Alison33

Hi there from Aussie site newcomer.

My family and I have an application in progress to emigrate to Canada (over a year wait so far). My husband is a liveline powerlineman and there is a chance that an opportunity may arise in Queensland on permenant visa and then PR. He feels that Queensland may be a better bet for us and the electrical systems are very similar and if we went to Canada there would be a lot more hurdles to overcome i.e. re-certification, exams and possible backtrack.

I guess you're all used to the british weather and one of my questions is what is the weather really like in regards to temps during the year and is it tolerable. I also have two dogs, one of which is an American Akita and the other is a Alaskan Malamute. I would be a bit worried how they would cope with extreme heat and wondered if anyone had experience with these kind of dogs in this situation.

My other worry is the childrens education as I understand that if your not permanent resident you may have to pay for private education. Am I correct in assuming this? My boys are currently 12 and 10.

Any info much appreciated as we need to make decisions one way or another as in some respects Aus in sounding more and more appealing.

Thanks

tonyk38

Hi Alison,

I'm moving to Qld myself, so I may be able to answer a few of your questions:

I know that the voltage in aus is the same as the UK, but beyond that I couldn't offer any advice about what training/experience your husband would need.

Climate: two thirds of QLd is tropical (Cairns, Townsville etc) the south sub-tropical (Brissie, Gold Coast, sunshine Coast etc). Generally there are seasonal variations in climate even in the North, but in the Summer it can get up into the 40s, and humidity can be very high too. Like anywhere however, you do acclimatise. I guess it depends how you feel in general during hot weather; not everyone copes very well.

Your breed of dogs, as you know can get stressed in hot weather, so I imagine that they would have difficulty coping in the heat.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, you would have to pay for your children's education if you don't have PR. Having said that, I don't know if your job offer is linked to a Employer Sponsorship visa. If it is, then PR might be a part of the deal.

Hope that helps a bit!

sparks124

for your OH's job he will require limited electrical licence to work. I'll see if i can find any links for you.

Scotschick

Hiya Allison

Don't know any answers to your questions but just thought I would say hi. We are same as you (have had skilled worker application with CIC since December 2005) but given extremely long wait we are now seriously considering moving to Queensland.

Are going to the Emigrate Show in Glasgow tomorrow which will hopefully make up our minds for us.

Scotschick

sparks124

the link below:

http://www.dir.qld.gov.au/electrical...ning/licences/

should be a starting point. have a good read as some is a little confusing as i remember it.

Alison33

Thanks to all that have replied so far. May have to do some research of my own though. A mate of his has just accepted a job out there and can go staight in without licencing as fas as I know and my OH has 20 yrs exeprience on him as I say climate worries me as I'm pretty used to the dull weather here in UK.

Alison33

Hiya

Where did you apply initially, was it Canada. Our Skilled workers application has been in since Feb 05 and we were told not to expect to hear anything for at least 30 months, which to me seems a bit outraguos (sorry can't spell at monent just come back from being out on the town). Emigrate Glasgow is a bit far for us but we did visit Sandown last May and we will wait until the next show down this neck of the woods. Bugs & sharks are also a great worry to me as I hate them especially spiders and wasps. Have you visited Queensland prior to thinking about going?

Ali

tabby

Info for our neck of the woods www.ourbrisbane.com.au has info on suburbs, weather etc...........

Aus was not our first choice we looked at the states, but this one of the best decisions we have made in our lives, as for weather found it really hot when we arrived (29.12.06) but have had days in last couple of weeks were it's felt a bit chili you become use to it.

Education wise you have to pay for private if you have PR visa< I think you have to pay for state school if you have temp visa but if you have PR it's virtually free (I think)

It must have been a good night if your still up !!!!!!

Pollyana

There are many threads on here about tthe licencing of tradesmen - if you do a few searches on terms like "electrical" and "licence" you should come up with a mountain of useful info, including addresses to contact

ray2gill

Hi Alison,

Regarding your dogs, we brought our dog to Dubai where it is between 40 & 47c and humid during the summer months. She is a German Shepherd x Collie so has quite a thick coat. We were thinking about having her clipped but the vet advised against it saying that the under fur insulated her from the heat.

She prefers to stay indoors during the day in the summer, you just adapt your routine to walking early morning and late evening when it's cooler. Walks are also shorter during the summer months.

We also shipped our cat and neither have had any problems adapting to a warmer climate in fact they love it. It rained the first time for 12 months last week and the cat did stand out in it for a while though! I certainly don't miss having to wipe wet muddy paws and having wet smelly fur around the house after a walk!

Hope this helps, Gillian.

steve`o

what like this

Pollyana

Well I was thinking ore of threads on Expats, but that looks like the official stuff I'm no electrical expert though - rewiring a plug was my limit!!!

moneypenny20

Ssshhhhhh! Walls have ears. You know what you can start with statements like that

Alison33

I know what you mean about wet muddy paws. While I'm at work my dogs have kennels that are open to the garden and they don't always think to go inside when its raining. Takes me ages to dry them off. I have taught them to show me their feet before they even get to stand on the carpet. We have thought about getting our Akita clipped as she is longhaired with a thick undercoat and can get a bit knotty - she may look a bit strange.

Does your dog sleep outside at night? Ours have never slept overnight in the house and its usual for them to ask to go to bed at about 11pm when they sit by the back door. Nando our Malamute loves catching and eating anything that moves including hedgehogs (he's had quite a few), rabbits, and spiders and would even try a cat if he could catch it. If we decide to go to Aus may have to teach him to leave the wildlife alone.

Alison33

Was a great night thanks. Its now 10am and to tell the truth could quite easily go back to bed. Suffering a bit but I guess someones got to start the housework. I'll pop a couple of anadin and I should be right as rain.