House & Home Moving to south east queensland

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by Kassy, 21st Jul, 2019.

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  1. Kassy

    Kassy Well-Known Member

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    21st Jun, 2015
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    Canberra
    Hi,

    I'm currently living and working in Canberra but hail from Brisbane (been in Canberra 8 years). Husband and I are planning to move back if we can in the next 6months or so. None of our family now remain in Brisbane. Mine have moved slightly north - Redcliffe and Sunshine Coast and West to Gatton. DH's mum recently passed so he has no remaining family in Aus. Our friends are in Brisbane, Cleveland and the Gold Coast.

    We are thinking of not living in Brisbane but coming back to somewhere in the South East either North(Sunshine Coast), South(Gold Coast) or West of Brisbane(Ipswich or Toowoomba). This will also depend on jobs as we are both IT. We work for a large employer currently and may be able to find a position up there in the same organization but chances are it would only be one of us that would be able to change jobs that way. I have recently seen a job in the West which is tempting so I am going to apply and see what happens.We really don't want to go back to a small block and long commute if we can avoid.

    Do you have any opinions on the ares in the south eats other than Brisbane? What is employment like? Is it Brisbane or nothing in IT?

    Thanks,

    Kassy
     
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  2. KayTea

    KayTea Well-Known Member

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    Based on discussions had with family who work in IT, Brisbane is likely to be your best bet when it comes to bang-for-buck employment in the SE corner. I've heard of jobs on the Gold Coast being paid substantially less than the Brisbane counterparts.

    Unless SEQ is where you really want to be, I'm not sure I'd consider it an IT-heavy employer. The southern capitals appear to still be where the jobs and $$$ it IT are.
     
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  3. Dan Donoghue

    Dan Donoghue Well-Known Member

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    I'm in a "sort of" IT type role (Analytics and SQL Data mining). I transferred up here from Sydney 18 months ago.

    I live on the GC.

    Work is a bit all over the place, I am based at Yatala most days (45KM drive one way) but sometimes Rochedale (70KM one way) and sometimes Wacol (83KM one way). Having said this these distances are not actually that bad. The run to Yatala where I spend most of my time is 40 mins.

    Rochdale can take about 1:10 because of the morning traffic as you get towards Bris.

    Sometimes I work from home as I have a home office set up there, that really is the ideal scenario, work from home as much as possible then location of head office is unimportant :).

    As for lifestyle, Living on the GC less than a K from the beach is quite possibly the best place I could ever live :). A longer trip to work is a very small price to pay for my location :).
     
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  4. Pumpkin

    Pumpkin Well-Known Member

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    Hi Kassy, well done for the decision to move back to SEQ. I’m not in IT so can’t offer much help. I can only say to cast your net as wide as possible; look into big corporations, government, universities....

    Best of luck!
     
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  5. RaoulDuke66

    RaoulDuke66 Well-Known Member

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    Location:
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    I'd say it's Brisbane or nothing. I wouldn't commute from the GC for all the tea in China. 3 hours a day, even if you leave at 5 30am.
     
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  6. Kassy

    Kassy Well-Known Member

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    Canberra
    Just an update of sorts. I had a skype interview this morning for a position in a regional area still in South East Queensland. I got a good vibe from the interview, so we'll see how it goes. Same money as here, less hours and they will pay to relocate. Just have to wait to see if I get it and then work out the details (including the small detail of my DH finding a job in the region as well).

    We aren't in a hurry though, still a few things to do to get this place sale ready although we have made some good moves in that direction this year.

    If we get jobs outside of Brisbane, we would definitely not live in Brisbane. After living in Canberra, I would also hate to live somewhere really congested again. Visiting is enough. That's one of the reasons we are hoping to find jobs outside of Brisbane. I have had great jobs in the past in Ipswich and Cleveland and DH worked on the Gold Coast when we did live in Brisbane so the CBD job isn't the main goal. Commuting in the opposite direction to the herd wasn't that bad back then, we haven't lived there since 2011 so traffic may be bad in both directions by now.
     
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  7. Pumpkin

    Pumpkin Well-Known Member

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  8. Kassy

    Kassy Well-Known Member

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    @Pumpkin - not Maryborough but it's a pretty area. North west of Brisbane...
     
  9. Kassy

    Kassy Well-Known Member

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    Just another update, I have been offered the job! I am in two minds about it and DH has stated he will go along with whatever I decide (o_O). I am heading up by plane on Thursday and asked to meet them and have a look around which I am doing on Friday morning. I then plan to have a drive around and decide if I can really imagine living and working there (never been there).

    Positives:
    Real Estate is cheap
    Family are a relatively short drive away so no more wasted holidays visiting
    The pay is also high for the area and the cost of living lower than here
    I can catch up with friends
    My boss here is a passive aggressive ******
    I hate the weather in Canberra
    Pollen season is about to hit Canberra
    I would see my family at Christmas
    I will have time to study and for myself (9 day fortnight)
    They will pay for the move (up to $5k)

    Negatives:
    I love my job here (despite my boss)
    I love the work I do and feel like I make a difference
    I love the people I work with
    I love my house
    I love the daycare my son is at
    I love the school he would go to
    Everyone I have spoken to at work is trying to talk me out of it
    My husband hasn’t got a job up north yet so he and my son will be here
    I will be living with my dad and step-mum for a while as an adult
    We have to finish a few things in the house and the backyard

    I am confused. Should be an interesting couple of days.

    Kassy :oops:
     
  10. Kassy

    Kassy Well-Known Member

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    Btw @Dan Donoghue, they would love you where I work now. They have trouble getting and keeping people with those skills. I know all the areas you are working in, hope you get drive through at Yatala pies occasionally. Love their pepper steak pie and the apricot (not eaten together and definitely ‘sometimes food’ calorie wise)...
     
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  11. gman65

    gman65 Well-Known Member

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    SEQ is awesome.. it hasn't really rained for 2 months (ok, this is actually a bit of a problem now).. It's been mid 20's the last few weeks. Right now at night its a nice 17 degrees.

    I do outdoor activities every single weekend during winter and spring, and there is just so many to choose from.
     
  12. Dan Donoghue

    Dan Donoghue Well-Known Member

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    We did get rain for a few hours on that Wednesday a few weeks ago, I think they called it "winter" or something ;)

    @Kassy where is the job and where are are you looking at driving around and living in?

    I do like the Yatala Chicken and Veg pies and their sausage rolls are pretty good but I don't eat from there often, once I flew past 40 years of age everything I eat goes right to my waist lol.
     

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