The eagle has landed....at long bloody last
Jul 27th 2004, 1:07 pm
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
The eagle has landed....at long bloody last
First of all apologies for my not getting in touch earlier my friends.
As you can imagine.......there has been lots to do and we're still not finished yet....however........for all you guys wondering wot it's like in Oz....then I can give you my personal view after 2 & half weeks. This is only MY perception .....my personal view..... and it may differ from others views ....but here goes;
Firstly as a reminder of why Oz was so daunting for us:
a) Mum unable to come with us as she had to have a last minute operation to have her Lymph nodes removed....
b) Eldest son decided 2 weeks before that he wasn't going to come.....
c) Dog dislocated hip on first day packers arrived......
d) We had to book a last minute flight [due to mums illness hence we were unable to secure a stopover in Singapore i.e straight through from Manchester to Brisbane and I HATE flying.....
We finally landed in Brisbane knackered and bruised and worried for all the above reasons.No rose coloured specs on for us.....nothing to be "excited" about......but we decided we'd come this far and we weren't going to give up easily, besides mum pleaded with us to make a go of it........dad wanted us to do it cos he wished he had done it years before.....
So we set off with heavy hearts ....... determined to "give it a go"......
Firstly we travelled via Singapore Airlines who were fantastic. I really hate flying yet the time went by really quickly. I noticed Singapore feed you then turned off the lights and closed the curtains so it felt like nightime hence we didn't notice the shift in timezones. I also felt this helped as we didn't suffer from jet lag thank god....
We stopped off at Singapore for about 5 hrs. Managed to get a shower and change of clothes /freshen up in the Airport itself [they have shops /gym/showers/bars/cafes/restuarants etc]....and then we boarded for the next leg to Brisbane.
We landed about 7/8hrs later in Brisbane. Note; we had 6 suitcases between us [me, hubby and son] and couldn't get all these in a taxi so ordered a taxi bus via airport security chap who was based in the entrance.
Incidentally Singapore airlines allowed us 40kg each and one piece of hand luggage each when producing our visa's in passports and one way tickets.
We then went on to our motel. We opted for the cheapest as we had to condition ourselves that this was NOT a holiday, so our normal "best hotel" mentality was out of the question. With no jobs, we needed to economise. So we booked the Hacienda Motel on Kingsford Smith Drive, about 10 mins from the airport and central Brisbane. Its VERY basic, but clean and inexpensive and the fleas only bite once
[only kidding......it's VERY basic, inexpensive, clean and practical]....oh.....and VERY basic....[lol]
We thought we'd only need the motel for a couple of days and then we'd rent somewhere for 6 months till we buy our own.
Wrong /naive assumption on my part.Firstly, rental out here works like this;You find a house you'd like to rent. You then ask the Real estate when they have a viewing, you then view house [amongst other potential candidates]and you then put in an application if you'd like to be considered.
Real estate agent takes down all your particulars [ooo err missus], takes photo copies of passports, birth certificates, took photo copy of our house in UK we'd recently sold, took photo copies of Building society statements showing mortgage payments, photo copy of money in Oz bank, money in UK bank, Queensland governemnt bond, job refrences showing good character etc. Basically everything to do with our character and payment capabilities.
Out of those candidates who wanted to rent that particular property, we then luckily got accepted [we needed some good luck after all the previous bad luck in the UK!!!]
The previous tennants were due to move out a week later. So we stayed in the Hacienda for a total of 10 days [uuumm.....I well underestimated my 2 days there then....doh!]
During the ten days we had to sort other things out though so this gave us the opportunity to do these things e.g:
1) Sign on at Centre link. Although you can't claim dole...you can claim some rental back for any accomodation[not sure how much but will let you know when I get it]. We also put in for the equivelent family allowance. To do this you need a Tax file number.
2) Tax file number is aquired via internet. No connection at Motel so had to do this via internet cafe in Brisbane.
3) Car; We looked around and found a good 5 year old second hand car for about $11,000 AUD on the road, 3 months warranty, 64km on clock. Note: Second hand cars here seem to be more expensive than in the UK however they keep their value as the bodywork seems better [perhaps due to little rain?].
4)School: We managed to enrole son into a good local school close to where we have rented. The schools look really well kept, grounds MASSIVE with plenty of sport on the curriculum [inc golf!]Note: Although son was in top class in UK school, he has been placed a year below here in Oz as he had missed part of a term....so expect the schools to argue this point...
5) Internet/telephone/Tv connection: We were recommended to use Optus as this seemed the cheapest overall package deal. W e were connected within 2 working days.
6) We then moved into house and managed to borrow some items from someone on the Expats site [thank you
].....and as we bought brand new stuff to ship from Uk....we decided to buy a few new pans, kitchen stuff etc....but mainly second hand furniture to put us on till UK stuff arrives [I kept telling myself there's no difference with second hand than using motel /hotel stuff....and this seemed to pacify my irrational logic re not wanting to buy second hand gear ]
And then we went shopping for food....and bits and bobs......
I'd formed an opinion from reading this site, that there would be no choice, little choice, expensive, cheap, rubbish, nasty, tacky, stuff over here...........and although this does exsist [as it does in the UK].....I was indeed pleasantly surprised.There IS a lot of choice....from the above....to the good stuff and its as inexpensive or as expensive as you'd like it to be...
There is choice....and personally, if it aint here, I fink it don't exsist
Ok...........maybe one thing is crap here.......trolly parks in grocery carparks virtually don't exist .....Everyone dumps their trolly so that it bashes into your newly aquired second hand jallopy [which you treasure cos you're now unemployed and piss pot poor!!]
But apart from that.......and a few issues too minor to even mention....we LOVE the place!
Yes....I've no doubt as time goes by we will miss people back in the UK. In fact we already do. I miss my family more than I can explain on here
especially after all the trauma my mum and dad have been through.
We miss our son.....lots........
We miss my brothers and my sister.....
We miss our special friends.....
However ........the UK is only 24hrs away. And if we're REALLY lucky .......then they will come and visit us for a while.
We realise it's not everyone's cup of tea and "one man's meat, is another mans poison" as they say....but for us....so far....it's been fantastic.
Exept [there's always one of these].......I found a bloody great big cockroach last night. I'm sure it had clogs on:scared: I tried to kill it with normal insect killing spray but the buggar wouldn't die....so......I sprayed it with hairspray!!!!
One dead cockroach with a fantastic bouffont
OK that's it from me. We are now looking for jobs [they tend to do that here via internet application or in Saturday paper but when you ring to enquire you find it's a recruitment agency].
For those of you waiting to hear from DIMIA, I wish you all the luck and very best and hope your application is successful and speedy.
For my Expat friends already in Oz....continue being happy.....
For those in Oz who are unhappy [it's not everyon'e cup O tea]......then I hope you find happiness.....
As for me and my family......and for now...........we really feel we've found gods country and can't beleive how lucky we are. How long this feling lasts.....we don't care. It may last forever, it may not, but for now we beleive we've made the right decision and fingers crossed, we are right
Take care, as always
As you can imagine.......there has been lots to do and we're still not finished yet....however........for all you guys wondering wot it's like in Oz....then I can give you my personal view after 2 & half weeks. This is only MY perception .....my personal view..... and it may differ from others views ....but here goes;
Firstly as a reminder of why Oz was so daunting for us:
a) Mum unable to come with us as she had to have a last minute operation to have her Lymph nodes removed....
b) Eldest son decided 2 weeks before that he wasn't going to come.....
c) Dog dislocated hip on first day packers arrived......
d) We had to book a last minute flight [due to mums illness hence we were unable to secure a stopover in Singapore i.e straight through from Manchester to Brisbane and I HATE flying.....
We finally landed in Brisbane knackered and bruised and worried for all the above reasons.No rose coloured specs on for us.....nothing to be "excited" about......but we decided we'd come this far and we weren't going to give up easily, besides mum pleaded with us to make a go of it........dad wanted us to do it cos he wished he had done it years before.....
So we set off with heavy hearts ....... determined to "give it a go"......
Firstly we travelled via Singapore Airlines who were fantastic. I really hate flying yet the time went by really quickly. I noticed Singapore feed you then turned off the lights and closed the curtains so it felt like nightime hence we didn't notice the shift in timezones. I also felt this helped as we didn't suffer from jet lag thank god....
We stopped off at Singapore for about 5 hrs. Managed to get a shower and change of clothes /freshen up in the Airport itself [they have shops /gym/showers/bars/cafes/restuarants etc]....and then we boarded for the next leg to Brisbane.
We landed about 7/8hrs later in Brisbane. Note; we had 6 suitcases between us [me, hubby and son] and couldn't get all these in a taxi so ordered a taxi bus via airport security chap who was based in the entrance.
Incidentally Singapore airlines allowed us 40kg each and one piece of hand luggage each when producing our visa's in passports and one way tickets.
We then went on to our motel. We opted for the cheapest as we had to condition ourselves that this was NOT a holiday, so our normal "best hotel" mentality was out of the question. With no jobs, we needed to economise. So we booked the Hacienda Motel on Kingsford Smith Drive, about 10 mins from the airport and central Brisbane. Its VERY basic, but clean and inexpensive and the fleas only bite once
[only kidding......it's VERY basic, inexpensive, clean and practical]....oh.....and VERY basic....[lol]We thought we'd only need the motel for a couple of days and then we'd rent somewhere for 6 months till we buy our own.
Wrong /naive assumption on my part.Firstly, rental out here works like this;You find a house you'd like to rent. You then ask the Real estate when they have a viewing, you then view house [amongst other potential candidates]and you then put in an application if you'd like to be considered.
Real estate agent takes down all your particulars [ooo err missus], takes photo copies of passports, birth certificates, took photo copy of our house in UK we'd recently sold, took photo copies of Building society statements showing mortgage payments, photo copy of money in Oz bank, money in UK bank, Queensland governemnt bond, job refrences showing good character etc. Basically everything to do with our character and payment capabilities.
Out of those candidates who wanted to rent that particular property, we then luckily got accepted [we needed some good luck after all the previous bad luck in the UK!!!]
The previous tennants were due to move out a week later. So we stayed in the Hacienda for a total of 10 days [uuumm.....I well underestimated my 2 days there then....doh!]
During the ten days we had to sort other things out though so this gave us the opportunity to do these things e.g:
1) Sign on at Centre link. Although you can't claim dole...you can claim some rental back for any accomodation[not sure how much but will let you know when I get it]. We also put in for the equivelent family allowance. To do this you need a Tax file number.
2) Tax file number is aquired via internet. No connection at Motel so had to do this via internet cafe in Brisbane.
3) Car; We looked around and found a good 5 year old second hand car for about $11,000 AUD on the road, 3 months warranty, 64km on clock. Note: Second hand cars here seem to be more expensive than in the UK however they keep their value as the bodywork seems better [perhaps due to little rain?].
4)School: We managed to enrole son into a good local school close to where we have rented. The schools look really well kept, grounds MASSIVE with plenty of sport on the curriculum [inc golf!]Note: Although son was in top class in UK school, he has been placed a year below here in Oz as he had missed part of a term....so expect the schools to argue this point...
5) Internet/telephone/Tv connection: We were recommended to use Optus as this seemed the cheapest overall package deal. W e were connected within 2 working days.
6) We then moved into house and managed to borrow some items from someone on the Expats site [thank you
].....and as we bought brand new stuff to ship from Uk....we decided to buy a few new pans, kitchen stuff etc....but mainly second hand furniture to put us on till UK stuff arrives [I kept telling myself there's no difference with second hand than using motel /hotel stuff....and this seemed to pacify my irrational logic re not wanting to buy second hand gear ]And then we went shopping for food....and bits and bobs......
I'd formed an opinion from reading this site, that there would be no choice, little choice, expensive, cheap, rubbish, nasty, tacky, stuff over here...........and although this does exsist [as it does in the UK].....I was indeed pleasantly surprised.There IS a lot of choice....from the above....to the good stuff and its as inexpensive or as expensive as you'd like it to be...
There is choice....and personally, if it aint here, I fink it don't exsist
Ok...........maybe one thing is crap here.......trolly parks in grocery carparks virtually don't exist .....Everyone dumps their trolly so that it bashes into your newly aquired second hand jallopy [which you treasure cos you're now unemployed and piss pot poor!!]
But apart from that.......and a few issues too minor to even mention....we LOVE the place!
Yes....I've no doubt as time goes by we will miss people back in the UK. In fact we already do. I miss my family more than I can explain on here
especially after all the trauma my mum and dad have been through.We miss our son.....lots........
We miss my brothers and my sister.....
We miss our special friends.....
However ........the UK is only 24hrs away. And if we're REALLY lucky .......then they will come and visit us for a while.
We realise it's not everyone's cup of tea and "one man's meat, is another mans poison" as they say....but for us....so far....it's been fantastic.
Exept [there's always one of these].......I found a bloody great big cockroach last night. I'm sure it had clogs on:scared: I tried to kill it with normal insect killing spray but the buggar wouldn't die....so......I sprayed it with hairspray!!!!
One dead cockroach with a fantastic bouffont
OK that's it from me. We are now looking for jobs [they tend to do that here via internet application or in Saturday paper but when you ring to enquire you find it's a recruitment agency].
For those of you waiting to hear from DIMIA, I wish you all the luck and very best and hope your application is successful and speedy.
For my Expat friends already in Oz....continue being happy.....
For those in Oz who are unhappy [it's not everyon'e cup O tea]......then I hope you find happiness.....
As for me and my family......and for now...........we really feel we've found gods country and can't beleive how lucky we are. How long this feling lasts.....we don't care. It may last forever, it may not, but for now we beleive we've made the right decision and fingers crossed, we are right
Take care, as always
Last edited by Phoenixuk2oz; Jul 27th 2004 at 1:15 pm.
Jul 27th 2004, 1:22 pm
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 261
Good God girl, you deserve all the luck in the world after all the trauma you've left behind.
A lovely open,honest post keep it coming.
Have a wonderful, wonderful new life.All the very best-sending you lots of luck and happiness
A lovely open,honest post keep it coming.
Have a wonderful, wonderful new life.All the very best-sending you lots of luck and happiness
Jul 27th 2004, 1:25 pm
#3
The Godfather
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: South East Suburbs of Melbourne
Posts: 7,336
Great Post Puk2, I hope everything works out & all being well it won't be to long before mum & dad book a little holiday in Aus.
Jul 27th 2004, 1:26 pm
#4
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,666
I'm really pleased things are looking up for you.
I didnt get a chance to say thanx for the PMs you sent me a while back, but i do appreciate it.
Hope it gets better and better for you.
I didnt get a chance to say thanx for the PMs you sent me a while back, but i do appreciate it.
Hope it gets better and better for you.
Jul 27th 2004, 1:29 pm
#5
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,606
What a FANTASTIC post!!! Im glad you are there safe and sound and hope to read more posts in the future where you will go from strength to strength!
Lucy
xx
Lucy
xx
Jul 27th 2004, 1:31 pm
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2004
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 253
Good post and good luck.
You have had a hard time clearly and are well motivated and will enjoy it here.
I had an easier ride here but have found it harder in many ways.
I am still a new member but maybe I will come on here soon and tell "rab's story" when I get the time!
Again good luck.
You have had a hard time clearly and are well motivated and will enjoy it here.
I had an easier ride here but have found it harder in many ways.
I am still a new member but maybe I will come on here soon and tell "rab's story" when I get the time!
Again good luck.
Jul 27th 2004, 1:32 pm
#7
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Adelaide South Australia
Posts: 527
wow what alot you have had to go through im sure your mum will be ok and as soon as she is better she will come over and visit. as for your son it must be hard to leave him behind but in time he might change his mind.
i had to laff at the cockroach having a bauffont though they are bugger to kill hubby tried to kill one in turkey once he was jumping around the room on it but it still kept walking :scared:
its nice to hear that everything is going ok for you take care
Debs xxx
i had to laff at the cockroach having a bauffont though they are bugger to kill hubby tried to kill one in turkey once he was jumping around the room on it but it still kept walking :scared:
its nice to hear that everything is going ok for you take care
Debs xxx
Jul 27th 2004, 1:36 pm
#8
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,814
HIya,
Really glad to hear you've made it and its good!!! Been wondering how you were doing.
Cockroaches wear hobnail boots round here - nasty invention, you can get some stuff called "Surface spray" which does for them nicely, but I'm tempted to try the hair spray thing
Hope things keep going well - are you joining us on our Girls Night Out? 20th August, Be there or be sober!
Hope to meet up with you soon,
Polly
Really glad to hear you've made it and its good!!!
Been wondering how you were doing. Cockroaches wear hobnail boots round here - nasty invention, you can get some stuff called "Surface spray" which does for them nicely, but I'm tempted to try the hair spray thing
Hope things keep going well - are you joining us on our Girls Night Out? 20th August, Be there or be sober!
Hope to meet up with you soon,
Polly
Jul 27th 2004, 1:42 pm
#9
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: Sussex
Posts: 1,927
Fantastic to hear from you. Fab post by the way will read it again later when i am not trawling through internet hotel sites and shouting at hubbie.
footie xx
footie xx
Jul 27th 2004, 1:56 pm
#10
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,814
Footie,
Tell him to take his HRT and shut up!!! Thanks for doing my shopping, yoi sweetie! See you sooooooon
Tell him to take his HRT and shut up!!!
Thanks for doing my shopping, yoi sweetie! See you sooooooon
Jul 27th 2004, 2:19 pm
#11
You sip .... I glug !!!
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Over the hill!
Posts: 2,790
Welcome to OZ !!!
Hope you continue to enjoy it.
Hope you continue to enjoy it.
Jul 27th 2004, 2:19 pm
#12
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: Sussex
Posts: 1,927
No probs with the shopping !! Man all quiet now as have just booked hotel in Sydney and his wallet hurts !!!
footie xx
footie xx
Jul 27th 2004, 2:23 pm
#13
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2003
Location: GC
Posts: 3,353
Re: The eagle has landed....at long bloody last
Originally posted by Phoenixuk2oz
First of all apologies for my not getting in touch earlier my friends.
As you can imagine.......there has been lots to do and we're still not finished yet....however........for all you guys wondering wot it's like in Oz....then I can give you my personal view after 2 & half weeks. This is only MY perception .....my personal view..... and it may differ from others views ....but here goes;
Firstly as a reminder of why Oz was so daunting for us:
a) Mum unable to come with us as she had to have a last minute operation to have her Lymph nodes removed....
b) Eldest son decided 2 weeks before that he wasn't going to come.....
c) Dog dislocated hip on first day packers arrived......
d) We had to book a last minute flight [due to mums illness hence we were unable to secure a stopover in Singapore i.e straight through from Manchester to Brisbane and I HATE flying.....
We finally landed in Brisbane knackered and bruised and worried for all the above reasons.No rose coloured specs on for us.....nothing to be "excited" about......but we decided we'd come this far and we weren't going to give up easily, besides mum pleaded with us to make a go of it........dad wanted us to do it cos he wished he had done it years before.....
So we set off with heavy hearts ....... determined to "give it a go"......
Firstly we travelled via Singapore Airlines who were fantastic. I really hate flying yet the time went by really quickly. I noticed Singapore feed you then turned off the lights and closed the curtains so it felt like nightime hence we didn't notice the shift in timezones. I also felt this helped as we didn't suffer from jet lag thank god....
We stopped off at Singapore for about 5 hrs. Managed to get a shower and change of clothes /freshen up in the Airport itself [they have shops /gym/showers/bars/cafes/restuarants etc]....and then we boarded for the next leg to Brisbane.
We landed about 7/8hrs later in Brisbane. Note; we had 6 suitcases between us [me, hubby and son] and couldn't get all these in a taxi so ordered a taxi bus via airport security chap who was based in the entrance.
Incidentally Singapore airlines allowed us 40kg each and one piece of hand luggage each when producing our visa's in passports and one way tickets.
We then went on to our motel. We opted for the cheapest as we had to condition ourselves that this was NOT a holiday, so our normal "best hotel" mentality was out of the question. With no jobs, we needed to economise. So we booked the Hacienda Motel on Kingsford Smith Drive, about 10 mins from the airport and central Brisbane. Its VERY basic, but clean and inexpensive and the fleas only bite once [only kidding......it's VERY basic, inexpensive, clean and practical]....oh.....and VERY basic....[lol]
We thought we'd only need the motel for a couple of days and then we'd rent somewhere for 6 months till we buy our own.
Wrong /naive assumption on my part.Firstly, rental out here works like this;You find a house you'd like to rent. You then ask the Real estate when they have a viewing, you then view house [amongst other potential candidates]and you then put in an application if you'd like to be considered.
Real estate agent takes down all your particulars [ooo err missus], takes photo copies of passports, birth certificates, took photo copy of our house in UK we'd recently sold, took photo copies of Building society statements showing mortgage payments, photo copy of money in Oz bank, money in UK bank, Queensland governemnt bond, job refrences showing good character etc. Basically everything to do with our character and payment capabilities.
Out of those candidates who wanted to rent that particular property, we then luckily got accepted [we needed some good luck after all the previous bad luck in the UK!!!]
The previous tennants were due to move out a week later. So we stayed in the Hacienda for a total of 10 days [uuumm.....I well underestimated my 2 days there then....doh!]
During the ten days we had to sort other things out though so this gave us the opportunity to do these things e.g:
1) Sign on at Centre link. Although you can't claim dole...you can claim some rental back for any accomodation[not sure how much but will let you know when I get it]. We also put in for the equivelent family allowance. To do this you need a Tax file number.
2) Tax file number is aquired via internet. No connection at Motel so had to do this via internet cafe in Brisbane.
3) Car; We looked around and found a good 5 year old second hand car for about $11,000 AUD on the road, 3 months warranty, 64km on clock. Note: Second hand cars here seem to be more expensive than in the UK however they keep their value as the bodywork seems better [perhaps due to little rain?].
4)School: We managed to enrole son into a good local school close to where we have rented. The schools look really well kept, grounds MASSIVE with plenty of sport on the curriculum [inc golf!]Note: Although son was in top class in UK school, he has been placed a year below here in Oz as he had missed part of a term....so expect the schools to argue this point...
5) Internet/telephone/Tv connection: We were recommended to use Optus as this seemed the cheapest overall package deal. W e were connected within 2 working days.
6) We then moved into house and managed to borrow some items from someone on the Expats site [thank you].....and as we bought brand new stuff to ship from Uk....we decided to buy a few new pans, kitchen stuff etc....but mainly second hand furniture to put us on till UK stuff arrives [I kept telling myself there's no difference with second hand than using motel /hotel stuff....and this seemed to pacify my irrational logic re not wanting to buy second hand gear ]
And then we went shopping for food....and bits and bobs......
I'd formed an opinion from reading this site, that there would be no choice, little choice, expensive, cheap, rubbish, nasty, tacky, stuff over here...........and although this does exsist [as it does in the UK].....I was indeed pleasantly surprised.There IS a lot of choice....from the above....to the good stuff and its as inexpensive or as expensive as you'd like it to be...
There is choice....and personally, if it aint here, I fink it don't exsist
Ok...........maybe one thing is crap here.......trolly parks in grocery carparks virtually don't exist .....Everyone dumps their trolly so that it bashes into your newly aquired second hand jallopy [which you treasure cos you're now unemployed and piss pot poor!!]
But apart from that.......and a few issues too minor to even mention....we LOVE the place!
Yes....I've no doubt as time goes by we will miss people back in the UK. In fact we already do. I miss my family more than I can explain on here especially after all the trauma my mum and dad have been through.
We miss our son.....lots........
We miss my brothers and my sister.....
We miss our special friends.....
However ........the UK is only 24hrs away. And if we're REALLY lucky .......then they will come and visit us for a while.
We realise it's not everyone's cup of tea and "one man's meat, is another mans poison" as they say....but for us....so far....it's been fantastic.
Exept [there's always one of these].......I found a bloody great big cockroach last night. I'm sure it had clogs on:scared: I tried to kill it with normal insect killing spray but the buggar wouldn't die....so......I sprayed it with hairspray!!!!
One dead cockroach with a fantastic bouffont
OK that's it from me. We are now looking for jobs [they tend to do that here via internet application or in Saturday paper but when you ring to enquire you find it's a recruitment agency].
For those of you waiting to hear from DIMIA, I wish you all the luck and very best and hope your application is successful and speedy.
For my Expat friends already in Oz....continue being happy.....
For those in Oz who are unhappy [it's not everyon'e cup O tea]......then I hope you find happiness.....
As for me and my family......and for now...........we really feel we've found gods country and can't beleive how lucky we are. How long this feling lasts.....we don't care. It may last forever, it may not, but for now we beleive we've made the right decision and fingers crossed, we are right
Take care, as always
First of all apologies for my not getting in touch earlier my friends.
As you can imagine.......there has been lots to do and we're still not finished yet....however........for all you guys wondering wot it's like in Oz....then I can give you my personal view after 2 & half weeks. This is only MY perception .....my personal view..... and it may differ from others views ....but here goes;
Firstly as a reminder of why Oz was so daunting for us:
a) Mum unable to come with us as she had to have a last minute operation to have her Lymph nodes removed....
b) Eldest son decided 2 weeks before that he wasn't going to come.....
c) Dog dislocated hip on first day packers arrived......
d) We had to book a last minute flight [due to mums illness hence we were unable to secure a stopover in Singapore i.e straight through from Manchester to Brisbane and I HATE flying.....
We finally landed in Brisbane knackered and bruised and worried for all the above reasons.No rose coloured specs on for us.....nothing to be "excited" about......but we decided we'd come this far and we weren't going to give up easily, besides mum pleaded with us to make a go of it........dad wanted us to do it cos he wished he had done it years before.....
So we set off with heavy hearts ....... determined to "give it a go"......
Firstly we travelled via Singapore Airlines who were fantastic. I really hate flying yet the time went by really quickly. I noticed Singapore feed you then turned off the lights and closed the curtains so it felt like nightime hence we didn't notice the shift in timezones. I also felt this helped as we didn't suffer from jet lag thank god....
We stopped off at Singapore for about 5 hrs. Managed to get a shower and change of clothes /freshen up in the Airport itself [they have shops /gym/showers/bars/cafes/restuarants etc]....and then we boarded for the next leg to Brisbane.
We landed about 7/8hrs later in Brisbane. Note; we had 6 suitcases between us [me, hubby and son] and couldn't get all these in a taxi so ordered a taxi bus via airport security chap who was based in the entrance.
Incidentally Singapore airlines allowed us 40kg each and one piece of hand luggage each when producing our visa's in passports and one way tickets.
We then went on to our motel. We opted for the cheapest as we had to condition ourselves that this was NOT a holiday, so our normal "best hotel" mentality was out of the question. With no jobs, we needed to economise. So we booked the Hacienda Motel on Kingsford Smith Drive, about 10 mins from the airport and central Brisbane. Its VERY basic, but clean and inexpensive and the fleas only bite once
[only kidding......it's VERY basic, inexpensive, clean and practical]....oh.....and VERY basic....[lol]We thought we'd only need the motel for a couple of days and then we'd rent somewhere for 6 months till we buy our own.
Wrong /naive assumption on my part.Firstly, rental out here works like this;You find a house you'd like to rent. You then ask the Real estate when they have a viewing, you then view house [amongst other potential candidates]and you then put in an application if you'd like to be considered.
Real estate agent takes down all your particulars [ooo err missus], takes photo copies of passports, birth certificates, took photo copy of our house in UK we'd recently sold, took photo copies of Building society statements showing mortgage payments, photo copy of money in Oz bank, money in UK bank, Queensland governemnt bond, job refrences showing good character etc. Basically everything to do with our character and payment capabilities.
Out of those candidates who wanted to rent that particular property, we then luckily got accepted [we needed some good luck after all the previous bad luck in the UK!!!]
The previous tennants were due to move out a week later. So we stayed in the Hacienda for a total of 10 days [uuumm.....I well underestimated my 2 days there then....doh!]
During the ten days we had to sort other things out though so this gave us the opportunity to do these things e.g:
1) Sign on at Centre link. Although you can't claim dole...you can claim some rental back for any accomodation[not sure how much but will let you know when I get it]. We also put in for the equivelent family allowance. To do this you need a Tax file number.
2) Tax file number is aquired via internet. No connection at Motel so had to do this via internet cafe in Brisbane.
3) Car; We looked around and found a good 5 year old second hand car for about $11,000 AUD on the road, 3 months warranty, 64km on clock. Note: Second hand cars here seem to be more expensive than in the UK however they keep their value as the bodywork seems better [perhaps due to little rain?].
4)School: We managed to enrole son into a good local school close to where we have rented. The schools look really well kept, grounds MASSIVE with plenty of sport on the curriculum [inc golf!]Note: Although son was in top class in UK school, he has been placed a year below here in Oz as he had missed part of a term....so expect the schools to argue this point...
5) Internet/telephone/Tv connection: We were recommended to use Optus as this seemed the cheapest overall package deal. W e were connected within 2 working days.
6) We then moved into house and managed to borrow some items from someone on the Expats site [thank you
].....and as we bought brand new stuff to ship from Uk....we decided to buy a few new pans, kitchen stuff etc....but mainly second hand furniture to put us on till UK stuff arrives [I kept telling myself there's no difference with second hand than using motel /hotel stuff....and this seemed to pacify my irrational logic re not wanting to buy second hand gear ]And then we went shopping for food....and bits and bobs......
I'd formed an opinion from reading this site, that there would be no choice, little choice, expensive, cheap, rubbish, nasty, tacky, stuff over here...........and although this does exsist [as it does in the UK].....I was indeed pleasantly surprised.There IS a lot of choice....from the above....to the good stuff and its as inexpensive or as expensive as you'd like it to be...
There is choice....and personally, if it aint here, I fink it don't exsist
Ok...........maybe one thing is crap here.......trolly parks in grocery carparks virtually don't exist .....Everyone dumps their trolly so that it bashes into your newly aquired second hand jallopy [which you treasure cos you're now unemployed and piss pot poor!!]
But apart from that.......and a few issues too minor to even mention....we LOVE the place!
Yes....I've no doubt as time goes by we will miss people back in the UK. In fact we already do. I miss my family more than I can explain on here
especially after all the trauma my mum and dad have been through.We miss our son.....lots........
We miss my brothers and my sister.....
We miss our special friends.....
However ........the UK is only 24hrs away. And if we're REALLY lucky .......then they will come and visit us for a while.
We realise it's not everyone's cup of tea and "one man's meat, is another mans poison" as they say....but for us....so far....it's been fantastic.
Exept [there's always one of these].......I found a bloody great big cockroach last night. I'm sure it had clogs on:scared: I tried to kill it with normal insect killing spray but the buggar wouldn't die....so......I sprayed it with hairspray!!!!
One dead cockroach with a fantastic bouffont
OK that's it from me. We are now looking for jobs [they tend to do that here via internet application or in Saturday paper but when you ring to enquire you find it's a recruitment agency].
For those of you waiting to hear from DIMIA, I wish you all the luck and very best and hope your application is successful and speedy.
For my Expat friends already in Oz....continue being happy.....
For those in Oz who are unhappy [it's not everyon'e cup O tea]......then I hope you find happiness.....
As for me and my family......and for now...........we really feel we've found gods country and can't beleive how lucky we are. How long this feling lasts.....we don't care. It may last forever, it may not, but for now we beleive we've made the right decision and fingers crossed, we are right
Take care, as always
Glad to hear that you have arrived.
Hows your mum now?
Debsx
Jul 27th 2004, 2:59 pm
#14
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Cleveland QLD
Posts: 165
Re: The eagle has landed....at long bloody last
Great post, glad you are enjoying your new life soo far.
I can't wait till its our time.
Take care and keep us posted (Good & Bad).
Helen
I can't wait till its our time.
Take care and keep us posted (Good & Bad).
Helen
Jul 27th 2004, 3:10 pm
#15
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Mandurah WA
Posts: 1,395
Pleased to read your post, and that you have all arrived safely.
My eldest daughter didn't come out with us, but we had only been here about 6 weeks when my daughter rang to say that she was coming for a holiday. Although she didn't stay, as she is married, she loved it here, and her next job is to get her hubby here to take a look to try and persuade him to move out here.
So, there is hope for you yet.
Once your son has been without you a while, he may want to visit sooner than you think.
I hope everything starts to keep going in the right direction, and you are happy here in Oz.
Good luck
Whisky
My eldest daughter didn't come out with us, but we had only been here about 6 weeks when my daughter rang to say that she was coming for a holiday. Although she didn't stay, as she is married, she loved it here, and her next job is to get her hubby here to take a look to try and persuade him to move out here.
So, there is hope for you yet.
Once your son has been without you a while, he may want to visit sooner than you think.
I hope everything starts to keep going in the right direction, and you are happy here in Oz.
Good luck
Whisky