Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hiya, we're in the process of applying to the Royal Australian Navy (ADF), and I just wondered if there were any fellow navy wives out there who've done it, and could give me their prospective on it???

My main worry is the children changing schools (again & again) but then they'll probably gain much more by experiencing different places around AU. Kids are 12yrs, 10yrs & twins 7yrs.

Any advice would be very much appreciated..... major decisions ahead!!!
Lou x :eek:

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hey Lou

We moved out to Australia 8 months ago and so far we are loving it. My husband has joined the Australian Navy and at the moment is on deployment for 3 months to Hawaii.

We are currently living in Sydney and things have settled well for us. We have 2 children ages 10 and 11. I am more than happy to try and answer any questions you may have.

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hi Josie, thanks for your reply, was so great to hear from you! We're currently away on holiday (yes, i am a saddo checking my emails when away!!), but would love to pick your brain on questions about our possible move to AU. Hope its ok, i'll message again when back home next week. TTFN, Lou x :)

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

I'm an ex-navy wife, with two grown sons in the Australian Army reserve.

You'll be OK here - the Aussie military is nowhere near as snobby as the UK equiv. My two lads are officers, but would never put on the superior act.

Re family life - the new fed gov is trying to get a national curriculum as opposed to separate state systems, which will be grest for forces children.

I don't know what it's like now, but back in our day, you were better paid in the Oz forces than the UK ones.

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hi

Sorry can't be of any help!! My husband has been offered a contract with RAN having just retired from the RN. We are at the beginning of the immigration process...how long have you been pursuing this? What is involved? There are only the two of us as our familiy are 'flown the nest'. Very excited at the posting in Cairns, but have to get through the hurdles first!
I am based on the South Coast...where are you?

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hi Josie

My husband (just retired from RN) has been offered a contract with RAN. We are very excited about the prospect of moving to Oz.....you say you are loving it.
You'll probably regret offering to answer questions!
How long did your immigration process take and what was involved? We don't have children to worry about as they have 'flown the nest'.
Was your immigration process conducted simultaneously as your husband's or was he 'fast-tracked' and you followed on later?
When you received your visa, what was the accommodation situation when you arrived in OZ...were you offered furnished accommodation until your removal goods arrived?

Where did you live in UK? (I'm in Pompey...where else!!)

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hey

The process from start to finish took us 15 months. I have no idea how that may have changed now?

Then:-
Husband has to get a medical to be passed as medically fit
then a long process with lots of paperwork and waiting periods in between
then the terms of service arrive
you can then apply for Labour agreement
then you have to go for private medicals (reinbursed when you arrive in Oz)
apply for Visa's
then a long waiting game!!!
Visa's approved (hopefully) then you set a date to ship your stuff out, plane tickets, booking everything the other side for when you arrive.

So....
When we arrived in Oz we had a fantastic 3 bedroom apartment in Sydney. My husband had to go get his Navy ID number (Pm Keyes as known here). Then you can access the internet and look at homes. Lock down a Defence house and you are sorted. But it may be different in different parts of Australia?

When you get your home you are entitled to rent furniture until yours arrives. They rented us a full house package until ours arrived. Everything including towels and even t-towels!!!

We lived in Pomey back in 1996 for a couple of years. Both of our kids were born at St Mary's hospital. We have lived in Exmouth, Devon for the last 9 years and now Sydney, Australia for 8 months.

So far we have no regrets at all and love everything we have here :D

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hi

Thanks so much for that.....we must be t bout the half-way stage then!
Husband has had his contract and terms and conditions (medical / dental etc tests done previously). Did you have a pack to explain what needed to be done in which order? Husband is away at sea currently so I am hoping to do some homework prior to his return. He has been given a start date of Jan / Feb in Cairns but that timescale sounds a little unrealistic from what you're saying.
Do you have a right to work over there? If so..is that a process I can be getting on with that will spee my chance of work when I arrive?

Have you kept your house in Exmouth? We shall rent out ours for a while.
Hav eyou found the RAN wives friendly (from your reply I assume you are in quarters?).

I'm Lynne, by the way. Husband is Phil Carroll....hydrographer...don't suppose your husband knows him? The RN is a very small world!!!

bye

Apologies for so many questions!

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

The sub class 20 visa you get allows you to work. It is a permanent resident visa and I currently work full time.

I cant comment on the quarters as living in Sydney is so different to anywhere else. We are in a unit which is a town house 3bed 2 bathroom with a small courtyard. If we lived anywhere else we would have a 3/4 bedroom house with lots of garden etc. Ouor unit is in a block of 12 and they are all occupied by the armed forces. A mixture of Navy and Army. We all socialise at the weekend which is nice.

Kind Regards
Tammy

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hi Josie

We have just arrived in Sydney and there was no MQ available so we had to find our own house. For those who have to find their own house then it's worth doing research on the different areas in Sydney already now. We are army so maybe the navy have lots of MQ :) We are moving into our house in West Pymble tomorrow - can't wait to leave Meritons serviced appartments:D

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

Hi,

All of this information is amazing, so I wondered if there were any wives that happened to know anyone that had done the move backwards? I'm originally from London, and my partner's originally from Melbourne and serving on the Melbourne. Since I originally came here (Sydney) for a holiday, I'm wondering if there's a chance I could ever live back at home again, or if for his job I would need to stay here. At the moment we're just considering options. I'm nowhere near unhappy here, but I do sometimes pine for home.

Shauntelle

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

my husband has just sent off all the paperwork to prove medical fitness. we are looking to be posted in perth. the waiting game isnt good. just wondering if anyone is on the move to perth. and what are the houses like out there. we also have 2 young children and need to know what the schools are like in perth.

Re: Any Navy wives - UK to RAN out there??
 

just opening this thread up again. is there anyone applying for subs and going to perth as need some advice on what it is like cheers