A Year in Melbourne!
Jan 2nd 2006, 7:36 am
#1
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Location: Melbourne
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A Year in Melbourne!
Hello all,
Well its hard to believe but we have now been in Melbourne for a year! Here's how it happened....
Hubby's brother had been to Melbourne on a years secondment about 4 years ago and was raving about it and trying to get back with a permanent job. So we started looking into the possibility of making the move back in Feb 2003, however a definite job didn't materialise at the time/my sister was due to get married that year/our eldest was due to start school; so we decided against the move at that time.
The following year (early 2004) hubby sent off enquiries within his company who have a base in Melbourne. The manager over here had a telephone conversation with OH and although nothing definite was said, was certain that he would be able to offer a job. In Sept 04 the manager was in the uk on business and saw OH for a proper interview, offered him the job to start Jan 05!
From then everything moved very quickly - the company sponsored us for 457 visas, we arranged to rent out our house in the uk, and we booked our flights for new years eve 2004! We arrived in Melbourne on a sunny morning Jan 2nd 2005. We were collected from the airport and taken to our temporary accommodation - quest apartments. The company had arranged it for us, the apartments were ok for the short term. The first few days were the usual getting everything sorted - tax file number, medicare, bank, buying a car etc.
Once we had bought a car we started to look around at properties to rent for the longer term - this was a nightmare! Not sure if it was just the time of year but there wasn't much available at the time. We looked in loads of different suburbs, some houses they advertise aren't actually available for another month and you can't even go and view them. A lot of houses were just horrible inside. After a week, OH started work so it was down to me, a melways and 2 small children to continue looking. Anyone that lives here knows it can take quite a while to drive around between suburbs (particularly if you don't know the area). Well it got to a week before the school term was due to start and still hadn't found anywhere so basically we took the first decent house we could find - and so we ended up in Ivanhoe! (about 10k north east of the cbd) We enrolled eldest child in the local school and she has settled in very well now - took her a while though!
We are loving it in Melbourne, there's so much to do and places to take the kids. We have an annual pass for the zoos and museums which have both been well worth the money. Most weekends even through the winter we would go out somewhere for the day. We've been to lots of the national parks. Been to the great ocean road, grampians, and soon to go to Lakes Entrance. There are so many places we still want to visit, and thats just in Victoria!
Driving is fine - fairly easy with the wide roads and dual carriageways everywhere. We have now got our aussie licences. We can get to the city in 20-25mins on the train. Moneywise we are probably worse off at the moment, but then I'm not working and we're paying more on rent than we used to on a mortgage so hopefully that will improve when we eventually buy a place.
Obviously we miss family and friends but with phonecards it's cheap and easy to stay in touch. We now have webcam set up which works really well. The company sponsored OH under employer nomination scheme for permanent residency which we got in October!
Will stop rambling now - hope this is of some help to anyone yet to make the move. Just go for it! Life's too short not to make the most of it and the opportunity was there so we took it. We don't regret a minute of it.
Good luck!
Ruth
Well its hard to believe but we have now been in Melbourne for a year! Here's how it happened....
Hubby's brother had been to Melbourne on a years secondment about 4 years ago and was raving about it and trying to get back with a permanent job. So we started looking into the possibility of making the move back in Feb 2003, however a definite job didn't materialise at the time/my sister was due to get married that year/our eldest was due to start school; so we decided against the move at that time.
The following year (early 2004) hubby sent off enquiries within his company who have a base in Melbourne. The manager over here had a telephone conversation with OH and although nothing definite was said, was certain that he would be able to offer a job. In Sept 04 the manager was in the uk on business and saw OH for a proper interview, offered him the job to start Jan 05!
From then everything moved very quickly - the company sponsored us for 457 visas, we arranged to rent out our house in the uk, and we booked our flights for new years eve 2004! We arrived in Melbourne on a sunny morning Jan 2nd 2005. We were collected from the airport and taken to our temporary accommodation - quest apartments. The company had arranged it for us, the apartments were ok for the short term. The first few days were the usual getting everything sorted - tax file number, medicare, bank, buying a car etc.
Once we had bought a car we started to look around at properties to rent for the longer term - this was a nightmare! Not sure if it was just the time of year but there wasn't much available at the time. We looked in loads of different suburbs, some houses they advertise aren't actually available for another month and you can't even go and view them. A lot of houses were just horrible inside. After a week, OH started work so it was down to me, a melways and 2 small children to continue looking. Anyone that lives here knows it can take quite a while to drive around between suburbs (particularly if you don't know the area). Well it got to a week before the school term was due to start and still hadn't found anywhere so basically we took the first decent house we could find - and so we ended up in Ivanhoe! (about 10k north east of the cbd) We enrolled eldest child in the local school and she has settled in very well now - took her a while though!
We are loving it in Melbourne, there's so much to do and places to take the kids. We have an annual pass for the zoos and museums which have both been well worth the money. Most weekends even through the winter we would go out somewhere for the day. We've been to lots of the national parks. Been to the great ocean road, grampians, and soon to go to Lakes Entrance. There are so many places we still want to visit, and thats just in Victoria!
Driving is fine - fairly easy with the wide roads and dual carriageways everywhere. We have now got our aussie licences. We can get to the city in 20-25mins on the train. Moneywise we are probably worse off at the moment, but then I'm not working and we're paying more on rent than we used to on a mortgage so hopefully that will improve when we eventually buy a place.
Obviously we miss family and friends but with phonecards it's cheap and easy to stay in touch. We now have webcam set up which works really well. The company sponsored OH under employer nomination scheme for permanent residency which we got in October!
Will stop rambling now - hope this is of some help to anyone yet to make the move. Just go for it! Life's too short not to make the most of it and the opportunity was there so we took it. We don't regret a minute of it.
Good luck!
Ruth
Jan 2nd 2006, 7:44 am
#2
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Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Lal Lal a rural community outside Ballarat VIC, previously Kent England
Posts: 915
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Thanks for taking the time to write, it's great to hear an inspiring story.
Lisa.xx
Lisa.xx
Jan 2nd 2006, 8:02 am
#3
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Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Eldorado (near Wangaratta) 'country Victoria'
Posts: 1,451
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by Pootle
Hello all,
Well its hard to believe but we have now been in Melbourne for a year! Here's how it happened....
Hubby's brother had been to Melbourne on a years secondment about 4 years ago and was raving about it and trying to get back with a permanent job. So we started looking into the possibility of making the move back in Feb 2003, however a definite job didn't materialise at the time/my sister was due to get married that year/our eldest was due to start school; so we decided against the move at that time.
The following year (early 2004) hubby sent off enquiries within his company who have a base in Melbourne. The manager over here had a telephone conversation with OH and although nothing definite was said, was certain that he would be able to offer a job. In Sept 04 the manager was in the uk on business and saw OH for a proper interview, offered him the job to start Jan 05!
From then everything moved very quickly - the company sponsored us for 457 visas, we arranged to rent out our house in the uk, and we booked our flights for new years eve 2004! We arrived in Melbourne on a sunny morning Jan 2nd 2005. We were collected from the airport and taken to our temporary accommodation - quest apartments. The company had arranged it for us, the apartments were ok for the short term. The first few days were the usual getting everything sorted - tax file number, medicare, bank, buying a car etc.
Once we had bought a car we started to look around at properties to rent for the longer term - this was a nightmare! Not sure if it was just the time of year but there wasn't much available at the time. We looked in loads of different suburbs, some houses they advertise aren't actually available for another month and you can't even go and view them. A lot of houses were just horrible inside. After a week, OH started work so it was down to me, a melways and 2 small children to continue looking. Anyone that lives here knows it can take quite a while to drive around between suburbs (particularly if you don't know the area). Well it got to a week before the school term was due to start and still hadn't found anywhere so basically we took the first decent house we could find - and so we ended up in Ivanhoe! (about 10k north east of the cbd) We enrolled eldest child in the local school and she has settled in very well now - took her a while though!
We are loving it in Melbourne, there's so much to do and places to take the kids. We have an annual pass for the zoos and museums which have both been well worth the money. Most weekends even through the winter we would go out somewhere for the day. We've been to lots of the national parks. Been to the great ocean road, grampians, and soon to go to Lakes Entrance. There are so many places we still want to visit, and thats just in Victoria!
Driving is fine - fairly easy with the wide roads and dual carriageways everywhere. We have now got our aussie licences. We can get to the city in 20-25mins on the train. Moneywise we are probably worse off at the moment, but then I'm not working and we're paying more on rent than we used to on a mortgage so hopefully that will improve when we eventually buy a place.
Obviously we miss family and friends but with phonecards it's cheap and easy to stay in touch. We now have webcam set up which works really well. The company sponsored OH under employer nomination scheme for permanent residency which we got in October!
Will stop rambling now - hope this is of some help to anyone yet to make the move. Just go for it! Life's too short not to make the most of it and the opportunity was there so we took it. We don't regret a minute of it.
Good luck!
Ruth
Well its hard to believe but we have now been in Melbourne for a year! Here's how it happened....
Hubby's brother had been to Melbourne on a years secondment about 4 years ago and was raving about it and trying to get back with a permanent job. So we started looking into the possibility of making the move back in Feb 2003, however a definite job didn't materialise at the time/my sister was due to get married that year/our eldest was due to start school; so we decided against the move at that time.
The following year (early 2004) hubby sent off enquiries within his company who have a base in Melbourne. The manager over here had a telephone conversation with OH and although nothing definite was said, was certain that he would be able to offer a job. In Sept 04 the manager was in the uk on business and saw OH for a proper interview, offered him the job to start Jan 05!
From then everything moved very quickly - the company sponsored us for 457 visas, we arranged to rent out our house in the uk, and we booked our flights for new years eve 2004! We arrived in Melbourne on a sunny morning Jan 2nd 2005. We were collected from the airport and taken to our temporary accommodation - quest apartments. The company had arranged it for us, the apartments were ok for the short term. The first few days were the usual getting everything sorted - tax file number, medicare, bank, buying a car etc.
Once we had bought a car we started to look around at properties to rent for the longer term - this was a nightmare! Not sure if it was just the time of year but there wasn't much available at the time. We looked in loads of different suburbs, some houses they advertise aren't actually available for another month and you can't even go and view them. A lot of houses were just horrible inside. After a week, OH started work so it was down to me, a melways and 2 small children to continue looking. Anyone that lives here knows it can take quite a while to drive around between suburbs (particularly if you don't know the area). Well it got to a week before the school term was due to start and still hadn't found anywhere so basically we took the first decent house we could find - and so we ended up in Ivanhoe! (about 10k north east of the cbd) We enrolled eldest child in the local school and she has settled in very well now - took her a while though!
We are loving it in Melbourne, there's so much to do and places to take the kids. We have an annual pass for the zoos and museums which have both been well worth the money. Most weekends even through the winter we would go out somewhere for the day. We've been to lots of the national parks. Been to the great ocean road, grampians, and soon to go to Lakes Entrance. There are so many places we still want to visit, and thats just in Victoria!
Driving is fine - fairly easy with the wide roads and dual carriageways everywhere. We have now got our aussie licences. We can get to the city in 20-25mins on the train. Moneywise we are probably worse off at the moment, but then I'm not working and we're paying more on rent than we used to on a mortgage so hopefully that will improve when we eventually buy a place.
Obviously we miss family and friends but with phonecards it's cheap and easy to stay in touch. We now have webcam set up which works really well. The company sponsored OH under employer nomination scheme for permanent residency which we got in October!
Will stop rambling now - hope this is of some help to anyone yet to make the move. Just go for it! Life's too short not to make the most of it and the opportunity was there so we took it. We don't regret a minute of it.
Good luck!
Ruth
Nicky
Jan 2nd 2006, 7:04 pm
#5
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Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 957
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by NickyP
Good to hear from you we have come over here on a 457 and are applying for PR at the moment through company sponsorship so it is good to hear from someone who has been down the same route. It is great most of the time but I am finding it stressful at the moment and will feel better once we have the PR in place.
Nicky
Nicky
It really made a difference to how settled we felt once we got PR - although there was no reason at all that we wouldn't get it there's always that doubt in your mind until that sticker is in your passport and you can stay! When did you apply for yours? Ours took almost 6 months which feels like a long time. Good luck!
Ruth
Jan 2nd 2006, 10:11 pm
#6
Hillarys, Perth
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Hillarys, Perth.
Posts: 1,094
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by Pootle
Hi Nicky!
It really made a difference to how settled we felt once we got PR - although there was no reason at all that we wouldn't get it there's always that doubt in your mind until that sticker is in your passport and you can stay! When did you apply for yours? Ours took almost 6 months which feels like a long time. Good luck!
Ruth
It really made a difference to how settled we felt once we got PR - although there was no reason at all that we wouldn't get it there's always that doubt in your mind until that sticker is in your passport and you can stay! When did you apply for yours? Ours took almost 6 months which feels like a long time. Good luck!
Ruth
We're leaving on Thursday to Perth on a 457. The company sponsoring me has paid for visa's and flights and have said that at the end of 2 years, depending on my performance and operational requirements at that time, they will extend for another 3 years and sponser for PR.
My question...
Is it possible for me to apply on my own or will I need the company to sponsor me for PR. Also, how did you go about applying fro PR?
Thanks
Neil
Jan 2nd 2006, 10:33 pm
#7
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Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Melbourne
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Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by h2oskineil
Hi
We're leaving on Thursday to Perth on a 457. The company sponsoring me has paid for visa's and flights and have said that at the end of 2 years, depending on my performance and operational requirements at that time, they will extend for another 3 years and sponser for PR.
My question...
Is it possible for me to apply on my own or will I need the company to sponsor me for PR. Also, how did you go about applying fro PR?
Thanks
Neil
We're leaving on Thursday to Perth on a 457. The company sponsoring me has paid for visa's and flights and have said that at the end of 2 years, depending on my performance and operational requirements at that time, they will extend for another 3 years and sponser for PR.
My question...
Is it possible for me to apply on my own or will I need the company to sponsor me for PR. Also, how did you go about applying fro PR?
Thanks
Neil
Good luck with your move! I think it really depends on your skills - there are people who have come over on a 457 and applied independently for PR, it would depend if you have the points. I think there's a sticky over on the immigration forum about the 457. There's also lots of regional and state sponsored visas for certain skills.
Ruth
Jan 2nd 2006, 10:33 pm
#8
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Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Eldorado (near Wangaratta) 'country Victoria'
Posts: 1,451
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by Pootle
Hi Nicky!
It really made a difference to how settled we felt once we got PR - although there was no reason at all that we wouldn't get it there's always that doubt in your mind until that sticker is in your passport and you can stay! When did you apply for yours? Ours took almost 6 months which feels like a long time. Good luck!
Ruth
It really made a difference to how settled we felt once we got PR - although there was no reason at all that we wouldn't get it there's always that doubt in your mind until that sticker is in your passport and you can stay! When did you apply for yours? Ours took almost 6 months which feels like a long time. Good luck!
Ruth
)Thanks
Nicky
Jan 3rd 2006, 12:31 am
#9
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Joined: Apr 2005
Location: Western burbs, Melbourne
Posts: 2,260
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by h2oskineil
Hi
We're leaving on Thursday to Perth on a 457. The company sponsoring me has paid for visa's and flights and have said that at the end of 2 years, depending on my performance and operational requirements at that time, they will extend for another 3 years and sponser for PR.
My question...
Is it possible for me to apply on my own or will I need the company to sponsor me for PR. Also, how did you go about applying fro PR?
Thanks
Neil
We're leaving on Thursday to Perth on a 457. The company sponsoring me has paid for visa's and flights and have said that at the end of 2 years, depending on my performance and operational requirements at that time, they will extend for another 3 years and sponser for PR.
My question...
Is it possible for me to apply on my own or will I need the company to sponsor me for PR. Also, how did you go about applying fro PR?
Thanks
Neil
Good luck- it is a pain, but only the same as all others go through!
Jan 3rd 2006, 8:03 pm
#10
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Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 957
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by Pomster
We came here in 2000 on a 457 for a 2 year stint which became 3 years. We then decided we would like to stay but my (huge, global) employer would not help- too many people ask apparently. So we applied on our own and got PR 2 years ago. In fact we are off for our citizenship interview tomorrow.
Good luck- it is a pain, but only the same as all others go through!
Good luck- it is a pain, but only the same as all others go through!
Jan 3rd 2006, 8:10 pm
#11
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 200
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
That's a nice story. We get a bit scared from time to time with the whole "oh my god, we're moving to Melbourne" scenario and it's nice to know that things turn out fine. I sometimes wonder whether we just have rose-tinted spectacles and think it's all going to be brilliant and that we'll get over there and wonder what we've done. However, looking at postings like this cheer us up. Have yet to see a posting that says "Came to Melbourne from the UK and it's awful!"....Liked the Melbourne website links - thanks...
Jan 3rd 2006, 8:52 pm
#13
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Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: A Year in Melbourne!
Thanks for taking the time to write about your experience.
K sent
Wendy
K sent
Wendy
