Hi there,

This is my first ever thread!!

I was just curious to see if there are many Londoners who've made the move to Brisbane and are happily settling in there?

Reason I ask..is cos I'm a Londoner and will be making the move over to bris vegas next year with my boyfriend, simon. He's a gorgeous ozzie and we met in brisbane 3.5 years ago - I was on a working holiday visa and then we came back to London, where we've been for 2 and a half years.

Anyway I'm very excited about coming back to oz and having cherry ripes at my fingertips, but also scared and nervous.

Love to hear from any other Londoners or any people who've moved from one of our busy British cities, to see how the transition's going?

Thanks and look forward to hearing your stories.
Sarahx

 

Hi welcome to Brits In Brissy, im a Northern Lass myself but have helped 2 or 3 London Familys, so there are a few out here,lol. Good Luck with your move
Cal x

 

Thanks for your message Cal.

It's so exciting getting a reply.

I'm really interested to see how people from the big British cities (the stuffy uptight lot, like me!!), who've emigrated are getting on and settling in to the more chilled out and laid back pace of life in Brissy.

When I'm crammed in on the London Underground every morning off to work, it's what I dream of..but then I love the energy and vibrancy of London and all the cool things on offer here. See, there's no pleasing some.

Apart from also what will be the major heart rench of saying goodbye to friends and family, I'm also a bit worried about the work scene over in Brissy, I'm a photography agent here and all my contacts are London based, but would still like to do something creative.

How long have you been over there and are you loving it?

Anyway thanks again for your message.

Sx

 

The familys i helped have settled fine , so far,lol, obviously missing friends and family can be hard so i advise them to get set up with skype and MSN as soon as they can.
We have been here just over 2 years, like anyone we have had ups and downs, thankfully the ups are outweighing the downs at the moment,lol. We are from Manchester and opted for a semi-rural lifestyle here, its great seeing the kids have so much room to run around , they have motorbikes, quads,a pool, swings everything they could want,,yet all the shops, schools etc are still only 5/10 mins away, best of both worlds!
Cal x

 

Hi Sarah

I made the move from London with my Aus partner just over a year ago. I'm originally from Ireland but lived and worked in London for 7 years. It was a huge move for me. We both loved London (even though the tube was a nightmare at times!) and had a great life there. So much to do and see, so easy to travel to Europe for long weekends etc., and we really lived life there to the full.

My girlfriend has an EU passport but wanted to return to be with family over here, and we both felt as if we had done the whole London thing to the max. So we moved across in January 08. I was lucky and managed to get work sorted before I left (and my employer sponsored me across on a subclass 457 visa etc.) For the first 6 months I absolutely hated it here. The weather was too hot, the supermarkets weren't like Tesco and Waitrose, awful TV, everybody starts work at 8.30am in the morning (latest) and goes to bed at 9.30pm (latest), there is virtually no weekday evening pub/social scene and everybody scuttles off home every evening after work, the whole place generally lacks culture etc.

Life is SO different here.... But after 6 months I really started to settle and see all the positives to being here. Superb weather, great beaches, you can plan days out without worrying about the cold and rain, reasonably priced restaurants with good food, sun, sun, sun, sun, being able to wear shorts all year around, not ever having to wear a coat, going on long drives up and down the coast with a picnic in the back of the car, having barbeques and beers, friendly down to earth people (shop assistants are actually helpful and ask you how your day is....I nearly dropped dead when a shop assistant here first asked me that...), a much less discernable class system and very little snobbery, cheaper petrol, less crime, less risk of terrorist strikes etc.

If you have any questions about life here, let me know. Am happy to help! As I said, life is really different here (but on balance better) but we are in no rush back to the UK and intend to live here for good!!

Ad

 

London girl here! East London to be precise! Been out here 4 years and still loving it!

 

hi guys,
thanks so much for your messages.

cal.. sounds like the perfect place to bring up kids.. we don't have any yet... but i'm getting old and so it won't be too long!!

sounds like you've got a really great set up... having space (is that your lovely pool in the picture??).. and lots of activities for the kids but also not being too far from the shops (i love shops!!). so you're in jimboomba are you? i've not been there, but simon used to live in tamborine.. and used to go to the woolies there!!

aidy, thanks very much for your great email. it's really good to hear the whole story... the tough bit at first and some of the realities of life there (like the bad tv... i remember this from my year over there!!) but that you're now really appreciating the place..with no plans to move back home. that's definitely a good sign! where have you guys settled? have you found any school night activities now, or have you joined the 9.30pm to bed crew??!!

have to say the thought of not having to wear a big coat and all the sun, sun, sun is just amazing (i'm always cold here!!), the beaches and the barbies!! it would be perfect if i could transport everyone from here, to come with us!! i'm going to make all my family and friends sign pre-emigration contracts that states they come out and stay out with us all the time!

i imagine really it takes a couple of years to settle and so you're doing really bloody well.. in 1 year!
i know it's going to be a bit up and down at first but it's really inspiring to hear the stories.

we're not actually moving for another year.. should almost definitely be leaving london april 2010 (when si's visa runs out.. though we could extend it here, but we want to give it a go over in aus). a year's quite a way away, but then again i know it's going to fly.

hi jo! i'm an east londoner as well.. well it's north east london.. from south woodford! where abouts were you from?

anyway thanks again guys for the responses... these forums are really great!

bestist wishes,
sarahx

 

Sarah a year will fly by, lol, i bet Jimboomba has changed so much since Simon was here, i cant believe the changes in the 2 years ive been here.We are actually on Flagstone Estate on the outskirts of Jimboomba,nice and quiet with nothing too far away, even this place has doubled in size since we arrived, cant wait for the town centre and train link to go in. Me and Tamborine dont see eye to eye,lol, as you will know if you watched me on wanted down under,lol, (yes i can laugh now)
Cal x

 

so cal, are you a tv star?? i've not seen that programme, maybe once or twice, but it's always annoyingly on when i'm at work. i'm going to have to try and find your starring moment now.. is it online, or something not to be watched, lol??!

sarahx

 

If it's any consolation, I'm a Sydneysider who lived in London happily for 10 yrs but have come back to Brisbane with english husband (he'd had enough of London) & baby boy & to be honest struggling with the same things Aidy mentions wrt Brisbane, not to mention leaving behind some great friends in London (& older ones in Sydney). It's barely been a couple of months so know it's going to get better, but have to keep reminding myself to be patient! It's a much better lifestyle for the little one here & my husband likes it so returning to the UK isn't an option.

 

hi claire,
sorry i've not been on here a while. how's everything going now? any difference? it definitely would take a while i imagine to settle and start making friends and getting used to your new life. i hope things are getting easier for you? what made you guys decide on brisbane and not back to sydney?
we're coming over for a wedding in may and i'm so excited about coming back and having a little taste of life over in brissy and the coast again, before the big move next year.
still the big wrench is leaving friends and family, there's just no getting away from it. but thank goodness for skype. does makes things a tinsy bit easier.
sarahx