Nat12

and then come over to Australia with nothing??
Just curious as to who else is as mad as us lol.
We are literally taking a suitcase each (hubby, son and me) his car seat and buggy and thats it.
We are gradually selling things bit by bit here as we are going end of Oct, I think my son is getting a bit confused as to where all our stuff is going...
Our dog also went yesterday too which I am devastated about but there was just no way we could afford to take him it would have been £2000 plus vet vees, quarantine etc.
I was just wondering if anyone was doing the same as us??
We also have family to stay with when we get over there luckily as they are already residents.

hitchcock71

your son's car seat is not legal in au sorry

friends of mine came over with nothing - and doing well now

is there no one who can look after a little of your stuff and then send it over later - i know i would miss some of my things if i had not brought them with me - things that i can not replace for example my boats that i brought on holiday in hong kong 8 yrs ago - my grand fathers mantle clock my childrens hand prints as babies


i do understand what its like to leave behind a pet we left hitchcock our cat as we thought it would be too stressfull bringing her over - she got stressed and lost control of her bladder and bowels just going to the vets 5 mins down the rd

tiff aka hitchcock

Nat12

Really??? The car seat will not be any good over there??? I didnt know that.
We are taking photos, some toys, teddys etc and a few medals/trophy type things and cards from when son was born and we got married but thats about it. (Apart from our clothes lol)
I did think about shipping things over once we were settled but then I thought it would be nice to have new stuff too.
Sorry to hear about your cat its difficult isnt it.

philnorris

Yup we have got rid of EVERYTHING, the only things we are taking is personal possesions, clothes, the TV (shipped over cos I love it) and our laptops.

We have either skipped or sold everything else, the way I see it is we can buy all new stuff out there and start from scratch. There is an Ikea, plenty furniture places and I thought the prices where resonable.

I really cant wait

calNgary

Hi we arrive in brisbane with only clothes had small shipment of photos, wedding dress,kids favorite toys ect. As our move was a couple of years in the planing we had old white goods so sold everything on ebay. Then bought most thing from ebay in oz.

Downies

Sold everything apart from a few treasured memories - these we just packed into sevenseas worldwide boxes and shipped over - did three in the end.
Dont regret selling up - sold the flat with everything in it including teatowels and cupboard spices.
In our three boxes we put in some of OH's very technical tools, trophies, photoalbums, my collection of norwegian trolls, gifts we received at our leaving party, some boardgames we like, xbox with games, good quality duckdown duvet we had, his family kilt and the like.
The only thing we wish we hadnt sold are some of OH's quality hand tools - would have been a lot easier just to clean them and get a fourth box and ship.
the xbox is for when our friends children come over during bbq get togethers (older ones that is) - we never use it.
The furniture is so nicely priced here and so much better suited for the australian open plan houses. Wood furniture is way more cheap here, electricals are a bargain so why not get what you want from scratch.
The sofas here that we noticed dont have the hessian bottoms which I think is a good thing considering the climate and little visitors you can get from time to time.
We did a month in Thailand on route so we only had a suitcase each and one item of handluggage each.
If you can - sell up. If you have quality towels, bedding, sentimental knickknacks, good handtools - just get a couple of boxes filled up and shipped over - it might be worth it.
Incidently - it doesnt take long for the cupboards to start filling up again with stuff you had no idea you could live without.
Paula

hitchcock71

the word "heartbreaking" comes to mind

i missed her so much that we got a rescue cat/kitten a few months ago - at least with hitch i know she went to a really good home and is spolit to death as she went to mr h ex uk boss - whos own cat died that week and whos daughters were upset - when we got there with hitch they were so happy -

i gave them a list of things hitch like to eat - one was on christmas day and her birthday ( I had her from birth as i also owned her mom) she was given a nice piece of salmon and they got it for her too !


there has been many threads on the subject of car seats in au - the uk ones are better but they are different in design than uk ones the hook on to the back of the car with hook thing ( sorry i am having a brain meltdown to day ) and then is also attached with seat belt

Nat12

The way Im looking at it is that it will be nice to have all new furniture etc when we eventually get our own place *excited*
Our stuff is not really worth that much as its a few years old now anyway so out with the old and in with the new lol.
Will DVDs work over in Australia?? just asking as was going to take some of my sons favourites and also his portable DVD player...
Will have a search about car seats I may well sell it then buy new when we get out there as there is no point taking it if it isnt legal
Our house is starting to look very bare indeed!
Never thought about leaving pressies as we are having a party in 2 weeks (hopefully we dont get any) not meaning that in a horrible way!
Its interesting to hear everyones stories.
Our dog has been rehomed to a couple through 'Bullies in need' (hes an English Bull Terrier) have been checking my emails all morning for an 'update' but I need to remember its not my dog anymore, which is bloody hard as we had him for over five years.

dpande

DVDs are really hit and miss- we brought a few of our daughter's with us in our suitcase- Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc work fine on the Australian DVD player we bought, The Incredibles doesn't work at all and it just says 'wrong region'. They all work on PC's/ laptops though!
Join the local library and borrow DVDs from them for free- we have just watched the Fimbles!

slipshot

Easiest way is to ensure you buy a region free DVD player in Australia, or search the net and see if you can easily make it region free, through programming with the remote. Then all DVD's will work.

It is pretty easy to buy a region free DVD player in Australia from a shop so this solves all problems...

slipshot

One thing to add is that ISOFIX is relatively new to the UK, and thus those cars seats with ISOFIX fittings are still NOT approved under ADR (Aus Design Rules) but are in many cases identical to the same seat sold in Aus.

Given many seats in the UK are just attached using the seat belt, this is not acceptable in Aus as seats like this also require a top tether to provide additional support.

That said, while I again say that seats made in the UK are NOT approved for use in Aus, many cars in Aus come with ISOFIX as standard (Audi, Subaru for example) and thus your car seat would be as safe as it was in the UK, top tether or no top tether. Many ISOFIX seats in the UK have the option of purchasing a top tether if the owner requires it, incidentally.

I'm an ISOFIX fan, and all our three seats (ages 4, 2 and 3 months) are ISOFIX, although our car, like most, only has 2 ISOFIX points. The Ford Focus (as an exmaple), in Australia, does not state whether it comes with an ISOFIX as standard (and this means it probably does not), but you can, in the UK at least, buy the bracket for £15 and fit it yourself, by bolting it directly to the chassis. My Focus ST does not come with ISOFIX as standard unless you factory order it, but you can fit it yourself afterwards.

Although safety is paramount, it is a bit like saying your UK made hairdryer, or heater probably does not meet ADR and thus 'should not' be used. But you still would use it as you know it is safe. Same with a car seat.

Australia is apparently going through the process of approving ISOFIX (not forgetting that ISO is International Standards...) thus the idea is to have a global standard. So to my mind a UK seat in a Aus spec car using ISOFIX is way better than a seat using a seat belt, which actually gives more movement.

It may not be safe but as you are not supposed to sell on car seats in the UK, I have every intention of taking all three seats with me, using them in Aus and replacing them when appropriate.

However, it's all down to what you feel comfortable with.

Andy

mi5agent

3.5 years ago our daughter and her partner went over with suitacases, no jobs, no place to live and £5000 we loaned them cos their house buyer thought he could shyster them and lower the house price. They did a month driving from Adelaide to Cairns & back down to Sydney.
Picked up good jobs and a nice apartment in Cremorne. 10 months ago moved to a house they have bought - both are doing rellly well.

Prior to leaving they gave everything they had to family and friends!

As for the house, we had Power of Attourney, wrote to him via estate agent, explaining the new legal situation he was dealing with and gave him 7 days to complete or we put the house back on the market. He signed and completed in 3 days!

So it can work out.

Laura and Tom

Hi
We plan on taking three boxes and the bikes and golf clubs.
I have got rid of loads already and we dont go until March!! The house feels a lot better and I'm having to tidy less so it must be a good thing.
I'm planning on joining freecycle and going to carboots when we get over there for the basics and Ikea, of course!!
Hope it goes well for you

Laura XX

Funky Monkey

Hi all.

We have been here nearly 5 weeks so I will tell you how I feel.

We left our house in the U.K and dad rents that from us so we left all the furniture. We bought all the kids toys and personal bits and computer / laptop e.t.c.
Our sofas e.t.c were old as the kids were young and we had a smallish house so left things there.
The biggest thing I would say is it depends how much money you are bringing with you and if you have a job to go to. We do not regret leaving the furniture but you spend a lot of money on "crap" that you take for granted: coathangers, kitchen bits, lunchboxes e.t.c you name it you will be suprised. You pay for schoolbooks here and materials and your driving licence, there is not much you do not pay for. For the cost of shipping basics via seven seas we would have filled the odd tea chest with what you think is useless stuff, it will cost way more than the £50 per box shipping charge to replace it, thanks James.

erica33

yeh. me and hubby doing the same
We are going with nothing and just hoping fot the best
We are going to send a couple of boxes after we leave, well the inlaws will!
cant wait. we are going to tassie and we passed out TRA today
VERY EXCITED