8 weeks in Melbourne
Mar 19th 2009, 8:02 am
#1
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Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Just outside Glasgow
Posts: 11
8 weeks in Melbourne
Well, that is us here nearly 8 weeks. That doesn’t seem that long, but sometimes it feels like the life we left in Glasgow is years away, other times just like yesterday.
I found the updates to be some of the most interesting and useful parts of the forum, so thought it time to pay it back in, hopefully someone will find something we post useful.
To put you in the picture first –
Since honeymooning in New Zealand in 2005, we decided we wanted to emigrate. We really wanted to try “something” different. Although I wanted to ( and still would ) move to New Zealand, LJ thought it better that given where we were in our lives, that somewhere like Melbourne might suit us better.
We were lucky enough to find both our professions on the in-demand skill list, and as LJ has a Msc, she was lead applicant on the Visa, which we secured in Nov 08. We planned to validate our visa, then return to Scotland to save some money (or more truthfully, pay off some debt), before heading back across late 2009. 2 things changed this. Firstly, we had kept an eye on the job market for information purposes, and a really good job for LJ came up, and best of all, they were looking to recruit from the UK, and were offering an excellent relocation package. Needless to say, my talented wife got the job.
The 2nd thing that helped (forced) us to decide to make the move early was the global economic situation. We knew that Oz was behind the UK in terms of feeling the worst of it, and we hoped that they would be insulated from the worst of it by virtue of their participation in the Asian markets, and the natural resources and relative debt free nature of the country. Also the thinking was that if things do go t!ts up, then we’d never realise our dream of emigrating.
Once LJ was offered her job, I started looking for one too, and was lucky enough to secure a job in my specialised field, after a bizarre experience of being interviwed via skype.
That, in a nut shell, saw us arrive in Melbourne in late Jan, roughly a year earlier than planned.
Leaving the UK – Nothing can prepare you for leaving friends and family behind. Wont offer an insight into it as it is an extremely personal thing and will be different for everyone. What I will say is that it was staggering that amount of people that told me they wished they had the guts to do what we were doing, or that they wished their partners didn’t focus on the “what if dad/mum fell ill” scenario. Part of me everyday worries about my mum and dad, and the “what if”. But I decided that if I spent my time worrying about “what if”, I’d never cross my front door.
In a perverse way, leaving brought me closer to a lot of people, as it prompted me to firstly realise what they mean to me, and then for me to tell them. (I sadly am rarely able to vocalise this to people when it matters)
Arriving in Oz – Flight was with Singapore Airlines. Went fine, nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Flew with Air New Zealand before, it was bloody awful.
As our grant letter stated, it is not required that you get your visa evidenced in your passport. At passport control they take your grant letter and passport number, computer says yes, and in you go. No problem. Fine and dandy.
Try then going to another section of the government ( such as medicare ) and telling them that you don’t need any bit of paper in your passport, and that they should check on-line for your visa verification ( as the system is set up to do). Nightmare. Joined up government it aint. People at the DIAC though were as angry as we were ( well, almost ) about the problems we were having.
In retrospect, we’d have gotten our bit of paper, but I am not doing it now out of sheer bloody mindedness.
LJ’s company had booked us into temporary accommodation, and arranged for a car to pick us up, with was a massive bonus. Afraid I can’t really offer any insight, other than if you can afford it, get picked up.
In the first few days I didn’t find there was much of a culture shock or anything, but we were definitely in holiday mode more than anything else. We had roughly a week to ourselves before starting work, and in retrospect I would have devoted more time to sorting out stuff like medicare, Tax No, bank accounts etc. We initially took the attitude that we had plenty of time to sort this stuff, but once we started work there wasn’t much availability to sort stuff out ( given they open 9-5, which is when we worked )
Again, we had had the huge benefit of a relocation company helping us find a place to live (we gave them space and money info, travel to work times etc, and they came back with places and viewing times) so I’m afraid I don’t have much insight here either, other than to comment that even this company that knew what they were doing could be duped by agents. Some of the places we saw were diabolical.
We’ve ended up in Yarraville, and very nice it is too.
Medicare – as I’ve said, not the most proactive of people, but it is a relatively simple procedure to get your cards. Do this ASAP, as there is a lag time between getting this, and qualifying for some treatment cover.
Tax Number – walk in the park. Fill out a form on-line and wait roughly 10 days. They can link in your visa number to verify your details.
Bank Accounts – we had set one up in the UK, had to go in to verify details etc. It can take a bit of time depending on what you are doing, so again, best get it out the way sooner rather than later. One thing they need is a Oz phone number so…..
Head into the nearest phone store and get a cheap pay as you go. We got a decent deal in vodaphone which done us for what we needed it for. Remember to take your passport with you when you buy it though ( not sure if all places need you to do this )
Actually, where in doubt, we had our passport and grant letter on us, just in case it was required.
At first we thought the tram/train/bus system was pretty good, but it does have some serious issues to do with overcrowding and cancellations. No worse than the Glasgow/Edinburgh line during winter though! I think it is comparable to the London transport system, although I admit I’ve only ever used it a dozen or so times.
Tickets etc are ( again in my opinion ) cheap though, and the one ticket will get you on all 3 forms of transport. Unless you are living in the city, or inner city, it is inescapable that you will need a car. Do not go to Le Mans Toyota in Footscray. Salesmen are fine ( for car salesmen ) but their finance dept were ( and still are ) a joke. Car itself ( touch wood ) is fine.
Driving here is fine. Not great, but fine. Traffic is no worse than peak time on the M8 in Glasgow, or driving in the city. Hook turns are kids play. Honestly. Trying to work them out from how they are described is difficult, but seeing them performed once is all you need. Watch out for trams, and people crossing on the green man even though you have a green light. And also the left lane filter light may be green, but that doesn’t always mean the lane is left turn only ( again, wait till you see what I mean ).
There is no rule against what I would call undertaking. They weave in and out of lanes all the time, and not always with what I would consider a safe distance between themselves and other (ie ME!) vehicles.
Speed limits are a mixed bag. I’ve seen them rigorously adhered to, and flagrantly ignored.
Something that really kills me though is that very few folk on the road have manners. I’m used to stopping and letting folk pass, and all I want in return is a wee nod of the head or a wave of the hand. Almost non-existent over here. I almost got out my car and hugged the first guy that thanked me for pulling in and letting him pass.
Not sure if they observe the “flashing of headlights” to indicate you are giving them the right of way either.
Basically, don’t assume that the road mannerism and behaviour are transferable. I didn’t really think about it until I was on the road, but it is as much a cultural thing as our spoken language.
Which neatly brings me onto – Scottish folk, be prepared to repeat yourself constantly, get given the wrong thing in shops and looked at if you are an alien. For such a multi-cultural society, there is a real lack of tolerance for any difference in accent. The majority of English people will be okay ( unless you have a strong scouse or Yorkshire or brummie accent etc), and unless you have a soft Welsh accent, you can join my gang too. Most folk seem to be able to understand the Irish, but I think that may be because they are exposed to it more. Not sure.
Jumping back, getting your driving licence changed is advisable, as it is used as ID for a lot of things. You need to make an appointment with Vic Roads, which can take some time, but the process itself it easy. Again, best done when not working.
Internet was a big miss for us when we arrived, hotel was charging the equivalent of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s annual losses for sending an email. You can go down the route of getting mobile broadband, we didn’t, partly as I had some access to stuff after starting work. Got it in the house now, using a less well know service, and paying a bit more than the highstreet ones, but user reviews etc led me to them.
Telephone – just got one with Telstra. Nothing brilliant, but wasn’t expecting it to be.
We both get paid fortnightly, which is usual for a lot of jobs. This has benefits and drawbacks. We still have significant debt back in the UK to service, so have started transferring money back using HiFX. If you want to set up a direct debit, you need to have pay at least one months payment up front as deposit. We certainly don’t have that at the moment, as all our savings went after paying deposit on car, setting up the house, paying the bond on the house. We use their one off payment system, and it is working out cheaper than the banks facility.
Setting up the house was much more costly than we thought. The amount of stuff that you need the moment you arrive that you put on the boat is really annoying. But the reality of it is that is isn’t practical to take it on the plane with you. As a result, we’ll have two irons, two kettles, two toasters, more plates, cutlery etc etc
Shopping – (food and stuff ) I don’t think it is too bad here. Butchers and Grocers a plenty, price comparable to back home, quality is better. The Coles and Safeways do for tinned goods and cleaning stuff etc. A Costco is opening soon, hopefully exactly like the UK/American model, which will be good.
Bevy – more expensive that back home, ( well lager and Jack Daniels, as this is all I drink )
I’d say there is a nicer feel to shopping here, as we tend to shop much more locally, and have already begun to develop a relationship with the traders.
Shopping ( clothes etc ) Well, LJ says the shopping in the CBD is excellent, although they don’t do petite sizes, and sometimes it is difficult to find stuff priced “in the middle of the road”. Despite what we were told, Fashion is big in Melbourne. LJ had been led to believe that she would never get dressed up again, but ladies you can go mad here if that is what you want to do. I think the difference is that it doesn’t matter a jot if you don’t dress up.
Shopping – Ikea. You’ll need it, but it’ll make you pay. Got one in Glasgow, it is excellent. The one here was terrible. Nothing in stock, staff a bunch of @*&^@*$.
What we found really difficult was our complete lack of knowledge of the city. We got the car, decided to drive to look at furniture shops, but then realised that we no longer have that intimate knowledge of a place where you know of all the wee places that if you were back home you would visit almost intuitively. There was a really useful website that was linked on here for a time that had links to some stores, which we used as a base. Again, this will come in time I imagine.
Sport – While Melburnians might be sporting daft, they really don’t like football. Real football, a round ball that you kick and sometimes head. They insist on calling something that has been developed from the stuff last seen in Rome with Christians and Lions taking part - “Footy”. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to enjoy it. Seriously brutal. ( not as brutal as shinty or Gaelic football though )
Plenty to see and do around the city, and further out in the suburbs.
Way too early to have made any “friends”. We’ve been out with work colleagues once or twice, but I think you need to be prepared for how lonely you can feel sometimes. I think LJ especially has missed having her close female friends close by. But we recognise that these things will come in time hopefully. Luckily, we don’t mind each other’s company.
I think we’ve spent almost all of our time here setting up stuff, we’ve not really had a moment to catch our breath, and certainly not experience the change in lifestyle we moved here to enjoy.
One thing that the Scots will notice more than the rest is the smell and taste of tap water. Also LJ has remarked about how her hair doesn’t like it either.
Right, that is it for now. Can’t think what I’ve missed out, but I’ll come to me.
Just to stress that the above is all my opinion, and I’ve realised that the use of the word “they” sounds a bit divisive, but it is not meant to. In time I will become one of “them” I suppose.
Happy to take questions from the floor.
Cheers!
I found the updates to be some of the most interesting and useful parts of the forum, so thought it time to pay it back in, hopefully someone will find something we post useful.
To put you in the picture first –
Since honeymooning in New Zealand in 2005, we decided we wanted to emigrate. We really wanted to try “something” different. Although I wanted to ( and still would ) move to New Zealand, LJ thought it better that given where we were in our lives, that somewhere like Melbourne might suit us better.
We were lucky enough to find both our professions on the in-demand skill list, and as LJ has a Msc, she was lead applicant on the Visa, which we secured in Nov 08. We planned to validate our visa, then return to Scotland to save some money (or more truthfully, pay off some debt), before heading back across late 2009. 2 things changed this. Firstly, we had kept an eye on the job market for information purposes, and a really good job for LJ came up, and best of all, they were looking to recruit from the UK, and were offering an excellent relocation package. Needless to say, my talented wife got the job.
The 2nd thing that helped (forced) us to decide to make the move early was the global economic situation. We knew that Oz was behind the UK in terms of feeling the worst of it, and we hoped that they would be insulated from the worst of it by virtue of their participation in the Asian markets, and the natural resources and relative debt free nature of the country. Also the thinking was that if things do go t!ts up, then we’d never realise our dream of emigrating.
Once LJ was offered her job, I started looking for one too, and was lucky enough to secure a job in my specialised field, after a bizarre experience of being interviwed via skype.
That, in a nut shell, saw us arrive in Melbourne in late Jan, roughly a year earlier than planned.
Leaving the UK – Nothing can prepare you for leaving friends and family behind. Wont offer an insight into it as it is an extremely personal thing and will be different for everyone. What I will say is that it was staggering that amount of people that told me they wished they had the guts to do what we were doing, or that they wished their partners didn’t focus on the “what if dad/mum fell ill” scenario. Part of me everyday worries about my mum and dad, and the “what if”. But I decided that if I spent my time worrying about “what if”, I’d never cross my front door.
In a perverse way, leaving brought me closer to a lot of people, as it prompted me to firstly realise what they mean to me, and then for me to tell them. (I sadly am rarely able to vocalise this to people when it matters)
Arriving in Oz – Flight was with Singapore Airlines. Went fine, nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Flew with Air New Zealand before, it was bloody awful.
As our grant letter stated, it is not required that you get your visa evidenced in your passport. At passport control they take your grant letter and passport number, computer says yes, and in you go. No problem. Fine and dandy.
Try then going to another section of the government ( such as medicare ) and telling them that you don’t need any bit of paper in your passport, and that they should check on-line for your visa verification ( as the system is set up to do). Nightmare. Joined up government it aint. People at the DIAC though were as angry as we were ( well, almost ) about the problems we were having.
In retrospect, we’d have gotten our bit of paper, but I am not doing it now out of sheer bloody mindedness.
LJ’s company had booked us into temporary accommodation, and arranged for a car to pick us up, with was a massive bonus. Afraid I can’t really offer any insight, other than if you can afford it, get picked up.
In the first few days I didn’t find there was much of a culture shock or anything, but we were definitely in holiday mode more than anything else. We had roughly a week to ourselves before starting work, and in retrospect I would have devoted more time to sorting out stuff like medicare, Tax No, bank accounts etc. We initially took the attitude that we had plenty of time to sort this stuff, but once we started work there wasn’t much availability to sort stuff out ( given they open 9-5, which is when we worked )
Again, we had had the huge benefit of a relocation company helping us find a place to live (we gave them space and money info, travel to work times etc, and they came back with places and viewing times) so I’m afraid I don’t have much insight here either, other than to comment that even this company that knew what they were doing could be duped by agents. Some of the places we saw were diabolical.
We’ve ended up in Yarraville, and very nice it is too.
Medicare – as I’ve said, not the most proactive of people, but it is a relatively simple procedure to get your cards. Do this ASAP, as there is a lag time between getting this, and qualifying for some treatment cover.
Tax Number – walk in the park. Fill out a form on-line and wait roughly 10 days. They can link in your visa number to verify your details.
Bank Accounts – we had set one up in the UK, had to go in to verify details etc. It can take a bit of time depending on what you are doing, so again, best get it out the way sooner rather than later. One thing they need is a Oz phone number so…..
Head into the nearest phone store and get a cheap pay as you go. We got a decent deal in vodaphone which done us for what we needed it for. Remember to take your passport with you when you buy it though ( not sure if all places need you to do this )
Actually, where in doubt, we had our passport and grant letter on us, just in case it was required.
At first we thought the tram/train/bus system was pretty good, but it does have some serious issues to do with overcrowding and cancellations. No worse than the Glasgow/Edinburgh line during winter though! I think it is comparable to the London transport system, although I admit I’ve only ever used it a dozen or so times.
Tickets etc are ( again in my opinion ) cheap though, and the one ticket will get you on all 3 forms of transport. Unless you are living in the city, or inner city, it is inescapable that you will need a car. Do not go to Le Mans Toyota in Footscray. Salesmen are fine ( for car salesmen ) but their finance dept were ( and still are ) a joke. Car itself ( touch wood ) is fine.
Driving here is fine. Not great, but fine. Traffic is no worse than peak time on the M8 in Glasgow, or driving in the city. Hook turns are kids play. Honestly. Trying to work them out from how they are described is difficult, but seeing them performed once is all you need. Watch out for trams, and people crossing on the green man even though you have a green light. And also the left lane filter light may be green, but that doesn’t always mean the lane is left turn only ( again, wait till you see what I mean ).
There is no rule against what I would call undertaking. They weave in and out of lanes all the time, and not always with what I would consider a safe distance between themselves and other (ie ME!) vehicles.
Speed limits are a mixed bag. I’ve seen them rigorously adhered to, and flagrantly ignored.
Something that really kills me though is that very few folk on the road have manners. I’m used to stopping and letting folk pass, and all I want in return is a wee nod of the head or a wave of the hand. Almost non-existent over here. I almost got out my car and hugged the first guy that thanked me for pulling in and letting him pass.
Not sure if they observe the “flashing of headlights” to indicate you are giving them the right of way either.
Basically, don’t assume that the road mannerism and behaviour are transferable. I didn’t really think about it until I was on the road, but it is as much a cultural thing as our spoken language.
Which neatly brings me onto – Scottish folk, be prepared to repeat yourself constantly, get given the wrong thing in shops and looked at if you are an alien. For such a multi-cultural society, there is a real lack of tolerance for any difference in accent. The majority of English people will be okay ( unless you have a strong scouse or Yorkshire or brummie accent etc), and unless you have a soft Welsh accent, you can join my gang too. Most folk seem to be able to understand the Irish, but I think that may be because they are exposed to it more. Not sure.
Jumping back, getting your driving licence changed is advisable, as it is used as ID for a lot of things. You need to make an appointment with Vic Roads, which can take some time, but the process itself it easy. Again, best done when not working.
Internet was a big miss for us when we arrived, hotel was charging the equivalent of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s annual losses for sending an email. You can go down the route of getting mobile broadband, we didn’t, partly as I had some access to stuff after starting work. Got it in the house now, using a less well know service, and paying a bit more than the highstreet ones, but user reviews etc led me to them.
Telephone – just got one with Telstra. Nothing brilliant, but wasn’t expecting it to be.
We both get paid fortnightly, which is usual for a lot of jobs. This has benefits and drawbacks. We still have significant debt back in the UK to service, so have started transferring money back using HiFX. If you want to set up a direct debit, you need to have pay at least one months payment up front as deposit. We certainly don’t have that at the moment, as all our savings went after paying deposit on car, setting up the house, paying the bond on the house. We use their one off payment system, and it is working out cheaper than the banks facility.
Setting up the house was much more costly than we thought. The amount of stuff that you need the moment you arrive that you put on the boat is really annoying. But the reality of it is that is isn’t practical to take it on the plane with you. As a result, we’ll have two irons, two kettles, two toasters, more plates, cutlery etc etc
Shopping – (food and stuff ) I don’t think it is too bad here. Butchers and Grocers a plenty, price comparable to back home, quality is better. The Coles and Safeways do for tinned goods and cleaning stuff etc. A Costco is opening soon, hopefully exactly like the UK/American model, which will be good.
Bevy – more expensive that back home, ( well lager and Jack Daniels, as this is all I drink )
I’d say there is a nicer feel to shopping here, as we tend to shop much more locally, and have already begun to develop a relationship with the traders.
Shopping ( clothes etc ) Well, LJ says the shopping in the CBD is excellent, although they don’t do petite sizes, and sometimes it is difficult to find stuff priced “in the middle of the road”. Despite what we were told, Fashion is big in Melbourne. LJ had been led to believe that she would never get dressed up again, but ladies you can go mad here if that is what you want to do. I think the difference is that it doesn’t matter a jot if you don’t dress up.
Shopping – Ikea. You’ll need it, but it’ll make you pay. Got one in Glasgow, it is excellent. The one here was terrible. Nothing in stock, staff a bunch of @*&^@*$.
What we found really difficult was our complete lack of knowledge of the city. We got the car, decided to drive to look at furniture shops, but then realised that we no longer have that intimate knowledge of a place where you know of all the wee places that if you were back home you would visit almost intuitively. There was a really useful website that was linked on here for a time that had links to some stores, which we used as a base. Again, this will come in time I imagine.
Sport – While Melburnians might be sporting daft, they really don’t like football. Real football, a round ball that you kick and sometimes head. They insist on calling something that has been developed from the stuff last seen in Rome with Christians and Lions taking part - “Footy”. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to enjoy it. Seriously brutal. ( not as brutal as shinty or Gaelic football though )
Plenty to see and do around the city, and further out in the suburbs.
Way too early to have made any “friends”. We’ve been out with work colleagues once or twice, but I think you need to be prepared for how lonely you can feel sometimes. I think LJ especially has missed having her close female friends close by. But we recognise that these things will come in time hopefully. Luckily, we don’t mind each other’s company.
I think we’ve spent almost all of our time here setting up stuff, we’ve not really had a moment to catch our breath, and certainly not experience the change in lifestyle we moved here to enjoy.
One thing that the Scots will notice more than the rest is the smell and taste of tap water. Also LJ has remarked about how her hair doesn’t like it either.
Right, that is it for now. Can’t think what I’ve missed out, but I’ll come to me.
Just to stress that the above is all my opinion, and I’ve realised that the use of the word “they” sounds a bit divisive, but it is not meant to. In time I will become one of “them” I suppose.
Happy to take questions from the floor.
Cheers!
Mar 19th 2009, 9:18 am
#2
Account Closed
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 333
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Thanks for taking the time to post, very informative and as you have said, once you've got past the visa etc, the update forums then become the most useful. My OH is arriving on 16th April in Melbourne, initially staying with friends in Williamstown. We validated in Nov/Dec. He is going to be testing the water regarding employment etc before we join him. Glad you are enjoying it so far. x
Mar 19th 2009, 11:23 am
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 2,201
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Thanks very much for posting such a concise update. It seems really balanced and realistic and highlights the fact that emigration is a very personal thing in that things you find difficult to adapt to, others don't and vice versa. We got our visa in January 2009 and are going to validate (in Mornington, Melbourne) in July. However, it's looking increasingly likely that we won't migrate because of the present economic climate. I think the validation in July will be pretty much make or break as to whether we move or not. It's all very frustrating and difficult to plan but there you go.
You frequently refer to 'luck' but I'm of the opinion that it has nothing to do with things and you have clearly worked hard to get where you are and for that reason I'm predicting you will make it work over there. Good luck on the other side, keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure it will all work out.
I don't know if you have heard of www.Britvic.org who, as the name suggests, are expats living in Victoria. They are a really friendly bunch who have meets, so you should make friends there (and there seem to be a fair few Scots on there too). They are also very good at giving 'on the ground' information, which I think would be invaluable.
All the best.
Lorraine
You frequently refer to 'luck' but I'm of the opinion that it has nothing to do with things and you have clearly worked hard to get where you are and for that reason I'm predicting you will make it work over there. Good luck on the other side, keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure it will all work out.
I don't know if you have heard of www.Britvic.org who, as the name suggests, are expats living in Victoria. They are a really friendly bunch who have meets, so you should make friends there (and there seem to be a fair few Scots on there too). They are also very good at giving 'on the ground' information, which I think would be invaluable.
All the best.
Lorraine
Mar 22nd 2009, 6:51 am
#4
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: Yarraville, West Melbourne
Posts: 1,014
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Welcome to Melbourne, a nice update- reminds me of our first few weeks.
We sometimes have western suburbs meets, and it's a really friendly bunch of us living around Yarraville, Altona, Williamstown etc.
There are some really nice quirky little furniture shops around Yarraville and Seddon- PM me if you want details
We sometimes have western suburbs meets, and it's a really friendly bunch of us living around Yarraville, Altona, Williamstown etc.
There are some really nice quirky little furniture shops around Yarraville and Seddon- PM me if you want details
Mar 22nd 2009, 7:02 am
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2008
Location: Westernport Mornington Peninsula
Posts: 1,761
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Very good start to your new life in Aus.
Flashing of lights is usually done to warn of a cop car with radar or a speed camera car.
People will nod or thank you but lots will not. Once Aus gets in the car its war. In rush hour they like to be fused to the car in front. They also just flash and move, so watch that. Some do not flash at all.
Ikea used to be huge and in a good position and now its sh.....t as far as I am concerned and never go there now.
Flashing of lights is usually done to warn of a cop car with radar or a speed camera car.
People will nod or thank you but lots will not. Once Aus gets in the car its war. In rush hour they like to be fused to the car in front. They also just flash and move, so watch that. Some do not flash at all.
Ikea used to be huge and in a good position and now its sh.....t as far as I am concerned and never go there now.
Mar 22nd 2009, 8:58 am
#6
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Just outside Glasgow
Posts: 11
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
thanks for the kind words all, hope it works out for those still to move, and for those here, we might cross paths at some point.
Mar 22nd 2009, 10:38 am
#7
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 226
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Ronan
Good post mate ,hopefully we can trade a few beers at 6.45am next Sun morn as we get humped by the clog wearers
Stew
will be jumpin a taxi in as no public transport that early
Good post mate ,hopefully we can trade a few beers at 6.45am next Sun morn as we get humped by the clog wearers
Stew
will be jumpin a taxi in as no public transport that early
Mar 22nd 2009, 1:07 pm
#8
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2008
Location: NSW
Posts: 402
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Thanks for posting, full of interesting bits and pieces.
Wish you well at continuing with your new life and hope you enjoy every minute
Wish you well at continuing with your new life and hope you enjoy every minute
Mar 22nd 2009, 2:41 pm
#9
bring on the sun please
Joined: Nov 2008
Location: scotland
Posts: 271
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
It was great reading your update. It makes me so excited at the prospect of being there, although I dont know if I have much chance. Anyway I am soooo envious of you being out there. Glad you are settling in well and hope you get to meet a circle of friends soon.
P.S. I am from near Glasgow also
P.S. I am from near Glasgow also
Mar 22nd 2009, 5:25 pm
#10
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 70
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Thanks for your update, very interesting. I'd also read on here that clothes shopping was bad so hopefully men's clothes are as good as the ladies. I'll be moving to Melbourne in 3 months and can't wait although worried about the fact that I haven't got a job lined up but science jobs are still on the revised in demand job list.
Hope you don't mind me asking but what do you and your OH do?
Hope you don't mind me asking but what do you and your OH do?
Mar 25th 2009, 7:08 pm
#11
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: wales
Posts: 4
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Hi we are moving to melbourne in 3mnths too,,well if the sale of the house goes through ok.We will be in the chadstone area need to be there due to hubby being at homesglen campus.we are currently looking for rentals in and around that area ,anyone give any advise on this area 
We don't know anyone over there and have never been.
We don't know anyone over there and have never been.
Mar 26th 2009, 10:46 am
#12
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 70
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Hi we are moving to melbourne in 3mnths too,,well if the sale of the house goes through ok.We will be in the chadstone area need to be there due to hubby being at homesglen campus.we are currently looking for rentals in and around that area ,anyone give any advise on this area
We don't know anyone over there and have never been.
We don't know anyone over there and have never been.
http://www.moving-to-melbourne.co.uk/index.html
Hope that helps.
Apr 15th 2009, 11:25 pm
#13
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2008
Location: Dublin
Posts: 47
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Well, that is us here nearly 8 weeks. That doesn’t seem that long, but sometimes it feels like the life we left in Glasgow is years away, other times just like yesterday.
I found the updates to be some of the most interesting and useful parts of the forum, so thought it time to pay it back in, hopefully someone will find something we post useful.
To put you in the picture first –
Since honeymooning in New Zealand in 2005, we decided we wanted to emigrate. We really wanted to try “something” different. Although I wanted to ( and still would ) move to New Zealand, LJ thought it better that given where we were in our lives, that somewhere like Melbourne might suit us better.
We were lucky enough to find both our professions on the in-demand skill list, and as LJ has a Msc, she was lead applicant on the Visa, which we secured in Nov 08. We planned to validate our visa, then return to Scotland to save some money (or more truthfully, pay off some debt), before heading back across late 2009. 2 things changed this. Firstly, we had kept an eye on the job market for information purposes, and a really good job for LJ came up, and best of all, they were looking to recruit from the UK, and were offering an excellent relocation package. Needless to say, my talented wife got the job.
The 2nd thing that helped (forced) us to decide to make the move early was the global economic situation. We knew that Oz was behind the UK in terms of feeling the worst of it, and we hoped that they would be insulated from the worst of it by virtue of their participation in the Asian markets, and the natural resources and relative debt free nature of the country. Also the thinking was that if things do go t!ts up, then we’d never realise our dream of emigrating.
Once LJ was offered her job, I started looking for one too, and was lucky enough to secure a job in my specialised field, after a bizarre experience of being interviwed via skype.
That, in a nut shell, saw us arrive in Melbourne in late Jan, roughly a year earlier than planned.
Leaving the UK – Nothing can prepare you for leaving friends and family behind. Wont offer an insight into it as it is an extremely personal thing and will be different for everyone. What I will say is that it was staggering that amount of people that told me they wished they had the guts to do what we were doing, or that they wished their partners didn’t focus on the “what if dad/mum fell ill” scenario. Part of me everyday worries about my mum and dad, and the “what if”. But I decided that if I spent my time worrying about “what if”, I’d never cross my front door.
In a perverse way, leaving brought me closer to a lot of people, as it prompted me to firstly realise what they mean to me, and then for me to tell them. (I sadly am rarely able to vocalise this to people when it matters)
Arriving in Oz – Flight was with Singapore Airlines. Went fine, nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Flew with Air New Zealand before, it was bloody awful.
As our grant letter stated, it is not required that you get your visa evidenced in your passport. At passport control they take your grant letter and passport number, computer says yes, and in you go. No problem. Fine and dandy.
Try then going to another section of the government ( such as medicare ) and telling them that you don’t need any bit of paper in your passport, and that they should check on-line for your visa verification ( as the system is set up to do). Nightmare. Joined up government it aint. People at the DIAC though were as angry as we were ( well, almost ) about the problems we were having.
In retrospect, we’d have gotten our bit of paper, but I am not doing it now out of sheer bloody mindedness.
LJ’s company had booked us into temporary accommodation, and arranged for a car to pick us up, with was a massive bonus. Afraid I can’t really offer any insight, other than if you can afford it, get picked up.
In the first few days I didn’t find there was much of a culture shock or anything, but we were definitely in holiday mode more than anything else. We had roughly a week to ourselves before starting work, and in retrospect I would have devoted more time to sorting out stuff like medicare, Tax No, bank accounts etc. We initially took the attitude that we had plenty of time to sort this stuff, but once we started work there wasn’t much availability to sort stuff out ( given they open 9-5, which is when we worked )
Again, we had had the huge benefit of a relocation company helping us find a place to live (we gave them space and money info, travel to work times etc, and they came back with places and viewing times) so I’m afraid I don’t have much insight here either, other than to comment that even this company that knew what they were doing could be duped by agents. Some of the places we saw were diabolical.
We’ve ended up in Yarraville, and very nice it is too.
Medicare – as I’ve said, not the most proactive of people, but it is a relatively simple procedure to get your cards. Do this ASAP, as there is a lag time between getting this, and qualifying for some treatment cover.
Tax Number – walk in the park. Fill out a form on-line and wait roughly 10 days. They can link in your visa number to verify your details.
Bank Accounts – we had set one up in the UK, had to go in to verify details etc. It can take a bit of time depending on what you are doing, so again, best get it out the way sooner rather than later. One thing they need is a Oz phone number so…..
Head into the nearest phone store and get a cheap pay as you go. We got a decent deal in vodaphone which done us for what we needed it for. Remember to take your passport with you when you buy it though ( not sure if all places need you to do this )
Actually, where in doubt, we had our passport and grant letter on us, just in case it was required.
At first we thought the tram/train/bus system was pretty good, but it does have some serious issues to do with overcrowding and cancellations. No worse than the Glasgow/Edinburgh line during winter though! I think it is comparable to the London transport system, although I admit I’ve only ever used it a dozen or so times.
Tickets etc are ( again in my opinion ) cheap though, and the one ticket will get you on all 3 forms of transport. Unless you are living in the city, or inner city, it is inescapable that you will need a car. Do not go to Le Mans Toyota in Footscray. Salesmen are fine ( for car salesmen ) but their finance dept were ( and still are ) a joke. Car itself ( touch wood ) is fine.
Driving here is fine. Not great, but fine. Traffic is no worse than peak time on the M8 in Glasgow, or driving in the city. Hook turns are kids play. Honestly. Trying to work them out from how they are described is difficult, but seeing them performed once is all you need. Watch out for trams, and people crossing on the green man even though you have a green light. And also the left lane filter light may be green, but that doesn’t always mean the lane is left turn only ( again, wait till you see what I mean ).
There is no rule against what I would call undertaking. They weave in and out of lanes all the time, and not always with what I would consider a safe distance between themselves and other (ie ME!) vehicles.
Speed limits are a mixed bag. I’ve seen them rigorously adhered to, and flagrantly ignored.
Something that really kills me though is that very few folk on the road have manners. I’m used to stopping and letting folk pass, and all I want in return is a wee nod of the head or a wave of the hand. Almost non-existent over here. I almost got out my car and hugged the first guy that thanked me for pulling in and letting him pass.
Not sure if they observe the “flashing of headlights” to indicate you are giving them the right of way either.
Basically, don’t assume that the road mannerism and behaviour are transferable. I didn’t really think about it until I was on the road, but it is as much a cultural thing as our spoken language.
Which neatly brings me onto – Scottish folk, be prepared to repeat yourself constantly, get given the wrong thing in shops and looked at if you are an alien. For such a multi-cultural society, there is a real lack of tolerance for any difference in accent. The majority of English people will be okay ( unless you have a strong scouse or Yorkshire or brummie accent etc), and unless you have a soft Welsh accent, you can join my gang too. Most folk seem to be able to understand the Irish, but I think that may be because they are exposed to it more. Not sure.
Jumping back, getting your driving licence changed is advisable, as it is used as ID for a lot of things. You need to make an appointment with Vic Roads, which can take some time, but the process itself it easy. Again, best done when not working.
Internet was a big miss for us when we arrived, hotel was charging the equivalent of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s annual losses for sending an email. You can go down the route of getting mobile broadband, we didn’t, partly as I had some access to stuff after starting work. Got it in the house now, using a less well know service, and paying a bit more than the highstreet ones, but user reviews etc led me to them.
Telephone – just got one with Telstra. Nothing brilliant, but wasn’t expecting it to be.
We both get paid fortnightly, which is usual for a lot of jobs. This has benefits and drawbacks. We still have significant debt back in the UK to service, so have started transferring money back using HiFX. If you want to set up a direct debit, you need to have pay at least one months payment up front as deposit. We certainly don’t have that at the moment, as all our savings went after paying deposit on car, setting up the house, paying the bond on the house. We use their one off payment system, and it is working out cheaper than the banks facility.
Setting up the house was much more costly than we thought. The amount of stuff that you need the moment you arrive that you put on the boat is really annoying. But the reality of it is that is isn’t practical to take it on the plane with you. As a result, we’ll have two irons, two kettles, two toasters, more plates, cutlery etc etc
Shopping – (food and stuff ) I don’t think it is too bad here. Butchers and Grocers a plenty, price comparable to back home, quality is better. The Coles and Safeways do for tinned goods and cleaning stuff etc. A Costco is opening soon, hopefully exactly like the UK/American model, which will be good.
Bevy – more expensive that back home, ( well lager and Jack Daniels, as this is all I drink )
I’d say there is a nicer feel to shopping here, as we tend to shop much more locally, and have already begun to develop a relationship with the traders.
Shopping ( clothes etc ) Well, LJ says the shopping in the CBD is excellent, although they don’t do petite sizes, and sometimes it is difficult to find stuff priced “in the middle of the road”. Despite what we were told, Fashion is big in Melbourne. LJ had been led to believe that she would never get dressed up again, but ladies you can go mad here if that is what you want to do. I think the difference is that it doesn’t matter a jot if you don’t dress up.
Shopping – Ikea. You’ll need it, but it’ll make you pay. Got one in Glasgow, it is excellent. The one here was terrible. Nothing in stock, staff a bunch of @*&^@*$.
What we found really difficult was our complete lack of knowledge of the city. We got the car, decided to drive to look at furniture shops, but then realised that we no longer have that intimate knowledge of a place where you know of all the wee places that if you were back home you would visit almost intuitively. There was a really useful website that was linked on here for a time that had links to some stores, which we used as a base. Again, this will come in time I imagine.
Sport – While Melburnians might be sporting daft, they really don’t like football. Real football, a round ball that you kick and sometimes head. They insist on calling something that has been developed from the stuff last seen in Rome with Christians and Lions taking part - “Footy”. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to enjoy it. Seriously brutal. ( not as brutal as shinty or Gaelic football though )
Plenty to see and do around the city, and further out in the suburbs.
Way too early to have made any “friends”. We’ve been out with work colleagues once or twice, but I think you need to be prepared for how lonely you can feel sometimes. I think LJ especially has missed having her close female friends close by. But we recognise that these things will come in time hopefully. Luckily, we don’t mind each other’s company.
I think we’ve spent almost all of our time here setting up stuff, we’ve not really had a moment to catch our breath, and certainly not experience the change in lifestyle we moved here to enjoy.
One thing that the Scots will notice more than the rest is the smell and taste of tap water. Also LJ has remarked about how her hair doesn’t like it either.
Right, that is it for now. Can’t think what I’ve missed out, but I’ll come to me.
Just to stress that the above is all my opinion, and I’ve realised that the use of the word “they” sounds a bit divisive, but it is not meant to. In time I will become one of “them” I suppose.
Happy to take questions from the floor.
Cheers!
I found the updates to be some of the most interesting and useful parts of the forum, so thought it time to pay it back in, hopefully someone will find something we post useful.
To put you in the picture first –
Since honeymooning in New Zealand in 2005, we decided we wanted to emigrate. We really wanted to try “something” different. Although I wanted to ( and still would ) move to New Zealand, LJ thought it better that given where we were in our lives, that somewhere like Melbourne might suit us better.
We were lucky enough to find both our professions on the in-demand skill list, and as LJ has a Msc, she was lead applicant on the Visa, which we secured in Nov 08. We planned to validate our visa, then return to Scotland to save some money (or more truthfully, pay off some debt), before heading back across late 2009. 2 things changed this. Firstly, we had kept an eye on the job market for information purposes, and a really good job for LJ came up, and best of all, they were looking to recruit from the UK, and were offering an excellent relocation package. Needless to say, my talented wife got the job.
The 2nd thing that helped (forced) us to decide to make the move early was the global economic situation. We knew that Oz was behind the UK in terms of feeling the worst of it, and we hoped that they would be insulated from the worst of it by virtue of their participation in the Asian markets, and the natural resources and relative debt free nature of the country. Also the thinking was that if things do go t!ts up, then we’d never realise our dream of emigrating.
Once LJ was offered her job, I started looking for one too, and was lucky enough to secure a job in my specialised field, after a bizarre experience of being interviwed via skype.
That, in a nut shell, saw us arrive in Melbourne in late Jan, roughly a year earlier than planned.
Leaving the UK – Nothing can prepare you for leaving friends and family behind. Wont offer an insight into it as it is an extremely personal thing and will be different for everyone. What I will say is that it was staggering that amount of people that told me they wished they had the guts to do what we were doing, or that they wished their partners didn’t focus on the “what if dad/mum fell ill” scenario. Part of me everyday worries about my mum and dad, and the “what if”. But I decided that if I spent my time worrying about “what if”, I’d never cross my front door.
In a perverse way, leaving brought me closer to a lot of people, as it prompted me to firstly realise what they mean to me, and then for me to tell them. (I sadly am rarely able to vocalise this to people when it matters)
Arriving in Oz – Flight was with Singapore Airlines. Went fine, nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Flew with Air New Zealand before, it was bloody awful.
As our grant letter stated, it is not required that you get your visa evidenced in your passport. At passport control they take your grant letter and passport number, computer says yes, and in you go. No problem. Fine and dandy.
Try then going to another section of the government ( such as medicare ) and telling them that you don’t need any bit of paper in your passport, and that they should check on-line for your visa verification ( as the system is set up to do). Nightmare. Joined up government it aint. People at the DIAC though were as angry as we were ( well, almost ) about the problems we were having.
In retrospect, we’d have gotten our bit of paper, but I am not doing it now out of sheer bloody mindedness.
LJ’s company had booked us into temporary accommodation, and arranged for a car to pick us up, with was a massive bonus. Afraid I can’t really offer any insight, other than if you can afford it, get picked up.
In the first few days I didn’t find there was much of a culture shock or anything, but we were definitely in holiday mode more than anything else. We had roughly a week to ourselves before starting work, and in retrospect I would have devoted more time to sorting out stuff like medicare, Tax No, bank accounts etc. We initially took the attitude that we had plenty of time to sort this stuff, but once we started work there wasn’t much availability to sort stuff out ( given they open 9-5, which is when we worked )
Again, we had had the huge benefit of a relocation company helping us find a place to live (we gave them space and money info, travel to work times etc, and they came back with places and viewing times) so I’m afraid I don’t have much insight here either, other than to comment that even this company that knew what they were doing could be duped by agents. Some of the places we saw were diabolical.
We’ve ended up in Yarraville, and very nice it is too.
Medicare – as I’ve said, not the most proactive of people, but it is a relatively simple procedure to get your cards. Do this ASAP, as there is a lag time between getting this, and qualifying for some treatment cover.
Tax Number – walk in the park. Fill out a form on-line and wait roughly 10 days. They can link in your visa number to verify your details.
Bank Accounts – we had set one up in the UK, had to go in to verify details etc. It can take a bit of time depending on what you are doing, so again, best get it out the way sooner rather than later. One thing they need is a Oz phone number so…..
Head into the nearest phone store and get a cheap pay as you go. We got a decent deal in vodaphone which done us for what we needed it for. Remember to take your passport with you when you buy it though ( not sure if all places need you to do this )
Actually, where in doubt, we had our passport and grant letter on us, just in case it was required.
At first we thought the tram/train/bus system was pretty good, but it does have some serious issues to do with overcrowding and cancellations. No worse than the Glasgow/Edinburgh line during winter though! I think it is comparable to the London transport system, although I admit I’ve only ever used it a dozen or so times.
Tickets etc are ( again in my opinion ) cheap though, and the one ticket will get you on all 3 forms of transport. Unless you are living in the city, or inner city, it is inescapable that you will need a car. Do not go to Le Mans Toyota in Footscray. Salesmen are fine ( for car salesmen ) but their finance dept were ( and still are ) a joke. Car itself ( touch wood ) is fine.
Driving here is fine. Not great, but fine. Traffic is no worse than peak time on the M8 in Glasgow, or driving in the city. Hook turns are kids play. Honestly. Trying to work them out from how they are described is difficult, but seeing them performed once is all you need. Watch out for trams, and people crossing on the green man even though you have a green light. And also the left lane filter light may be green, but that doesn’t always mean the lane is left turn only ( again, wait till you see what I mean ).
There is no rule against what I would call undertaking. They weave in and out of lanes all the time, and not always with what I would consider a safe distance between themselves and other (ie ME!) vehicles.
Speed limits are a mixed bag. I’ve seen them rigorously adhered to, and flagrantly ignored.
Something that really kills me though is that very few folk on the road have manners. I’m used to stopping and letting folk pass, and all I want in return is a wee nod of the head or a wave of the hand. Almost non-existent over here. I almost got out my car and hugged the first guy that thanked me for pulling in and letting him pass.
Not sure if they observe the “flashing of headlights” to indicate you are giving them the right of way either.
Basically, don’t assume that the road mannerism and behaviour are transferable. I didn’t really think about it until I was on the road, but it is as much a cultural thing as our spoken language.
Which neatly brings me onto – Scottish folk, be prepared to repeat yourself constantly, get given the wrong thing in shops and looked at if you are an alien. For such a multi-cultural society, there is a real lack of tolerance for any difference in accent. The majority of English people will be okay ( unless you have a strong scouse or Yorkshire or brummie accent etc), and unless you have a soft Welsh accent, you can join my gang too. Most folk seem to be able to understand the Irish, but I think that may be because they are exposed to it more. Not sure.
Jumping back, getting your driving licence changed is advisable, as it is used as ID for a lot of things. You need to make an appointment with Vic Roads, which can take some time, but the process itself it easy. Again, best done when not working.
Internet was a big miss for us when we arrived, hotel was charging the equivalent of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s annual losses for sending an email. You can go down the route of getting mobile broadband, we didn’t, partly as I had some access to stuff after starting work. Got it in the house now, using a less well know service, and paying a bit more than the highstreet ones, but user reviews etc led me to them.
Telephone – just got one with Telstra. Nothing brilliant, but wasn’t expecting it to be.
We both get paid fortnightly, which is usual for a lot of jobs. This has benefits and drawbacks. We still have significant debt back in the UK to service, so have started transferring money back using HiFX. If you want to set up a direct debit, you need to have pay at least one months payment up front as deposit. We certainly don’t have that at the moment, as all our savings went after paying deposit on car, setting up the house, paying the bond on the house. We use their one off payment system, and it is working out cheaper than the banks facility.
Setting up the house was much more costly than we thought. The amount of stuff that you need the moment you arrive that you put on the boat is really annoying. But the reality of it is that is isn’t practical to take it on the plane with you. As a result, we’ll have two irons, two kettles, two toasters, more plates, cutlery etc etc
Shopping – (food and stuff ) I don’t think it is too bad here. Butchers and Grocers a plenty, price comparable to back home, quality is better. The Coles and Safeways do for tinned goods and cleaning stuff etc. A Costco is opening soon, hopefully exactly like the UK/American model, which will be good.
Bevy – more expensive that back home, ( well lager and Jack Daniels, as this is all I drink )
I’d say there is a nicer feel to shopping here, as we tend to shop much more locally, and have already begun to develop a relationship with the traders.
Shopping ( clothes etc ) Well, LJ says the shopping in the CBD is excellent, although they don’t do petite sizes, and sometimes it is difficult to find stuff priced “in the middle of the road”. Despite what we were told, Fashion is big in Melbourne. LJ had been led to believe that she would never get dressed up again, but ladies you can go mad here if that is what you want to do. I think the difference is that it doesn’t matter a jot if you don’t dress up.
Shopping – Ikea. You’ll need it, but it’ll make you pay. Got one in Glasgow, it is excellent. The one here was terrible. Nothing in stock, staff a bunch of @*&^@*$.
What we found really difficult was our complete lack of knowledge of the city. We got the car, decided to drive to look at furniture shops, but then realised that we no longer have that intimate knowledge of a place where you know of all the wee places that if you were back home you would visit almost intuitively. There was a really useful website that was linked on here for a time that had links to some stores, which we used as a base. Again, this will come in time I imagine.
Sport – While Melburnians might be sporting daft, they really don’t like football. Real football, a round ball that you kick and sometimes head. They insist on calling something that has been developed from the stuff last seen in Rome with Christians and Lions taking part - “Footy”. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to enjoy it. Seriously brutal. ( not as brutal as shinty or Gaelic football though )
Plenty to see and do around the city, and further out in the suburbs.
Way too early to have made any “friends”. We’ve been out with work colleagues once or twice, but I think you need to be prepared for how lonely you can feel sometimes. I think LJ especially has missed having her close female friends close by. But we recognise that these things will come in time hopefully. Luckily, we don’t mind each other’s company.
I think we’ve spent almost all of our time here setting up stuff, we’ve not really had a moment to catch our breath, and certainly not experience the change in lifestyle we moved here to enjoy.
One thing that the Scots will notice more than the rest is the smell and taste of tap water. Also LJ has remarked about how her hair doesn’t like it either.
Right, that is it for now. Can’t think what I’ve missed out, but I’ll come to me.
Just to stress that the above is all my opinion, and I’ve realised that the use of the word “they” sounds a bit divisive, but it is not meant to. In time I will become one of “them” I suppose.
Happy to take questions from the floor.
Cheers!
Apr 16th 2009, 2:43 pm
#14
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,039
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Very good start to your new life in Aus.
Flashing of lights is usually done to warn of a cop car with radar or a speed camera car.
People will nod or thank you but lots will not. Once Aus gets in the car its war. In rush hour they like to be fused to the car in front. They also just flash and move, so watch that. Some do not flash at all.
Ikea used to be huge and in a good position and now its sh.....t as far as I am concerned and never go there now.
Flashing of lights is usually done to warn of a cop car with radar or a speed camera car.
People will nod or thank you but lots will not. Once Aus gets in the car its war. In rush hour they like to be fused to the car in front. They also just flash and move, so watch that. Some do not flash at all.
Ikea used to be huge and in a good position and now its sh.....t as far as I am concerned and never go there now.
Its third use is to tell a slow driver to get out of the fast lane.
Last edited by fish.01; Apr 16th 2009 at 2:44 pm. Reason: typo
Apr 17th 2009, 7:08 am
#15
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 397
Re: 8 weeks in Melbourne
Well, that is us here nearly 8 weeks. That doesn’t seem that long, but sometimes it feels like the life we left in Glasgow is years away, other times just like yesterday.
I found the updates to be some of the most interesting and useful parts of the forum, so thought it time to pay it back in, hopefully someone will find something we post useful.
To put you in the picture first –
Since honeymooning in New Zealand in 2005, we decided we wanted to emigrate. We really wanted to try “something” different. Although I wanted to ( and still would ) move to New Zealand, LJ thought it better that given where we were in our lives, that somewhere like Melbourne might suit us better.
We were lucky enough to find both our professions on the in-demand skill list, and as LJ has a Msc, she was lead applicant on the Visa, which we secured in Nov 08. We planned to validate our visa, then return to Scotland to save some money (or more truthfully, pay off some debt), before heading back across late 2009. 2 things changed this. Firstly, we had kept an eye on the job market for information purposes, and a really good job for LJ came up, and best of all, they were looking to recruit from the UK, and were offering an excellent relocation package. Needless to say, my talented wife got the job.
The 2nd thing that helped (forced) us to decide to make the move early was the global economic situation. We knew that Oz was behind the UK in terms of feeling the worst of it, and we hoped that they would be insulated from the worst of it by virtue of their participation in the Asian markets, and the natural resources and relative debt free nature of the country. Also the thinking was that if things do go t!ts up, then we’d never realise our dream of emigrating.
Once LJ was offered her job, I started looking for one too, and was lucky enough to secure a job in my specialised field, after a bizarre experience of being interviwed via skype.
That, in a nut shell, saw us arrive in Melbourne in late Jan, roughly a year earlier than planned.
Leaving the UK – Nothing can prepare you for leaving friends and family behind. Wont offer an insight into it as it is an extremely personal thing and will be different for everyone. What I will say is that it was staggering that amount of people that told me they wished they had the guts to do what we were doing, or that they wished their partners didn’t focus on the “what if dad/mum fell ill” scenario. Part of me everyday worries about my mum and dad, and the “what if”. But I decided that if I spent my time worrying about “what if”, I’d never cross my front door.
In a perverse way, leaving brought me closer to a lot of people, as it prompted me to firstly realise what they mean to me, and then for me to tell them. (I sadly am rarely able to vocalise this to people when it matters)
Arriving in Oz – Flight was with Singapore Airlines. Went fine, nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Flew with Air New Zealand before, it was bloody awful.
As our grant letter stated, it is not required that you get your visa evidenced in your passport. At passport control they take your grant letter and passport number, computer says yes, and in you go. No problem. Fine and dandy.
Try then going to another section of the government ( such as medicare ) and telling them that you don’t need any bit of paper in your passport, and that they should check on-line for your visa verification ( as the system is set up to do). Nightmare. Joined up government it aint. People at the DIAC though were as angry as we were ( well, almost ) about the problems we were having.
In retrospect, we’d have gotten our bit of paper, but I am not doing it now out of sheer bloody mindedness.
LJ’s company had booked us into temporary accommodation, and arranged for a car to pick us up, with was a massive bonus. Afraid I can’t really offer any insight, other than if you can afford it, get picked up.
In the first few days I didn’t find there was much of a culture shock or anything, but we were definitely in holiday mode more than anything else. We had roughly a week to ourselves before starting work, and in retrospect I would have devoted more time to sorting out stuff like medicare, Tax No, bank accounts etc. We initially took the attitude that we had plenty of time to sort this stuff, but once we started work there wasn’t much availability to sort stuff out ( given they open 9-5, which is when we worked )
Again, we had had the huge benefit of a relocation company helping us find a place to live (we gave them space and money info, travel to work times etc, and they came back with places and viewing times) so I’m afraid I don’t have much insight here either, other than to comment that even this company that knew what they were doing could be duped by agents. Some of the places we saw were diabolical.
We’ve ended up in Yarraville, and very nice it is too.
Medicare – as I’ve said, not the most proactive of people, but it is a relatively simple procedure to get your cards. Do this ASAP, as there is a lag time between getting this, and qualifying for some treatment cover.
Tax Number – walk in the park. Fill out a form on-line and wait roughly 10 days. They can link in your visa number to verify your details.
Bank Accounts – we had set one up in the UK, had to go in to verify details etc. It can take a bit of time depending on what you are doing, so again, best get it out the way sooner rather than later. One thing they need is a Oz phone number so…..
Head into the nearest phone store and get a cheap pay as you go. We got a decent deal in vodaphone which done us for what we needed it for. Remember to take your passport with you when you buy it though ( not sure if all places need you to do this )
Actually, where in doubt, we had our passport and grant letter on us, just in case it was required.
At first we thought the tram/train/bus system was pretty good, but it does have some serious issues to do with overcrowding and cancellations. No worse than the Glasgow/Edinburgh line during winter though! I think it is comparable to the London transport system, although I admit I’ve only ever used it a dozen or so times.
Tickets etc are ( again in my opinion ) cheap though, and the one ticket will get you on all 3 forms of transport. Unless you are living in the city, or inner city, it is inescapable that you will need a car. Do not go to Le Mans Toyota in Footscray. Salesmen are fine ( for car salesmen ) but their finance dept were ( and still are ) a joke. Car itself ( touch wood ) is fine.
Driving here is fine. Not great, but fine. Traffic is no worse than peak time on the M8 in Glasgow, or driving in the city. Hook turns are kids play. Honestly. Trying to work them out from how they are described is difficult, but seeing them performed once is all you need. Watch out for trams, and people crossing on the green man even though you have a green light. And also the left lane filter light may be green, but that doesn’t always mean the lane is left turn only ( again, wait till you see what I mean ).
There is no rule against what I would call undertaking. They weave in and out of lanes all the time, and not always with what I would consider a safe distance between themselves and other (ie ME!) vehicles.
Speed limits are a mixed bag. I’ve seen them rigorously adhered to, and flagrantly ignored.
Something that really kills me though is that very few folk on the road have manners. I’m used to stopping and letting folk pass, and all I want in return is a wee nod of the head or a wave of the hand. Almost non-existent over here. I almost got out my car and hugged the first guy that thanked me for pulling in and letting him pass.
Not sure if they observe the “flashing of headlights” to indicate you are giving them the right of way either.
Basically, don’t assume that the road mannerism and behaviour are transferable. I didn’t really think about it until I was on the road, but it is as much a cultural thing as our spoken language.
Which neatly brings me onto – Scottish folk, be prepared to repeat yourself constantly, get given the wrong thing in shops and looked at if you are an alien. For such a multi-cultural society, there is a real lack of tolerance for any difference in accent. The majority of English people will be okay ( unless you have a strong scouse or Yorkshire or brummie accent etc), and unless you have a soft Welsh accent, you can join my gang too. Most folk seem to be able to understand the Irish, but I think that may be because they are exposed to it more. Not sure.
Jumping back, getting your driving licence changed is advisable, as it is used as ID for a lot of things. You need to make an appointment with Vic Roads, which can take some time, but the process itself it easy. Again, best done when not working.
Internet was a big miss for us when we arrived, hotel was charging the equivalent of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s annual losses for sending an email. You can go down the route of getting mobile broadband, we didn’t, partly as I had some access to stuff after starting work. Got it in the house now, using a less well know service, and paying a bit more than the highstreet ones, but user reviews etc led me to them.
Telephone – just got one with Telstra. Nothing brilliant, but wasn’t expecting it to be.
We both get paid fortnightly, which is usual for a lot of jobs. This has benefits and drawbacks. We still have significant debt back in the UK to service, so have started transferring money back using HiFX. If you want to set up a direct debit, you need to have pay at least one months payment up front as deposit. We certainly don’t have that at the moment, as all our savings went after paying deposit on car, setting up the house, paying the bond on the house. We use their one off payment system, and it is working out cheaper than the banks facility.
Setting up the house was much more costly than we thought. The amount of stuff that you need the moment you arrive that you put on the boat is really annoying. But the reality of it is that is isn’t practical to take it on the plane with you. As a result, we’ll have two irons, two kettles, two toasters, more plates, cutlery etc etc
Shopping – (food and stuff ) I don’t think it is too bad here. Butchers and Grocers a plenty, price comparable to back home, quality is better. The Coles and Safeways do for tinned goods and cleaning stuff etc. A Costco is opening soon, hopefully exactly like the UK/American model, which will be good.
Bevy – more expensive that back home, ( well lager and Jack Daniels, as this is all I drink )
I’d say there is a nicer feel to shopping here, as we tend to shop much more locally, and have already begun to develop a relationship with the traders.
Shopping ( clothes etc ) Well, LJ says the shopping in the CBD is excellent, although they don’t do petite sizes, and sometimes it is difficult to find stuff priced “in the middle of the road”. Despite what we were told, Fashion is big in Melbourne. LJ had been led to believe that she would never get dressed up again, but ladies you can go mad here if that is what you want to do. I think the difference is that it doesn’t matter a jot if you don’t dress up.
Shopping – Ikea. You’ll need it, but it’ll make you pay. Got one in Glasgow, it is excellent. The one here was terrible. Nothing in stock, staff a bunch of @*&^@*$.
What we found really difficult was our complete lack of knowledge of the city. We got the car, decided to drive to look at furniture shops, but then realised that we no longer have that intimate knowledge of a place where you know of all the wee places that if you were back home you would visit almost intuitively. There was a really useful website that was linked on here for a time that had links to some stores, which we used as a base. Again, this will come in time I imagine.
Sport – While Melburnians might be sporting daft, they really don’t like football. Real football, a round ball that you kick and sometimes head. They insist on calling something that has been developed from the stuff last seen in Rome with Christians and Lions taking part - “Footy”. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to enjoy it. Seriously brutal. ( not as brutal as shinty or Gaelic football though )
Plenty to see and do around the city, and further out in the suburbs.
Way too early to have made any “friends”. We’ve been out with work colleagues once or twice, but I think you need to be prepared for how lonely you can feel sometimes. I think LJ especially has missed having her close female friends close by. But we recognise that these things will come in time hopefully. Luckily, we don’t mind each other’s company.
I think we’ve spent almost all of our time here setting up stuff, we’ve not really had a moment to catch our breath, and certainly not experience the change in lifestyle we moved here to enjoy.
One thing that the Scots will notice more than the rest is the smell and taste of tap water. Also LJ has remarked about how her hair doesn’t like it either.
Right, that is it for now. Can’t think what I’ve missed out, but I’ll come to me.
Just to stress that the above is all my opinion, and I’ve realised that the use of the word “they” sounds a bit divisive, but it is not meant to. In time I will become one of “them” I suppose.
Happy to take questions from the floor.
Cheers!
I found the updates to be some of the most interesting and useful parts of the forum, so thought it time to pay it back in, hopefully someone will find something we post useful.
To put you in the picture first –
Since honeymooning in New Zealand in 2005, we decided we wanted to emigrate. We really wanted to try “something” different. Although I wanted to ( and still would ) move to New Zealand, LJ thought it better that given where we were in our lives, that somewhere like Melbourne might suit us better.
We were lucky enough to find both our professions on the in-demand skill list, and as LJ has a Msc, she was lead applicant on the Visa, which we secured in Nov 08. We planned to validate our visa, then return to Scotland to save some money (or more truthfully, pay off some debt), before heading back across late 2009. 2 things changed this. Firstly, we had kept an eye on the job market for information purposes, and a really good job for LJ came up, and best of all, they were looking to recruit from the UK, and were offering an excellent relocation package. Needless to say, my talented wife got the job.
The 2nd thing that helped (forced) us to decide to make the move early was the global economic situation. We knew that Oz was behind the UK in terms of feeling the worst of it, and we hoped that they would be insulated from the worst of it by virtue of their participation in the Asian markets, and the natural resources and relative debt free nature of the country. Also the thinking was that if things do go t!ts up, then we’d never realise our dream of emigrating.
Once LJ was offered her job, I started looking for one too, and was lucky enough to secure a job in my specialised field, after a bizarre experience of being interviwed via skype.
That, in a nut shell, saw us arrive in Melbourne in late Jan, roughly a year earlier than planned.
Leaving the UK – Nothing can prepare you for leaving friends and family behind. Wont offer an insight into it as it is an extremely personal thing and will be different for everyone. What I will say is that it was staggering that amount of people that told me they wished they had the guts to do what we were doing, or that they wished their partners didn’t focus on the “what if dad/mum fell ill” scenario. Part of me everyday worries about my mum and dad, and the “what if”. But I decided that if I spent my time worrying about “what if”, I’d never cross my front door.
In a perverse way, leaving brought me closer to a lot of people, as it prompted me to firstly realise what they mean to me, and then for me to tell them. (I sadly am rarely able to vocalise this to people when it matters)
Arriving in Oz – Flight was with Singapore Airlines. Went fine, nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Flew with Air New Zealand before, it was bloody awful.
As our grant letter stated, it is not required that you get your visa evidenced in your passport. At passport control they take your grant letter and passport number, computer says yes, and in you go. No problem. Fine and dandy.
Try then going to another section of the government ( such as medicare ) and telling them that you don’t need any bit of paper in your passport, and that they should check on-line for your visa verification ( as the system is set up to do). Nightmare. Joined up government it aint. People at the DIAC though were as angry as we were ( well, almost ) about the problems we were having.
In retrospect, we’d have gotten our bit of paper, but I am not doing it now out of sheer bloody mindedness.
LJ’s company had booked us into temporary accommodation, and arranged for a car to pick us up, with was a massive bonus. Afraid I can’t really offer any insight, other than if you can afford it, get picked up.
In the first few days I didn’t find there was much of a culture shock or anything, but we were definitely in holiday mode more than anything else. We had roughly a week to ourselves before starting work, and in retrospect I would have devoted more time to sorting out stuff like medicare, Tax No, bank accounts etc. We initially took the attitude that we had plenty of time to sort this stuff, but once we started work there wasn’t much availability to sort stuff out ( given they open 9-5, which is when we worked )
Again, we had had the huge benefit of a relocation company helping us find a place to live (we gave them space and money info, travel to work times etc, and they came back with places and viewing times) so I’m afraid I don’t have much insight here either, other than to comment that even this company that knew what they were doing could be duped by agents. Some of the places we saw were diabolical.
We’ve ended up in Yarraville, and very nice it is too.
Medicare – as I’ve said, not the most proactive of people, but it is a relatively simple procedure to get your cards. Do this ASAP, as there is a lag time between getting this, and qualifying for some treatment cover.
Tax Number – walk in the park. Fill out a form on-line and wait roughly 10 days. They can link in your visa number to verify your details.
Bank Accounts – we had set one up in the UK, had to go in to verify details etc. It can take a bit of time depending on what you are doing, so again, best get it out the way sooner rather than later. One thing they need is a Oz phone number so…..
Head into the nearest phone store and get a cheap pay as you go. We got a decent deal in vodaphone which done us for what we needed it for. Remember to take your passport with you when you buy it though ( not sure if all places need you to do this )
Actually, where in doubt, we had our passport and grant letter on us, just in case it was required.
At first we thought the tram/train/bus system was pretty good, but it does have some serious issues to do with overcrowding and cancellations. No worse than the Glasgow/Edinburgh line during winter though! I think it is comparable to the London transport system, although I admit I’ve only ever used it a dozen or so times.
Tickets etc are ( again in my opinion ) cheap though, and the one ticket will get you on all 3 forms of transport. Unless you are living in the city, or inner city, it is inescapable that you will need a car. Do not go to Le Mans Toyota in Footscray. Salesmen are fine ( for car salesmen ) but their finance dept were ( and still are ) a joke. Car itself ( touch wood ) is fine.
Driving here is fine. Not great, but fine. Traffic is no worse than peak time on the M8 in Glasgow, or driving in the city. Hook turns are kids play. Honestly. Trying to work them out from how they are described is difficult, but seeing them performed once is all you need. Watch out for trams, and people crossing on the green man even though you have a green light. And also the left lane filter light may be green, but that doesn’t always mean the lane is left turn only ( again, wait till you see what I mean ).
There is no rule against what I would call undertaking. They weave in and out of lanes all the time, and not always with what I would consider a safe distance between themselves and other (ie ME!) vehicles.
Speed limits are a mixed bag. I’ve seen them rigorously adhered to, and flagrantly ignored.
Something that really kills me though is that very few folk on the road have manners. I’m used to stopping and letting folk pass, and all I want in return is a wee nod of the head or a wave of the hand. Almost non-existent over here. I almost got out my car and hugged the first guy that thanked me for pulling in and letting him pass.
Not sure if they observe the “flashing of headlights” to indicate you are giving them the right of way either.
Basically, don’t assume that the road mannerism and behaviour are transferable. I didn’t really think about it until I was on the road, but it is as much a cultural thing as our spoken language.
Which neatly brings me onto – Scottish folk, be prepared to repeat yourself constantly, get given the wrong thing in shops and looked at if you are an alien. For such a multi-cultural society, there is a real lack of tolerance for any difference in accent. The majority of English people will be okay ( unless you have a strong scouse or Yorkshire or brummie accent etc), and unless you have a soft Welsh accent, you can join my gang too. Most folk seem to be able to understand the Irish, but I think that may be because they are exposed to it more. Not sure.
Jumping back, getting your driving licence changed is advisable, as it is used as ID for a lot of things. You need to make an appointment with Vic Roads, which can take some time, but the process itself it easy. Again, best done when not working.
Internet was a big miss for us when we arrived, hotel was charging the equivalent of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s annual losses for sending an email. You can go down the route of getting mobile broadband, we didn’t, partly as I had some access to stuff after starting work. Got it in the house now, using a less well know service, and paying a bit more than the highstreet ones, but user reviews etc led me to them.
Telephone – just got one with Telstra. Nothing brilliant, but wasn’t expecting it to be.
We both get paid fortnightly, which is usual for a lot of jobs. This has benefits and drawbacks. We still have significant debt back in the UK to service, so have started transferring money back using HiFX. If you want to set up a direct debit, you need to have pay at least one months payment up front as deposit. We certainly don’t have that at the moment, as all our savings went after paying deposit on car, setting up the house, paying the bond on the house. We use their one off payment system, and it is working out cheaper than the banks facility.
Setting up the house was much more costly than we thought. The amount of stuff that you need the moment you arrive that you put on the boat is really annoying. But the reality of it is that is isn’t practical to take it on the plane with you. As a result, we’ll have two irons, two kettles, two toasters, more plates, cutlery etc etc
Shopping – (food and stuff ) I don’t think it is too bad here. Butchers and Grocers a plenty, price comparable to back home, quality is better. The Coles and Safeways do for tinned goods and cleaning stuff etc. A Costco is opening soon, hopefully exactly like the UK/American model, which will be good.
Bevy – more expensive that back home, ( well lager and Jack Daniels, as this is all I drink )
I’d say there is a nicer feel to shopping here, as we tend to shop much more locally, and have already begun to develop a relationship with the traders.
Shopping ( clothes etc ) Well, LJ says the shopping in the CBD is excellent, although they don’t do petite sizes, and sometimes it is difficult to find stuff priced “in the middle of the road”. Despite what we were told, Fashion is big in Melbourne. LJ had been led to believe that she would never get dressed up again, but ladies you can go mad here if that is what you want to do. I think the difference is that it doesn’t matter a jot if you don’t dress up.
Shopping – Ikea. You’ll need it, but it’ll make you pay. Got one in Glasgow, it is excellent. The one here was terrible. Nothing in stock, staff a bunch of @*&^@*$.
What we found really difficult was our complete lack of knowledge of the city. We got the car, decided to drive to look at furniture shops, but then realised that we no longer have that intimate knowledge of a place where you know of all the wee places that if you were back home you would visit almost intuitively. There was a really useful website that was linked on here for a time that had links to some stores, which we used as a base. Again, this will come in time I imagine.
Sport – While Melburnians might be sporting daft, they really don’t like football. Real football, a round ball that you kick and sometimes head. They insist on calling something that has been developed from the stuff last seen in Rome with Christians and Lions taking part - “Footy”. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to enjoy it. Seriously brutal. ( not as brutal as shinty or Gaelic football though )
Plenty to see and do around the city, and further out in the suburbs.
Way too early to have made any “friends”. We’ve been out with work colleagues once or twice, but I think you need to be prepared for how lonely you can feel sometimes. I think LJ especially has missed having her close female friends close by. But we recognise that these things will come in time hopefully. Luckily, we don’t mind each other’s company.
I think we’ve spent almost all of our time here setting up stuff, we’ve not really had a moment to catch our breath, and certainly not experience the change in lifestyle we moved here to enjoy.
One thing that the Scots will notice more than the rest is the smell and taste of tap water. Also LJ has remarked about how her hair doesn’t like it either.
Right, that is it for now. Can’t think what I’ve missed out, but I’ll come to me.
Just to stress that the above is all my opinion, and I’ve realised that the use of the word “they” sounds a bit divisive, but it is not meant to. In time I will become one of “them” I suppose.
Happy to take questions from the floor.
Cheers!
If I can give you one piece of advice. You mention AFL and of course the fact it is football here, and our football is nowhere near as popular.
AFL is part of the culture, heritage and a game completely 110% part of many peoples lives here in Melbourne. It is important that you either embrace it, or pass it over and dont get frustrated by the huge media interest, and seemingly dull and uninteresting comments made by men, women, children and their dog about the beloved game, simply say, dont follow it and move on.
I fought it for a while and realised it was futile, and actually disrespectful as it is their game, they love it, kids grow up with it and the media squeezes every last drop of every game and stat and it can overwhelm a newbie, expecially as it appears such a crap game on the surface.
The rest, you are pretty much spot on, but i have learnt to live with the AFL beast, side by side, i am a football (soccer) man and have to suck it up that it just aint popular here, and watching A league is like watching Penzance V Truro City in a soggy wet field...
Cheers