Originally Posted by ElshaUK

I am on my first month of maxi cap prepay $49 and I haved used about $85 worth in text message mostly, so for me it is worth it. My OH hasn't used much though, I am wondering - can he just top up with however much he wants, rather than a capped amount. I know he wouldn't get any extra credit like with the maxi cap.... but could he just load $20 on it every month?

Originally Posted by Nikki

Hi All


Nikki

Originally Posted by Sleeping Beauty

great post nikki....wish you had posted that before we came out

m
xxx

Originally Posted by Nikki

Hi All

Centrelink - Strange, but we hadn't really looked into this, but it was on our list of things to do from the agent. We went into the local office to register and the lady asked why we were there. I explained we had just arrived from the UK and I understood we needed to inform them of our arrival (I thought we just needed to exist in the system!). She asked which of our children were Australian - none I replied they were all born in the UK. She then asked whether my o/h or I were Australian - NO we are all British! She then laughed and said I don't know why you are here, we cannot help you with financial assistance!!

She made us feel like we had landed off a plane with cap in hand looking for free handouts!!!! I kept my calm and explained I did not know why we were there or quite what Centrelink were for, but I had been told to inform them of our arrival for some reason. Next thing a guy comes over and she chats with him, he looks at our visas and apologises saying as we have children we are entitled to family assistance (news to us, I thought we were entitled to nothing for 2 years!!). It turns out as I am not working we also qualified for rent assistance. All in all - despite all the form filling the application was delt with quickly.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Nikki

Originally Posted by kiwi_child

I'm glad you got this sorted. Yes it is very important for those with children to ensure they do get what entitlements they are eligible to. And rent assistance if you on a lower income and paying a lot in rent.

Perhaps she wasn't trained very well or just unaware of your entitlements. Sadly this happens in beaucracies at times.

Merry xmas to you all too

Originally Posted by gedge

welcome back kiwi_child, and a merry christmas to you too

Originally Posted by Nikki

- here we settled on a Hyundai Terracan, got this brand new for $36,000.

Originally Posted by kiwi_child

Cheers gedge A merry xmas and prosperous 2007 to u 2. Was surprised and pleased to see you now a mod lol. Now don't let that power go to ya head mate lol

Originally Posted by gedge

thanks and to you
power.. what power.. lol.. if i ever do, make sure to have a good whinge about it to everyone.. seems to be the way it works

Originally Posted by Buzzy--Bee

.............pulls up chair, opens beer..............







.

Originally Posted by Buzzy--Bee

Nikki, great post.

The Terracan was my 2nd choice of car after the Nissan Pathfinder - I had a wee play with the Terracan (Highlander) and found it a bit plasticky - would you agree? IT's so much cheaper than the Pathfinder - that is its main attraction! The Highlander is also being discontinued in June next year.



Buzzy

Originally Posted by Nikki

Hi All

Have been meaning to post this for a while, always found them helpful when I was in the UK - here goes (Sorry if it is long and boring but there is too much to sum up in a paragraph!).

Left Manchester on 2nd Sept. with OH and 3 children aged 12, 8 and 6. The worst day of my life, without question....nothing and no-one can prepare you for the goodbyes and seeing my children so upset is something I find hard to think about........

Flight went well with Singapore Airlines, the only problem we had was too much luggage, you need to be brutal. I sent our furniture etc...with Robinson's, we sent them ahead so that we would pretty much arrive at the same time as our shipment - someone told me if you can live without stuff in the UK it is easier than doing so when you arrive to a new country. My problem was that I decided I would keep toys back for the children to play with, barely sent any clothes and shoes with shipment, sentimental things stayed etc.....this resulted with us travelling with 25 pieces of luggage, we were so overloaded that we had to leave 4 pieces at Manchester Airport and pay 900 pounds to have them follow us over (over 2000 pound to have the 4 cases come on our flight with us!!).

Arrived in Sydney the following day, met by family which was nice, but strange to think that you have left family 24 hours previous in a state of grief and here are others delighted to see you......The next week was not great, lots of running around with 3 bored children in tow! Listed below are immediate things we did:

Bank A/C - We put some easy access money in a regular account and switched our savings into a high interest account earning us interest which is paid every 3 months.

House - Luckily my Dad has a house which we rent from him.

Doctors - Registered with one.

Cars - In the UK we had a Chrysler Voyager - here we settled on a Hyundai Terracan, got this brand new for $36,000. Hyundai might not have been our choice in the UK, but Uncle in the industry said it was a great 4WD value for money and it comes with a 7 year warranty! Husband bought a Houlden (cant remember name!) 4 door saloon for work - $7000.

Insurance - $56 per month for Hyundai and $32 for Houlden. No problems with insurance, did not ask for UK details.

Schools - Children were already registered from the UK. We went for a formal look around and agreed a start date which was one week after arrival - my O/H thought this was too soon, but I felt the sooner they established a routine the better and in hindsight this was a good decision.

Driving License - Although in NSW you have 3 months to change over, it is a great form of ID as it has a photo and your Australian address. This was straightforward and is done at the RTA there and then.

Medicare - You have to be in the country 10 days before you can register. My son had to be treated in this time, but we still got our rebate once we were registered.

Centrelink - Strange, but we hadn't really looked into this, but it was on our list of things to do from the agent. We went into the local office to register and the lady asked why we were there. I explained we had just arrived from the UK and I understood we needed to inform them of our arrival (I thought we just needed to exist in the system!). She asked which of our children were Australian - none I replied they were all born in the UK. She then asked whether my o/h or I were Australian - NO we are all British! She then laughed and said I don't know why you are here, we cannot help you with financial assistance!!

She made us feel like we had landed off a plane with cap in hand looking for free handouts!!!! I kept my calm and explained I did not know why we were there or quite what Centrelink were for, but I had been told to inform them of our arrival for some reason. Next thing a guy comes over and she chats with him, he looks at our visas and apologises saying as we have children we are entitled to family assistance (news to us, I thought we were entitled to nothing for 2 years!!). It turns out as I am not working we also qualified for rent assistance. All in all - despite all the form filling the application was delt with quickly.

Furniture - As we have rented our house out in the UK, we needed large furniture items, we bought a package from Fantastic Furniture (a bit like MFI) Got Corner sofa, entertainment unit, sideboard (with cupboards), hall table, 8 leather chairs and square dining table for $2100.

Mobiles - Difficult to get a contract as you have no credit rating when you arrive, so we started on pay as you go, top of the range handsets are expensive. I got a camera phone so I could send pics back home, only to find out later you cannot send pics on pre-paid! Also I opted for Vodafone, but apparently coverage on this network is not the greatest!!!

Phone and Internet - On a package with Telstra, no problem with connection all straightforward.

I think I will leave it there for now. There is loads more I could say - I could do a whole other thread on emotions!!! It has not been easy, the Women will find it harder, especially if you are not going to be working in the beginning like me. I think it is the best decision for us as a family but only time will tell. We spent 20 months on the hunt for a visa, so we feel we have to give it the same amount of time at this end before we decide where our future lies.

I am happy to help anyone if you have any questions.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Nikki