judyq,

We have told our buyers that we are taking our house of the Market :/ a decision we may later regret but everything was moving too fast they wanted us out before Christmas and that is not a possibility for us at the moment due to our situation ( family illness ).

We keep being pulled back to mountain creek and I think that's where we will head our only doubt is jobs??? Perth seem to have alot more to offer on the electrician front.

Hope all is going well for you and good luck with your house sell

Anymore help or advice would still be much appreciated

Anouska x

 

Sorry meant to add about Mountain Creek is that they offer the IB as well as the Year 12. The IB is obviously recgonsided around the world and because it is quite new their class size is very small so the teaching is even better! They also do the split day - senior school 07:30 - 1:30 and junior school 10 or 10:30 to 3.30. Don't take these hours exactly but it is in this range.