Mel n Daz

Well, this could be a long one, but i wanted to return the favour to all the good posts and tips we used along our journey to Oz!

Our goodbyes weren't as bad as i thought they would be. Darren's parents dropped us to the airport and off we went.

We flew with Singapore Air and didn't have a problem with them at all. They were fantastic on board with the boys and there was plenty to do, i.e. movies, games etc. In fact, the boys didn't touch their things we had taken them to do! (plus me n daz had a few dwinks)

We stopped over in Singapore for 3 nights at Sentosa Island and it was beautiful there. The people we fab and couldn't do enough for us.

We did come across a problem at Singapore airport with our luggage allowance, but thankfully i had printed off the emails from Singapore air, stating that we were allowed the 40kgs each. So thanks so much for that great tip! I would suggest if you are stopping over, (this seems to be where the problem lies) to email you airline and get confirmation that you are allowed the 40kgs.

We landed at 7.30pm on 10th November at Brissy airport and was met by an older couple that were my gran's friends, friends, friend!! Not having been to Oz before we had never met them and they have been great to us.

We picked up our hire car (Europcar) from the airport and set off to Redcliffe. I didn't get any sleep the first night as i was so excited!

We spent our first week on Bribie Island which was out of this world. Finding accomodation was pretty easy and we stayed at a self contained apartment with everything you can imagine in it!

My hubby dealt with all the finacial side of things, like keeping UK bank account open, keeping cards and informing them that you are moving to Oz and large amounts of money will be withdrawn. There was a frantic call to Barclays when our card was stopped!!

Before we left the UK we also opened up a bank account online with Commonwealth Bank. Again, since we have been here they have been great with us. Everything has gone very smoothly, touch wood!

We have been renting a lovely 3 bed house for the past 7 weeks and love it hear. I should add too that we had no problems with references for renting a house or renting things like tv,s, washing machines etc. The letting agency we used for the house said they knew what we had to go through to get our visa's so that was good enough for them! We rented our tv's etc from Mr Rental It which we did online and they phoned us with a date we wanted them delivered. Again very easy.

Our youngest has started Kindy, he is 4 and just missed out starting full time school. So he has to wait another year. Our eldest is 12 and will be starting year 8 at the end of January.

Our container docked on 19th December, but with christmas there is a delay in it being delivered, so hopefully everything will go smoothly there
Not that we have much in there, kids toys, bikes, kitchen ware. We decided to buy all new furniture once we arrived.

www.superamart.com.au is fab for furniture, also www.fantasticfurniture.com.au. For things like cheap crockery, pots n pans etc we found www.crazyclarks.com.au fantastic. Very cheap and cheerful but will do us till our stuff arrives! Remember to haggle for everything you buy too. I don't think we have paid full price for anything we have bought

My hubby is still looking for work, but is in no real rush at the minute! He is just enjoying a nice long well earned break, after having to work 7 days a week in the UK.

As for internet connection, we brought our laptop with us and got a Telstra disk for dial up when we first arrived. This was a god send as internet cafe's are few and far between. We picked up our disk from a Testra shop.

There really isn't anything at all we can grumble about, the aussie people have been very kind to us. Where ever we go, whether it be the shopping centre, bank, Centrelink or just out and about, they have been very forthcoming with information and general chit chat.

I go walking most mornings and have joined the gym. My hubby has taken up golf!! We have enrolled both boys in swimming lessons and are hoping to get them both into cricket too.

Finally, the weather is just grand, the beaches are lovely and we are so happy we made the decision to move here. Our lives are so different already and that is what we wanted. A better life for our boys.

I think i have covered most things, but i could have sat here and wrote forever!

Take care all and Happy New year!

Melis and Daz

curly

What an uplifting post really pleased everything's working out for you, and hope it continues

Keep us posted in the future

N x

stardust

Great post and thanks for the positive comments -flying 10th of Jan with singapore airlines and having trouble sleeping with worry.
Thanks for the tip on the luggage allowance - have spoke to them on the phone and they have assured me there will be no problem with the 40kg. Who do you email for comformation.
Good luck with your new life I wish you and your family all the best

stardust

oops I mean confirmation

DollyDaydream

What a brilliant post....will look forward for more to come......

D D

TeresaG

What a brilliant post. So pleased to hear you have settled in and are happy.

Mel n Daz

Hi there,

We rang them first and they said they would confirm with an email once we had booked our tickets. I just emailed them from their website with my booking number and date i was travelling etc. Having that email with us saved us a fortune! I really wasn't happy with them telling me over the phone it would be ok as you have nothing to back it up.

HTH

And good luck to you for you new life.

Donna&Neil

Hi A great positive read. Many thanks. We are hoping to be in Brisbane by the middle of the year and hearing from others in the same boat is a god send. Glad things have gone so smoothly for you all. Wishing you and yours all the best. Donna & Neil

mark 'n' joe

Fantastic post, sounds like you are really getting settled. Love seeing posts on how people are doing on the other side (good bits and not so good).

Hope you continue to enjoy your new life.

Joex

gail.crease

Great post....so glad it's working out for you. I see so many negative posts here about Australia it was starting to get me worried.

Good luck and enjoy your new life.

paulhill

Fantastic thread, great to hear you are still enjoying it. We are coming to the Gold Coast in February however would like some help, if you dont mind!!

You mentioned that you opened a bank account on line with the Commonwealth, which type of account did you open and how? Every time I look you need to be an Australian resident with a local address!

Did you find Singapore Airlines the cheapest to fly with or had you been advised to us them?

Sorry about all the questions but as you will remember there is so much to do and so little time:scared: .

Enjoy your new life down under.

All the best and thanks

matt-and-jenny

Barclays stopped our card aswell! I suppose it's goos that they think they're on the ball, but we'd actually told them we were moving to Australia, and would be using our cards

Welcome to Brissy
J.

Wendy

Hi,
You can open an account with www.anz.com.au from the UK. They send you your account number by post and then you pop into a branch with your passport when you get here and they sort out cards etc.

I found singapore airlines the cheapest, but it depends where you fly from and where to. We flew from Manchester to Adelaide, all the others were really dear compared to them but some were cheaper had we gone to Brisbane so have a look around. I used www.asda-travel.com they seemed to come in cheaper than the actual airline

Mel n Daz

Yep same here, we told them before we left and they still stopped our card. It was sorted with one quick phone call and a coupla security questions! Yep, your right it is good that they are on the ball.

Melis

Mel n Daz

My hubby opened a bank account with Commonwealth online www.commonwealthbank.com.au i think. He did call them once or twice too. Anz and Commonwealth banks are everwhere here, so it's easy to access your account. We did take a trip to Brissy City to pick up our bank cards etc, but they did offer to post them to our local branch for us. (It was me who insisted on going to the city though. SHOPPING!! )

With all the talk on expats about different airlines, we just chose Singapore Air as they seemed the best, plus we wanted to stop over in Singapore and they were one of the cheapest.

Hope this help, any more questions just fire away!

Melis