Sydney or Brisbane area

[Abelov]

Hi, I am thinking of moving to OZ and so far I narrowed it to the Sydney or Brisbane area, mostly because of the weather. I had never been in OZ and I am thinking of some initial trips. Anyway...

Obviously the Sydney is a big city with all that what big cities give and take. But how is a life in Brisbane (and areas) compared to that of Sydney. I assume things like rent are cheaper but that isn't my main motivation. I have two small kids and sometimes living in a big city could be destructive for their character.

How would you compare the social life, the quality of living etc...

I heard from some people that QLD folks are "mad as cut snake". Obvioulsy this is an expression, but is it based on some borderline truth or some different attitude?

What would be the good and bad things living in Brisbane?

[kaz101]

Hi Abelov,

Welcome to the forum.

If you read through some of the posts you'll get a feel for Brisbane although there aren't quite as many members in Sydney there are one or two.

I can't help out since I live in South Australia. I visited Sydney before and it's lovely to visit but I wouldn't want to live in any big city any more.

Regards,
Karen

[Byo]

Hi I live in Sydney so hopefully can help. I never thought I would like living in a city but so far Sydney has been great. Saying that I am a stay at home mother with two kids so I just stay in the suburbs really. It also depends where abouts you live. We live in the Northern suburbs, 15km from CBD. Its lovely the parks are great and sometimes wouldn't even know we were in a city. We have to move out of Sydney though as its so expensive to buy a house, really sad about that cause its great. So if you come to Sydney you have to have lots of bucks for a house. Hope this helps.

[faye]

hi Abelov

We are making the same decision at the moment, Sydney or Brisbane. I haven't heard the 'mad as a cut snake' expression but so far Brisbane is the favourite. We are going for the first time and taking two small children so the expense of Sydney is putting us off. Bit worried Brisbane might get too hot and humid in the summer though...

Good luck with your decision making!
Faye

[Abelov]

Thank you for your answers. Yes I think one should probably check it out first to get own impression.
Faye, are you going there just for visit or you are already on a temp visa? If the first - for how long? Was the decision to go Brisbane motivated by the Sydney high cost? How did you arrange accommodation etc..?

I have two small kids, but also I would like to make a trip with them first and travel few places in AUS (I am thinking about two months perhaps during the northern winter months of dec-jan).

I am not sure how to approach the trip as I don't know anybody over there - perhaps some agent arranging for the accommodation and give some orientation etc would be a good idea? Any recomendations for agents who does this type of visits?

Kids are used to travel overseas as we do the cross Atlantic at least once a year.. but still traveling with smaller kids always require certain level of comfort for them.

[anj1976]

Originally Posted by Abelov

Thank you for your answers. Yes I think one should probably check it out first to get own impression.
Faye, are you going there just for visit or you are already on a temp visa? If the first - for how long? Was the decision to go Brisbane motivated by the Sydney high cost? How did you arrange accommodation etc..?

I have two small kids, but also I would like to make a trip with them first and travel few places in AUS (I am thinking about two months perhaps during the northern winter months of dec-jan).

I am not sure how to approach the trip as I don't know anybody over there - perhaps some agent arranging for the accommodation and give some orientation etc would be a good idea? Any recomendations for agents who does this type of visits?

Kids are used to travel overseas as we do the cross Atlantic at least once a year.. but still traveling with smaller kids always require certain level of comfort for them.

Hi
You can check citihobo.com, they have good information on sydney and areas within the city. There is plenty of information in there.

[Abelov]

I was looking for the site mentioned, then realised it should be cityhobo

[anj1976]

Originally Posted by Abelov

I was looking for the site mentioned, then realised it should be cityhobo

eeeesh, I am so sorry, yes it is cityhobo. My BAD

[Gail]

Cityhobo is a good start but doesn't list all the suburbs in Sydney. We did a lot of research before we left and then narrowed it down by 1)travelling time to work (not spending 2 hours there and 2 hours back on a train), 2) local facilities (shops, leisure, beach etc) and 3) visiting. One place we thought we liked the look of online turned out to be naff.
We ended up in Mosman and its very quaint. 20 mins by bus or 15 mins by ferry to the CBD. Proper shops, good places to eat, two beaches in walking distance and a good range of leisure activities makes it a great place to stay.
We were crossing the street the other day and someone asked if we had pressed the button for the green man, we thought it did it automatically so we said no, chap replied "never mind, no one would ever get run over in Mosman" and you know what I think he may be right!
We pay $500 a week for a two bed flat (big rooms) with two balconies, which isn't cheap but no central suburb is and the salaries tend to be higher in Sydney too. Certainly couldn't afford to buy at the moment but I would like to look into it.
Good luck!

[faye]

hi Abelov

We are going first on a tourist visa for a year. We settled on Brisbane in the end and are flying out at the end of September! The Sydney/Brisbane decision was a difficult one as this is our first visit but we based our decision on Brisbane being more family friendly and having a good winter climate. If/When we get to the point where we are buying a house, then Brisbane looks pretty good on that score too. Saying that, don't think you can go far wrong wherever you end up, I've not heard a bad word about Oz yet....

I'm looking into accomodation now, does anyone know a website like cityboho that covers Brisbane...?

many thanks
Faye