working as a bricklayer in Oz

[Yazza]

Hi everyone!! I've joined today and was looking for some information/advice regarding bricklaying jobs in Australia. My husband is currently applying for his visa via a migration consultant and he will ultimately obtain a skilled visa. We were looking at migrating to Adelaide - primarily because we have a couple of friends out there and it seems sensible to me to go somewhere where you know at least 1 face!!! (it is rather a long way from home, after all!!).

Anyway, could anyone possibly tell me whether it would be easy enough to find a bricklaying job out in Adelaide? We are visiting Australia in Late November until beginning of January - 5 weeks in total and should have around 2 1/2 weeks to look round in Adelaide. WE are a family of 5 - 3 kids who are 12,11 and 10 (boys) and a dog!!

any help or advice would be really appreciated!! Thanks very much!!

[kaz101]

Hi Yazza,

Welcome to the forum.

I think that most of the brickies on the forum are off to Brisbane - but if you do a search you'll be able to find out if I remember that correctly . There are some job agency links in the "PLEASE READ...." post that may be helpful in seeing if there are vacancies in Adelaide.

I'm not in Adelaide but I am in South Australia so if you have any questions I'll see if I can help.

Regards,
Karen

[Yazza]

Thanks for your reply Karen - I have "searched" but as you say, most of the Brits are off to Brisbane - mind you, we aren't discounting that area either coz the friend who we have in Adelaide also has contacts in Brisbane.

We're just wondering what to expect if and when we emigrate - I've heard some negative stories about Australia, in that the Australians don't particularly like the brits and could give us a hard time. However we've also heard loads of positive stuff about the place.

Are you an Australian or did you move out there? If you could tell me a bit about the way of life and such like, I'd really appreciate it! What do you do out there? Where abouts in South Australia are you? Sorry If I'm being a bit nosey but I really want to research into the whole emigration thing as it's really important we get it right because of our children. We are all catholics by the way, and I've read on some forums that Catholic schools are generally one of the better schools to put your kids into - is this correct??

Thanks again for all your help!!!

Regards

Yasmin

[kaz101]

Hi Yasmin,

Originally Posted by Yazza

We're just wondering what to expect if and when we emigrate - I've heard some negative stories about Australia, in that the Australians don't particularly like the brits and could give us a hard time. However we've also heard loads of positive stuff about the place.

We haven't had any negative experiences out here. The Aussies can be more straight talking than we are used to in the UK but once you are used to that it's great. They will take the mick out of your accent but you can usually take the mick out of them too and they'll take it.

Originally Posted by Yazza

Are you an Australian or did you move out there? If you could tell me a bit about the way of life and such like, I'd really appreciate it!

I'm a Brit (Souf Londoner) and my husband is a Paddy (near Dublin originally), and we've been over here nearly a year now. I don't mind you asking questions since that's why I'm a moderator on here

Originally Posted by Yazza

What do you do out there?

My husband is a car photographer (was a car salesman and got fed up with that) and a gardener. I have an internet business which I run from home, and we are both property investors, share traders among other things.

Clubs were important to me since I spend a fair amount of time in front of a PC (but we're about to go wireless which should be fun).
My husband walks to work in 7 minutes which is very different from the 2 hour each way commute that he had before. We have time now to find out what we enjoy doing since in the UK we were too busy commuting or working to have time for many hobbies. Our lifestyle is pretty laid back and because we moved to a regional area we were able to invest money rather than put in all into a property. BTW in case we sound ancient we're in our mid forties
Most people around here have boats as well as cars and they often have a beach house too.

Originally Posted by Yazza

Where abouts in South Australia are you?

We're in SE South Australia in the blue lake city of Mount Gambier. The blue lake is in the top of a dormant volcano by the way. We wanted a real community, theatres, cinema clubs etc but without being in a city. Mount Gambier is called a city but it's a town by UK standards with about 25 thousand population.

Originally Posted by Yazza

Sorry If I'm being a bit nosey but I really want to research into the whole emigration thing as it's really important we get it right because of our children. We are all catholics by the way, and I've read on some forums that Catholic schools are generally one of the better schools to put your kids into - is this correct??

We're not religious and we don't have kids so I don't know about the schools.

Regards,
Karen

[kaz101]

One thing I should mention is that anywhere along the Murray River there are water restrictions so you may want to check those out with SAwater when you are deciding where to live. We don't have those issues down here since we aren't supplied by the Murray River.

Regards,
Karen

[Yazza]

Thanks very much for the information Karen - i'ts given me a lot to think about. I am reading other people's advice/experiences and am very grateful for anything else that may be of use!!!

Thanks once again!

PS - am really looking forward to Christmas on the beach

Regards

Yasmin

[kaz101]

Originally Posted by Yazza

PS - am really looking forward to Christmas on the beach

We just loved that! We took an Esky (cool box) and actually had lunch near the beach and then went for a walk on it. Then I took my husband to another beach that he hadn't seen yet and we just wandered along. I actually paddled in the sea! And of course I had pictures taken to prove it!

It's a bit too chilly down here for that at present though.

Regards,
Karen

[kevin]

Hi Yasmin, can’t help with South Australia, but I’m a brickie in Brisbane and its great. I have a web site that might give you some idea of the type of work here, I’m not allowed to post the URL but if you do a search on kevinmoranbricklaying you should find it, feel free to ask any other questions, regards Kevin