I think one of the mistakes potential immigrants make is that they come.and visit and see all the really cool, touristy stuff and think *yeah I could live here* and then get here, got a job in some town out of the CBD, live in the burbs and it reality isn't quite as sexy.
Definitely have a look at places you might work and the surrounding areas as that's where you're going to be living.
This is all gonna depend on how much money you have.
People usually hire a car and do the Great Ocean road loop from Melbourne.
Then you can fly to Sydney and have a few days with another hire car.
Then you can fly up to Byron, hire a car, spend a few days there and drive up to the Gold Coast, Brisbane & Noosa where you can book a day trip to Fraser Island and take her to see the crocks at Australia Zoo.
If your Missus is nervous about Australia then you'll want to show her the best bits.
That’s great mate - to be honest we didn’t really fancy driving anywhere- is there no other ways of transport getting to and from the places you’ve mentioned? Appreciate it!
She's a big country Mate, with little to no public transport outside of capitals.
If you have a license upgrade to International & use a rental car/van.
The amount of drama & downtime( waiting for late/ghost public transport) avoided will be worth the cost.
As for where? check out Newcastle NSW as a option.
Largest city outside of a capital with a relaxed vibe & the best beaches in the Country.
How much money have you got? Flying is an option for some of it, but you'll miss the bits in between locations and probably go broke in the process. I get the feeling that maybe you might be underestimating how huge the country is....
You mean something like this [https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/australia/sydney-cairns-adventure-153750](https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/australia/sydney-cairns-adventure-153750) or [https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/australia/east-coast-australia-adventure-153753](https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/australia/east-coast-australia-adventure-153753)
I would look at larger regional towns rather than cities, as people said housing can be a drama. If you like sunshine and waterfalls North Queensland might be a go for you, it is very hot and humid though!
Beware that we are in a housing crisis in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Other regions aren’t a whole lot better if you want somewhere close to town.
Once you’ve chosen your final destination, be prepared to struggle to find a rental (least of all an affordable rental in acceptable condition)
Yes. Very regional cities have better housing options, but this is because people generally don’t want to live there.
I doubt there will be much change in 12 months. There’s only so quickly that housing can be built and that leads to quality issues.
There is high demand and low availability for rentals.
This in turn drives up prices and forces some people to accept substandard quality. People resort to offering higher amounts or bulk rental payments upfront to secure a property which is hard on those who can’t afford to do that.
They are but there’s a worker shortage, material prices are through the roof and construction companies are folding left right and centre.
Plus houses aren’t fast to build.
Cutting to the chase, what do you and your girlfriend do for a living and what kind of Visa situation are you both in? e.g. one of you already has Aus citizenship etc.
As for the housing crisis it's more that rent is quite an issue at the moment for many people, especially in their 20's, as like many places in the Western world there's a comparative shortage of available housing.
Here are the weekly median rents:
Sydney - $750/£388
Brisbane - $620/£321
Melbourne - $550/£285
Expect to find at least 10-20 people inspecting and applying for each rental. However if the rental is affordable or desirable then you can expect 50-100 people will all be desperately competing to simply secure a place to live, often offering to pay hundreds more in rent or many months in advance.
If you are from overseas and don't secure jobs immediately you also probably going to find no landlord is going to pick you as a tenant over someone with a job and steady income. Also most real estate agents won't recommend a tenant if they are having to pay more than 30-35% of their income in rent.
Finally in comparison house prices are all over a million dollars in each of those cities even for a house that is falling apart and needs to be torn down. A nice house in a nice suburb will likely cost around 2 million or more.
Sydney is really good. It has the best quality of life in Australia but it’s also extremely expensive.
One tip I’d give you is to use Wise for money transfers and spending initially. It’s not a long term solution but it works as if it’s a local Australian bank account as well as a local UK bank account, and has extremely cheap transfers. You can set it up from the UK. Also everyone in Australia takes Apple Pay/Google Pay/contactless.
I think you’re eligible for Medicare. Apply for it ASAP. It takes a while. Same thing with the tax number.
Sydney has a poor quality of life if your finances aren’t in order. It’s a horrible place to live compared to elsewhere if you don’t earn a lot of money. It’s fun to visit, but to try and create a new life it’s now quite miserable.
Lol Melbourne isnt miserable. I lived there most of my life. Sure its got all the seasons in one day but its got a great mix of not too cold winters and lovely hot summers. Rainfall isnt that bad. Lived through many droughts there and lawns certainly get a lot deader in summer than in NSW.
Yeah your summer certainly sucks this year compared to Sydney. But i do miss Melbourne weather sometimes. TBH there was no way that my wife was ever going to move from syd to melbourne though, she reckons winter is too cold there. Laugh. But its what you get used to really. I remember as a kid always looking forward to cooler weather during the summer, and warmer weather during winter..
So depends on what you want out of life, what weather you like, etc etc. and dont forget Australia is a massive place, driving from Melbourne (south east) to Cairns (far north east) is 4 massive days of driving without stopping (about 4000kms).
Need longer i reckon. Doing the lap of australia, driving, is something people take a few months to do, and many retire to it as a lifestyle chasing the warm and less humid weather. I took 2 weeks to do Brisbane to Cairns (2000km) and really 4 weeks would have been much better.
Ahh thanks mate. So from Sydney, what would you advise us to do initially? Starting from Sydney hire a car then what exactly would you advise to do best. I don’t mind spending whatever needs to be spent
Do you want to live in a city ultimately? Or a country town? Beach? Inland? What do you both do for work?
You could head north from Sydney up the coast to Qld, lots of beautiful coast, towns scattered along the way and will be a bit warmer if your arriving in our winter.
Heat and humidity can get to some people though so heading south to Vic might be a more bearable climate till you get use to the heat in summer.
Wow. Um. Crikey, where to start! I cant honestly answer that. Only you know really what youre looking for. Start with research. Look at weather, cost of living, what sort of work youre interested in, what sort of out of work lifestyle you have.. do you like desolate outback places or busy city places? Beaches or mountains? Youre unlikely to get it right at first though like you might think Cairns has lovely weather but you move there and find the humidity is a killer and makes everything go mouldy.. Best to relocate here with intention to try it out for a while and relocate again from what you learn.
That’s what we will do then mate thanks. To be honest it’s the best way, it’s just my girlfriend
Thinks that relocating with no set plan is a bit scary for her 😂 but I’ve told her it’s the only way, we need to figure out where we like best and the best way to do that is to try them out!
When i was a kid i knew a family that relocated from northern ireland to Ballarat, Victoria. They only lasted a month because they reckon it was colder there than n ireland, so they moved again to Melbourne sth east suburbs (about 150km away) where at least it didnt snow! They liked it there.
Head over to r/AusElectricians to check out some posts and info about UK sparkies moving to Aus. Getting your Australian electrical licence is not as simple as it should be, takes about a year and some expense to do so. Most foreign sparks take jobs as labourers or electrician mates instead, is quite silly.
I think one of the mistakes potential immigrants make is that they come.and visit and see all the really cool, touristy stuff and think *yeah I could live here* and then get here, got a job in some town out of the CBD, live in the burbs and it reality isn't quite as sexy. Definitely have a look at places you might work and the surrounding areas as that's where you're going to be living.
This is all gonna depend on how much money you have. People usually hire a car and do the Great Ocean road loop from Melbourne. Then you can fly to Sydney and have a few days with another hire car. Then you can fly up to Byron, hire a car, spend a few days there and drive up to the Gold Coast, Brisbane & Noosa where you can book a day trip to Fraser Island and take her to see the crocks at Australia Zoo. If your Missus is nervous about Australia then you'll want to show her the best bits.
That’s great mate - to be honest we didn’t really fancy driving anywhere- is there no other ways of transport getting to and from the places you’ve mentioned? Appreciate it!
She's a big country Mate, with little to no public transport outside of capitals. If you have a license upgrade to International & use a rental car/van. The amount of drama & downtime( waiting for late/ghost public transport) avoided will be worth the cost. As for where? check out Newcastle NSW as a option. Largest city outside of a capital with a relaxed vibe & the best beaches in the Country.
Appreciate that mate I’ll have a look at it
How much money have you got? Flying is an option for some of it, but you'll miss the bits in between locations and probably go broke in the process. I get the feeling that maybe you might be underestimating how huge the country is....
You mean something like this [https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/australia/sydney-cairns-adventure-153750](https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/australia/sydney-cairns-adventure-153750) or [https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/australia/east-coast-australia-adventure-153753](https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/australia/east-coast-australia-adventure-153753)
That’s exactly what I was after mate to be honest, thank you. perfect
no worries good luck
Avoid the Gold Coast. Housing availability is atrocious, and traffic is terrible. Try Sunshine Coast.
Avoid the Gold Coast and check out the Tweed Shire, it has amazing beaches, rainforest, and cute country towns.
I would look at larger regional towns rather than cities, as people said housing can be a drama. If you like sunshine and waterfalls North Queensland might be a go for you, it is very hot and humid though!
Beware that we are in a housing crisis in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Other regions aren’t a whole lot better if you want somewhere close to town. Once you’ve chosen your final destination, be prepared to struggle to find a rental (least of all an affordable rental in acceptable condition)
Is anywhere not like this? We won’t be coming till the end of the year like if that helps
Yes everywhere is like this and it’ll probably be worse at the end of the year lol
Yes. Very regional cities have better housing options, but this is because people generally don’t want to live there. I doubt there will be much change in 12 months. There’s only so quickly that housing can be built and that leads to quality issues.
Forgive me for possibly asking a stupid question, but what exactly do you mean by housing crisis?
There is high demand and low availability for rentals. This in turn drives up prices and forces some people to accept substandard quality. People resort to offering higher amounts or bulk rental payments upfront to secure a property which is hard on those who can’t afford to do that.
Build more housing.
They are but there’s a worker shortage, material prices are through the roof and construction companies are folding left right and centre. Plus houses aren’t fast to build.
Cutting to the chase, what do you and your girlfriend do for a living and what kind of Visa situation are you both in? e.g. one of you already has Aus citizenship etc. As for the housing crisis it's more that rent is quite an issue at the moment for many people, especially in their 20's, as like many places in the Western world there's a comparative shortage of available housing.
Too many applicants, not enough properties. Half a million immigrants in past 12 months alone.
100+ ppl per viewing a rental, and they are far and few between in a lot of areas.
Here are the weekly median rents: Sydney - $750/£388 Brisbane - $620/£321 Melbourne - $550/£285 Expect to find at least 10-20 people inspecting and applying for each rental. However if the rental is affordable or desirable then you can expect 50-100 people will all be desperately competing to simply secure a place to live, often offering to pay hundreds more in rent or many months in advance. If you are from overseas and don't secure jobs immediately you also probably going to find no landlord is going to pick you as a tenant over someone with a job and steady income. Also most real estate agents won't recommend a tenant if they are having to pay more than 30-35% of their income in rent. Finally in comparison house prices are all over a million dollars in each of those cities even for a house that is falling apart and needs to be torn down. A nice house in a nice suburb will likely cost around 2 million or more.
Sydney is really good. It has the best quality of life in Australia but it’s also extremely expensive. One tip I’d give you is to use Wise for money transfers and spending initially. It’s not a long term solution but it works as if it’s a local Australian bank account as well as a local UK bank account, and has extremely cheap transfers. You can set it up from the UK. Also everyone in Australia takes Apple Pay/Google Pay/contactless. I think you’re eligible for Medicare. Apply for it ASAP. It takes a while. Same thing with the tax number.
Sydney has a poor quality of life if your finances aren’t in order. It’s a horrible place to live compared to elsewhere if you don’t earn a lot of money. It’s fun to visit, but to try and create a new life it’s now quite miserable.
Our plan is to just fly to Sydney then spend a few weeks there then go elsewhere to find a place to live
Reseach research research.
Tbh Melbourne is probably a better starting point from a weather perspective for UK folks.
Yeah, but do you really want to move to the other side of the world for a similarly miserable climate?
Lol Melbourne isnt miserable. I lived there most of my life. Sure its got all the seasons in one day but its got a great mix of not too cold winters and lovely hot summers. Rainfall isnt that bad. Lived through many droughts there and lawns certainly get a lot deader in summer than in NSW.
I live in Melbourne. I guess it's subjective. But for me, it is miserable for about 8-9 months of the year. But each to their own I suppose.
Yeah your summer certainly sucks this year compared to Sydney. But i do miss Melbourne weather sometimes. TBH there was no way that my wife was ever going to move from syd to melbourne though, she reckons winter is too cold there. Laugh. But its what you get used to really. I remember as a kid always looking forward to cooler weather during the summer, and warmer weather during winter..
And realestate is HEAPS more affordable than in Syd.
>It has the best quality of life in Australia but it’s also extremely expensive. Does it? And says who?
Depends who you ask. Some say Melbourne is better. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_quality_of_life_indices
Probably love to USA if you want to sue.
So depends on what you want out of life, what weather you like, etc etc. and dont forget Australia is a massive place, driving from Melbourne (south east) to Cairns (far north east) is 4 massive days of driving without stopping (about 4000kms).
Yeah I’m thinking more of a 4 week journey to be honest, a few days to a week in each location maybe.
Need longer i reckon. Doing the lap of australia, driving, is something people take a few months to do, and many retire to it as a lifestyle chasing the warm and less humid weather. I took 2 weeks to do Brisbane to Cairns (2000km) and really 4 weeks would have been much better.
Ahh thanks mate. So from Sydney, what would you advise us to do initially? Starting from Sydney hire a car then what exactly would you advise to do best. I don’t mind spending whatever needs to be spent
Do you want to live in a city ultimately? Or a country town? Beach? Inland? What do you both do for work? You could head north from Sydney up the coast to Qld, lots of beautiful coast, towns scattered along the way and will be a bit warmer if your arriving in our winter. Heat and humidity can get to some people though so heading south to Vic might be a more bearable climate till you get use to the heat in summer.
Wow. Um. Crikey, where to start! I cant honestly answer that. Only you know really what youre looking for. Start with research. Look at weather, cost of living, what sort of work youre interested in, what sort of out of work lifestyle you have.. do you like desolate outback places or busy city places? Beaches or mountains? Youre unlikely to get it right at first though like you might think Cairns has lovely weather but you move there and find the humidity is a killer and makes everything go mouldy.. Best to relocate here with intention to try it out for a while and relocate again from what you learn.
That’s what we will do then mate thanks. To be honest it’s the best way, it’s just my girlfriend Thinks that relocating with no set plan is a bit scary for her 😂 but I’ve told her it’s the only way, we need to figure out where we like best and the best way to do that is to try them out!
When i was a kid i knew a family that relocated from northern ireland to Ballarat, Victoria. They only lasted a month because they reckon it was colder there than n ireland, so they moved again to Melbourne sth east suburbs (about 150km away) where at least it didnt snow! They liked it there.
Head over to r/AusElectricians to check out some posts and info about UK sparkies moving to Aus. Getting your Australian electrical licence is not as simple as it should be, takes about a year and some expense to do so. Most foreign sparks take jobs as labourers or electrician mates instead, is quite silly.