rob&lucy

Well we made it to Townsville after a very drunkem 10 days in Darwin at our mates wedding. We flew with Royal Brunei and they were great.

At Heathrow they got the emergency exit seats 'unlociked' for Rob with no hassle so he could stretch his legs out for the first time ever on a long haul flight (he's 6ft 4"). The service was good and they were very helpful.

We stopped in Brunei for 9 hours and did a tour. It cost us £20 each which we paid in Heathrow at check in and the tour was arranged by Royal Brunei. On arrival we were met by a rep and shown to a car where we were then driven round the city to the museum, water village (plus scary boat ride), mosques, shopping malls etc which took over 4 hours. It was great and i would highly reccommend it as the airport is small and has very little in it.

After Darwin we flew to townsville with Virgin Blue. I booked the tickets in the Uk via their weebsite and it was easy when it came to showing our passports on check in. They are really good plus they have a sense of humour which is appropriate to whatever hour you are flying. This is useful as there are times when a 'chipper' person is not well accommodated at 2am!! The seats are huge a comfy and if you want any grub it works on a pay as you go system.

We stayed in hotels for the first week here as we looked for somewhere to rent. After finally finding a couple of places the 100 point check started. ID such as passport, driving licence, birth cert etc are great plus any utility bills from the uk as well as any Oz job offers. Howevert there are a few estate agents who will email referees. Now this is where the etme difference is awful so i reccommend having a couple of people on standby who can fire off a reply even at 2am (GMT) if neccessary as the whole checking process can take up to 48hours and even then you might not get it. The stress levels rise enormously. However we now rent a lovely 2 bedroom townhouse 3 min down a hill to the sea and city for only $200pw (very cheap round here).

I have to say that the weather is shocking. I mean whoever heard of winter at 26C and bright blue sky I have a new new car that i bomb around in and rob has his work 'tank'. So all in all it is hard but we are doing ok.

Another thing is to get your mobile phone unlocked in the uk before you come out. I forgot mine and because the phone is new it took ages to find someone to do it who had the right programmes etc

Anyway enough babbling now as i must sleep. 3 12.5 hour shifts in a row are a killer!!
Lucy and Rob

moneypenny20

Glad to hear you're settling in ok.

Keep up the posts of life there, we all want to hear - good and bad.

Peter

Townsville is officially in the tropics so therefore it doesn't get winter.

Enjoy Townsville; it's a great place.

loose

Where'd you go for the pop in Darwin.

Glad you're having a good time and ta for tips re flights!!!

arnie2oz

Good Post

Keep 'em coming!

Well Done so far

bazfer

Hi there
Glad to hear you chose Townsville in the end. i have htought about you often. i remember youposting when we were still in the uk. i have been meaning to post to let you know what we thought, but time has run away with me!
we moved to Townsville 2 months ago and love it.
We have found people friendly and considerate. It is much bigger than i had expected, but not at all like a uk city. it is so clean and spacious.
We have young children and i couldn't ask fo a better place to be living for kids.
we have bought a house in Aitkenvale, now we just need the furniture to put in it!
how funny to think that i may have walked by you down at the strand!

nikkers

Hiya Lucy and Rob

It's great to here from you and so glad your enjoying it


What's the job like?How different from the uk is it?

Whats the salary like?

Please keep posting DIMIA are really slow at the moment and

posts like yours really keep our spirits up


Nikki x

rob&lucy

Well as far as nursing goes.... I am working in a private hospital at the moment just to try it out and as a result am looking to going back to the public system asap. It's just not for me. People are paying loads of money to health insurers and yes they get their surgery quickly but the care after is way behing that of the public system. It makes me sad and they just won't change certain practices and i don't want to be a part of it any more. Have been offered a position with RFDS which i am looking at as well as one as a senior midwife. In comparison the pay is crap compared to patient load but at least you can escape to nicer places to let of steam and get on with life.

As for Darwin we hit the usual haunts in Mitchell Street, Shennanigans, Rourkes etc as well as the Vic in the mall. The wedding was at Pee Wee's on east point and was just perfect.

And yes Ulujain I KNOW Townsville is in the tropics its one of the reasons we moved here. However i think you should email WIN/Channel 10 etc so that the weathermen stop saying winter and then all will be happy