WOOO HOOOOO !!!! Got my visa !!!! Flights are booked for Sunday 24th Oct - only 11 more sleeps and the Melbourne here I come !
Start work on Thursday 28th Oct so there is no turning back now.

The Fella goes this Sunday and the removal men are in his house today. Very very excited now. Saying goodbye to my parents who are coming over from Belfast this weekend for a couple of days and thats gonna be very emotional.

So much to do and so little time but will make time for a few bevvies to celebrate tonight !

Cara

Congratulations on your visa you sound soooo excited may cya at the next meetup then !!!!! have a good night
Johanne

Congratulations and well done on geting your visa.
Are you originally from Belfast yourself as we to are from there and are going to Melbourne as soon as our visa arrives.
Do you know where abouts in Melbourne you are going-it would be great to know another face from our wee country .Anyway enjoy oyour celebrations tonight

Yes, i grew up in Jordanstown next to Carrickfergus, moved over to Glasgow about 6 years ago to go to uni and i never wanted to leave until now !
I have a job in Moonee Ponds in Melbourne and my boyfriend is going to be working in Broadmeadows so we have been looking at the Essendon area for accomodation. Both of us are on 457 sponsored visas for 4 years with sponsorship for PR once we get there. Neither of us have ever been to Oz before so it is a whole new adventure - especially as he lives in Coventry and we have never lived together before, but isn't that what life is all about ?!
We only decided to go for it at the start of August when he was offered his job so it has all happened so quickly our feet have barely touched the ground ! When do you think you will be heading out there?

Carrickfergus is where I live now(until tomorrow removal men coming).Going to live in Greenisland with the mother-in-law until our visa arrives .Hopefully the visa will be here by xmas then out to Melbourne straight away.
We are going to a place called Hoppers crossing 20 mins west of Melbourne-dont know where that is in relation to Essendon but i'm sure somebody can tell us.
As for never having been there neither have we -the wifes uncle offered us a job so we thought why not.Hope you have a great flight and maybe one day we can meet up-who knows. ps I went to Belfast High School

ahh Belfast High - unfortunately i would have been your mortal enemy going to Belfast Royal Academy ! P7 classes at my primary school (Whiteabbey) were always split between Belfast High and BRA !

Wow removal men coming tomorrow ! thats the exciting bit, The Fella has them in today, they have been there since 9am and are just starting the last room now and then he has a 6 hour car journey from the midlands to glasgow - poor boy ! I think he has a lot more stuff than he thought he did and thought it would be a lot quicker to pack everything up than it has been so be warned !

I have no idea where Hoppers Crossing is but if you want to email us to keep in touch we'll be on the board here a fair bit and the email address is [email protected]

Like you said it would be good to see some faces from home over there.

Cara

Congratulations on the visas. Hoppers Crossing is roughly 20 miles south west of the CBD, Moonee Ponds is 3 or 4 miles north west of the CBD, Essendon a mile or so further on in the same direction. 'Broady' is similar to HC distance but north of the city. Something like this (if it works):

Broadmeadows


Essendon
Moonee Ponds
CBD



Hoppers

Good luck!

OzTennis

Will defo keep in touch and will look out for you in the forums ps Theres a family from Downpatrick moving to Melbourne on 27th Nov but I cant remember there screen name in this forum- will let you know it when I remember it.

Used to look forward to playing your rugby team-it always ended up in a punch up and it was the only time we ever beat you at anything

Nup, doesn't work when you put spaces in. Move Essendon and Moonee Ponds slightly to the left and Hoppers down and a fair way to the left, you get the drift!

OzTennis

Thanks for the info I can see what you mean when replying to this.
Do you know anything about Hoppers Crossing and the surrounding area.
Many thanks Paul

Yep, Hoppers is a rapidly developing area. When I was a boy it hardly existed, now it is large suburb which has grown towards and joined Werribee which has also expanded (both towards Hoppers and towards Wyndham Vale in the other direction). I can remember my family gathering mushrooms in the fields at Hoppers which are now covered with houses, schools, shops, parks etc! Hoppers and surrounding area is quite flat - because many moons ago it was part of the lava outflow from the nearby You Yangs (don't worry, extinct volcanoes). Property values - median for all Melbourne $358K, Hoppers $215K, Werribee $220K - reflect that it is popular with the first time house buyer, young families, migrant families etc.

Due to the nearby industrial areas it would also be described as a working class area. The houses are mostly less than 20 years old and of course there aren't semi-detached or high rise buildings. It is on the main train line which goes to the city to one way and Werribee and Geelong the other way. It is also on the main freeway which runs between Melbourne and Geelong so access to places isn't a problem. There is a large shopping centre near the railway station and further out is a huge shopping mall at Werribee Plaza which has recently been doubled in size - we're talking more than a hundred shops under the same roof.

I have a friend who is the coach at HC tennis club and another friend who works at the HC secondary college - both tell me the children are generally 'good kids' from Hoppers; another friend is headteacher at the Werribee Secondary College and he says the same thing about his pupils. There is meant to be a good community spirit in both with plenty of clubs etc. On the main road between Hoppers and Werribee (about 2 miles away) there is a large hospital and a number of buildings and sports fields for some of the universities and colleges. To the south of Hoppers and Werribee there is a lot of market gardening in the rich volcanic soil and the sea at Werribee South is only 3 or 4 miles away.

The local council: http://www.wyndham.vic.gov.au

Werribee Mansion and Zoo are very popular destinations with Melburnians and overseas visitors: http://www.virtualtourist.com/vt/1ca099/6/2539/

OzTennis

Thanks very much for that info Oz Tennis greatly appreaciated.

Cpngratulations Cara
Melbourne is a lovely place, and you'll be arriving in time for spring and the Melbourne Cup!
Helinuk

Congrats Cara, I'm sure you will settle well in Melbourne.

Watch the Melbourne site for dates of meet ups.

http://s7.invisionfree.com/BritVics/index.php?act=idx

Congrats!

There's lots to see and do in Melb'n. Hope you have a wonderful time!

Tony.