3 weeks to go! any last minute tips?
Mar 5th 2019, 9:36 am
#16
Aussie Finn Mixture!
Joined: May 2005
Location: Leschenault WA (after few locations around WA and Around Europe!)
Posts: 1,151
Re: 3 weeks to go! any last minute tips?
Medical records from your GP if you’re taking prescription medication (although just a note, Ventolin is prescription free, over the counter in Oz). School reports for kids, immunisation records for kids, keep UK bank account open....
Mar 5th 2019, 9:37 am
#17
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 14
Re: 3 weeks to go! any last minute tips?
ill put my orders in now then with the family
Mar 5th 2019, 9:39 am
#18
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 14
Re: 3 weeks to go! any last minute tips?
thank you!
Mar 5th 2019, 9:52 am
#19
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 14
Re: 3 weeks to go! any last minute tips?
Don't stress about what you have to do/when/how when you get here. Focus on getting here. Once you're here you're surrounded by people who have done it all before. That was my attitude and it served me well.
https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones Number portability is pretty good here. Last one I did for my wife took 10mins, mine took it a bit longer: 1hr.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/
https://www.theage.com.au/
https://www.news.com.au/
Online Radio Stations in Victoria the main talk shows are ABC Melbourne and 3AW if you want to start acquiring your Aussie accent.
Wife has just started watching Corrie, which reminds me you will need a VPN/SmartDNS provider to keep up with the soaps. I use Getflix, which I bought cheap on a lifetime licence. Trial some before buying, https://deals.ghacks.net/collections/lifetime-deals.
If you like football, https://www.optus.com.au/for-you/ent...rt/optus-sport. It's thrown in with the Optus package or you can pay $15 if you are with a different ISP. Yes, you get access to every match, if you can wake/stay up. I can't wait for Tranmere to get into the Premier League.
https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones Number portability is pretty good here. Last one I did for my wife took 10mins, mine took it a bit longer: 1hr.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/
https://www.theage.com.au/
https://www.news.com.au/
Online Radio Stations in Victoria the main talk shows are ABC Melbourne and 3AW if you want to start acquiring your Aussie accent.
Wife has just started watching Corrie, which reminds me you will need a VPN/SmartDNS provider to keep up with the soaps. I use Getflix, which I bought cheap on a lifetime licence. Trial some before buying, https://deals.ghacks.net/collections/lifetime-deals.
If you like football, https://www.optus.com.au/for-you/ent...rt/optus-sport. It's thrown in with the Optus package or you can pay $15 if you are with a different ISP. Yes, you get access to every match, if you can wake/stay up. I can't wait for Tranmere to get into the Premier League.
(says the southampton fan ((by birth not choice)))
Mar 5th 2019, 9:38 pm
#20
Account Closed
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 0
Re: 3 weeks to go! any last minute tips?
Open an account with https://www.ofx.com/en-au/ or something similar for transferring pots of cash to Australia. Don't let your bank do it at their rates.
If you don't have a UK credit card with zero forex fees worth getting one for the initial time you won't have an Aus credit card. In Aus, these are the banks favoured by Ozbargainers, https://www.ing.com.au/ and https://www.ubank.com.au/, both have cards with zero forex rates. Both are online banks.
For buying a car I used these guys, How Car Broker Works - Carbroker.com.au, and then rang around dealers to make sure they had the best price. I also asked for a car from the dealer whilst waiting for delivery. Usual ask for mats and full tank. Don't break the speed limit here as they like fines. 1kmph over will stuff you. In VIC you can drive in any lane on roads up to 80kmph. People ignore this and do what they want on the freeways as well, 100kmph.
If you have kids try to highlight potential areas before you arrive. Schools have to take you if you are in the catchment area. https://bettereducation.com.au/Default.aspx, https://www.vic.gov.au/education. Rock up with school reports and have a nice chat. If offered the opportunity to jump a year I now would have insisted my kids did. My daughter, 14 at time, didn't and took her foot off the pedal. My son, 10, blames me for not allowing him to jump.
My first month targets were phones, schools, house https://www.google.com/search?q=hous...w=1745&bih=884, car + licence https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/lice...erseas-drivers, I use https://www.bingle.com.au/ for insurance, bank, ATO https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/T...ply-for-a-TFN/, Medicare https://www.humanservices.gov.au/ind.../medicare-card. A lot can be done on PC with a mobile data connection.
Finally, and most important, bring lots of Cadbury's. It tastes different here as they use an ingredient to increase the melting temp.
If you don't have a UK credit card with zero forex fees worth getting one for the initial time you won't have an Aus credit card. In Aus, these are the banks favoured by Ozbargainers, https://www.ing.com.au/ and https://www.ubank.com.au/, both have cards with zero forex rates. Both are online banks.
For buying a car I used these guys, How Car Broker Works - Carbroker.com.au, and then rang around dealers to make sure they had the best price. I also asked for a car from the dealer whilst waiting for delivery. Usual ask for mats and full tank. Don't break the speed limit here as they like fines. 1kmph over will stuff you. In VIC you can drive in any lane on roads up to 80kmph. People ignore this and do what they want on the freeways as well, 100kmph.
If you have kids try to highlight potential areas before you arrive. Schools have to take you if you are in the catchment area. https://bettereducation.com.au/Default.aspx, https://www.vic.gov.au/education. Rock up with school reports and have a nice chat. If offered the opportunity to jump a year I now would have insisted my kids did. My daughter, 14 at time, didn't and took her foot off the pedal. My son, 10, blames me for not allowing him to jump.
My first month targets were phones, schools, house https://www.google.com/search?q=hous...w=1745&bih=884, car + licence https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/lice...erseas-drivers, I use https://www.bingle.com.au/ for insurance, bank, ATO https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/T...ply-for-a-TFN/, Medicare https://www.humanservices.gov.au/ind.../medicare-card. A lot can be done on PC with a mobile data connection.
Finally, and most important, bring lots of Cadbury's. It tastes different here as they use an ingredient to increase the melting temp.
Mar 5th 2019, 11:30 pm
#21
Account Closed
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 0
Re: 3 weeks to go! any last minute tips?
Appoint a proxy, useful for using solicitor to complete home sale.
Bring power blocks with you so that you can plug in UK plugs until you swap them all over. Trust me, one day, in the dim and distant future when you want something to do, you will think it's about time I swapped all those plugs over to Aussie ones. Until then...
To contact you from UK people can phone using Whatsapp over mobile data. For others you may want to keep your UK number. Using an app like https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....wave&hl=en_AU you can have a UK number on your phone in Aus provided you have internet access via mobile data or wifi. You can get a free UK # from https://www.sipgatebasic.co.uk/ or port your existing one over to them. To call UK I use https://www.siptalk.com.au/ as it's cheaper than using a UK provider. You can also get a # from Siptalk. When you're settled you can make these numbers home specific by getting a cordless VOIP phone: Gigaset, Yealink and Grandstream are good makes. You can check tech prices here, staticICE - Compare Prices - Australia - Shopping and price comparison for computer hardware, digital SLR cameras and consumer electronics.
Bring power blocks with you so that you can plug in UK plugs until you swap them all over. Trust me, one day, in the dim and distant future when you want something to do, you will think it's about time I swapped all those plugs over to Aussie ones. Until then...
To contact you from UK people can phone using Whatsapp over mobile data. For others you may want to keep your UK number. Using an app like https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....wave&hl=en_AU you can have a UK number on your phone in Aus provided you have internet access via mobile data or wifi. You can get a free UK # from https://www.sipgatebasic.co.uk/ or port your existing one over to them. To call UK I use https://www.siptalk.com.au/ as it's cheaper than using a UK provider. You can also get a # from Siptalk. When you're settled you can make these numbers home specific by getting a cordless VOIP phone: Gigaset, Yealink and Grandstream are good makes. You can check tech prices here, staticICE - Compare Prices - Australia - Shopping and price comparison for computer hardware, digital SLR cameras and consumer electronics.
