Moving to Brisbane from Ireland????

[new life]

Hello All!
My husband and I haven't done paperwork yet as we are undesided about a move from Ireland to Oz. We did want to go to New Zealand but the houses are unattractive and expensive and wages are low....
We loved Brisbane but need to live in a country area as we'd love a couple of horses-so land would be nice. Are dangerous spiders very common and is the heat managable ??? We have a baby so I feel protective!
My husband is a plasterer-another reason why we think Oz would be better as they are looking for plasterers, NZ, not so much.
We fell for the landscape in NZ, around the Nelson area and don't think we will find anything similar in OZ...or would we?
Does anyone have any advise for a confussed family?
Thanks so much.

[kaz101]

Hi New Life,

Have you been through the sticky posts at the top of the forum? They have loads of info about moving to Oz. The real estate website (link in the "PLEASE READ....." post) has videos of some areas so you can see what they look like.

Not having been to NZ I'm not sure what the Nelson area looks like - if you give a description it may help us find what you are looking for

Other members on here can tell you about Brissie (not the place to be at the moment) since I'm in South Australia.

Regards,
Karen

[amaslam]

Have you thought about Tasmania instead. I hear it's very green and lots of land. Not expensive and lots of beautiful scenery. I think it's not difficult to get 'country' in Australia as one to two hours outside of the Capital cities you do get into countryside nearly everywhere.

Originally Posted by new life

Hello All!
My husband and I haven't done paperwork yet as we are undesided about a move from Ireland to Oz. We did want to go to New Zealand but the houses are unattractive and expensive and wages are low....
We loved Brisbane but need to live in a country area as we'd love a couple of horses-so land would be nice. Are dangerous spiders very common and is the heat managable ??? We have a baby so I feel protective!
My husband is a plasterer-another reason why we think Oz would be better as they are looking for plasterers, NZ, not so much.
We fell for the landscape in NZ, around the Nelson area and don't think we will find anything similar in OZ...or would we?
Does anyone have any advise for a confussed family?
Thanks so much.

[new life]

Thanks so much for responding, I only just saw it now.....

Yes we've thought of Tasmania. It looks lush which is what we want. Although I hear there are dangerous "jumping jack ants" which put me off a bit. Does anyone know if it's difficult to get into or the same as Oz?
People say oz is harder to get into than NZ...

Anyone know if an agent is necessary?

Thanks!

[kaz101]

Tasmania is part of Oz so it's the same visa application and procedure.

No you don't need an agent but it really depends on your circumstances.... If you do a search you'll find the discussions for and against agents. BTW I used one and I thought it was definitely worth it!

Regards,
Karen

[phat-dave]

lol @ "jumping jack ants" - never even heard of them.

Brisbane and south east Queensland is possibly the best place to be in Australia at present. We have plenty of Government infrastructure projects being completed and a number of satellite cities which would provide sufficient employment opportunities for your husband as plenty of residential homes are being built around these communities. Residing in Brisbane allows you to take advantage of capital city shopping, cafes, public transport (bus/train/ferry) and employment whilst only being an hour from two of the best coastal areas in the world - Sunshine & Gold Coast.

If you're interested in having horses and being away from the hussle and bussle, I would strongly recommend a small town approx 75km from Brisbane called Beaudesert. Beaudesert is very popular with major horse breeders and trainers as there is plenty of land available, cheaply. This area is serviced by the Mt Lindsay Highway and is roughly 45minutes from Brisbane CBD but is fully self sufficient in its own right (Woolworths/Coles/Fast Food etc) and has a major shopping centre at Browns Plains (Grand Plaza) 20 minutes away. Beaudesert is also very close to the Gold Coast and its Hinterland & National Parks.

In regards to your question about insects well, the further away from the urban sprawl the greater your chances of snakes, spiders and other insects. The state of Queensland is recognised as the "Sunshine State" and as such, the weather is typically fine. SE-Queensland has had in the past 7-8 years a major drought as rain hadn't fallen in our catchment areas for so long. Depending on where you live, the temperature can vary between 35 & 45 degrees in the summer and 25-30 degrees in the winter.

[Baby75]

Originally Posted by new life

Thanks so much for responding, I only just saw it now.....

Yes we've thought of Tasmania. It looks lush which is what we want. Although I hear there are dangerous "jumping jack ants" which put me off a bit. Does anyone know if it's difficult to get into or the same as Oz?
People say oz is harder to get into than NZ...

Anyone know if an agent is necessary?

Thanks!

ive seen jumping ants they are very aggressive and give a nasty bite, but you rarely see them on well worn walking tracks, or near houses they avoid people. ive only seen one on a bin at our friends house and they live in the middle on no were..

its the mossies that you want to look out for lol
I think tassie is a lot cooler than queensland at the minute ild love to be in a cold bath of ice we are baked with the humidity....

[new life]

Thanks so much Phat-Dave for your suggestion. I remember Cabalature, is that similar to your suggestion?
I remrmber being surprised, I explored around Brisbane, you can be in what looks like a real country area and 15 minutes later you're in the city, it was sureal.
Brisbane was my favourite city out of all that I have been to worldwide. The only other city I've seen in Oz is Adelade .
It was v. dry outside of Brisbane, I'm used to lush greenery and I'm definitely not used to huntsman spiders, my God they're unatractive...at least they don't bite, although they'd just give me heart failure instead...oh, I forgot...they jump too!
Not to mention cokroaches the size of mice...you can see why NZ appeals to me.

Kaz 101, thanks for your imput. Do you mind recommending an agent to me please? Are there any "no win no fee" I wonder?

Take care!

[phat-dave]

Caboolture is north of Brisbane whereas Beaudesert is south. I personally wouldn't live anywhere near Caboolture but this is mainly due to its stigma known to locals as "Boganville" (Low income, single parents etc).

Seriously, the insects aren't that big a deal. It's like when American's think we ride Kangaroo's down the road... it's rubbish. Yes we have insects and large, dangerous ones but unless you're in the middle of no where you've got nothing to be worried about.

In my life I've seen probably 100 red back spiders and 5 snakes and I love the outdoors and national parks etc.

[new life]

Originally Posted by phat-dave

Caboolture is north of Brisbane whereas Beaudesert is south. I personally wouldn't live anywhere near Caboolture but this is mainly due to its stigma known to locals as "Boganville" (Low income, single parents etc).

Seriously, the insects aren't that big a deal. It's like when American's think we ride Kangaroo's down the road... it's rubbish. Yes we have insects and large, dangerous ones but unless you're in the middle of no where you've got nothing to be worried about.

In my life I've seen probably 100 red back spiders and 5 snakes and I love the outdoors and national parks etc.

So 100 spiders...not too comforted by that!
I'm only messing really, i'm no wus, it's just that I'd be concerned for my baby...
We will be in a country area and i'm always outside...so it's inevitable that we'll encounter many creatures. I like them actually, snakes etc.
Wow, the realtors never tell you things like that...that's why forums are a great idea.
Thanks for the advice, now all I need is a visa!