On our way to Gold Coast

[danjan]

Hi Everybody,

We are a familiy of 4 with 2DD aged 4 in april & 7 months. We are moving to the Gold Coast on 2nd April to Robina temporarily until we find long term accommodation. I was hoping that perhaps someone might have some words of wisdom for us as to what we might need regards looking for accom and whether or not it is quite hard or easy to find at the moment, approx cost of rent, cost of furniture ect Also we will prob be looking for a kindy for my 4 year old and some parent toddler groups for myself and babs. I would be delighted if we could talk with someone in the same boat or who has already gone through the experience. I have to say I am totally up in the air at the moment not knowing what to expect, are we mad leaving everything behind us, how will girls settle etc .......??? my head is like a whirlwind!!. Anyway would be great to speak with people already there. Look forward to your replies

[Mammy]

Hi danjan,

Wow, thats a big move for you and your family, exciting times ahead!
Im originally from Ireland too and I also moved to Robina nearly three years ago. I moved here by myself (with aussie partner) so it wasnt such a huge upheaveal.
I'll try and help you out with some of your questions...

Renting... we've rented in two places since arriving and didnt have a problem finding places. We pay $330 p/w for a two bedroomed appartment, which is two years old. The nearer you are to the beaches the more you will pay, and most of the rentals there seem to be older style units. Most of the rentals on the GC are units (appartments) which go from 1 to 3 bedroomed. Then there are duplexes which are two small houes attached, generally two story I think, and finally townhouses which are your normal houses (bungalows and multistories). A great website is realestate.com and we found our unit in seqrents.com.au whcih have all the gated complexes on the gold coast. In regads to what you need to get a rental, from what i remember you need a reference from your last accomodation and one from your workplace.

Furniture... my partner had his furniture so we didnt need to buy much. It depends how much you want to spend really. A very popular store for cheap furniture is SuperAmart, dont know if you have them in Ireland... We bought a bed there for only $300 and so far its not fallen apart! Also Ikea which im sure you know of. The other two popular stores are Harvey Norman and Domayne, which are a bit more pricey. Anyway, have a look on their websites to get an idea of prices.

Kindy .... not sure on this one as my little one is only 5 months, so hopefully someone else can shed some light on this one for you... We go to a playgroup sometimes even though my little one is still a bit young for this, she loves looking at the other kids running around. I used to a mums group at the local health centre when dd was younger and met some mums there. I will send you a private message with the website about playgroups and mums meets in the area. You can also look on the playgroups queensland website.

Hopefully some other people will be able to expand on this and give you some more info than me, im a bit sleep deprived at the moment...
You should also put your post in the queensland, gold coast section where you should get more replies.

Good luck and let me know if you need anymore help.

[danjan]

MooMoo
Thanks a mill for your reply. Yep definity exciting times ahead, just 2 weeks left here and I really wish we were on our way because I will be all cried out before we get there what with good byes and stuff like that. My little girl had her last day at montessori today and that called for more tears ........ from me not her, so at this stage I am thinking it will be better once we get over there. Would be really grateful if you would email me info on those parent toddler groups etc and who knows might get to see you at one. I am sure I will have loads of questions just a bit short of time today and again thanks for the info.

[Jinglebells]

Hi Danjan :wave:

we've got children the same age, my DS will be 4 in June and my DD is comming up 6mths next week

I moved here to the gold coast 2 years ago from NZ, we came over with nothing, rentals are a bit scarse at the moment, but if you've got the money pay quite a few weeks in advance, well thats what we did to get our first rental

my advice for finding a rental when you get here, is to scout around the place, find out what school you eventually want your DD to go to and what preschools are around the same area, then look at what rentals are going around that area or close too

good luck with your move, not much longer for you now

[Mammy]

Hi danjan,

I've sent you those details by private message, you have to log on to get it and you can view it just underneath your log on name on the top right hand corner.

I've given you my email address so please contact me if you need any help at all.

[danjan]

Hi girls,

Thanks for your replies.

Gizzy got your hands full aswell but they are great arent they.... I find my eldest girls absolutely loves her little sister and vice versa. Was worried that the gap was a little too big between them but so far so good. How are you finding life in the Gold Coast so far. I am a little worried about the 4 year old and how she will settle in. Are rentals expensive at the moment, have just heard they are rising pretty quickly and are quite hard to get with up to 50 people viewing at a time.

Mammy, thanks for that. No doubt will be emailing you soon.

We are totally up to our eyes at the moment, with moving out of our house, trying to get it rented and just all those last minute things that you know you just shouldnt have left to the last minute.

I dont seem to be getting near the internet as often as I like so if you dont hear from me soon we havent changed our mind or anythings.

Anyway will hopefully be a lot more calmer soon and shall be sunning my limbs somewhere along the Gold Coast

Talk soon