Well cannot believe we are on the final countdown to our new beginning (on/or around the Gold Coast). After 3 years of "stress" of applying for the VISA, selling up here in the UK, rehoming my beloved dogs etc, our one-way out of the UK is Monday. We have had our farewell get-togethers with family and friends, which was hard but now the excitement begins!!
There is so much to think about - what to do first?, so if anyone has any recommendations - fire away, all information will be gratefully received

All I can say is

Have a fab time. We'll be following very soon.

all the best and have a drink on arrival

Ohmygoodness! How excited must you be!!!

Hope all goes well for you and it is everything you have dreamt of!

We have just started the process and hope to be moving to the Gold Coast next year

Good luck & all the best

It'll be us in 2 weeks time & I'm really struggling with all the farewells at the moment.

Alison x

[QUOTE=al150n;8777466]Good luck & all the best

It'll be us in 2 weeks time & I'm really struggling with all the farewells at the moment.

Alison x[/QU

Somehow you manage to get through the goodbyes. I found it to be much harder and by the time I arrived 3 weeks ago my mouth was full of ulcers from the stress of tears etc.... It does get easier and you will have so much to do for the first few weeks anyway that you wont have a second to think. Thats what it was like for us at least - we managed to get quite a lot done in the first two weeks as my oh had to fly to the NTerritory for 6 weeks work. We are now in a rental and oh is away which isnt ideal but we are managing. Good Luck with the move x

Good luck on your adventure, best advice I can give is be prepared for things to be very different. Basiclly expect everything you have always known to be different, there will be a learning process trying to figure out things.

If something seems a bit crap, whatever you do dont point it out to an aussie, they really dont like it if you do that. They believe they live in the best place in the world so talking about something that seems a bit naff to you will really annoy them, even though you might mean no harm and are just making conversation.

Remeber you are in their country and so you have to try to adapt to them and will have to put up with some things being worse than your used to and other things being very different. I thought I was very open minded when I arrived but would often question locals or compare things to the UK (which more often was better) this was a mistake, even though I never meant anything bad by it, it made me a few enemys

Good luck

Try to take your first few days slowly and enjoy every moment. Treat it like a holiday then the basics, register for medicare, tax file number, drivers licence, bank accounts etc.

The weather is perfect at the moment, clear blue sky and plenty of sunshine.

Plenty of shopping centres around, easy access to everything, beaches, parks, loads of things to do.

Good luck

Good Luck and enjoy it and take each day as it comes

Good luck and you will get through the goodbyes as hard as it seems right now

Good luck with your move. I agree with dave99, be prepared for everything to be different. It is a steep learning curve, but one which is enjoyable in my opinion.

Good luck - there will be highs and lows - you will love the weather - you will not like a lot to begin with - you will be very homesick some days and other days fine - take each day at a time.

A very wise post.

It's good to have a place like this where you can vent your (often frequent) frustrations about the place without offending Australians: they just don't "get" anything remotely critical of the place (even if they themselves feel able to be even more critical.)

And they don't "do" debate: don't argue the way you would in the UK, as a recreational conversation - it will often be taken as personal, not merely having a chat.

hope the journey goes well,
if you need any help or pointing in the right direction just ask

regards steve

I'm sure you don't need to be told that you are embarking on what is likely to be a huge roller coaster of emotions!!! There will stuff you will love and stuff you will hate - take a balanced view and above all drop the "this is the way they did it back home" routine. Australia is different, go with the flow and give yourselves plenty of time to settle in. Good luck, I remember the feeling very well but after 6 years there are still no regrets!!