Re: Tasmania (continued!)
 

hi all...

Went to Melb this weekend just gone and didnt get back till 10pm last night... so much fog the 8:30am flight couldnt land and we got taken back to Melb.

Tassiewannabe - we arent in Hobart but I 2nd what Sammy said about the catholic schools. Tassie particularly has a good reputation in their catholic school system, and while they may give preference to catholic (or at least christened) children the fees are much much more affordable than private.

Re: Tasmania (continued!)
 

Hi Effie

Hope you had a good time in Melbourne despite the delayed landing!
Were you able to take your daughter after all as they have now lifted the school rules re visiting Vic?

Sam

Re: Tasmania (continued!)
 

Thanks again Sam. Would love to hear any fees info you have. As we just have the one child I haven't even thought about high schools yet, though I suppose it will come round sooner than I think! Was speaking to an Aussie friend who agreed with yours and Effie's opinion of the catholic schools. So I'm now going back to my research...

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Hi Sam,

Yes, I took my daughter with me in the end, the exclusions didnt apply from Monday when we came back.

I did notice a few people wearing masks at the airport but I think that common sense has prevailed and people are just being more aware of not spreading flu of any kind. I missed out on seeing a couple of friends because they were sick with flu of some kind and didnt want to pass it on, but hopefully by this week they are feeling a lot better.

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Sorry I forgot, I'm off work tomorrow so I'll look up the figures then for you.

Sam

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Hi everyone - hope you're all well? :)

Out of interest - what's happening at the moment with regards to Swine Flu on the Island? Have they relaxed all the quarantine rules etc?

Only reason i ask is that all the children came out of my daughters school today with a letter saying that there is a confirmed case of Swine Flu in the juniors (my daughter's in the infants school), apparently an agency teacher has been confirmed as having it, and that two junior pupils are currently being tested as possible cases....
Over here i dont think they are shutting schools etc...only dealing with specific people that may have come into close contact with a "confirmed" case... Just wanted to compare what they're doing here with other where you guys are...

thanks
Cathy

Re: Tasmania (continued!)
 

Cathy... last week Tassie changed its alert status to the same as the rest of Oz (and the level Vic has been at for a few weeks) - there is no more testing of people who came in contact and treatment only if it is a confirmed case or high risk - ie pregnant, underlying medical conditions that sort of thing. In all reality is probably the level that makes most sense given that they havent been able to/wanted to restrict peoples travel. When I came back from Melb last week there were a few people at the airport wearing masks but not much else in visible signs.

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Hi Effie, thank you for your reply. I am sure when i took Eden to school this morning that there were less children/parents about - so i'm wondering if some had decided to stay away today! Sounds like Tasmania has calmed down and set more realistic expectations of trying to monitor everything...
There's bound to be another letter from the school today.
Worries me though as my Dad is on oxygen at home, and my Mum is shortly to start dialysis treatment & i fear that they will catch it from me or the kids!
All the death's i've read about so far from swine flu have been people that had underlying medical conditions.. I've not been concerned up till now, but once the actual thing is on your doorstop you do start to think...

Cathy :)

Re: Tasmania (continued!)
 

Cathy - I can understand your concern if there are underlying conditions... I would have been a lot more concerned if it had been late last year while DPs dad was battling cancer. I guess the only thing to do is to take appropriate caution and ensure cleanliness particularly around your parents. One thing that Tassie has been saying in its ads is that when people sneeze its better to cover it with your elbow, the clothing (although in the uk not sure you would be wearing long sleeves with the weather like it is at the moment!) means the virus stays active for a shorter period than on your hands or a tissue (unless the tissue goes straight in the bin)

Sorry for the ramble, hope it helps a bit...

DD and I arrive in 7 wks tomorrow! Am hoping that the nice weather holds out for us, particularly on the day we all go to legoland.

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Hi Effie, thanks for your reply again. I hadn't read over here about using your elbow when sneezing - will have to tell Eden that one! :)
They didn't come home with any letters yesterday about the suspected cases, only with some info about swine flu symptoms, so i think we'll just have to wait and see what develops if anything! ;) We're going away in August so as long as none of us catch anything between now and then i'll be happy!

So you only have 7 weeks till you come over? is it your 1st trip back to the UK for quite a while? I think according to the weather forecast that we're
meant to have a long hot summer & the way things are going so far recently we've had some very hot days. It's meant to reach 34c in some places tomorrow - my daughters school has had to change their sports day from tomorrow afternoon to 9am tomorrow morning to avoid the worst of the heat.
Friends have been laughing at me and asking how i'll cope with hot Australian days as all i've been doing the last couple of days is huffing and puffing in the heat :lol:

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Cathy - last time I visited was June 2004... my partner and I spent nearly 7 wks away with time in the uk between trips elsewhere. My family havent met my little girl yet so while its only a fairly short trip other than a day at legoland I think it will be long enough for a 'catch up'

How is everyone else doing?

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Hi everyone hope you are all well, just a post to say we have our Aussie passports!!! :thumbsup: must admit twas panicking a bit as we fly next Friday but all is good phew. The passports are so beautiful they have pics of native fauna on the pages and holograms of kangaroos on the main photo page :)

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Possums - where do you fly to next week and how long for? (being nosey!)

Have to agree, I love the new passports too.. we amused ourselves for a while trying to find all the security thingys on DD's one!

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Hi we are going to the UK I am going for a few months OH just for a few weeks :eek:

I have been trying to see the security stuff too I need a special light to see them :lol:

weather much better here today jeez hasnt it been WET!

forgot to add we went to a Fawlty Towers dinner at Archers Manor last Saturday, it was hillarious they said due to positive reviews they will be coming back to do more later on, keep an eye out well worth it. There was Manuel, Basil and Sybil it was as if you were in their hotel restaurant, they did skits around us and served the food Manuel threw breadrolls and Basil chucked down dishes of soup to random people declaring SOUP! at the top of his voice. You got what you were given, the place settings were all over the place I only got spoons and OH forks :lol:

here is their website http://www.interactivetheatre.nu/html/act_faulty.htm

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Hi Effie, it'll be nice for your family to meet your daughter - i bet they cant wait... I do hope you have a great time whilst you're over. :)


Hi Kay, your dinner sounds like it was a lot of fun. My company one christmas hired a similar company to entertain us whilst we were eating our christmas meal...we had a Basil type man picking on certain people! It was very amusing and much better than the previous years "table magician's" that they'd hired.
Have you ever been to a murder mystery meal/weekend? I've always fancied one of them and it's something me and my friends have talked about many a time but none of us have ever gotten around to doing one..

Great news about the aussie passports! :thumbsup:
Andy has his new UK passport now - but as his visa is in his old one - he's disappointed that he'll need to carry both when we eventually come over to Oz.