Hi there , I'm Andrew from Paisley , scotland ,myself and fiancée n boy have just had our visas granted , scary now !! We are looking at arriving in Brisbane later in the year , got loads of questions for anyone willing to read them !! But any advice to help this move would be fantastic , I'm a stonemason to trade and my fiancée works in social care , does anyone know how these industries are for work at the moment ? Also our boy plays football is there local football (soccer, not sure what it is over there ) boys clubs we can get him into to help him make new friends ??? Thanks again and hello again

 

Hi Andrew
Congratulations on the visa !!!

Fire away with your questions and someone will try to help with answers.

Soccer and Football clubs are 2 a penny and can be found in most suburbs so i really wouldnt worry about that. I have found more sports clubs than my kids possibly participate in,lol.

Cal x

 

Hi there thanks for replying , our biggest concern is initially finding somewhere to live in or around Brisbane or gold coast , finding an area that's not too bad for commuting as we still need to arrange getting work which we will take anywhere to get started . Shaun our boy is just turned 13 so is gonna want to settle into school as soon as poss without us moving him from pillar to post ( I know moving to oz is big upheaval but we were not prepared for a 3 year wait for visa to be granted !!) does anyone recommend anywhere for newcomers to start in ? We do know folk in new farm in Brisbane but they emigrated back in 69 so I'd imagine it's different now than it was back then for new immigrants , certainly cheaper !! Thanks just now
Andy

 

It is almost impossible to choose an area to settle if you dont know where work will be. Bear in mind most people rent for 6 months because of this and also to make sure they like an area as first impressions arenmt always a true guide.
When you say your thinking of coming ''later in the year'' when roughly do you mean? The reason i ask if you are looking around November time you wouldnt need to worry about schools until mid January due to the big summer holidays, this would give you time to look for work and find an area you like without feeling pressured to get your son into school. Lots of familys keep the kids of school for a little while to settle in and until they know where they need to be.

Cal x

 

Hi Andy,
We have lived in Australia for the last 6 years,in Melbourne though but are moving to Brisbane at Christmas time. Australia is so different to the u.k, there are sooooo many clubs your son will be spoilt for choice, my three kids keep me so busy with all they get up to.
Schools are very different to the U.K, you have to pay school fees which don't tend to be too much, and book fees. Many people choose to put there kids into private school, which tend to be about $5000 upwards per year. We have been very happy with the school system so far, my kids are younger though so not sure on high school as yet. I have heard the Queensland school system is a little behind to that of Victoria and NSW, so that is something I will have to find out for myself.
As for areas I think it depends what you like, you can move slightly inland and wake up to the beautiful lush rainforest or the beach life. We are moving between Brisbane and the Gold coast, a happy mix for us.
Many of my friends who have moved over have lived in caravan parks for the first month or so to really decide where they like, its a good idea, we had our heart set on one area when we looked on the internet, then after visiting it had a huge change of plans, so it really is best to look.
I'm sure you won't regret your move, it is hard work and very challenging, I would be lying if I said it wasn't, but I have never once wanted to move back to U.K. We have had six great years in Melbourne but realise its not where we want to remain, weather too mixed for us.
hope it all makes sense.
Nic

 

Thanks Nic for your thoughts as well , we were over to Queensland a couple of years ago visiting folk we know , but our hotels were in surfers and the CBD of Brisbane so we didn't really get to see much more of brisbanes surrounding areas although we did have a hire car whilst in surfers so we did explore the gold coast a little more , certainly liked what we saw , but as new comers we are not in a position to pick somewhere and only go there , we will be prepared to take any jobs to get started and hopefully end up doing what we are trained at before too long , that way were thinking there might be more choice or chance of work in Brisbane ? Neither of us have lived in a big city before although Glasgow is only short drive from us we have always had countryside or open space nearby that's what's making us favour gold coast slightly more than brisbane but we are well aware we need to work hard to get to where we'd want to be . Hope your move north works out for you , cheers for your info again , Andy

 

Aye, aye....

Hi there Andrew, we are also from Scotland, Elgin, and are planning flying into Brisbane in late October. I don't know about you but we are excited but also petrified at the same time. My husband is a joiner and like you doesn't have a job yet and we know nothing about the job situation over there but hoping it's better than here. Well, hope everything goes well for you all. Kelly

 

Hi Kelly , it will prob be around October ,November when we fly out , have you booked your flights yet ? It is very exciting and terrifying at same time , it took us 3 years from applying to finally get visa approved so we had a lot of waiting about but now it seems there isn't enough time !! I've had a look through some Internet job search sites for Queensland and it does appear that there is jobs for my trade about but they can't help me til I'm over there , I'm sure your partner would find work as we know an older couple who emigrated in 1970 and Syd is a joiner who has just reached retirement age and his company want him to stay on as they struggle to find decent replacement for him ! Have you enquirer about shipping yet ? We rent at the moment so don't have too much to send , just tv's computer and a few other bits and bobs but nothing massive and I've heard shipping can be really expensive ? Anyway good luck with your planning , my email is andyweir21@hotmail.com if you need to chat bout anything that comes up , cheers just now
Andy

 

Hi Andy ... Great news and very exciting!! We arrived here last July - with a 9 year old son and no jobs. We knew only one couple - vaguely - and were ready to take each day as it came. I'm glad to say we have never looked back ... things have certainly not been straightforward for me regarding finding work, but I was prepared for that and am in it for the long haul. I work in education/childcare and have had a constant battle with the powers that be in order to gain decent recognition for my qualifications. Hubby, on the other-hand, got a job pretty much straight-away. My main advice would be to try and be as flexible as you can with work, as sometimes it is better to gain a less than ideal position at first in order to gain that all-important foot in the door and gain important Australian experience. We settled in the Bayside area - Manly - and just love it. there's so much to do and my son has a social life that is way better than mine. There are loads of clubs - more than you could ever imagine but do choose your area wisely, as some suburbs have more going on than others. As someone mentioned earlier, that is definitely a plus-point of renting though, as you have the ability to keep moving until you find the area that suits you. Good luck with all your plans.

 

@myrtle1 , Hey there , thanks for your help there , we know a family in Brisbane that my parents met back in 1970 when they were all '£10 poms' my parents came back but they stayed on n now I keep in touch with their son who lives in new farm , his parents live in mooroka , the son is going on a 2 month travel round SE Asia in September , he has offered us his flat whilst he's away but it depends if we can be over there by that time ! My partner is in social care , do you think she will have problems similar to you with regards getting her qualifications recognised ? I'm in the building industry but I am more than willing to take anything to get started until I can get into my trade ( stonemason)
Did you use any of the relocation companies I see on the Internet To get you started , are they worth it ??
it all seemed like it would be easy to move there at first but now it's upon us it's very nerve racking with loads of what ifs going through my mind , I've seen people writing on these forums saying you are treated as an outsider when it comes to getting jobs have you seen anything like that ?
Thanks just now
Andy

 

hi Andy ...
There is so much to think about when you plan such a large move! However, we didn't feel the need to use a relocation agent but that was mainly down to cost and the fact that we wanted to have control over everything. Also, neither of us had jobs on arrival so we were lucky in that we had plenty of time to organise things ourselves. Have you looked at the sister site to this one - Pomsinoz - it's a busier site, may be worth starting a thread specifically seeking advice from anyone who may have used a relocation agent. I have found that nothing beats hearing other people's experiences. Unfortunately, I can't comment on any other areas of work apart from childcare, but again, try asking on Pomsinoz as well as here. Neither myself nor my hubby have had any experience of being treated as an outsider. One final word, be careful of reading too deeply into some comments you read - they are after all, personal opinion. People often write when they are emotional - in good times and bad -
And it's easy to become swayed when you don't always have the full story and every experience is different. I always read and take in the information but temper this with my own opinions too. Good luck.

 

hi there , I dont think we are going to use a relocation company was just wondering if they were any good , as i have mentioned before we do know a family out there so hopefully they can help us out at first but i wouldnt like to become a nuisance to them while they are trying to go about their own life .
would you recommend any areas to avoid when looking for renting somewhere to stay at first , we would be looking for somewhere with decent transport as we wont have a car at first and also not knowing where we will get work . thanks just now
Andy

 

Hi Andy - will send you a pm as don't want to waffle on too much on here. Keep shouting out though as people on here are really helpful.