For those about to take the leap!
Dec 31st 2006, 2:58 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2005
Location: Rowville, Victoria
Posts: 55
For those about to take the leap!
Dear all
I'm writing this for all those people that are where my wife and I were about five or six weeks ago, that is in the UK, stressed out sitting in rented accomodation after selling our home (to an a**e who tried to drop the offer at the last moment!) saying goodbye to everyone we know and love and sending our dog off to be couriered around the globe in a big wooden box. We were plopping ourselves!
One month in and I'm typing this from a four bedroomed house that we managed to rent fully furnished (that was lucky) while being pestered by my dog who actually managed to put weight on during his travels.
I've been a silent member of this group and other similar ones for some time and a number of the postings worried me a little before we left, mainly the experiences of 'anti pom' sentiment from the locals.
My experience of 'anti pom' sentiment include us spending Christmas day with an Australian family who we had never met before after being invited by a lady in the local cafe who was appauled that we were spending Christmas day without family so insisted we spent the day with her's. They could'nt have done more to make us feel welcome. I have told this story to two expats who have been here five and two years respectivley and they have both had similar experiences!
When we moved into our property on the 15th Dec we took ourselves out to say hello to the neighbours (which took a little bit of doing for us because we really are not outward going people) and have been around to two of their house's for drinks since (and been invited to a new years eve party from some friends of their's a couple of streets back!). The local copper lives on the street and loaned me his lawnmower as we don't yet have one.
All these people are Aussie's.
Now I'm not saying that Australia is a big love in and I'm in no doubt that there are lots and lots of people that aren't like the people we have met - but I'm only telling you like we have found it.
People are very inquisitive and seem a little shocked when they realise just how much we all put ourselves through to emigrate, the most common response though is to wish you luck and I've had a couple of pointers from folk as to where to start looking for work.
As I said earlier this is aimed at people in the position we were in not so long ago ourselves -
Hope this helps.
Top tips!
Do not close your UK bank accounts (tell them your going to suck it and see for a while!) and make sure you keep a credit card, you cannot get one until you are in employment over here and they are just too useful. If you set yourself up with internet banking and leave an amount in the UK it's easily managed.
Be certain that your bank will let you transfer large sums of money if you are leaving large amounts in the UK to transfer at a later date. Most of them want you to 'drop down to the branch!' to sign for anything more than £10K!
When it comes to renting property write a covering letter explaining who you are and why you currently have no job (ie. you have just landed) and if you have never rented before state this is because you were a home owner for x number of years and offer character references in place of landlords statements. We also offered to show the agent our bank balances in the UK to prove we could cover one months rental and were willing to pay a number of months in advance to swing the deal, we never had to do this but stated in the covering note that we would be willing to.
Bring a laptop - it is a HUGE benefit when looking for property, it can cover more ground than you and you can register with all the agents for e mail updates daily. We brought one out then bought a pre-paid one month internet account with Dodo ($25 from Tandy) that let us use the laptop from the phone line in our initial rental - we also done our banking on this and used Skype (pre paid account, put £10 on via paypal and calls to landlines cost us .012£ per minute!) to call friends and family! You don't have to be a computer wizard to do this, I'm certainly not - just ask people.
And lastly but probably the most importantly - talk to people. Pass the time of day in cafes and shops, say hello to neighbours - whats the worst thing that can happen, they don't talk back.
Good luck and I wish you all the same good fortune that we have had so far (here's hoping it lasts!)
Mike & Jayne
Rowville, VIC
I'm writing this for all those people that are where my wife and I were about five or six weeks ago, that is in the UK, stressed out sitting in rented accomodation after selling our home (to an a**e who tried to drop the offer at the last moment!) saying goodbye to everyone we know and love and sending our dog off to be couriered around the globe in a big wooden box. We were plopping ourselves!
One month in and I'm typing this from a four bedroomed house that we managed to rent fully furnished (that was lucky) while being pestered by my dog who actually managed to put weight on during his travels.
I've been a silent member of this group and other similar ones for some time and a number of the postings worried me a little before we left, mainly the experiences of 'anti pom' sentiment from the locals.
My experience of 'anti pom' sentiment include us spending Christmas day with an Australian family who we had never met before after being invited by a lady in the local cafe who was appauled that we were spending Christmas day without family so insisted we spent the day with her's. They could'nt have done more to make us feel welcome. I have told this story to two expats who have been here five and two years respectivley and they have both had similar experiences!
When we moved into our property on the 15th Dec we took ourselves out to say hello to the neighbours (which took a little bit of doing for us because we really are not outward going people) and have been around to two of their house's for drinks since (and been invited to a new years eve party from some friends of their's a couple of streets back!). The local copper lives on the street and loaned me his lawnmower as we don't yet have one.
All these people are Aussie's.
Now I'm not saying that Australia is a big love in and I'm in no doubt that there are lots and lots of people that aren't like the people we have met - but I'm only telling you like we have found it.
People are very inquisitive and seem a little shocked when they realise just how much we all put ourselves through to emigrate, the most common response though is to wish you luck and I've had a couple of pointers from folk as to where to start looking for work.
As I said earlier this is aimed at people in the position we were in not so long ago ourselves -
Hope this helps.
Top tips!
Do not close your UK bank accounts (tell them your going to suck it and see for a while!) and make sure you keep a credit card, you cannot get one until you are in employment over here and they are just too useful. If you set yourself up with internet banking and leave an amount in the UK it's easily managed.
Be certain that your bank will let you transfer large sums of money if you are leaving large amounts in the UK to transfer at a later date. Most of them want you to 'drop down to the branch!' to sign for anything more than £10K!
When it comes to renting property write a covering letter explaining who you are and why you currently have no job (ie. you have just landed) and if you have never rented before state this is because you were a home owner for x number of years and offer character references in place of landlords statements. We also offered to show the agent our bank balances in the UK to prove we could cover one months rental and were willing to pay a number of months in advance to swing the deal, we never had to do this but stated in the covering note that we would be willing to.
Bring a laptop - it is a HUGE benefit when looking for property, it can cover more ground than you and you can register with all the agents for e mail updates daily. We brought one out then bought a pre-paid one month internet account with Dodo ($25 from Tandy) that let us use the laptop from the phone line in our initial rental - we also done our banking on this and used Skype (pre paid account, put £10 on via paypal and calls to landlines cost us .012£ per minute!) to call friends and family! You don't have to be a computer wizard to do this, I'm certainly not - just ask people.
And lastly but probably the most importantly - talk to people. Pass the time of day in cafes and shops, say hello to neighbours - whats the worst thing that can happen, they don't talk back.
Good luck and I wish you all the same good fortune that we have had so far (here's hoping it lasts!)
Mike & Jayne
Rowville, VIC
Dec 31st 2006, 3:08 am
#2
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,199
Re: For those about to take the leap!
hi. I enjoyed reading your post. We are in Perth and did mostly what you did. We said hello to whoever we met on our street, unfortunatley not many people seem to leave their homes as no-one is hardly seen. Alot stay indoors which i find amazing, maybe it's the weather, too hot and lazy.
But good luck on your new adventure, sounds like you are settling quite well, so Happy new year
But good luck on your new adventure, sounds like you are settling quite well, so Happy new year
Dec 31st 2006, 10:20 am
#3
I am the walrus.. face it
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: Devon, UK
Posts: 367
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Hi Mike,
Thank you for this post, it is very informative and I am glad to hear that things are working out for you over there.
We are currently well into our Visa application and are hoping to be over in Melbourne in September/October 2007, maybe sooner.
You are right in that there seems to be alot of people in this forum who are very happy to reveal every negative thing they have encountered on their great adventure, but not many of the positive things. I have no doubt that Australia most certainly isn't the land of milk and honey, but I am heartened by your comments regarding your neighbours and strangers. The UK has most certainly lost alot of its sense of community even in rural areas such as the one I live in, and I think this can only be due to having such a large population all sitting in each others laps on such a small island!
The top-tips regarding money are very useful, and I shall hopefully use them when it is our time.
Regards,
CarlosTheGerbil
Thank you for this post, it is very informative and I am glad to hear that things are working out for you over there.
We are currently well into our Visa application and are hoping to be over in Melbourne in September/October 2007, maybe sooner.
You are right in that there seems to be alot of people in this forum who are very happy to reveal every negative thing they have encountered on their great adventure, but not many of the positive things. I have no doubt that Australia most certainly isn't the land of milk and honey, but I am heartened by your comments regarding your neighbours and strangers. The UK has most certainly lost alot of its sense of community even in rural areas such as the one I live in, and I think this can only be due to having such a large population all sitting in each others laps on such a small island!
The top-tips regarding money are very useful, and I shall hopefully use them when it is our time.
Regards,
CarlosTheGerbil
Dec 31st 2006, 11:15 am
#4
In Aus and loving it!
Joined: May 2006
Location: Thornlands, Qld
Posts: 852
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Dear all
I'm writing this for all those people that are where my wife and I were about five or six weeks ago, that is in the UK, stressed out sitting in rented accomodation after selling our home (to an a**e who tried to drop the offer at the last moment!) saying goodbye to everyone we know and love and sending our dog off to be couriered around the globe in a big wooden box. We were plopping ourselves!
One month in and I'm typing this from a four bedroomed house that we managed to rent fully furnished (that was lucky) while being pestered by my dog who actually managed to put weight on during his travels.
I've been a silent member of this group and other similar ones for some time and a number of the postings worried me a little before we left, mainly the experiences of 'anti pom' sentiment from the locals.
My experience of 'anti pom' sentiment include us spending Christmas day with an Australian family who we had never met before after being invited by a lady in the local cafe who was appauled that we were spending Christmas day without family so insisted we spent the day with her's. They could'nt have done more to make us feel welcome. I have told this story to two expats who have been here five and two years respectivley and they have both had similar experiences!
When we moved into our property on the 15th Dec we took ourselves out to say hello to the neighbours (which took a little bit of doing for us because we really are not outward going people) and have been around to two of their house's for drinks since (and been invited to a new years eve party from some friends of their's a couple of streets back!). The local copper lives on the street and loaned me his lawnmower as we don't yet have one.
All these people are Aussie's.
Now I'm not saying that Australia is a big love in and I'm in no doubt that there are lots and lots of people that aren't like the people we have met - but I'm only telling you like we have found it.
People are very inquisitive and seem a little shocked when they realise just how much we all put ourselves through to emigrate, the most common response though is to wish you luck and I've had a couple of pointers from folk as to where to start looking for work.
As I said earlier this is aimed at people in the position we were in not so long ago ourselves -
Hope this helps.
Do not close your UK bank accounts (tell them your going to suck it and see for a while!) and make sure you keep a credit card, you cannot get one until you are in employment over here and they are just too useful. If you set yourself up with internet banking and leave an amount in the UK it's easily managed.
Be certain that your bank will let you transfer large sums of money if you are leaving large amounts in the UK to transfer at a later date. Most of them want you to 'drop down to the branch!' to sign for anything more than £10K!
When it comes to renting property write a covering letter explaining who you are and why you currently have no job (ie. you have just landed) and if you have never rented before state this is because you were a home owner for x number of years and offer character references in place of landlords statements. We also offered to show the agent our bank balances in the UK to prove we could cover one months rental and were willing to pay a number of months in advance to swing the deal, we never had to do this but stated in the covering note that we would be willing to.
Bring a laptop - it is a HUGE benefit when looking for property, it can cover more ground than you and you can register with all the agents for e mail updates daily. We brought one out then bought a pre-paid one month internet account with Dodo ($25 from Tandy) that let us use the laptop from the phone line in our initial rental - we also done our banking on this and used Skype (pre paid account, put £10 on via paypal and calls to landlines cost us .012£ per minute!) to call friends and family! You don't have to be a computer wizard to do this, I'm certainly not - just ask people.
And lastly but probably the most importantly - talk to people. Pass the time of day in cafes and shops, say hello to neighbours - whats the worst thing that can happen, they don't talk back.
Good luck and I wish you all the same good fortune that we have had so far (here's hoping it lasts!)
Mike & Jayne
Rowville, VIC
I'm writing this for all those people that are where my wife and I were about five or six weeks ago, that is in the UK, stressed out sitting in rented accomodation after selling our home (to an a**e who tried to drop the offer at the last moment!) saying goodbye to everyone we know and love and sending our dog off to be couriered around the globe in a big wooden box. We were plopping ourselves!
One month in and I'm typing this from a four bedroomed house that we managed to rent fully furnished (that was lucky) while being pestered by my dog who actually managed to put weight on during his travels.
I've been a silent member of this group and other similar ones for some time and a number of the postings worried me a little before we left, mainly the experiences of 'anti pom' sentiment from the locals.
My experience of 'anti pom' sentiment include us spending Christmas day with an Australian family who we had never met before after being invited by a lady in the local cafe who was appauled that we were spending Christmas day without family so insisted we spent the day with her's. They could'nt have done more to make us feel welcome. I have told this story to two expats who have been here five and two years respectivley and they have both had similar experiences!
When we moved into our property on the 15th Dec we took ourselves out to say hello to the neighbours (which took a little bit of doing for us because we really are not outward going people) and have been around to two of their house's for drinks since (and been invited to a new years eve party from some friends of their's a couple of streets back!). The local copper lives on the street and loaned me his lawnmower as we don't yet have one.
All these people are Aussie's.
Now I'm not saying that Australia is a big love in and I'm in no doubt that there are lots and lots of people that aren't like the people we have met - but I'm only telling you like we have found it.
People are very inquisitive and seem a little shocked when they realise just how much we all put ourselves through to emigrate, the most common response though is to wish you luck and I've had a couple of pointers from folk as to where to start looking for work.
As I said earlier this is aimed at people in the position we were in not so long ago ourselves -
Hope this helps.
Do not close your UK bank accounts (tell them your going to suck it and see for a while!) and make sure you keep a credit card, you cannot get one until you are in employment over here and they are just too useful. If you set yourself up with internet banking and leave an amount in the UK it's easily managed.
Be certain that your bank will let you transfer large sums of money if you are leaving large amounts in the UK to transfer at a later date. Most of them want you to 'drop down to the branch!' to sign for anything more than £10K!
When it comes to renting property write a covering letter explaining who you are and why you currently have no job (ie. you have just landed) and if you have never rented before state this is because you were a home owner for x number of years and offer character references in place of landlords statements. We also offered to show the agent our bank balances in the UK to prove we could cover one months rental and were willing to pay a number of months in advance to swing the deal, we never had to do this but stated in the covering note that we would be willing to.
Bring a laptop - it is a HUGE benefit when looking for property, it can cover more ground than you and you can register with all the agents for e mail updates daily. We brought one out then bought a pre-paid one month internet account with Dodo ($25 from Tandy) that let us use the laptop from the phone line in our initial rental - we also done our banking on this and used Skype (pre paid account, put £10 on via paypal and calls to landlines cost us .012£ per minute!) to call friends and family! You don't have to be a computer wizard to do this, I'm certainly not - just ask people.
And lastly but probably the most importantly - talk to people. Pass the time of day in cafes and shops, say hello to neighbours - whats the worst thing that can happen, they don't talk back.
Good luck and I wish you all the same good fortune that we have had so far (here's hoping it lasts!)
Mike & Jayne
Rowville, VIC
Just wanted to say thanks for the tips. We are hoping to be off to Brisbane in August so your advice will be very useful.
Thanks again and hope your experiences just get better and better.
Vikki
Dec 31st 2006, 11:42 am
#5
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 196
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Thanks for the advice, I think I'm going to need it soon. Adelaide bound in February, just waiting on the house sale to complete.......and praying I don't have the trouble you guy's had with your buyers!
Dec 31st 2006, 11:53 am
#6
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: From Scotland to Brisbane
Posts: 1,604
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Hi Mike Thanks for sharing. A good read and so glad you have found things mainly positive. What we are going through can feel so daunting at times it is good to hear other folks experiences. Keep up the good work and best wishes with what comes next for you and yours Happy New Year from a cold and grey Scotland Donna & Neil
Happy New Year from a cold and grey Scotland Donna & Neil
Dec 31st 2006, 11:55 am
#7
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Posts: 316
Re: For those about to take the leap!
To the intial Poster Mike
Thankyou for the superb post throughly enjoyed reading it and hearing your experiences - can certainly say you could feel the heart and soul you had put into it! !! We are currently in the stages of doing Meds and Police checks, which we have had to put on hold till April when our 2nd baby is born! Therefore we will be moving Brisbane way in late 2007 hopefully! The thought is scaring me to death...as Im going to have to get a job and support a young family almost immediately!!! In fact many a time Ive thought of giving the dream up...but then posts like this give us the boost we need!!
Agree totally with carlos the Gerbil!! I live in a nice rural village just outside Harrogate, people just do not have the time of day for anyone...dont get me wrong there are some pleasant people about who are friendly but I dont think it really compares. I went to Warner Brothers Theme Park on the Gold Coast in August and the woman selling the ice cream in a shope there actually asked us "hows your holiday going..etc etc..and was generally interested and really friendly....two months before we had been to Lightwater Valley in England and in the identical situation were mase to feel like we were an inconvienience! In fact we were tutted for daring to buy something!!! then the change was almost thrown back at us!! Hopefully now Mike youve caught the posting bug...it will be the first of many updates....all the best....live the dream!!
Thankyou for the superb post throughly enjoyed reading it and hearing your experiences - can certainly say you could feel the heart and soul you had put into it! !! We are currently in the stages of doing Meds and Police checks, which we have had to put on hold till April when our 2nd baby is born! Therefore we will be moving Brisbane way in late 2007 hopefully! The thought is scaring me to death...as Im going to have to get a job and support a young family almost immediately!!! In fact many a time Ive thought of giving the dream up...but then posts like this give us the boost we need!!
Agree totally with carlos the Gerbil!! I live in a nice rural village just outside Harrogate, people just do not have the time of day for anyone...dont get me wrong there are some pleasant people about who are friendly but I dont think it really compares. I went to Warner Brothers Theme Park on the Gold Coast in August and the woman selling the ice cream in a shope there actually asked us "hows your holiday going..etc etc..and was generally interested and really friendly....two months before we had been to Lightwater Valley in England and in the identical situation were mase to feel like we were an inconvienience! In fact we were tutted for daring to buy something!!! then the change was almost thrown back at us!! Hopefully now Mike youve caught the posting bug...it will be the first of many updates....all the best....live the dream!!
Dec 31st 2006, 12:02 pm
#8
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Dear all
I'm writing this for all those people that are where my wife and I were about five or six weeks ago, that is in the UK, stressed out sitting in rented accomodation after selling our home (to an a**e who tried to drop the offer at the last moment!) saying goodbye to everyone we know and love and sending our dog off to be couriered around the globe in a big wooden box. We were plopping ourselves!
One month in and I'm typing this from a four bedroomed house that we managed to rent fully furnished (that was lucky) while being pestered by my dog who actually managed to put weight on during his travels.
I've been a silent member of this group and other similar ones for some time and a number of the postings worried me a little before we left, mainly the experiences of 'anti pom' sentiment from the locals.
My experience of 'anti pom' sentiment include us spending Christmas day with an Australian family who we had never met before after being invited by a lady in the local cafe who was appauled that we were spending Christmas day without family so insisted we spent the day with her's. They could'nt have done more to make us feel welcome. I have told this story to two expats who have been here five and two years respectivley and they have both had similar experiences!
When we moved into our property on the 15th Dec we took ourselves out to say hello to the neighbours (which took a little bit of doing for us because we really are not outward going people) and have been around to two of their house's for drinks since (and been invited to a new years eve party from some friends of their's a couple of streets back!). The local copper lives on the street and loaned me his lawnmower as we don't yet have one.
All these people are Aussie's.
Now I'm not saying that Australia is a big love in and I'm in no doubt that there are lots and lots of people that aren't like the people we have met - but I'm only telling you like we have found it.
People are very inquisitive and seem a little shocked when they realise just how much we all put ourselves through to emigrate, the most common response though is to wish you luck and I've had a couple of pointers from folk as to where to start looking for work.
As I said earlier this is aimed at people in the position we were in not so long ago ourselves -
Hope this helps.
Top tips!
Do not close your UK bank accounts (tell them your going to suck it and see for a while!) and make sure you keep a credit card, you cannot get one until you are in employment over here and they are just too useful. If you set yourself up with internet banking and leave an amount in the UK it's easily managed.
Be certain that your bank will let you transfer large sums of money if you are leaving large amounts in the UK to transfer at a later date. Most of them want you to 'drop down to the branch!' to sign for anything more than £10K!
When it comes to renting property write a covering letter explaining who you are and why you currently have no job (ie. you have just landed) and if you have never rented before state this is because you were a home owner for x number of years and offer character references in place of landlords statements. We also offered to show the agent our bank balances in the UK to prove we could cover one months rental and were willing to pay a number of months in advance to swing the deal, we never had to do this but stated in the covering note that we would be willing to.
Bring a laptop - it is a HUGE benefit when looking for property, it can cover more ground than you and you can register with all the agents for e mail updates daily. We brought one out then bought a pre-paid one month internet account with Dodo ($25 from Tandy) that let us use the laptop from the phone line in our initial rental - we also done our banking on this and used Skype (pre paid account, put £10 on via paypal and calls to landlines cost us .012£ per minute!) to call friends and family! You don't have to be a computer wizard to do this, I'm certainly not - just ask people.
And lastly but probably the most importantly - talk to people. Pass the time of day in cafes and shops, say hello to neighbours - whats the worst thing that can happen, they don't talk back.
Good luck and I wish you all the same good fortune that we have had so far (here's hoping it lasts!)
Mike & Jayne
Rowville, VIC
I'm writing this for all those people that are where my wife and I were about five or six weeks ago, that is in the UK, stressed out sitting in rented accomodation after selling our home (to an a**e who tried to drop the offer at the last moment!) saying goodbye to everyone we know and love and sending our dog off to be couriered around the globe in a big wooden box. We were plopping ourselves!
One month in and I'm typing this from a four bedroomed house that we managed to rent fully furnished (that was lucky) while being pestered by my dog who actually managed to put weight on during his travels.
I've been a silent member of this group and other similar ones for some time and a number of the postings worried me a little before we left, mainly the experiences of 'anti pom' sentiment from the locals.
My experience of 'anti pom' sentiment include us spending Christmas day with an Australian family who we had never met before after being invited by a lady in the local cafe who was appauled that we were spending Christmas day without family so insisted we spent the day with her's. They could'nt have done more to make us feel welcome. I have told this story to two expats who have been here five and two years respectivley and they have both had similar experiences!
When we moved into our property on the 15th Dec we took ourselves out to say hello to the neighbours (which took a little bit of doing for us because we really are not outward going people) and have been around to two of their house's for drinks since (and been invited to a new years eve party from some friends of their's a couple of streets back!). The local copper lives on the street and loaned me his lawnmower as we don't yet have one.
All these people are Aussie's.
Now I'm not saying that Australia is a big love in and I'm in no doubt that there are lots and lots of people that aren't like the people we have met - but I'm only telling you like we have found it.
People are very inquisitive and seem a little shocked when they realise just how much we all put ourselves through to emigrate, the most common response though is to wish you luck and I've had a couple of pointers from folk as to where to start looking for work.
As I said earlier this is aimed at people in the position we were in not so long ago ourselves -
Hope this helps.
Top tips!
Do not close your UK bank accounts (tell them your going to suck it and see for a while!) and make sure you keep a credit card, you cannot get one until you are in employment over here and they are just too useful. If you set yourself up with internet banking and leave an amount in the UK it's easily managed.
Be certain that your bank will let you transfer large sums of money if you are leaving large amounts in the UK to transfer at a later date. Most of them want you to 'drop down to the branch!' to sign for anything more than £10K!
When it comes to renting property write a covering letter explaining who you are and why you currently have no job (ie. you have just landed) and if you have never rented before state this is because you were a home owner for x number of years and offer character references in place of landlords statements. We also offered to show the agent our bank balances in the UK to prove we could cover one months rental and were willing to pay a number of months in advance to swing the deal, we never had to do this but stated in the covering note that we would be willing to.
Bring a laptop - it is a HUGE benefit when looking for property, it can cover more ground than you and you can register with all the agents for e mail updates daily. We brought one out then bought a pre-paid one month internet account with Dodo ($25 from Tandy) that let us use the laptop from the phone line in our initial rental - we also done our banking on this and used Skype (pre paid account, put £10 on via paypal and calls to landlines cost us .012£ per minute!) to call friends and family! You don't have to be a computer wizard to do this, I'm certainly not - just ask people.
And lastly but probably the most importantly - talk to people. Pass the time of day in cafes and shops, say hello to neighbours - whats the worst thing that can happen, they don't talk back.
Good luck and I wish you all the same good fortune that we have had so far (here's hoping it lasts!)
Mike & Jayne
Rowville, VIC
So nice to hear from you, what a great post.
We've been here just short of six months now and I've had a really good reception from the Aussies as well. We have been welcomed by all our neighbours, invited to BBQ's, even got Xmas cards from most of them (all except two, one an English couple
who live across the street and another who is Japanese).We love it here as well. Here's to many happy years here for us both
Happy New Year
Dec 31st 2006, 1:44 pm
#9
so far so good
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: sunshine coast at last!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posts: 1,011
Re: For those about to take the leap!
mike & jayne
great post, just what we needed, visited the mbthuk forum for the first time yesterday and went to bed thinking OH MY GOD!!!!!. so thanks
hope you continue to enjoy.
tracey & steve x
great post, just what we needed, visited the mbthuk forum for the first time yesterday and went to bed thinking OH MY GOD!!!!!. so thanks
hope you continue to enjoy.
tracey & steve x
Dec 31st 2006, 2:25 pm
#10
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: Rockingham, Perth
Posts: 113
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Hi Mike
waht an excellent post, we are in the same boat as you were,,,waiting for the off,,,nervously twiddling our thumbs.
cant wait to get to Perth now,,got the shippers coming in Feb moving into Holiday Inn for three weeks in march, a month visiting in-laws in south africa then perth bound for may.
lots of usefull tips especially like the reference tip, have some karma for that one.
mick
waht an excellent post, we are in the same boat as you were,,,waiting for the off,,,nervously twiddling our thumbs.
cant wait to get to Perth now,,got the shippers coming in Feb moving into Holiday Inn for three weeks in march, a month visiting in-laws in south africa then perth bound for may.
lots of usefull tips especially like the reference tip, have some karma for that one.
mick
Dec 31st 2006, 3:42 pm
#11
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2004
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 1,090
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Mike and Jayne,just wanted to say what a great post.We're just off now on our new years bash and am just about to sign off. Nice to see such a positive post to end the year on. Good luck to all of you in 2007
Dec 31st 2006, 4:08 pm
#12
HUN skelper
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Happy in a country town, miles from the Jungle
Posts: 144
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Cheers for the great post, nice to see real advice all the best .Happy New Year
M&M
M&M
Dec 31st 2006, 5:49 pm
#13
Marie
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Thornlands, Brisbane
Posts: 83
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Thanks for your positive post, good of you to spend the time to inform us of your first few weeks. Good luck in 2007, keep your positive, friendly attitude going and I am sure you will be just fine.
Dec 31st 2006, 6:54 pm
#14
Down under NOW ye ha
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Forestlake Brisbane
Posts: 47
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Thanks mike for the great post we are sitting in our empty house on deck chairs in England, as we move out on Friday the 5th and fly the following week to Brisbane it all feels unreal and we are excited and nervous, nice to see that people on here take the time to offer advice, hopefully this next week wont drag on to long, I would just like to say all the best to every one and good luck for all you lot in the same boat as us or on there way to it
thanks again Joe n Karen
thanks again Joe n Karen
Dec 31st 2006, 10:03 pm
#15
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2005
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 263
Re: For those about to take the leap!
Dear all
I'm writing this for all those people that are where my wife and I were about five or six weeks ago, that is in the UK, stressed out sitting in rented accomodation after selling our home (to an a**e who tried to drop the offer at the last moment!) saying goodbye to everyone we know and love and sending our dog off to be couriered around the globe in a big wooden box. We were plopping ourselves!
One month in and I'm typing this from a four bedroomed house that we managed to rent fully furnished (that was lucky) while being pestered by my dog who actually managed to put weight on during his travels.
I've been a silent member of this group and other similar ones for some time and a number of the postings worried me a little before we left, mainly the experiences of 'anti pom' sentiment from the locals.
My experience of 'anti pom' sentiment include us spending Christmas day with an Australian family who we had never met before after being invited by a lady in the local cafe who was appauled that we were spending Christmas day without family so insisted we spent the day with her's. They could'nt have done more to make us feel welcome. I have told this story to two expats who have been here five and two years respectivley and they have both had similar experiences!
When we moved into our property on the 15th Dec we took ourselves out to say hello to the neighbours (which took a little bit of doing for us because we really are not outward going people) and have been around to two of their house's for drinks since (and been invited to a new years eve party from some friends of their's a couple of streets back!). The local copper lives on the street and loaned me his lawnmower as we don't yet have one.
All these people are Aussie's.
Now I'm not saying that Australia is a big love in and I'm in no doubt that there are lots and lots of people that aren't like the people we have met - but I'm only telling you like we have found it.
People are very inquisitive and seem a little shocked when they realise just how much we all put ourselves through to emigrate, the most common response though is to wish you luck and I've had a couple of pointers from folk as to where to start looking for work.
As I said earlier this is aimed at people in the position we were in not so long ago ourselves -
Hope this helps.
Top tips!
Do not close your UK bank accounts (tell them your going to suck it and see for a while!) and make sure you keep a credit card, you cannot get one until you are in employment over here and they are just too useful. If you set yourself up with internet banking and leave an amount in the UK it's easily managed.
Be certain that your bank will let you transfer large sums of money if you are leaving large amounts in the UK to transfer at a later date. Most of them want you to 'drop down to the branch!' to sign for anything more than £10K!
When it comes to renting property write a covering letter explaining who you are and why you currently have no job (ie. you have just landed) and if you have never rented before state this is because you were a home owner for x number of years and offer character references in place of landlords statements. We also offered to show the agent our bank balances in the UK to prove we could cover one months rental and were willing to pay a number of months in advance to swing the deal, we never had to do this but stated in the covering note that we would be willing to.
Bring a laptop - it is a HUGE benefit when looking for property, it can cover more ground than you and you can register with all the agents for e mail updates daily. We brought one out then bought a pre-paid one month internet account with Dodo ($25 from Tandy) that let us use the laptop from the phone line in our initial rental - we also done our banking on this and used Skype (pre paid account, put £10 on via paypal and calls to landlines cost us .012£ per minute!) to call friends and family! You don't have to be a computer wizard to do this, I'm certainly not - just ask people.
And lastly but probably the most importantly - talk to people. Pass the time of day in cafes and shops, say hello to neighbours - whats the worst thing that can happen, they don't talk back.
Good luck and I wish you all the same good fortune that we have had so far (here's hoping it lasts!)
Mike & Jayne
Rowville, VIC
I'm writing this for all those people that are where my wife and I were about five or six weeks ago, that is in the UK, stressed out sitting in rented accomodation after selling our home (to an a**e who tried to drop the offer at the last moment!) saying goodbye to everyone we know and love and sending our dog off to be couriered around the globe in a big wooden box. We were plopping ourselves!
One month in and I'm typing this from a four bedroomed house that we managed to rent fully furnished (that was lucky) while being pestered by my dog who actually managed to put weight on during his travels.
I've been a silent member of this group and other similar ones for some time and a number of the postings worried me a little before we left, mainly the experiences of 'anti pom' sentiment from the locals.
My experience of 'anti pom' sentiment include us spending Christmas day with an Australian family who we had never met before after being invited by a lady in the local cafe who was appauled that we were spending Christmas day without family so insisted we spent the day with her's. They could'nt have done more to make us feel welcome. I have told this story to two expats who have been here five and two years respectivley and they have both had similar experiences!
When we moved into our property on the 15th Dec we took ourselves out to say hello to the neighbours (which took a little bit of doing for us because we really are not outward going people) and have been around to two of their house's for drinks since (and been invited to a new years eve party from some friends of their's a couple of streets back!). The local copper lives on the street and loaned me his lawnmower as we don't yet have one.
All these people are Aussie's.
Now I'm not saying that Australia is a big love in and I'm in no doubt that there are lots and lots of people that aren't like the people we have met - but I'm only telling you like we have found it.
People are very inquisitive and seem a little shocked when they realise just how much we all put ourselves through to emigrate, the most common response though is to wish you luck and I've had a couple of pointers from folk as to where to start looking for work.
As I said earlier this is aimed at people in the position we were in not so long ago ourselves -
Hope this helps.
Top tips!
Do not close your UK bank accounts (tell them your going to suck it and see for a while!) and make sure you keep a credit card, you cannot get one until you are in employment over here and they are just too useful. If you set yourself up with internet banking and leave an amount in the UK it's easily managed.
Be certain that your bank will let you transfer large sums of money if you are leaving large amounts in the UK to transfer at a later date. Most of them want you to 'drop down to the branch!' to sign for anything more than £10K!
When it comes to renting property write a covering letter explaining who you are and why you currently have no job (ie. you have just landed) and if you have never rented before state this is because you were a home owner for x number of years and offer character references in place of landlords statements. We also offered to show the agent our bank balances in the UK to prove we could cover one months rental and were willing to pay a number of months in advance to swing the deal, we never had to do this but stated in the covering note that we would be willing to.
Bring a laptop - it is a HUGE benefit when looking for property, it can cover more ground than you and you can register with all the agents for e mail updates daily. We brought one out then bought a pre-paid one month internet account with Dodo ($25 from Tandy) that let us use the laptop from the phone line in our initial rental - we also done our banking on this and used Skype (pre paid account, put £10 on via paypal and calls to landlines cost us .012£ per minute!) to call friends and family! You don't have to be a computer wizard to do this, I'm certainly not - just ask people.
And lastly but probably the most importantly - talk to people. Pass the time of day in cafes and shops, say hello to neighbours - whats the worst thing that can happen, they don't talk back.
Good luck and I wish you all the same good fortune that we have had so far (here's hoping it lasts!)
Mike & Jayne
Rowville, VIC
Hi Mike and Jayne
Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to post such a positive thread - really brought a smile to my face reading it. We are at same point you were.......kacking ourselves!!!! Off to perth 29th April, furniture going in 8 weeks and dog going 2 weeks before we do!!!!
I'm really glad to hear that everything is going so well for you and that its turning out to be everything you will have hoped it would be and keeping my fingers crossed that we too are lucky enough to find ourselves to be feeling as happy and fortunate as you are now.
thanks again
Nikki
