petal38

Hi Petals, i have visited Mornington town a few times and it is beautiful. Am i right in thinking the nearest train station is in Frankston though? xx

Funny how we all see things differently hey - i love love clothes and shopping and am not easily pleased (i'm early 40s), and was a regular M&S shopper before we emigrated - well, for particular things. Love their relaxed skinny jeans (and that they do longer length - perfect for me) which i thought were very reasonably priced and lasted well. I also shopped at M&S for work wear and got quite a few pairs of shoes and sandals from them too ...... especially with the 20% off - liked some of their knitwear too - mainly the coatigan type styles. Autograph get some lovely stuff in too, although tended only to buy it in the sale. Some of their handbags were stylish too and their nightware/underwear i found decent quality. But wow, any food i've ever had from M&S has been spectacular - worth the extra money - although i've never done my weekly shop there!!

Hello folks, i'm hoping someone can advise me how i go about getting all our UK plugs changed to Oz plugs so we can use all our electricals here in Oz when our container arrives in a week or so? Am i right in just assuming i'll call around a few local electricians? Also, how do we go about changing our EU driver licences to Oz licences? We're also looking at buying a second hand SUV and wondered if anyone can advise how much deposit is usually expected and do you need to have been working for 3 months to secure finance to pay off the rest? Many thanks ..... the newbies! Petal :smile:

So to get this thread back on topic, i thought it would be of interest to add my perspective on why we emigrated to Oz (Melbourne) from the UK (Newcastle, North East) a month ago .... and without entering into any Oz or UK bashing, as i have always felt that whichever way you are going, it is a momentous decision, and involves a range of different dynamics for us all. First off, it's taken us over 4 years to get out here on our PR visas, as despite being in our late 30s, we have sadly lost 3 parents between us in that time. So for us, we now have far less family ties in the UK compared to a lot of people, who I can understand feel this pull, and to an extent guilt, when their nearest and dearest are ageing and ailing. Leaving my mum in the UK was the hardest part of deciding to make this move, but both with busy lives and living nearly 3 hours apart, in reality we saw each other about 5/6 weekends a year, plus i have 2 brothers who lives nearby to her. Luckily she is in good health and coming over to visit end of Jan for a month or so! I will also miss my friends hugely as have lived in Newcastle 25 years now, but although we saw a lot more of each other in the month or so before I left, the fact remains we didn't usually see each other anything like that often as all busy working mums. I hardly see my friends from University anymore, but despite this, when i do it's as if i saw them yesterday, and i truly believe that is how it will be with my post-Uni friends. Luckily i have several good friends who have emigrated to other parts of Oz over the last few years, so will probably see more of them now. I was also made redundant 5 years ago from a great job (the whole organisation was closed down by the Tories), and have only been able to pick up fixed term or maternity type cover contracts since - some of which were quite a big step backwards which has been quite depressing and sickening. There was quite simply nothing particularly good coming up in the North East which is a limited job market in many areas, and many of my colleagues the last few years have been in a similar position. Unless i was prepared to go down the 'work in London or Brussels Mon-Fri' route, i was stuck career wise, and wasn't prepared to live that existence and be away from my husband. My husband also found the job market precarious and he's an experienced IT developer programmer - we're both Masters degree educated and experienced in our respective fields. But the worst of it employment wise for us in the part of the UK we lived, is 2 months after we had our first baby, his contract at that time ended (2 years ago now), and nothing decent was coming up (which was a very stressful situation to be in - especially as i'd lost any decent maternity pay with being made redundant), and he ended up taking a role in Germany - it was either there or London - and we figured Germany would be cheaper, safer and take no longer for him to get home at weekends from. We are currently expecting our second baby early next year. Luckily we sold our house in Newcastle earlier this year for more than we thought we would and thanks to the Brexit effect on the £, are keeping the money in the UK until the exchange rate improves and we find our feet over here. Within 2 weeks of arriving in Melbourne, and following second interveiws, my husband was offered 3 really good jobs - all paying around $150k pa mark and permanent contracts - with a 17% employer pension contribution which is virtually unheard of in the UK. For us that means a lot as we haven't had any job security in the UK in over 5 years. There are a huge range of options for me over here in the job market too, and when i come to return to work in a year or so, i'm confident it can't be any tougher than trying to find decent work in the North East has been. We both loved the North East, and it's a great place to live, IF you can find a decent job. In our fields that is difficult ..... and not that we are career obsessed ..... but not being able to find work is both stressful and impacts greatly on your day to day life - fact. I appreciate we are very new to Oz, and may feel like some of you do in a few years time, and want to return to the UK. But there is every chance we will want to stay in Oz too, and we're both enjoying everything it is offering us at this stage in our life. We're due to move into a lovely rental home in a coastal suburb 30 mins from the Melbourne CBD, have our son booked into kindy, are all registered with our local hospital for baby no2 arrival, and have already met some lovely people in our new suburb - both Australian and fellow UK immigrants. This is just our story, but our gut feeling is this has been a good move for us!

Hi Nicky, thanks for your message! We live in Newcastle - my husband is a Geordie and i'm originally from Ireland and then Scotland. We fly out to Melbourne in a week with our two and half year old toddler and six and a half months bump! We've got short-term accommodation booked for our first 5 weeks in Reservoir and will be looking for a rental in Altona during that time. How are you enjoying Altona and how long have you been in Oz? Any specific parts of Altona you would recommend as i'm guessing it's a fairly large suburb? I'm hoping there are a few baby/toddler groups on in the area! Would be lovely to catch up at some point and i look forward to hearing from you, thanks Petal Xxx

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply - all useful info! Aboojets, we booked a 2 bed fully furnished house with garden etc through airbnb - we made the booking about 3 or so months ago as there wasn't a lot of reasonably priced short-term out there, but it looks great. Good luck with your move! Petal :-)

Thank you everyone for your advice - especially on the practicals - very helpful. My last c-section was planned in so far as it was on the consultant's advice as labour never really progressed, even after being induced .... but then my son was nearly 11lbs when born! So that's probably why. This pregnancy has been a very very happy surprise!! Everyone's situation is so so different, but we have no family nearby for support where we live in the UK anyway, and we've coped fine as have never been use to having that additional layer of support, which i think people would miss much more when they have been use to it on tap. My husband also had to work away for 6 months when our now toddler was only 2 months old, and i coped fine with that too - i'm pretty self-sufficient and independent. I know it will be tougher in new surroundings and without established friends, but none of my friends here are currently pregnant and will be at work when my no 2 arrives, so in reality i'd be coping on my own for the most part here anyway. My mum is coming over for a month or so a couple of weeks after no2 is due, so that's great and feels good to know i'll see her not too long after we emigrate. Overall i see it as good timing having a new baby not long after we arrive in Oz as i'll get to know other mum's and hopefully it will help me start to build a new network of friends. That's the way i see it anyway. Thanks again everyone! Petal x

Hi folks, We are due to emigrate to Melbourne mid Oct and my second baby is due mid Jan 2017! We have PR visas, but i just wondered if anyone can advise me on a couple of things: 1. What do i need to do when we arrive to get registered with Medicare? Where do you go to do this? We have a short-term rental for 5 weeks and know which suburb we would like to rent in for the next year (Altona), so should i register with a doctor in Altona when we are house hunting there to get the wheels in motion? Am i right in assuming the GP would refer me to the nearest public hospital? 2. I had a planned c-section last time, and would automatically be offered one if having no2 in the UK. Is this option available in Oz? I thought i would bring a letter from my NHS consultant over here with me so i have this as back up for Oz. But again, any insight/experience around these issues would be very much appreciated! It is a bit daunting knowing you are going to have a baby in a strange county where you don't know the health care system at all! Many thanks, Petal x:wink:

Hello Folks, we are due to emigrate to Melbourne mid Oct and have booked our short-term accommodation for our arrival for the first 5 weeks. During this time we are hoping to secure a 1 year rental - we are going to focus on Altona as it seems a good all-rounder and we won't have the time to explore the many suburbs of the city. Can anyone offer me advice on how best to approach finding and securing a 1 year rental? We are aware open-viewings are the norm in Oz, but are there any documents for example it would be useful to have to help secure us a rental? We are home owners in the UK, so not a recent rental background! Would a letter of recommendation from our first place when we arrive in Mel be worthwhile? Any hints/tips greatly appreciated!!:wink: Are open viewings right through the week or mainly weekends? Thank you!

Hi folks, we are emigrating to Melbourne mid October this year, and plan to ship our pet cat of the last 7 years with us. He's a middle aged lad now and a house cat. We secured short-term accommodation last week for our first 5 weeks, and hope to find a 1 year rental during that time to start around mid/end November. Our short term rent isn't pet friendly, so during our first few weeks we are going to have to keep our cat in kennels somewhere (we are staying in Reservoir). He'll be in quarantine for his first 10 days anyway - does anyone happen to know if the quarantine station has longer term provision for animals to stay once they are out their quarantine period? Are there a good number of rentals that accept pets? We'll be renting an unfurnished house, so it would be full of our own stuff rather than someone elses? Any advice/guidance welcome! Thanks!:wink:

Hello ItchyFeet76, we already have our PR visas, but have found recruiters never get back to you when you're not as yet in Oz. Good luck in securing sponsorship! Fingers crossed.

Hi Deb, good luck with the move! We are in a similar position in that we will have had our PR visas for 4 years in March 2016 so need to get cracking with our move (Adelaide or Melbourne for us). Similarly, it is family issues which have kept us in the UK - both having lost a parent since we got our visas, and on a happier note, in among it all, having our little boy who is nearly 2. I'm interested to know how long a period of time the RRV 157 will give without having as yet lived in Oz - a year?

Hi Briggs, thanks for your reply. We already have our PR visas - just trying to decide where to head for - where has the best jobs in the IT field my husband works in out of Adelaide & Melbourne, and also taking into account the variation in costs of living in both. I've read many time what you mention about the Oz experience - and to be honest i really don't get it!! Especially being prepared to work for less money until you have this Oz experience. I mean, surely at the end of the day Oz has an economic need for people skilled in the various niche areas of IT, we all go through a lengthy (and costly!!) process to secure a visa (which shows our commitment to making a go of life in Oz), plus then the significant cost of moving there ..... to then be expected to work for less than our skills/experience are worth?! My husband worked in Sydney for a few months several years ago ... would that count as Oz experience? Not many people emigrating to Oz are going to have Oz experience are they .... because they're not from there. What about all the valuable experience/approaches we all bring from the country we have been working in prior to Oz - the local population in Oz isn't likely to have that are they. I just don't get this whole 'local' experience thing? My husband worked in Germany for 6 months in 2014 and wasn't expected to work for less - in fact he got more as he was providing skills the company needed. Especially in IT - writing code wherever you are in the world is the same thing. Or am i missing something folks?

Hello all, would also be interested to hear any insight regarding Melbourne, as this could also be an option for us - thanks!

Would be interested to hear anyone's experience/comments - many thanks!