UPDATE: 5 months in!
Oct 23rd 2006, 5:37 am
#16
visa holder
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Thornlands, Bayside
Posts: 1,964
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Great post, glad everythings working well for you. Fab pics.
Look forward to the next update.
Joex
Look forward to the next update.
Joex
Oct 23rd 2006, 6:19 am
#17
Where I want to be
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: In my own head
Posts: 3,220
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Hi
Really pleased for you that everything is going sooo well.
21 kilos weight is an amazing amount - well done to the both of you.
We are flying out to Perth on the 2nd Nov and I just hope things go as well for us as they have for you.
Take care, may you go from strength to strength
Shirley x
Really pleased for you that everything is going sooo well.
21 kilos weight is an amazing amount - well done to the both of you.
We are flying out to Perth on the 2nd Nov and I just hope things go as well for us as they have for you.
Take care, may you go from strength to strength
Shirley x
Oct 23rd 2006, 7:31 am
#18
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: ASHBY, Perth.
Posts: 675
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Originally Posted by Jonahs_mummy
I had a PM the other day from Professional Princess wondering why I hadn’t written an update of our new lives. Well here you are, a short abridged version of the past 5 months on the beautiful Gold Coast…
Our flight from the UK to Singapore was great. The staff on the Singapore Airlines flight were lovely and thoughtful (as they have been everytime we have flown with them) and the journey was pretty smooth. We had a few hours to kill in Changi, so luckily they gave us Suzy’s pushchair back to make it a little easier. The flight on to Brisbane was okay apart from some turbulence, and Jonah throwing up all over Steve LOL. The only issues really were that Singapore Airlines “forgot” to put the pushchair back on the flight DOH (we got it back 24 hrs later)… oh and the sniffer dogs at baggage collection picked out one of our bags for no reason at all (apart from it had a 12 pack of Monster Munch in it for Chef101 LOL) but they were nice & let us go thru.
With the amount of luggage we had (7 kilos under our double allowance!) the Customs/Quarantine guys actually helped us push the trolleys thru the crowd of people. And a HUGE thanks goes out to Pollyanna for the advice of making a list of all “declarable stuff” in your luggage. We gave this list to the officials & they laughed and said would you like us to help you push the trolleys thru to the Arrival Hall!!! (we agreed of course)…… Mum and the family were there to meet us with a bottle of bubbly! We had arrived at last!
Mum had organised a house for us & part furnished it too, so we actually got to sleep in our own ‘new’ beds that night. It was great to actually wake up in my new home. It’s lovely BTW! (pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56984864@N00/)
We took it easy for the first 4 or 5 weeks whilst we got settled and did all the important things (centrelink, medicare, register with doctors, dentists, etc… got kids in kindy, etc). Steve actually was offered the 3rd job he applied for and is still there, working for the Woolworths Group in a hotel/motel as asst head chef. He is currently waiting for the verdict on an interview he went for in a larger kitchen (more money WOOHOO!)
As most of you know, I had set up a business with my mum helping people just like us when they arrive on the Gold Coast, etc, and so I got on with that pretty quickly, and also got busy pretty quickly! As well as that I started my own web & logo design business to make a bit of extra cash for myself and was surprised how fast that has taken off too. I am currently snowed under with work from both businesses!
We have both made loads of friends too, surprisingly though we haven’t really seen or talked to many people from BE except for TimberFloorAU, The Muppets, Jane&RussMiddleton, 68Mevy, Moneypen, coast101 and connollys_home…. Our friends seem to be Aussie, Kiwi & Malay. It’s really surprising as I had a vision of all the BE people just teaming up together! I am sure we will be able to catch up soon though as I am determined to get to a meet up. The pacific pines one is the same night as my future sister-in-laws hen night so I cannot go to that one. (sorry Soapy!)
Since we have arrived we have both been watching what we eat, and between us have lost a whopping 21 kilos! I would sooooooooooo recommend this way of life to anyone & everyone. I have never eaten as well in my life, but healthily which is surprising for me… the EX-kebab queen of the north of England! LOL
The kids are in kindy now; Jonah is in fulltime, and Suzy goes 4 days a week. It is great for them both… they are coming on leaps & bounds… the only down side being the fact that they are picking up ever kind of illness going! Currently Suzy has bronchitis too! She is getting much better though.
Well, that’s about it from our house for the moment…. We are going to Movieworld on Halloween to the Spooky Scooby Doo night they are having!
Oh, before I forget, thanks to EVERYONE for your kind words and support over the last couple of years. You guys have really spurred us on to reach our goal! Special thanks to DollyDaydream, Professional Princess, Rooksie, Loz, Suzy, Anne4Terry, GSB, Scissors, Gravyman (and Mrs Gravyman), Jane & Russ Middleton, Coast101, Wavy Davy, Mick-12, Fraser, Robos, Anastasia Beaverhausen, Wendy, Bricky Ade, phoenixinoz, mand8002, Rabc, ub40fan… wow and so many others – sorry if I forgot anyone!
Lots of love,
Claire, Steve, Jonah & Suzy
xxxxx
Our flight from the UK to Singapore was great. The staff on the Singapore Airlines flight were lovely and thoughtful (as they have been everytime we have flown with them) and the journey was pretty smooth. We had a few hours to kill in Changi, so luckily they gave us Suzy’s pushchair back to make it a little easier. The flight on to Brisbane was okay apart from some turbulence, and Jonah throwing up all over Steve LOL. The only issues really were that Singapore Airlines “forgot” to put the pushchair back on the flight DOH (we got it back 24 hrs later)… oh and the sniffer dogs at baggage collection picked out one of our bags for no reason at all (apart from it had a 12 pack of Monster Munch in it for Chef101 LOL) but they were nice & let us go thru.
With the amount of luggage we had (7 kilos under our double allowance!) the Customs/Quarantine guys actually helped us push the trolleys thru the crowd of people. And a HUGE thanks goes out to Pollyanna for the advice of making a list of all “declarable stuff” in your luggage. We gave this list to the officials & they laughed and said would you like us to help you push the trolleys thru to the Arrival Hall!!! (we agreed of course)…… Mum and the family were there to meet us with a bottle of bubbly! We had arrived at last!
Mum had organised a house for us & part furnished it too, so we actually got to sleep in our own ‘new’ beds that night. It was great to actually wake up in my new home. It’s lovely BTW! (pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56984864@N00/)
We took it easy for the first 4 or 5 weeks whilst we got settled and did all the important things (centrelink, medicare, register with doctors, dentists, etc… got kids in kindy, etc). Steve actually was offered the 3rd job he applied for and is still there, working for the Woolworths Group in a hotel/motel as asst head chef. He is currently waiting for the verdict on an interview he went for in a larger kitchen (more money WOOHOO!)
As most of you know, I had set up a business with my mum helping people just like us when they arrive on the Gold Coast, etc, and so I got on with that pretty quickly, and also got busy pretty quickly! As well as that I started my own web & logo design business to make a bit of extra cash for myself and was surprised how fast that has taken off too. I am currently snowed under with work from both businesses!
We have both made loads of friends too, surprisingly though we haven’t really seen or talked to many people from BE except for TimberFloorAU, The Muppets, Jane&RussMiddleton, 68Mevy, Moneypen, coast101 and connollys_home…. Our friends seem to be Aussie, Kiwi & Malay. It’s really surprising as I had a vision of all the BE people just teaming up together! I am sure we will be able to catch up soon though as I am determined to get to a meet up. The pacific pines one is the same night as my future sister-in-laws hen night so I cannot go to that one. (sorry Soapy!)
Since we have arrived we have both been watching what we eat, and between us have lost a whopping 21 kilos! I would sooooooooooo recommend this way of life to anyone & everyone. I have never eaten as well in my life, but healthily which is surprising for me… the EX-kebab queen of the north of England! LOL
The kids are in kindy now; Jonah is in fulltime, and Suzy goes 4 days a week. It is great for them both… they are coming on leaps & bounds… the only down side being the fact that they are picking up ever kind of illness going! Currently Suzy has bronchitis too! She is getting much better though.
Well, that’s about it from our house for the moment…. We are going to Movieworld on Halloween to the Spooky Scooby Doo night they are having!
Oh, before I forget, thanks to EVERYONE for your kind words and support over the last couple of years. You guys have really spurred us on to reach our goal! Special thanks to DollyDaydream, Professional Princess, Rooksie, Loz, Suzy, Anne4Terry, GSB, Scissors, Gravyman (and Mrs Gravyman), Jane & Russ Middleton, Coast101, Wavy Davy, Mick-12, Fraser, Robos, Anastasia Beaverhausen, Wendy, Bricky Ade, phoenixinoz, mand8002, Rabc, ub40fan… wow and so many others – sorry if I forgot anyone!
Lots of love,
Claire, Steve, Jonah & Suzy
xxxxx
sounds like you got things sorted. cool
just wondering what is it like for chef work is there many head chef jobs around.and what kind of money are chefs getting?? as we hope to be comeing over next year if all goes well with the medicals. weare going to perth and will be looking for a head chef job fingers crossed
all the best
Dave
Oct 23rd 2006, 8:26 am
#19
Suzy's Mummy too!
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Gold Coast!
Posts: 4,231
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Originally Posted by mad.chef
hello all
sounds like you got things sorted. cool
just wondering what is it like for chef work is there many head chef jobs around.and what kind of money are chefs getting?? as we hope to be comeing over next year if all goes well with the medicals. weare going to perth and will be looking for a head chef job fingers crossed
all the best
Dave
sounds like you got things sorted. cool
just wondering what is it like for chef work is there many head chef jobs around.and what kind of money are chefs getting?? as we hope to be comeing over next year if all goes well with the medicals. weare going to perth and will be looking for a head chef job fingers crossed
all the best
Dave
Oct 23rd 2006, 8:28 am
#20
Suzy's Mummy too!
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Gold Coast!
Posts: 4,231
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Originally Posted by iPom
Nice post Claire. Glad you're all doing so well and am seriously impressed with the weight loss. Nice pics. 
Originally Posted by seasprite
OOh you beat me to it! Well done with the weight loss! Feels great doesn't it. Good to read how well you have done, thanks.
Originally Posted by ub40fan
Hi
Really pleased for you that everything is going sooo well.
21 kilos weight is an amazing amount - well done to the both of you.
We are flying out to Perth on the 2nd Nov and I just hope things go as well for us as they have for you.
Take care, may you go from strength to strength
Shirley x
Really pleased for you that everything is going sooo well.
21 kilos weight is an amazing amount - well done to the both of you.
We are flying out to Perth on the 2nd Nov and I just hope things go as well for us as they have for you.
Take care, may you go from strength to strength
Shirley x
(Which is a long way away too! lol)
Oct 23rd 2006, 8:30 am
#21
Suzy's Mummy too!
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Gold Coast!
Posts: 4,231
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Originally Posted by Professional Princess
I find it comforting to hear how well you are doing.
We are quite worried Abdel wont get a job when we get there and its nice to hear you have done so well and encouraging as well.
We are quite worried Abdel wont get a job when we get there and its nice to hear you have done so well and encouraging as well.
Every week there are so many Chefs jobs advertised every week hunny, for casual, perm and agency work. HE will have no problems at all.
Claire
Oct 23rd 2006, 8:53 pm
#22
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: ASHBY, Perth.
Posts: 675
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Originally Posted by Jonahs_mummy
Stop flipping worrying! LOL
Every week there are so many Chefs jobs advertised every week hunny, for casual, perm and agency work. HE will have no problems at all.
Claire
Every week there are so many Chefs jobs advertised every week hunny, for casual, perm and agency work. HE will have no problems at all.
Claire
Dave
Oct 23rd 2006, 9:36 pm
#23
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Leicester (now Perth)
Posts: 261
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
So glad to hear things are going well for you all.
We too are settling in well in Perth, we came out about the same time as you.
Good luck and keep us posted.
We too are settling in well in Perth, we came out about the same time as you.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Oct 23rd 2006, 10:38 pm
#24
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2005
Location: London
Posts: 239
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Well done Claire
you are making a great job of settling and raising your family in Australia. Hope it continues to be so positive for you.
We are still waiting to be assigned a case officer and as I write its lashing raining and grey in South East London - cant wait to get to Melbourne - although I dont think I will be as efficent as you!
Love to the family
Louise
you are making a great job of settling and raising your family in Australia. Hope it continues to be so positive for you.
We are still waiting to be assigned a case officer and as I write its lashing raining and grey in South East London - cant wait to get to Melbourne - although I dont think I will be as efficent as you!
Love to the family
Louise
Oct 23rd 2006, 11:39 pm
#25
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 2,389
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Claire
great to have followed your posts through your visa process to now. So pleased to see you have made it and its all working out for you.
good luck for the future
Helen
great to have followed your posts through your visa process to now. So pleased to see you have made it and its all working out for you.
good luck for the future
Helen
Oct 23rd 2006, 11:44 pm
#26
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,918
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
Originally Posted by Jonahs_mummy
I had a PM the other day from Professional Princess wondering why I hadn’t written an update of our new lives. Well here you are, a short abridged version of the past 5 months on the beautiful Gold Coast…
Our flight from the UK to Singapore was great. The staff on the Singapore Airlines flight were lovely and thoughtful (as they have been everytime we have flown with them) and the journey was pretty smooth. We had a few hours to kill in Changi, so luckily they gave us Suzy’s pushchair back to make it a little easier. The flight on to Brisbane was okay apart from some turbulence, and Jonah throwing up all over Steve LOL. The only issues really were that Singapore Airlines “forgot” to put the pushchair back on the flight DOH (we got it back 24 hrs later)… oh and the sniffer dogs at baggage collection picked out one of our bags for no reason at all (apart from it had a 12 pack of Monster Munch in it for Chef101 LOL) but they were nice & let us go thru.
With the amount of luggage we had (7 kilos under our double allowance!) the Customs/Quarantine guys actually helped us push the trolleys thru the crowd of people. And a HUGE thanks goes out to Pollyanna for the advice of making a list of all “declarable stuff” in your luggage. We gave this list to the officials & they laughed and said would you like us to help you push the trolleys thru to the Arrival Hall!!! (we agreed of course)…… Mum and the family were there to meet us with a bottle of bubbly! We had arrived at last!
Mum had organised a house for us & part furnished it too, so we actually got to sleep in our own ‘new’ beds that night. It was great to actually wake up in my new home. It’s lovely BTW! (pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56984864@N00/)
We took it easy for the first 4 or 5 weeks whilst we got settled and did all the important things (centrelink, medicare, register with doctors, dentists, etc… got kids in kindy, etc). Steve actually was offered the 3rd job he applied for and is still there, working for the Woolworths Group in a hotel/motel as asst head chef. He is currently waiting for the verdict on an interview he went for in a larger kitchen (more money WOOHOO!)
As most of you know, I had set up a business with my mum helping people just like us when they arrive on the Gold Coast, etc, and so I got on with that pretty quickly, and also got busy pretty quickly! As well as that I started my own web & logo design business to make a bit of extra cash for myself and was surprised how fast that has taken off too. I am currently snowed under with work from both businesses!
We have both made loads of friends too, surprisingly though we haven’t really seen or talked to many people from BE except for TimberFloorAU, The Muppets, Jane&RussMiddleton, 68Mevy, Moneypen, coast101 and connollys_home…. Our friends seem to be Aussie, Kiwi & Malay. It’s really surprising as I had a vision of all the BE people just teaming up together! I am sure we will be able to catch up soon though as I am determined to get to a meet up. The pacific pines one is the same night as my future sister-in-laws hen night so I cannot go to that one. (sorry Soapy!)
Since we have arrived we have both been watching what we eat, and between us have lost a whopping 21 kilos! I would sooooooooooo recommend this way of life to anyone & everyone. I have never eaten as well in my life, but healthily which is surprising for me… the EX-kebab queen of the north of England! LOL
The kids are in kindy now; Jonah is in fulltime, and Suzy goes 4 days a week. It is great for them both… they are coming on leaps & bounds… the only down side being the fact that they are picking up ever kind of illness going! Currently Suzy has bronchitis too! She is getting much better though.
Well, that’s about it from our house for the moment…. We are going to Movieworld on Halloween to the Spooky Scooby Doo night they are having!
Oh, before I forget, thanks to EVERYONE for your kind words and support over the last couple of years. You guys have really spurred us on to reach our goal! Special thanks to DollyDaydream, Professional Princess, Rooksie, Loz, Suzy, Anne4Terry, GSB, Scissors, Gravyman (and Mrs Gravyman), Jane & Russ Middleton, Coast101, Wavy Davy, Mick-12, Fraser, Robos, Anastasia Beaverhausen, Wendy, Bricky Ade, phoenixinoz, mand8002, Rabc, ub40fan… wow and so many others – sorry if I forgot anyone!
Lots of love,
Claire, Steve, Jonah & Suzy
xxxxx
Our flight from the UK to Singapore was great. The staff on the Singapore Airlines flight were lovely and thoughtful (as they have been everytime we have flown with them) and the journey was pretty smooth. We had a few hours to kill in Changi, so luckily they gave us Suzy’s pushchair back to make it a little easier. The flight on to Brisbane was okay apart from some turbulence, and Jonah throwing up all over Steve LOL. The only issues really were that Singapore Airlines “forgot” to put the pushchair back on the flight DOH (we got it back 24 hrs later)… oh and the sniffer dogs at baggage collection picked out one of our bags for no reason at all (apart from it had a 12 pack of Monster Munch in it for Chef101 LOL) but they were nice & let us go thru.
With the amount of luggage we had (7 kilos under our double allowance!) the Customs/Quarantine guys actually helped us push the trolleys thru the crowd of people. And a HUGE thanks goes out to Pollyanna for the advice of making a list of all “declarable stuff” in your luggage. We gave this list to the officials & they laughed and said would you like us to help you push the trolleys thru to the Arrival Hall!!! (we agreed of course)…… Mum and the family were there to meet us with a bottle of bubbly! We had arrived at last!
Mum had organised a house for us & part furnished it too, so we actually got to sleep in our own ‘new’ beds that night. It was great to actually wake up in my new home. It’s lovely BTW! (pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56984864@N00/)
We took it easy for the first 4 or 5 weeks whilst we got settled and did all the important things (centrelink, medicare, register with doctors, dentists, etc… got kids in kindy, etc). Steve actually was offered the 3rd job he applied for and is still there, working for the Woolworths Group in a hotel/motel as asst head chef. He is currently waiting for the verdict on an interview he went for in a larger kitchen (more money WOOHOO!)
As most of you know, I had set up a business with my mum helping people just like us when they arrive on the Gold Coast, etc, and so I got on with that pretty quickly, and also got busy pretty quickly! As well as that I started my own web & logo design business to make a bit of extra cash for myself and was surprised how fast that has taken off too. I am currently snowed under with work from both businesses!
We have both made loads of friends too, surprisingly though we haven’t really seen or talked to many people from BE except for TimberFloorAU, The Muppets, Jane&RussMiddleton, 68Mevy, Moneypen, coast101 and connollys_home…. Our friends seem to be Aussie, Kiwi & Malay. It’s really surprising as I had a vision of all the BE people just teaming up together! I am sure we will be able to catch up soon though as I am determined to get to a meet up. The pacific pines one is the same night as my future sister-in-laws hen night so I cannot go to that one. (sorry Soapy!)
Since we have arrived we have both been watching what we eat, and between us have lost a whopping 21 kilos! I would sooooooooooo recommend this way of life to anyone & everyone. I have never eaten as well in my life, but healthily which is surprising for me… the EX-kebab queen of the north of England! LOL
The kids are in kindy now; Jonah is in fulltime, and Suzy goes 4 days a week. It is great for them both… they are coming on leaps & bounds… the only down side being the fact that they are picking up ever kind of illness going! Currently Suzy has bronchitis too! She is getting much better though.
Well, that’s about it from our house for the moment…. We are going to Movieworld on Halloween to the Spooky Scooby Doo night they are having!
Oh, before I forget, thanks to EVERYONE for your kind words and support over the last couple of years. You guys have really spurred us on to reach our goal! Special thanks to DollyDaydream, Professional Princess, Rooksie, Loz, Suzy, Anne4Terry, GSB, Scissors, Gravyman (and Mrs Gravyman), Jane & Russ Middleton, Coast101, Wavy Davy, Mick-12, Fraser, Robos, Anastasia Beaverhausen, Wendy, Bricky Ade, phoenixinoz, mand8002, Rabc, ub40fan… wow and so many others – sorry if I forgot anyone!
Lots of love,
Claire, Steve, Jonah & Suzy
xxxxx
wishing you many many more happy years in OZ xxx
Oct 24th 2006, 3:12 am
#27
egghead4+becky
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: was newport now sunny Bundy
Posts: 797
Re: UPDATE: 5 months in!
what a lovely update, its nice to read how well you and your family are doing. hope it continues.
bec and egg
bec and egg
