Hi everyone - I am now to the forum and have about a million questions if you are all patient enough!!! I am 26 and my partner is 28 we get married next May and are coming over to Oz next December to decide if we are going to take the plunge and emigrate. My partner can get a transfer with his company so hopefully the Visa wouldnt be too much of a problem.

We are looking at Brisbane as coming from England I want some guarenteed good weather! In the first instance I am looking for some advice on which suburbs to be looking at for a house. We would basically want somewhere very, very safe, fairly quiet but within close range of the CBD and all ameneties, a 3/4 bed house, renovated, ideally in the Queenslander style and possibly with a pool and decent size garden in a very good area. We would have about $850,000 to spend.....I would like to have some areas to have a look at when we come over at Christmas.

My questions so far for anyone that can answer are:

What is the crime rate like in Brisbane? Living in London it is awful and is the main think I want to get away from.
What are the schools like? Do they have state and private like we do?
What is the healthcare like - do they have NHS and private like we do?
Any ideas on the average salery for a PA/Secretary in the CBD?
Do you think a pool is necessary in Brisbane?
How far is the beach from the CBD?

Anyway - thats all I can think of for now so any help is much appreciated!!! :laugh:

 

hi there our friends emagrated to sunshine coast almost 4 years ago and love it they have 2 kids now 14 and 9 they also love it..we went over a hol at xmas past and fell in love ..we came back and went online to check our points oh had enough on his skills carpenter so we applied and we half way there now with app.. the suburb we liked is called colundra ''good schools exc beaches etc".keep in touch lorrrainescouller@yahoo.co.uk

 

Thanks for your reply i shall have a look at Colundra....good luck with your move hopefully it will all go smoothly! The only thing I am struggling with at the moment is leaving my parents and sister but I guess that is perfectly normal...they are all very supportive but it is still a long way!

 

hiya guys ,Caloundra is a lovely area and very popular with new migrants. Rentals can be difficult to secure as they seem pretty scarce so make sure you allow yourselves enough time in a holiday home/hotel.
Good luck with everything
Cal x