johnkay

We are seriously thinking about emigrating to Australia.
Adelaide seems a good place to bring up our two boys (both under 10).
Have lived in Sydney - on a working visa - when young and care free, but don't think it's for us as a family.
Not sure where though - looking on the web at Plympton, Marion and Mitcham - not too far from the city centre or the beach. Have old school friend and her family in this area - so would not be completly lonely, which is a worry. (Other half will join golf club and be happy)
Property looks good and cheap compared to here. Advise from other members seems to be to rent first. What do we do with all our furniture and belongings? Can't leave everything here and buy new. How long does it take to transport? What about electrical appliances, will they work over there - PC, DVD home cinema, tv. video, and of course the all important playstation etc.
Any other parents out there who can give advise on schooling - how does it compare!
Well I guess you will see from all my questions that we need some help and advise - Thanks

mashiraz

Hi, Welcome,

First thing you need is a visa - the process can take 1-2 years (unless you are lucky & depends what sort of visa you go for)
.
We're hoping to go to Adelaide but probably north or hills, want a piece of land to build on. Don't know the areas you mention. We're hoping to go mid next year - Waiting for visa at the moment, applied 14 months ago.

Adelaide a great family place, but jobs by all accounts are more difficult to get as limited number of big companies based there, depends on occupation - They're desperate for Nurses.

Most rental is unfurnised so take your furniture, but shipping will cost around £3k in a 20' container and about 2 months to arrive, so stay with friends, in a holiday let/hotel, or rent furniture till it arrives.

Lots of threads to search on electrical appliances and what not to take! Do a search..

Lots of threads on schooling aswell, by all accounts English kids are ahead when they arrive. There's a few good sites to check out this sort of stuff.

http://www.dete.sa.gov.au/decs_home.asp
http://www.sacentral.sa.gov.au/

Good luck and let us know what stage of the visa process you are at..
Mash..

jeannie

If I were in your shoes, honestly I would take the bare essentials, sell everthing else and pocket the money, start there and collect things. what works in one place wont work in another.

Did I understand i'ts three thousand pounds for a container? you can buy some nice stuff for that sort of money (I think )

pommiesheila

Firstlly, with regard to property - same rules apply in Oz as anywhere else - you get what you pay for. If the property seems cheaper in some areas, ask yourself why?

Secondly, your TV/Video will NOT generally work over here. Best to sell it in the UK and buy over here. We brought the Playstation and only had to spend around $25 to get a conversion lead for it - works fine, thank goodness!!!


Thirdly, as far as schooling is concerned, can't comment on Adelaide as we're in Queensland, but unfortunately one of the big problems we found is that the education system over here is NO BETTER than that in the UK (one of the reasons we left in the first place)

Fourthly, Ok, you spend £3K on shipping your stuff over - but when you get to filling in the insurance forms, you realise what an entire household of items would cost to replace, and they ain't a lot cheaper here in most cases, so I would strongly advise bringing everything you can.

Glad you already have friends where you are going. This will be VERY IMPORTANT for you.

If you have no relatives/friends who can put you up, I would advise renting for 6 months first (most rentals over here are for that term). that way you can check out all the other areas and find out where you like best. Also, from personal experience, if you can keep your property in the UK whilst renting in Oz, I would STRONGLY advise that you do this, for 2 reasons - 1) the obvious - if you hate it here, you can go back to your old house, and 2) the house prices in the UK are still racing ahead, so think of all that extra cash you would have when you come to sell it 6 months down the line. (Mind you, where we are in the Brisbane suburbs, house prices are currently increasing at a rate of around 20% a year at least, so perhaps the last reason is not quite so valid).

good luck with the move anyway.

Stan J

You're at the mercy of shipping schedules and may find your stuff on the high seas for a matter of months ... it's more a matter of how will you cope without (until it arrives).

Myself I carried what I could off the plane ... now moving flat is a major logistical headache (junk accumulation) ... let alone what to do if one goes abroad for several months ...

If you can qualify for immigration and you do arrive promise yourselves that you will stick it out for two years minimum (that'll trigger your eligibility for vias extension and/or australian citizenship ... and also get you past the six month and eighteen month 'homesick itch'

Sandra

I paid 13,000 AUS to move everything I owned over including insurance - that is about 5,000 UK at the exchange rates at the time. We had a 40ft container door to door fantastic service, informed all the way on arrival dates - agreed 6 weeks. Pickford International. Basically a four bed house (stuffed with my crap).

The only thing we regret are the things we did not bring, Husbands Motorbike for one! We did not bring white goods, cost us around a $2000 to replace washing machine and dryer and fridge/freezer (Not as good as the stuff we left). TVs and Videos - we bought two sets so the kids can have bedroom videos units (don't work for anything else, ie local telly). Bought decent TV and Video/DVD here - $3000.

I would not like to think about the cost of replacing the stuff we own, Computer, Beds, Wardrobes, tables, chairs, Dresser, etc etc there was no way for us selling was an option, people do not pay well for 2nd hand goods. We got 50 pounds for a 6 month old freezer we paid nearly 300 for. Also how do you go about selling everything with the timing, lovely if you are moving into furnished accomodation before your move to aus, but most people don't have that luxury, it is visas, sell house and go.

And please do not be fooled, it is not cheap to replace all you own, there are cheap stores, but if you did not buy cheap first time round are you going to happy replacing your stuff cheaply. There are lots of costs associated with moving don't pile up the buying a whole household of furniture on top of it. If I was to advise - the process I would go through is getting a agency in to quote and asking them for one of the insurance forms you need to fill out, then go round and list your stuff and possible value - weigh this up against possible sale value and check you have the difference to buy it all again. Then you can make an informed decision.

Plus a big thing for us with kids - have you ever seen your children appreciate all they own - when we unpacked all their games and even the beds the smiles!!!! It was like Christmas.

Do not get me wrong we did do a massive clear out, and cannot promote that enough - if you think you will not miss it - sell it at the start of the migration process - plenty of time to buy a replacement before you move!! Ok that is me trying to be funny - I left lots (I think) - but I still bought my sink bowl (boy the aussies laugh at me for that!)

Just my opinion! I am sure there are people who can tell you they sold the lot and bought everything new - I would be interested in cost comparisons

Cheers

Ceri

I totally agree with what some of the others have said regarding your household furniture... bring as much as you can.

I made the mistake of selling half of my stuff before coming here... it cost a fortune to replace it all here, and in many cases I ended up buying "not as good" goods to replace my items.

My fridge was one... wish I'd brought it with me, and my big comfy bed was another!! Tv cabinate was also another one I sold.. and wish I had kept it...it cost me a fortune to replace... oh and my dining room table to name but a few... I sold loads of stuff off before I came here... wish I hadn't, because buying replacements cost me more than what the shipping would have been.

TV... leave it in Britain... it will not work here , although Australia and Britain is Pal ... Australia is Pal B while Britain is Pal 1 (unless you have a multi sync TV)... the broadcasting from the TV stations ( the broadcasting signal)... is different (Pal B).

cheers