Originally Posted by DebiE

For those who where wondering what it's like to live in NZ and Australia we have lived in both and can tell you life isn't rosy in either!!! Saying that Australia is the best if you have money in the bank.

We went to Auckland, NZ May 2006 and we lived there for 8 months. We found it to be very expensive and not as family friendly as they say. House prices average $400K+ for a wooden shack and in not a very nice area. Within 2 months of us being there houses prices and interest rates went through the roof and by the time we left house prices averaged around $500k+. The weather is dreadful and can rain most days. In the winter it gets frosty and is very cold for about 6 months of the year. What makes it worse is there is no heating...so you can imagine it can get very cold (about -2 degrees or colder) without any heating...it's not fun!! New Zealanders use convector heater or gas heater for heating and they can be very expensive to run. NZ do have poisonous spider, called White Tails. They bite and can cause serious infection which takes a long time to heal...at worse can lead to gangrene and amputation.

We also found food prices expensive and the fruit and veg not to be fresh. They are treated the same as in the UK because they still have to be imported from elsewhere and they go off very quickly (buy one day and they are off the next). For examples of prices, Peppers (capsicums) are $12.00kg, Vine Tomatoes $10kg, dozen eggs $7.50 and a loaf of bread $5.00. Most of the cheaper fruit/veg are imported from Australia anyway. Wages are not very good in relation to the cost of living. We had no other option but to leave and go to Australia instead.

We have lived on the Gold Coast, Australia for 8 months now and we're still finding it hard. We've spent all our money getting here and can no longer afford a house. Wages are better, but house prices in Queensland especially the Gold Coast are very high...and still going up. They are even advising people to sell there houses and rent because there is a mortgage crisis! There's also a shortage of houses to rent. My advise is to look very carefully at where you are planning to go. Make sure there is a job lined up and you have money in the bank.

Although we looked very carefully into coming to Australia as we didn't want to make the same mistake as we did in NZ. Things still haven't worked out for us. After we arrived we noticed rental properties started to go up as well as house prices. When we were looking for rental properties there must have been 30+ people after the same house. In the end we had to settle for a house more expensive than we wanted and also in not as nice condition. We pay $420.00 a week in rent. Which is half my husband's wage I don't work as I'm a full time mum of two with a baby on the way. You really need to be a double income family to suvive...I guess it's the say as the UK

Flights back to the UK can cost $10,000 (2 adults, 2 children). You have to pay for doctors consultations...you do get money back from Medicare, but not all. My daughter (4 years) had to have antibiotics last weeks, which cost$23...you cannot claim this back. You have to pay for children's school books. Kindy fees can be expensive although not as expensive as NZ. We pay $124 for a 3 day week at my daughters kindy...you do get family credit if a PR.

We do not have PR as there is complications. My husband needs to have an electrical license in order to start the process of immigration (this is due to his line of work). 8 months on and that's still not sorted. The examination board in which can give the go ahead for the license are taking their time. The Aussie's laid back life and no rush to do anything has cost us a lot. We had hope to have PR by now. It could be another 6 -12 months or longer before we get it. It's all turned into a nightmare...

We're now planning to return to the UK and cutting our looses and moving in with my parents to start saving to buy another in the UK. It means starting all over again and for what? :curse:

Hope your life works out better than ours...just make sure you have money in the bank and PR. You can get a home buyer grant of $7,000 each when you buy your first home in Oz. Just don't move to the Gold Coast, 600 people every week are doing just that and it's caused no end of trouble.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, we still haven't seen a snake and only one Redback...which was soon eradicated with a size 11 shoe. We do see Huntsmans but they're OK, if left alone...Huntsmans eat Redbacks so they're quite useful to have around.

Originally Posted by Ozzy Fever

All of a sudden life in the UK does not seem that bad. I keep looking around me and wondering if we are doing the right thing, today my job seems great, Weymouth beach looks wonderful and i have got great friends within walking distance, not to mention family.

Anyone else feel like this?

It maybe that we are moving out of our house in 2 weeks and i have been packing tonight, the stuff is going into storage until we leave, so maybe the thought of not seeing my treasured items until we got to Austraila has got to me.

Sorry for being depressing.

Nicky

Originally Posted by Sammy T

Some very interesting and good comments there, made me worry all the more but that's not your problem, its mine as I'm having major doubts at the moment, which is probably why I'm thinking about NZ as well as Oz. We ant to leave the UK but now I'm wondering exactly where we should go - I guess the same probs occur everywhere you live.
Sorry to hear it hasn't worked out for you in Oz, we will not be heading to Gold Coast but probably to Tas or SA, where house prices are also on the rise too, unfortunately.
Your experience with work is one of the things that worries me, everyone on a skilled visa has to pass a TRA/Skills Assessment and believes they will then be able to get a job, only to find the individual states then move the goal post, does seem to be a common problem on here.
Ah, well, OH hasn't passed skills assessment yet, so we have a long way to go still.
Good luck to you.
Sammy

Originally Posted by Domain Road

local yobs (there are lots of juvenile delinquent gangs round here as I am told is a problem throughout the UK). One golden lab was actually shot through the head with an air rifle at close range therefore they must have physically taken the terrified but obviously trusting dog and executed it. All the news stories (yes I realise the news is propoganda at best) seem to back up the fact that the UK is going down the dunny so we want out before it gets more expensive and dangerous to survive here and less safe to sit out in your own back garden.

Also, someone tried to break into our house one night at around 3am. We called 999 but the police couldn't find our house as it is a new build estate and eventually I had to lean out of the window and shout at the guy to "get lost" or words to that effect - which I was surprised even worked cos the guy ran off. The police never even turned up, they just asked for a description of the guy (it was 3am and pitch black in winter) AND there had been a burglary in the adjoining house just weeks before when our neighbour was asleep in her bed!!!! I don't know if Oz is any better to be honest, but I am sick of living in this place and I can't afford to move anywhere nicer. Heck, I don't even know if I can afford to move somewhere worse the way house prices are rising!!!

Originally Posted by somme

We are still in the UK and I do not want to teach someone to suck eggs but have ou looked at the perrs course in Adalaide to get your OH an A class electrical licence.

Originally Posted by DebiE

Thanks for the reply Daryl.

I think it all depends what State you're in. Queensland has very different (and odd) rules compared to Adelaide. But, will get OH to look into it anyway.

He has already sat a number of exams and may need to sit a few more. The only trouble is the man with 'the power' is a hard man to get hold of. We cannot sort it out until he gives the go ahead. OH had all the qualifications he needed in the UK, but things are more complicated and stricter over here (you even need a license to plug something into a socket...bizarre). Because OH's job is on the skills shortage list, it all has to be done the way immigration what's it to be done. We are here on a four year business sponsorship at the moment. OH's company keeps pushing to get things done but nothing seems to be happening.

All the best. Thanks again

Debi

Originally Posted by DebiE

Sorry to say this, but things like that go on over here too!! Maybe even more so because their doesn't seem to be so many police around.

There is also a lot of very, very young car hoons who seem to have something to prove. They drive at high speed, reving their 4 litre engines and burning rubber! If it has rained then they come out of the woodwork even more (i guess it's more 'fun' when it's wet) ...3am and you get woken up by these mineless youths...Ahh, it drives me nuts!
Car death is the number one killer in young teenagers and I can see why!