moving from Germany to Brisbane with our 1 year old baby-girl

[caro224]

Hello everybody! :)

My partner, our daughter Emily and myself(26) are going to move to Brisbane for 2 years in September.
I'm kind of nervous and a little bit scared of being all alone with Emily all week(without grand parents ect.) and so I'd like to start to make some contacts already to see that other people are living there and even mothers... ;)
I have a million questions. The most important one is: which part of Brisbane would you as a family move to if you had a choice??? Which one is most family-friendly with other kids living around??
Are there playgroups in Brisbane? Well, I suppose there are, but in Germany you have to sign in for it months in advance to get a place, is that similar in Australia?
Well, that should be enough for a start.
thanks a lot
Carolin :D

[Refresh]

Hi,

How exciting! My Brother-in-law is moving TO Germany in January for two years!! :)

I am sure you will love Brisbane. There is a real 'northside/southside' thing going on in Brissie! LOL. Being a northsider, I would definately recommend around The Gap/Ashgrove/Bardon area (North-westish but still close to the city.) It's a very tree - y (??) area with heaps of families. Same sort of area but a bt cheaper would be Ferny Hills, Ferny Grove, Mitchelton (Northside) or if you want more rural areas, you could try Samford or Bunya - probably about 30 -40 minutes to the city.

Good luck with your move! :)

Edited to add, there are heaps of playgroups around and lots of informal Mother's groups as well. If you decide to move out my way, you would be very welcome to join ours! We are all around your age and the kids range from newborn to 5 (average around 18 months.)

[draught]

We moved to Brisbane two years ago and trying to work out where to live was really hard - in the end my husband picked which golf course he was going to join and worked out how far from that he was prepared to live, and that narrowed the circle down a bit! THat may not help you but I suppose whwat I am saying is that you need to work out what is important to you - like where your husband will be working, and use that to narrow down the field. A website which will help you get a feel for houses is www.realestate.com.au - for renting or buying.

I think most areas of Brisbane are fairly family friendly once you move out of the inner-city. One of the good things about Brisbane are the hundreds of parks for children everywhere - you never seem to be more than a few blocks from one! We live on the southside of the river, and fairly central. It depends what sort of things you are going to be looking for, but one area we like is West End - it is on the river, has great cafes, excellent parks, good public transport and a relaxed feel to it. There also seem to be a lot of families with young children, as well as students and artists. We don't live there but my husband would like us to! Another area which is great for families is Hawthorn/Bulimba/Balmoral for similar reasons to West End but it is a little further away from the city and doesn't have the students and artists!

As for playgroups - there are no waiting lists for playgroups here - you contact the playgroup association (there is a general number you can call) and they will give you the list of the groups in your area, and then it is a case of you visiting them and deciding which one you are comfortable with.

[caro224]

Hello!! :)

This is so great!! I put in the thread yesterday evening and today I wake up and there are 2 replies already!(could have something to do with the different time zones... ;) That definately makes me looking a lot more optimistic and less sceptical towards our move. :)
We surely will consider your tips when we look for a home for us. Thank you so much!
Ijust have one further question: is it possible to rent furnished houses in Brisbane? We just found furnished flats, does anybody know where to look fo that?

greetings from cold rainy Germany in summer :rolleyes:

Carolin

[Refresh]

Hi

I think it would be possible but not too common. Have you looked at www.domain.com.au and www.realestate.com.au ? Good places to start.

Good luck

Katie

[Angel7]

I am a new member to the bub hub & have just seen your post. Iknow it's been a while since you posted but I just wanted to let you know that I am a young Mum of German descent living in the Brisbane area.

There is lot's to do here in Brisbane & we even have a German Club!

Anyway if you happen to check back in here drop me a line & we might be able to catch up some time.

I hope you have settled in ok.

Fröhe Weinachten und eine Glückliches Neues Jahre!

email:- missangel79@gmail.com

[aardvark]

Bring plenty of Oetker Pudding Pulver with you when you come, if you like it!

There is nothing like it available here, and I miss it so much. They stopped importing it because it didn't meet the food packaging standards.

[Imogensmum]

KB- you are amazing- english, german and japanese! I am in awe of you!!!

[caro224]

Hi everyone!
This is great to get a rely on such an old thread! :) Yes, we're here now, living in Kelvin Grove and loving it! Sorry, I forgot about the Dr.-Oetker-Pulver, but I could ask my mum to send some, if you like!! But you're right, the custard here is aweful!! :(
For the german-speakers here: ich finde es saumaessig heiß hier und beneide meine Familie zu Hause um den Schnee. Naja, man will immer das, was man nicht haben kann...! :rolleyes:
Angel7, I'd love to catch up sometime! I'll get back to you in January, when all is a bit less hectic around here! Is 79 your year of birth?
See ya

Carolin :D

[tickle]

How do you make your computer do doppel 's'.....I'm impressed!!!
OM.
Mmmm me too!!!
If I knew it would make it so much easier typing letters! :)

[aardvark]

I'll ask my teenage daughter about the umlauts etc after her boyfriend goes home.

She is learning German at school, so she will know, as she submits a lot of her work electronically.

She was quite put out when she was in Germany visiting relatives recently, as she found the German keyboard rather dis-orienting to start with, on account of extra keys.