tyne

Hi Ronnie,

Yes, im NEAS too. Good to know im not the only one around here planning on leaving the north east.

Thanks for the info sals. So i guess not everyone has paid the $395 for the skills assessment then. Did they not ask you for the money once they realised you had not paid?

Also, where has everyone said they want to work? I have no idea where the best areas are. Id love to be coastal, but also not too far from Brissie either. Maybe 45 mins at most from city.

sals

Hi Tyne,
No they not asked for money, well not yet and as they are offering £5000 for relocation my guess is they'll not argue about $395 lol.
Can't help you with Brissie sorry, we are going north round Townsville, still coastal, dry tropics, on great barrier reef!

tyne

Hi sals

Townsville looks like a nice town. 1500km away from brisbane! Crikey! Have you been to Townsville before?
I am still amazed at the sheer size of Queensland.
Its a bit far away for me i think. Anyway my wife loves shopping so its definitely out of the question.
I was gonna wait till i had a job offer before going to brisbane on a recce, but it seems like they sometimes want you there fairly quickly. What are QAS like if you dont want to go so soon? I was hoping to go for good about 9 - 12 months after getting the job offer.

sals

Not even been to Oz never mind Townsville. Plenty shopping centres there 4 that I know of! We've got good friend who has spent time there and said it's beautiful. We're going for the rugby league (my son) the scuba diving (me) and the weather.
We can always move!!!
Would love to do recce but money a problem so we're going n we'll see what happens
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Gotta be better than wet, wet, wet lancashire!

tyne

Im kind of thinking the same now. Is it worth spending £???? on a recce when i know i will love the place anyway. In an ideal situation, it would be good to just take your time over the move, do a recce and make a choice, but money is important at the moment, what with all that will need to be paid out with the move. Its a hard decision, but i am not gonna worry yet, not untill i get a job offer anyway.

Like you said, its better than wet lancashire, or wet tyneside in my case

k_j

Hey Sals,
From march interview to finding a vacancy is pretty quick. Did you put down anywhere specific,or were you just looking to get out anywhere? Do they tell you at interview where they want you?

sals

Hi kj,
Yep it is pretty quick but they do have an idea where the vacancies are. They advertise current vacancies on their website. When you fill in your application you tick which regions you are interested in and whether you want coastal etc. You can be very specific i.e say only Brisbane or you can be very general i.e anywhere. They ask at interview where you'd prefer but they won't commit to promising you'll get it. Places like Brissie n Sunshine coast are v popular. I think you need to really think about whether you could live anywhere if you're general. Some places are one horse, miles from anywhere, with on call. They have difficulty filling these vacancies so your more likely to get it! They also attract the highest rate of supplement pay but it's a compromise if it takes say 3 - 4 hours to drive to coast! Houses much cheaper though! Think it depends what you want. They only tell you where you'll be stationed when they offer you employment and there's no guarantee it'll be where you really want to go. You just have to hope. Once you're there and have worked for a while (no idea of time scale) you can put transfer in, you join queue with all other people waiting to get out of outback!

Tetley999

Hi Sals

I was also one of the few that had a posative interview in March, you had your GP's medical yet?
Will they accept a BMI of 33.6??
Where are you looking to land in OZ?

Would you mind chatting sometime? I am a 20 year para from the midlands, I think my wife just needs some reassurance and the thoughts from a other womans perspective, (you know, kids schools, shopping, shopping etc)

You never know we may be on the same induction course!

Regards

Tetley (1000 perferations in every patient)

sals

Hi Tetley,
Yes I had my GP medical before my interview. I'm sorry I've no idea about the BMI but are you sure you got it right. Mine was about 2 points below what I thought as it turns out I'm at least an inch and half taller that I thought I was. Well according to my GP's tape measure anyway lol.
I'd be more than happy to chat to your wife. Get her to PM me.
We are hoping for northern Queensland, hopefully around the Townsville area.
Maybe see you in Brissie for induction then. I definitely can't make July course because I'm still awaiting PCC and will still need visa medical.
I'm slowly accepting the fact I won't be able to leave here (work in particular) and get there as quickly as I'd like to. But I'm ever optimistic I will be there early August at latest to start Beg Spetember. It's the only thing that keeps me going!!!

skye

Tetley!

You sure you are only 20!!!!????

sals

Skye, think he means a 20 year veteran not 20 years old lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tetley999

No, I'd like to think Skye was right.........but sadly not.
I had a six pack, hair and a bmi of -5 back then.

Then you discover the joys of women and drink......mostly drink.

We are going for a holiday to OZ in July for a month so we will have a much better idea of area by our return. I won't put the house up for sale untill we come back and all 4 of us are 100% about going. Townsville looks nice, but if it was down to me i would go to a place called Hideaway Bay, looks just right.

However..... I have a 17 year old daughter and a 11 year old son who wouldnt appreciate it as much as I do. Bugger......compromise, compromise,

By the way check out the new Google map search, type in Hideaway Bay AU, How do we IM you?

Skye,........put that wine down and think about Bondi Beach!!

PS I am having some cosmetic surgery very soon to enable me to smile wider!!!!

Because at the moment I cant smile wide enough.

At least in stead of moaning about the current situation work/ country at least we are doing something about it

skye

Skye,........put that wine down and think about Bondi Beach!!

Tetley - I will not think about that ever again nor will you mention it EVER again!!!!! - and I will always have a glass in my hand

sals

I agree Hideaway Bay looks amazing but kids would get bored to death. Think you need to be within travelling distance of somewhere for you and somewhere for them.

skye

Ok - 11 services in the UK - how many going from each one.....