Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

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Aug 5th 2006, 12:20 pm

#16

Mrs JFW

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by thatsnotquiteright

Very accurate. Some people really need to know this.

I find that very reassuring....I was expecting to have to share my ozzie home with an array of wildlife of the arachnoid kind

I would have planned to come to Oz years ago...but the wildlife scared me a bit...

Cheers for this Hutch, just the sort of thread I was looking for!

Aug 5th 2006, 12:33 pm

#17

CHnJ

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs JFW

I find that very reassuring....I was expecting to have to share my ozzie home with an array of wildlife of the arachnoid kind

I would have planned to come to Oz years ago...but the wildlife scared me a bit...

Cheers for this Hutch, just the sort of thread I was looking for!

The deadly stuff is still out there, but you naturally tune your apprehension down to a sensible level because you don't see any of it in your daily life. After a while you even start to appreciate some of the native wildlife. I guess it's similar to allowing a gas cooker into your home, I mean it could go faulty and leak or explode at any time but you don't waste any mental energy on it. We got someone into bug-bomb the hell out of our first rental house, but now we just keep cockie baits in dark corners (thinking about them now, they must be months out of date ... I'll stick them on the to do list tomorrow if I remember) and have a bug catcher to remove any spiders that look too big and scary.

Aug 5th 2006, 12:49 pm

#18

Mrs JFW

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHnJ

Is your bug catcher an appliance or a person?

Aug 5th 2006, 12:56 pm

#19

Bix

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs JFW

Is your bug catcher an appliance or a person?

Neither......cane toad.

Aug 5th 2006, 12:57 pm

#20

CHnJ

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs JFW

Is your bug catcher an appliance or a person?

Lol ... it was a birthday present my son got and we commandeered. It's a big perspex thingo. I quite fancy one of the things that look like an enormous pastry brush that lets you capture a spider unharmed (either of you!) then drop it in the garden, but I honestly wouldn't get enough use out of it to justify it. I got through maybe 5 cans of RAID in the first 6 months and I've had one can for about the last year and it's barely been used.

Aug 5th 2006, 1:11 pm

#21

Britishaussie

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hutch

I wish someone had explained the 'document' route to me and the order you get them in. Medicare, TFN, Centrelink, ABNs, Bank, Driving licences etc. Would have saved a few trips back and forth. It was different for me being an Ozzie citizen, but you can open a bank account with your passport (100 points of ID), which (three days later) gets you documentation with your name and address on it. Passport and bank statement got me a driving licence. Passport, citizenship certificate and bank statement got me a TFN (this was diff. for me though because I'm visa-less). Driving licence, passport, bank statement, evidence of worldly goods being shipped and DIMA receipt, got me a Medicare number. TFN (prospective, takes 28 days to come through), citizenship certificate and passport got me Centrelink'd.

I'm interested in this as I myself am a non-resident citizen (soon to be resident I hope). I hear it's more difficult to get all this than it is for visa holders and it's something that concerns me somewhat because I won't be on any systems because I left when I was 3. Do you have to have a permanent address to get all this? We will be in temporary accommodation to start with, like most people, and just wondered what the rules are.

Aug 5th 2006, 1:18 pm

#22

Jimclevs

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Location: Terrigal - NSW Central Coast since June 2005

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs Jackaroo

I wish I'd known (or believed!) exactly how cold it gets here in the winter. I would have brought all of my winter clothes with me (well not the coats but winter woolies etc and loads of warm pj's) instead of giving them all to my mum for her to carboot!

I'll second this - minus the car boot bit. This winter in NSW has been unusually cold apparently but as most of the houses appear to be good sheds with reasonable roofs I really shouldn't have been surprised

Jim

Aug 5th 2006, 1:32 pm

#23

Mrs JFW

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHnJ

I will employ hubby to be the bug catcher! he says he's not scared but I know he is. We had a huge spider in our bath once.....bloody massive it was. He was too scared to pick it up in a container so he poured bleach on it! Went from brown to white in an instant and still look about 10 minutes before it died.

Aug 5th 2006, 1:39 pm

#24

iamthecreaturefromuranus

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

That pubs are being replaced by pokie filled aircraft hangers.

Aug 5th 2006, 1:45 pm

#25

CHnJ

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs JFW

The main reason I trap or ignore bugs is the whole squashed-ikky-former-living-creature mess I'd have to deal with. Mind you, I hunted down and squished a tiny black ant that was wandering around my laptop earlier as I didn't want it getting into the gubbins. Morals are important while they're convenient, dontchathink?

<<Sorry Hutch, I've taken this a tad off topic ... I'll be good from here on in, honest.>>

Aug 5th 2006, 1:49 pm

#26

jensteve

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

I would have bought more bedding I think, seeing as they don't do tog ratings here, a high tog doona would be wonderful. Already for a venus/mars doona which is good but still not toasty warm!
Oh and more sofa's, a couple is never enough!
A huge chest freezer, they cost a bomb here for a reasonable size.

Think that is all.
Jenny

Aug 5th 2006, 1:52 pm

#27

Sleeping Beauty

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

what a great thread

<<<<<<<<note to myself>>>>>>>>

* cold, winter clothes - already sent over in the container as per my sister
telling me how cold it is
* document route - MAKE A NOTE OF THIS
* rental - already noted and prepared for some chasing
* sun - already noted and preapared for some burnt bits if we dont slip/slap/slop
* cold, bedding/duvets - already sent over in the shipping, loads of

* snakes/spiders - REMEMBER TO INFORM HUBBIE AS HE IS THE WHO IS MOST WORRIED ABOUT THIS - WUSS
* transfer cash - OMG, I THOUGHT THE BANK ROUTE WOULD BE OKAY AND WE LEAVE ON 16/8 ---------HELP--------
* cv - not done that yet, note to do
* bug catcher - can you buy them in aus, or do we have to bring one?

...............and its not descended to a bun fight yet!!!!

Aug 5th 2006, 2:22 pm

#28

CHnJ

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleeping Beauty

* bug catcher - can you buy them in aus, or do we have to bring one?

Get one from a toy shop here. It's meant for studying minibeasts.

Aug 5th 2006, 2:30 pm

#29

emu72

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Re: Things you wish you'd known before arriving in Australia..

I wish I'd known...

That 90% of posts on here are complete cr*p posted by people who
a) wouldn't admit the truth about Australia if the life of their first born child depended on it; or
b) haven't got past round 1 of the emigration process but still answer questions as if they were born and raised in Oz

And who said this wouldn't turn into a bun fight...