Sheilaxxx

hi all,

good luck in the big move. it will be well worth it in the end. our packers harrows and green(company organised it) came in and had all my worldly goods swiped up and in a container before i knew it. if i stood still long enough i recon i would have been in it myself....

we are in sydney now since october and loving every minute. it is a dream, some sad days(one or two) missing friends and family but wouldnt change things for the world.

irishfamily

Hey silverski i`ve sent u my mobile in pm ,Hope there is`nt yo many tears by the time i got on the plane u would have thought someone had beatin me up my eyes were that swolleen lol.Tell ur OH to have the hankies at the ready anything like me and she will need a few boxes lol

Melbourne

Hi Guys

Well, we're here three days already and can't believe it !!

We arrived at 20.10 on Saturday evening after a pretty good journey - we flew on an A380 from London to Singapore and it was really great - highly recommended. Unfortunately we had to change to a 747 for the rest of the journey - however, the Singapore crew are so lovely it wasn't too bad really.

Sunday we chilled with family - which was really great.

Yesterday we did the 100 points test on our bank a/c, picked up rental listings and looked into getting new mobile phones.

Today we went in search of a car - didn't purchase but have decided on make/model - off to another dealer tomorrow to see if we can get a better deal.

Our DD started school today - all went very smoothly - teacher is really lovely and very reassuring. We have come from quite a small school - so to have 30 in her class is a bit of a change - but one we'll have to get used to.

There are 700 pupils in her primary school !!

Applied online last night for our TFN - should be out to us in less than 28 days. Not a complicated procedure at all.

Apparantly the mobile providers to use are either Vodafone, Telstra or Optus and the car insurance companies are GIO, RACV or AAMI.

Weather is great - 28 degrees today - cloudy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon.

Will update you all as the days progress.

Glad to see you're underway Silverski - trust that you got everything sorted out.

Lisa

Irish Gal

Welcome, my dear friend. Who'd have thought we finally would make it here after all this time! I'll send you an email with my phone number etc x

knockoff nige

Good stuff Lisa. You look like you've had a good first few days. I did as well back in October. Started my new job yesterday and so, after 4 months of partying, its hard to readjust to work life. But, enjoying it. The company are pretty fantastic. Have views of the harbour from my building. fox sports on in the canteen. Right beside the bus stop which takes me 10 minutes to get home. And, organising a car lease through work which saves me a fortune on pre tax dollars. Its a huge weight lifted off me as I went through a bit of a panic when i couldnt find work. Its a bit embarassing now as a mate over here still cant find work where the rest of us have pretty much all have jobs now.

Best of luck with everything.

Zambia

Welcome to the other side of cold

At first go with VODAFONE and buy a sim ($2) and a $49 dollar cap then register its yours it up with Vodafone (its a legal thing)

this give you 320 $ credit a month handy for all the calls home

RACV are the the ones to go for

Rentals are like gold dont be too fussy , but check it has an TV aerial, no aerial, no reception, no tv

Cars I would go Toyota any make will do, if it looks a bit big and scary buy it then convert it to Gas (will cost about 2250) but the goverment gives you about 2000 back for doing it ask in centrelink or medicare

As for the weather if you arrived last week you would have felt it big time

enjoy Melbourne

fairwayskid

Hey All

We are going to validate in april dont have any choice but to validate. We are going for three weeks doing a week in the sunshine coast , a week in Brisbane and a week on the gold coast to see which we like the best.
Then hope to move over for good later in the year

Hope all goes well for everybody here and dont suppose anyone else going in April.

Paddy

Bernieboy

Give us a shout when you are in Brisbane Paddy and we can have a cold one

fairwayskid

Will do Bernie. pm me your number and will look you up when we get over and i hope you have more than just one cold one

Paddy

silverski

Hi all,

Does anyone have any info on the 100 points test for the banks..


many thanks

Silverski

Zambia

Your passport should be fine , bring a old Irish bank card or Driving licence to be safe

Melbourne

Hi Silverski

Zambia's right - went into Westpac on Monday to validate and only had to produce my passport as I had arrived only two days before. Just to be sure tho' I'd agree with Z - bring something else to be on the safe side (and save yourself a second trip).

We applied for debit cards and were told that we should have them tomorrow or Monday.

Apply for your TFN as soon as you get here - relevant for your bank a/c (otherwise they want to deduct tax) - according to the website this can take up to 28 days to come through - anyone else any recent experience re. this ?

25 degrees at 9am when I dropped our DD to school this morning - hot, hot, hot !!!

Neal_and_Tanya

When we arrived in Melbourne at the end of September it took my girlfriend's TFN less than 3 weeks to arrive

Leedelta

Took mine about 2 weeks to get, so 2-3 weeks would be normal

silverski

Hi All,
we arrived in Perth Yesterday. Just getting the kids use to the new time zone. and settled after the long flight.
We will try and join one of the weekly meets soon, perhaps in Hillary as it is not too far to walk from where we are staying.
We keep all post on how we are getting on.

Regards
Silverski