Hi fellas,

I'll be coming to brisbane from sunny staffordshire (England) in November hopefully and I need some help in the meantime. I need:

Some advice on do's and don'ts - Places, nightlife etc

Somewhere nice to rent for 6 months - I don't wanna be away from the action and I would prefer a condo with a pool and facilities budget around $250-$300 per week.

Could someone post a phototour? that would be greatly appriciated. I've never been to Aus before and don't have any friends there but Brisbane just appeals to me so there you go!

Cheers

Ill kick it of...Good to see you picked sunny queensland!

to get in the loop with things go to Our Brisbane (http://www.ourbrisbane.com/)

Well if you don't mind about the crappy design...the Inside of Festival is really quite nice they have just set up a few display apartments anyway, 1 beds at Festival starts at 285$ which is cheaper than Aurora tower and festival is closer to all the action.

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/rentals/building.html
^ that's festival, brand spanking new :) all the facilities you need apart from eye scan and a movie theatre, which Aurora has.
http://www.auroraapartments.com.au/
Aurora is a bit out of the way but still a brand new building (currently tallest in Brissy).

I have entered your price which is $250-$300 per week and type here...real estate is a great site cause you can have a good look at what you will be getting...
check it out here!
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=s&cu=fn-rea&s=qld&ss=&ag=&t=ren&snf=rbs&tb=+BRISBANE%2C+&u=BRISBANE&is=1&pm=250&px=300&pme=250&pxe=300&minbed=&maxbed=&cat=Alpine%2CApartment%2CFlat%2CRetirement+Living%2CServiced+Apartment%2CStudio%2CUnit&p=20&o=def

Ok, so festivals just off the market so the stock is very high at the moment but in November it may not be...but keep checking to see what apartments are available :)

Or the Valley entertainment precinct...or southbank?
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=s&cu=fn-rea&s=qld&ss=&ag=&t=ren&snf=rbs&tb=+FORTITUDE+VALLEY%2C+&u=FORTITUDE+VALLEY&is=1&pm=250&px=300&pme=250&pxe=300&minbed=&maxbed=&cat=&p=10&o=def
Emporium is really nice but I'm not sure what the rents are...
http://www.brisbane-australia.com/103036.php

well that's some of the apartments done! Nightlife anyone??

Get on the train, get off at brunswick street.
Theres your nightlife. rofl

Thanks a lot Soulvision. Thats great info :)

Brisbane clubbing forum (http://www.inthemix.com.au/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4)

Jerv, here is a thread that shows a bit of Aurora and Casino tower...
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=364014

Do - go to the valley - australia's first declared entertainment precinct
Don't - go to ipswich - its a hole

Do - wear sunscreen
Don't - fall asleep on the beach with ur hand ur stomach. hahaha. crispy poms

Do - go to the down under bar - youll pull a root for sure (backpackers bar)
Don't - Go to the wickham (unless your gay, then go there as much as u like)

brissie is a mad city. glad ya picked it over sydney or melb. brissie is a really laid back city if you know what i mean. its still busy like any city but the ppl give a vibe of calmness and laid back which is typical of our climate. it gets pretty hot n humid in summer - contant low-mid 30s with stiffling humidity. the odd 40 now and then too. winter is cold for us but is probably warm for u. Mins from 5-15 and max's 18-25.

we get cracking summer storms that are a sight to be seen and in winter we wont see rain for 6 months. everything goes brown in winter from the LACK OF WATER. we are currently drought declared so make sure you save our water (regional dams at 29% - lowest in history)

the gold and sunshine coasts are only within an hour of brisbane. they hold the billabong and quiksilver pro's down on the goldie. surfers paradise is like Australia's Monaco or Malibu. only an hour from brisbane. they have the indy down there every year. Sport is big. if u like Cricket, Rugby League, Rugby Union or fancy giving AFL a go, then do that. Soccer is just beginning to take off after our WC qualification.

ne way, hope that helps. lata

Cheers guys. Very helpful.
I do tend to crisp up so I'll be sure to buy one of those umbrella hats.

The more I see of Brisbane the more I like. I don't really go for the very big cities because I like ease of transport and the immediate proximity that compact cities give. I actually lived in Manchester for most of the last 7years and that is a perfect sized city for me. Brisbane being slightly smaller I think we will get on very well!

So what are the main pub/club/entertainment streets and zones? Brunswick street? Fortitude Valley? I'd like an apartment within 5minutes walk of these zones but also on the CBD side for work.

I love soccer but don't expect to see or play much over there. Squash is also one of my favourite participation sports. Do you guys have many courts?

What about transport? is there a decent metro/commuter rail system or will I need to buy a car?

Wot! You leaving the potteries and Smoke-on-Trent behind for wee sunny Brisvegas. Shoud be in time for the Jacarandas - natures version of a drag queen.

yeah im really glad you picked brisbane over melbourne and sydney too

^^Why is that then?

Squash is also one of my favourite participation sports. Do you guys have many courts?

What about transport? is there a decent metro/commuter rail system or will I need to buy a car?

We do have squash courts around, plenty of those. As for the public transport, Brisbane has buses, trains and ferries (citycats). One ticket will get you passage on all three services. See http://www.translink.qld.gov.au/

We have an A League soccer team, called the Queensland Roar, they get about 15,000 to their games at Lang Park, the cities main football stadium. So you won't miss your soccer.

Transport is OK, and from what you are saying you are going to be living inner-city anyway. Most PT is geared to getting people from the suburbs into town. So if you want to get to some of the popular spots, I'd suggest getting yourself a cheap car. That way you can easily visit nearby places such as the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Toowooomba, Byron Bay, Coast Hinterlands, etc, etc. Most units here come with a garage or car parking space, so parking inner city is easier than the UK.

Fortitude Valley is the main nightclub area, there are also a few places in the city and the inner suburbs that are OK.

Cathedral Place sounds like the perfect location for you, it's in the Valley, but on the city side, 5 minutes walk to the CBD. Your budget should get you a pretty good place here, so you may also want to go for one of the new inner city apartment towers.
http://www.devine.com.au/cathedralplace/images/aerial.jpg

Go to the R.E. in Toowong!! (its a pub) Make sure ya go on a sunday night!!! ; ) And ya gotta get cracking into the bundy rum!!! its on tap at the re!

between the valley and the city you have a million choices for buses and theres a train every 10mins or so. one ticket gets u on everything. our PT is pretty good, especially between the valley and the city

and brunswick st is the central area of the valley clubs but really the surround brunswick for a few blocks. then the main city club area is about a 15min walk from there. theres also caxton st, toowong and wooloongabba where good pubs are at

We have an A League soccer team, called the Queensland Roar, they get about 15,000 to their games at Lang Park, the cities main football stadium. So you won't miss your soccer.

Transport is OK, and from what you are saying you are going to be living inner-city anyway. Most PT is geared to getting people from the suburbs into town. So if you want to get to some of the popular spots, I'd suggest getting yourself a cheap car. That way you can easily visit nearby places such as the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Toowooomba, Byron Bay, Coast Hinterlands, etc, etc. Most units here come with a garage or car parking space, so parking inner city is easier than the UK.

Fortitude Valley is the main nightclub area, there are also a few places in the city and the inner suburbs that are OK.

Cathedral Place sounds like the perfect location for you, it's in the Valley, but on the city side, 5 minutes walk to the CBD. Your budget should get you a pretty good place here, so you may also want to go for one of the new inner city apartment towers.
http://www.devine.com.au/cathedralplace/images/aerial.jpg

Again. Much appreciated. Cathedral place looks the business and I've seen one for rent on ourbrisbane.com (excellent website - learned a lot from there). I'd like a complex with a sense of community (Pool, BBQ etc). That is pretty important in order to meet people seeing as I will be on my own. The reason I need the input from you guys is that I would like to move in pretty much straight away and don't really want to be searching too long.

Thanks again guys, I'm much more in the know now and I can't wait to get there.

Youll be here in november right. man ur gonna boil over in december. i spent 3 weeks in the northern winter and came straight back to a day of 35C. i almost died after been around temps around 0C for 3 weeks.

oh and november is when the ashes is on in brisbane. no tix left, sold out in 2hrs. Should be interesting for u. bloody poms. hahahaha

^^ That's not very inviting is it... The warm weather is not that bad, after all you can go swimming ;)

^^ also most places have air conditioning, and most buses and all trains have air conditioning. One advantage about the warm weather is that the girls wear less ;)

I can handle the heat, I just can't handle the sun!

The Ashes eh? I doubt well have much chance this time around but should be good nevertheless. You should play us at something we are good at like snooker or darts just to even it up. A pub olympics would bring some pride back to our defeated islands!

Ony boguns or wanka UQ undergrads go the RE

The apartment complex I'm staying in is about a 3 minute walk from the heart of fortitude valley. Rental prices start from around 220 a week. there are no facilities although they are brand new as of June this year.
See:
http://www.vapartments.com.au/main.asp

Ony boguns or wanka UQ undergrads go the RE


Hey, he wasnts a bit of oz doesn't he? good example!! ;)

The apartment complex I'm staying in is about a 3 minute walk from the heart of fortitude valley. Rental prices start from around 220 a week. there are no facilities although they are brand new as of June this year.
See:
http://www.vapartments.com.au/main.asp

hmmmm... Alfred street is pretty much a back alley to nowhere where junkies hang out.

other than that pretty handy location nontheless

hmmmm... Alfred street is pretty much a back alley to nowhere where junkies hang out.

I actually find more dodgy people on Brunswick street itself than on Alfred Street. Although I have noticed a few broken bottles. I just knock through the Valley Metro carpark and Valley Metro to get most places.