ManhattenProject

Well it appears that the climate is going to be harsh.

I'm just looking for some help/tips on two other things. Firstly life in Bunbury, from what i have researched it's a small town with not much going on. Any body live there or have any first hand experience of life in Bunbury?

Secondly can someone give me a kick in the right direction on how to work out ppp. I'd like to do some comparisons.

Any other input from anyone else would be very much appreciated.

Saxy

Eight years ago we took early retirement and decided that it was time to leave the UK and join our family in NSW. We did all of the usual things, watched
'A Place In The Sun' etc. and felt really good about the move.
We decided to come down for five weeks and take a look at places near the NSW coast. This was a fact finding trip, not a holiday!
One of the first things we noticed, was that unless you were in a city, everything (restaurants etc.) closed very early. So if we wanted to eat out, we had to go to the local bowls club, which being large places, were not comfortable for a romantic evening with my good lady, especially with the number of slot machines in use, and children running about (gambling is very big in Oz!!!). The other thing was that none of the places we visited came up to scratch, not for us anyway!!! We found Oz. would be very boring place to retire to (unless of course you play bowls!), so we came to Espania
Anyway, because things are changing in Spain, we recently rented a place in NSW (living an every day life) for 10 weeks, to see if things had changed, but it was still very boring! We got fed up with being told that "Australia (you seem to hear that word evey other sentence) is the best country to live in".
If you like sport, then you might find it OK, but that's all the place has to offer (that's why they go on about it so much!). Another thing is that the television is terrible ( OK if you like 30 year old American progsrams eg. 'Get Smart'and 'Mash').
It's the things that annoy you now, that will become more annoying as time goes by!!!!!!!!!

daunted

helllloooo!

ManhattenProject

Hello daunted, hope you are well. As you live in Bunbury, where i have been offered a job, could you please tell me what the public transport is like, nightlife, clubs/hobbies and anything else you may find relevant for a couple in their late 20s.

ManhattenProject

bump

Almo

I wouldn't be thrilled about giving up that UK income for $80k but it depends on your motivations and how much you currently spend of your income! Is this going to advance your career? Have you always wanted to live here? Or is this a financial thing only?

A 457 is not a visa I'd be comfortable on and I'd want some pretty big assurances that it was genuinely only 18 months in Bunbury, not '18 months, might be more, see how we go' kind of thing.

ManhattenProject

This is not a promotion career wise more a move across. Never really considered moving to Australia until this oppurtunity came up. If we moved it wouldn't be forever, more for the experience. With this offer everything is set up for me visa wise, my company will pay for the relocation all i need to do is get ourselves over there and set up.

You are not the first person to say they wouldn't be comfortable coming on a 457, can you elaborate a little as to why.
The move to Melbourne is definite but the timescale is not as the site has not even been built yet.

Almo

A 457 ties you to that employer so you could only move companies if you found another company willing to sponsor you (and able to do so, it's not a given although in the same industry it's likely). If your company decides to terminate your employment for any reason you have 28 days to leave the country.

I infer that you already work for this company? It might be that you trust them completely and have no reason to doubt that they would ever mess you about. I guess though the thing is that they have a big hold over you when you're on the other side of the world with potentially a new born baby to consider.

That said, thousands of people a year go over on 457 visas and I'm sure most have no problems, it's just good to be aware of the pitfalls and do your research.

I'd probably go although Bunbury holds no particular attraction for me personally, but as much as we enjoy luxuries and can certainly find uses for any spare money we have, OH and I have lived on a lower income than $80k before and would probably rather have the experience for a few years than stick with the higher income in the UK. That said, we don't have and won't have kids.

ManhattenProject

Thanks for your time Almo.
I'm just trying to put together weekly/monthly bills together so i can go through it with a fine tooth comb. Maybe this is some of the trouble i'm having deciding what to do as i need to know we'll be all right money wise, it's not all just about the 'experience'

Almo

Do you need all your income at the moment? It is a difficult decision but there are worse dilemmas I guess.

hoofie2002

You REALLY need to find out what money is being offered here. Forget the exchange rate, you really need a mulitple of 2.5 of your UK money.

With 80k assuming your wife can get work you won't be living the high life and you will need a pot of money to buy a car and pay deposit, bond in a rental.

In 1997 I was offered similar from London to Sydney; they offered my UK salary at the exchange rate but I would have been living in poverty in Oz; not much point in going.