Thanks so much for sharing this with us. Much appreciated!
I didn't realize it would be such a problem, as the Europe (220V) to Canada move went really well for my electronics.

Also, Mac by Apple desktop should work anywhere in the world (you provide the plug), so they (Mac people) say. I went to their store in Oregon state and talked to the "Pro" and he confirmed that the Mac Desktop must work in Australia. I have not checked the voltage on that one but it could be 110-220V one too for all their models. And let me tell you Macs are waaaaay cheaper here in Canada and even cheaper in the States.

Oh, and yes all computers (PC/Mac) and iPods are mush cheaper here in Canada, that's simply the fact. Also, buy a very good unlocked 3G phone since phones are more expensieve too and "slightly outdated" in Oz (they just come there later) - I have noticew that.

Dorothy, how cold it gets in Adelaide or Perth temp. wise? I've been watching Mel. for over 2 years now and still it looks much warmer then even Lower Mainland (well Canary Palms do not simply grow here) or I am thinking wrong???

You scared me about the produce prices, I was aware about the expence but not how much it is more expencive! What about bills: electricity ,heating, etc. is it comparable to Canada.

Thanks a million again ..........................

Thanks for all the answers.....

How about motorcycles..... HAs anyone brought one over from Canada.... They seem to be about 40-50% more expensive in Oz....Maybe worse for Harley's... But I am not sure of the end cost after shipping and other fees.....

Any insight?

Canada is best. Hi, I had to comment. I am from Canada. We live in New Zealand as really, I had always wanted to come, not because it would be better or anything like that. Now that we have been here for almost two years and been to OZ a couple of times, I can safely say, Canada is better without describing the measurement criteria. That is not to say we are not happy. But, I can say that the average Joe is usually better off in North America than anywhere else in my opinion. I have lived and worked in the USA, Britain, Bahamas and now NZ. We live well and would anywhere due to my professional credentials so while we do mind the cost of things, we live happily, however, we would live more comfortably perhaps in many parts of Canada. I think however that if one is not born in Canada it seems to take a long time to get in and something like 250,000 to 300,000 do move there each year. However, I like Rangiora and now that we have moved into the new house, planted some things and had more time pass, it seems that I feel at home and like it. I have found that now that time has passed, I don't miss my parents as much, we talk each week on Skype. I email my sisters, though I don't hear from them as much I try to contact them. I am used to it and I am at home.

However, on my measuring stick, Canada is better than either Australia or NZ for many new migrant people.....

Thank you for an honest reply. You know what: I think and completely agree that Canada is the better place, "but" we all searching for something different, searching for life experiences, not everyone is capable to migrate, you've got to have the special attitude towards life, willing to discover something new and exciting. I whant to migrate for that reason, to discover, to experience, we live only once. I will alwaus have time to come back...if I want and that's the pleasure of it.

I have a very nice people who can answer that: http://www.brytor.ca/index.php

Good luck.

An interesting post from someone who's posting history is as an Indian family living in Melbourne.........................

I happened to read some of these messages and read some other messages by smurtaza. Here is what I found.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=547839 Please see post #5 and post #6. smurtaza has commented on #5 and right below his message (#6) has the exact message that is posted on this thread by smurtaza and over there is it from somebody else (CAN2NZ). He should have given credit to CAN2NZ for copying and pasting his message. On his post, smurtaza says he lives in NZ but his location says Australia. Very interesting.

Smurtaza (an Indian) has been posting on here for some years, since migrating to Aus from India. He has previous posts expressing a wish to migrate from Melbourne to many other places - including Canada....

Just saw this thread.... I'm also (assuming visa application gets processed on time) planning to move down from Toronto to Melbourne in late Jan./Feb. 2009

Prices in Canada have gone up recently like everywhere else over the past year or so... bananas that used to be 39 cents/lb. is now 69 cents/lb., gasoline is currently 131 cents/liter in Toronto.

Dorothy who used to live in Burlington ON.... your new place in Australia, is that city centre or suburbs? For comparison, my place in downtown Toronto (1.5 bedrooms, 700 square ft., underground parking spot) is worth around 300k. What would a comparative place like this, in the same type of location, be down there?

From my own research for electronics, if it uses AC current, leave it, 110-220 converters will eventually burn them out. If the item uses an AC/DC brick, it will be okay, just make sure the brick accepts 220v AC as well as 110v. Even if what you currently have accepts only 110v, bring the item anyways, it won't be too difficult to find a 220v AC/DC brick that outputs the required DC power.

Tahititim, I've seen a couple other references to brytor also being a good moving company. Are you using them? Recommend? They also do small groupage type moves for people with only a few things to bring?

Smurtaza should know about the thousands and thousands of Indian and Chinese professional immigrants here in Canada who believe false promises, get into the country without being properly screened and assessed first by the applicable professional bodies, and then move and find out they can't get any work in their field. I think the Aussie system of having your professional credentials assessed first by the professional bodies before you can even apply for a skilled visa is way more effective and honest for everyone involved.

Very Good post. A couple of points though: if you electrical only uses 110V and you use upconverter get a very expencive one because as I mentioned before (and this comes from electrical co. specialising in this sort of things) they do not do well and burn very fast indeed. To buy a good upconverter is very expencive and defeats the purpose of bringing small appliances.

I completely agree in regards of professional evaluations in Oz; Canada simply does not have a regulating governmental authority or system to put highly skilled migrants back to work in Canada into their occupations- Auztralia does.

Brytor-I have not used them yet, but discussed with them in regards to my move- sounded very professional, big company, only specializing in international moving, gave me good price door-to-door for 20 ft container, they can do small moves (will find you a partner to share a container), but have not really experienced them yet as I said.

Regarding AC/DC bricks (an interesting fact)-for example most (say 95%) of all desktops do not have a brick, but if you plug them in anywhere in the world __ you will be surprised, they will work (PC incl.), because they can either automaticly detect the current and switch to it or there is a little switch at the back for current choice.

Goodness:curse:

:curse::curse::curse:

Actually, in desktop computers, while there's no external "brick", the part of the computer where the power cable attaches to (the power supply) is an AC/DC brick. If you open the desktop case up, you'll typically see a big silver box where it plugs into, and the electrical specs is usually written on it (e.g. Input AC 110-240v, Output DC 12V). If there's no switch as you mention, I would look for the specs to make sure that it actually says 110-240v.... you really don't want a surprise when you first plug it in down there and it burns out the entire machine. (The reason why laptops don't do it internally also is because it would take up way too much physical space.)

Looks like I'm a few months behind you in terms of the move . What is your planned move date? I'll be following your experiences, looks like we have similar circumstances from your prior posts. Did you end up deciding on Melbourne as place to live?