3 months in melbourne
Jul 16th 2004, 5:34 am
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2004
Location: melbourne
Posts: 14
3 months in melbourne
Hi just read the melbourne thread thought I should add my own
thread as I to am guilty of being an expat addict when I was applying for my visa being totally paranoid that i would never get here. So my turn to give my experiences so hope it is of some help to someone.
I arrived at the end of April flew in after 10nights in Ko Samui
with heavily oversized baggage..Ba didnt bat an eyelid we had
38kg instead of 23 each!!
I am 33 and my partner is 30 we have no children so we stayed with some friends for the first 3 weeks.We spent this time driving
around the suburbs to see where we wanted to live.We decided we would rent in an area that we could afford to buy.I particularly
liked the coastal towns Hampton/sandringham ect however we
decided on Mentone as the houses were more afordable here
its a nice area on the bay within 25mins drive from the city.
Renting can be a pain as a/ fresh from uk you will generally have to pay 6months up front as well as bond cos they wont go on uk refs and b/ generally all houses are unfurnished so you have to go on mad shopping trip.I found that most household things are pretty cheap...remember big haggling culture here when you shop
even in department stores.
we pay $240 per week for a two bedroom house...no council tax though big big bonus!!!! Bills are about the same here maybe slightly more and food shopping is definately more expensive
the supermarkets are very basic.
We both found work really easily.I am a travel agent and have
actually get more here than in UK $50,000 PA tax is also only 21%
and super is paid so I am better off. I travel by train to work
the transport sytem is SHIT!!!! i suffer because I dont drive ..its on the top of my list for things to do. Partner is a carpenter he is now setting up his own business but before this he was working on hourly rate $38 per hour.
My advise for anyone moving to Melbourne is make the move in
the English Autumn i left in April and so have gone from Winter
to Winter and the Melbourne winter is worse than I expected
you must definately buy or rent a house with ducted heating!!
The people here are great its so nice walking into a shop and being served with a smile and asked how you are.
Melbourne is really buzzing lots of great restaurants and shops
and of course there mad on their footy!!!!
We are going skiing this weekend its only a 2hour drive from Melbourne to Mount Buller.
There are pros and cons about Oz but as a russian cab driver said to me the other the biggest mistake you can make when you first arrive is to constantly compare the two countries embrace your new country and life and enjoy the journey!!!!
thread as I to am guilty of being an expat addict when I was applying for my visa being totally paranoid that i would never get here. So my turn to give my experiences so hope it is of some help to someone.
I arrived at the end of April flew in after 10nights in Ko Samui
with heavily oversized baggage..Ba didnt bat an eyelid we had
38kg instead of 23 each!!
I am 33 and my partner is 30 we have no children so we stayed with some friends for the first 3 weeks.We spent this time driving
around the suburbs to see where we wanted to live.We decided we would rent in an area that we could afford to buy.I particularly
liked the coastal towns Hampton/sandringham ect however we
decided on Mentone as the houses were more afordable here
its a nice area on the bay within 25mins drive from the city.
Renting can be a pain as a/ fresh from uk you will generally have to pay 6months up front as well as bond cos they wont go on uk refs and b/ generally all houses are unfurnished so you have to go on mad shopping trip.I found that most household things are pretty cheap...remember big haggling culture here when you shop
even in department stores.
we pay $240 per week for a two bedroom house...no council tax though big big bonus!!!! Bills are about the same here maybe slightly more and food shopping is definately more expensive
the supermarkets are very basic.
We both found work really easily.I am a travel agent and have
actually get more here than in UK $50,000 PA tax is also only 21%
and super is paid so I am better off. I travel by train to work
the transport sytem is SHIT!!!! i suffer because I dont drive ..its on the top of my list for things to do. Partner is a carpenter he is now setting up his own business but before this he was working on hourly rate $38 per hour.
My advise for anyone moving to Melbourne is make the move in
the English Autumn i left in April and so have gone from Winter
to Winter and the Melbourne winter is worse than I expected
you must definately buy or rent a house with ducted heating!!
The people here are great its so nice walking into a shop and being served with a smile and asked how you are.
Melbourne is really buzzing lots of great restaurants and shops
and of course there mad on their footy!!!!
We are going skiing this weekend its only a 2hour drive from Melbourne to Mount Buller.
There are pros and cons about Oz but as a russian cab driver said to me the other the biggest mistake you can make when you first arrive is to constantly compare the two countries embrace your new country and life and enjoy the journey!!!!
Jul 16th 2004, 6:23 am
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 805
Re: 3 months in melbourne
Originally posted by a costelo
Hi just read the melbourne thread thought I should add my own
thread as I to am guilty of being an expat addict when I was applying for my visa being totally paranoid that i would never get here. So my turn to give my experiences so hope it is of some help to someone.
I arrived at the end of April flew in after 10nights in Ko Samui
with heavily oversized baggage..Ba didnt bat an eyelid we had
38kg instead of 23 each!!
I am 33 and my partner is 30 we have no children so we stayed with some friends for the first 3 weeks.We spent this time driving
around the suburbs to see where we wanted to live.We decided we would rent in an area that we could afford to buy.I particularly
liked the coastal towns Hampton/sandringham ect however we
decided on Mentone as the houses were more afordable here
its a nice area on the bay within 25mins drive from the city.
Renting can be a pain as a/ fresh from uk you will generally have to pay 6months up front as well as bond cos they wont go on uk refs and b/ generally all houses are unfurnished so you have to go on mad shopping trip.I found that most household things are pretty cheap...remember big haggling culture here when you shop
even in department stores.
we pay $240 per week for a two bedroom house...no council tax though big big bonus!!!! Bills are about the same here maybe slightly more and food shopping is definately more expensive
the supermarkets are very basic.
We both found work really easily.I am a travel agent and have
actually get more here than in UK $50,000 PA tax is also only 21%
and super is paid so I am better off. I travel by train to work
the transport sytem is SHIT!!!! i suffer because I dont drive ..its on the top of my list for things to do. Partner is a carpenter he is now setting up his own business but before this he was working on hourly rate $38 per hour.
My advise for anyone moving to Melbourne is make the move in
the English Autumn i left in April and so have gone from Winter
to Winter and the Melbourne winter is worse than I expected
you must definately buy or rent a house with ducted heating!!
The people here are great its so nice walking into a shop and being served with a smile and asked how you are.
Melbourne is really buzzing lots of great restaurants and shops
and of course there mad on their footy!!!!
We are going skiing this weekend its only a 2hour drive from Melbourne to Mount Buller.
There are pros and cons about Oz but as a russian cab driver said to me the other the biggest mistake you can make when you first arrive is to constantly compare the two countries embrace your new country and life and enjoy the journey!!!!
Hi just read the melbourne thread thought I should add my own
thread as I to am guilty of being an expat addict when I was applying for my visa being totally paranoid that i would never get here. So my turn to give my experiences so hope it is of some help to someone.
I arrived at the end of April flew in after 10nights in Ko Samui
with heavily oversized baggage..Ba didnt bat an eyelid we had
38kg instead of 23 each!!
I am 33 and my partner is 30 we have no children so we stayed with some friends for the first 3 weeks.We spent this time driving
around the suburbs to see where we wanted to live.We decided we would rent in an area that we could afford to buy.I particularly
liked the coastal towns Hampton/sandringham ect however we
decided on Mentone as the houses were more afordable here
its a nice area on the bay within 25mins drive from the city.
Renting can be a pain as a/ fresh from uk you will generally have to pay 6months up front as well as bond cos they wont go on uk refs and b/ generally all houses are unfurnished so you have to go on mad shopping trip.I found that most household things are pretty cheap...remember big haggling culture here when you shop
even in department stores.
we pay $240 per week for a two bedroom house...no council tax though big big bonus!!!! Bills are about the same here maybe slightly more and food shopping is definately more expensive
the supermarkets are very basic.
We both found work really easily.I am a travel agent and have
actually get more here than in UK $50,000 PA tax is also only 21%
and super is paid so I am better off. I travel by train to work
the transport sytem is SHIT!!!! i suffer because I dont drive ..its on the top of my list for things to do. Partner is a carpenter he is now setting up his own business but before this he was working on hourly rate $38 per hour.
My advise for anyone moving to Melbourne is make the move in
the English Autumn i left in April and so have gone from Winter
to Winter and the Melbourne winter is worse than I expected
you must definately buy or rent a house with ducted heating!!
The people here are great its so nice walking into a shop and being served with a smile and asked how you are.
Melbourne is really buzzing lots of great restaurants and shops
and of course there mad on their footy!!!!
We are going skiing this weekend its only a 2hour drive from Melbourne to Mount Buller.
There are pros and cons about Oz but as a russian cab driver said to me the other the biggest mistake you can make when you first arrive is to constantly compare the two countries embrace your new country and life and enjoy the journey!!!!
Glad to hear that you've settled into Melbournian life. Doesn't really take long does it??
Anyway I thought I'd whether or not you're looking for business - being a Travel Agent and all. Can you do any better deals for us Expats than the normal fares?
I know there's a few people on here who are looking for flights back to the Uk at the moment (me included).
If you can do me a good deal you can definitely have my business
Regards
Jul 16th 2004, 7:02 am
#3
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2004
Location: melbourne
Posts: 14
good idea i will post by details on a separate thread!!
Jul 16th 2004, 7:30 am
#4
The Godfather
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: South East Suburbs of Melbourne
Posts: 7,336
Welcome to Melbourne A Costello, the weather WILL get better honest.
Jul 16th 2004, 7:30 am
#5
58.38264% - Extreme Geek
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: The Place To Be
Posts: 2,270
Re: 3 months in melbourne
Originally posted by Jaykay
Hi A Costelo
Glad to hear that you've settled into Melbournian life. Doesn't really take long does it??
Anyway I thought I'd whether or not you're looking for business - being a Travel Agent and all. Can you do any better deals for us Expats than the normal fares?
I know there's a few people on here who are looking for flights back to the Uk at the moment (me included).
If you can do me a good deal you can definitely have my business
Regards
Hi A Costelo
Glad to hear that you've settled into Melbournian life. Doesn't really take long does it??
Anyway I thought I'd whether or not you're looking for business - being a Travel Agent and all. Can you do any better deals for us Expats than the normal fares?
I know there's a few people on here who are looking for flights back to the Uk at the moment (me included).
If you can do me a good deal you can definitely have my business
Regards
)?A Costelo - great to hear you are settling in well. We're moving over there in 3 weeks, so very interested to hear your comments. Sorry to hear the Melbourne transport system has let you down - we found the trains very good compared to our bit of the UK, but I guess it all depends what you're used to, and what your expectations are!
Good luck with the job - hope it goes well. As Jaykay says, if you can do us some good deals, we'll all be round to book our flights!
Anya.
Jul 16th 2004, 7:33 am
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 805
Re: 3 months in melbourne
Originally posted by anya4oz
Jaykay - nice one! Maybe we should charter a whole plane's worth (we could sing songs & have a crate of Brown Ales in the back, like on a 'works outing'! )?
Anya.
Jaykay - nice one! Maybe we should charter a whole plane's worth (we could sing songs & have a crate of Brown Ales in the back, like on a 'works outing'!
)?Anya.
LOL
Jul 16th 2004, 10:54 am
#7
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 2,389
Re: 3 months in melbourne
A Costello, good to hear you've settled into life in Melb.
Its always helpful reading other peoples experiences so thanks for posting yours.
I'll be in Melbourne in January - avoiding uk winter and doing another look-see!
Shame about your train journeys. I had thought about living in Brighton- Sandringham area, trainline stops there- I like the area, and I have a few friends already living there H.
Its always helpful reading other peoples experiences so thanks for posting yours.
I'll be in Melbourne in January - avoiding uk winter and doing another look-see!
Shame about your train journeys. I had thought about living in Brighton- Sandringham area, trainline stops there- I like the area, and I have a few friends already living there
H.
