adele244

Hi Guys, just an update. The container was delayed, should have been at Brisbane on the 4th but landed on the 10th. (was because of the Mearsk cyber attack) it took exactly 7 days for quarantine to clear it, which was on a Friday and we got it delivered the following Wednesday. So all in all it took from June 23rd to August 23rd door step to door step. The container that arrived was a different one, so they definitely removed all the stuff and put it back in another container. Nothing was stolen or damaged which I was very surprised at. Very happy with PSS.

Well that is what I budgeted for, but in reality on the sunshine coast they are between 500-600k however at Hervey Bay (a lot further up) they are much cheaper - that is where I saw the $420k one and it was really lovely....will try and post the link. I can only imagine the Sydney prices and I bet they make your eye water!!!!!!!

Hi Jack, that's very kind, he is really missing his drinking buddy (well one night a week) we had an electronics repair business back home, and he repairs everything from Plasma Tv's to High end studio music equipment. He got offered a job by a guy who ownes Brockies TV's as he has bought a business which does exactly what we did. It is great that he can come home at a normal time and we are not talking about the business 24/7. I think eventually I would like to go back to admin work which I did at our business...but not yet!! Im enjoying life too much at the moment!!! Where are you based?

No not really, the reason for this is because the amount of identification you need to obtain one we simply didnt have. We went to the bank to order our bank cards but these took a week to arrive and the license required a bank card, medicare card and proof of address (again we were given temporary medicare ones but they wouldn't accept them). The real break through was when we got the lease agreement signed - that seemed to open the pathway as this was an acceptable form of proof of address (as we had no utility bills) The rent situation may be a little different here to Sydney as it is soooo touristy and people come and go people are fighting for rentals. Don't be disheartened Im sure it would be different in Sydney x

Oh my! this may not be the right time to post this as possibly too early but boy am I pinching myself!!! Do we actually live here!!! We flew with Etihad Heathrow to Brisbane 1 stop. for some reason exactly the same flight this seemed to drag a lot longer than our visit last year. We were over on the kilos with suitcases but they never said anything, which was good (and it was a full flight) So fast forward 2 weeks, we are still in our Airbnb but have got a 6-12 month rental and are moving in on the 14th (but have just been told our container is delayed till the 10th plus 7-10 days quarantine so we are certainly going to be without our stuff but no worries. With regards to the rental we were told the reason we got it out of the 4 applications was that we offered 6 months paid in full, so with this in mind we got the first rental we applied for. Although I think we panicked and was a bit premature as I have seen nicer ones since. We have bought 2 cars, the kids started school on Monday and love it. Uniform pricey!! One major clanger I dropped was that I was so determined to get kids into Chancellor State College was I checked the catchment (as they are very strict on this) and the High school confirmed it was in catchment, so went off and signed our lease for the rental. Goes to Chancellor Primary to enroll young son and was told the High school catchment is much bigger than the primary (which I totally forgot about) and his catchment is Mountain Creek, so I have to drop the kids off at totally different schools opposite ends which is a bit of a pain but it is what it is! So remember that Primarys and High schools have different catchment zones! Our rental is in Buderim but there is certainly no way we could afford to buy here the properties are way too pricey. Sippy Downs or Mountain Creek look more in our price range. Hubby started his job on Monday too (same day as kids) he was so lucky to get offered this job prior to us coming out, although the wage is not great, he should be getting a raise in the next few months. It is winter here and we are boiling - which is slightly concerning! ha ha! but it is freezing in the morning and at nights and that is inside the house as they are so not insulated!! I am not wanting to start work just yet as I want to make sure the kids are settled in and I am going to try to lose the half stone I put on before coming due to parties, meals and more farewell parties!! So I had a fast walk down the beach and it was simply stunning! We have done so much in 2 weeks, transferred our driving licenses, got medicare cards, got a rental, 2 cars, uniforms, bank cards and accounts set up - phew!!! By far the most paperwork was enrolling the kids at their schools - it was quite unbelievable the amount of paperwork I had to fill in. I am so happy though, the teachers have already picked up that my young son is behind which I already knew this and his UK school seemed to disagree with me. They have mentioned special help which after only 3 days of being there is fantastic!! On the other hand my daughter in high school is complaining that she has already done most of the work and is bored, however, they have had a few tests and she is getting top marks plus they have an excellence course so hopefully she will get on there. How can two kids be sooooo different!! So to sum it up, I cant believe how lucky we are, the ONLY downside is the price of the properties here, which will leave us with a much bigger mortgage than we had back home and that is AFTER selling our business and house! For an average 4 bedroom house (nothing fancy) you are looking at between $500-$600 - I had budgeted $450k - in fact we were in Hervey Bay (2.5 hours north of here) and there was this most beautiful 2 storey huge house with massive gardens and all modern inside totally gorgeous guess how much???? $420,000!!! My next task is to convince hubby that a two hour plus commute to work aint that bad!!! Love it, love it, love it - if it change down the line I will let you know. Hope this has been helpful to some people - I know Poms in Oz has been my biggest help by far so thank you x x x x

Just for anyone following this, the container is due on the 4th August - I got an email today saying it had been delayed until 10th August - so not too bad.

Hi, I bought a load of suitcases from charity shops for next to nothing, didn't matter what they looked like! Filled theses with clothes so they didn't pack them. I stuck a few of the silicone gel packs in. They do offer at a cost a cardboard wardrobe service but they say this will take up more room. they advise against vacuum bags for mould but I used them for quilts, teddys and cushions. My friend advised me they also did this and they arrived with no problems. I did put loads of the moisture absorber packs in as well. Will let you know how they arrive.

Just checked it says "update us"

Hi, We have just had to do this. Go on your immi account and there is a tab. I think it says (Let us know of changes) click on this and amend your passport number. It then changes status to say "in progress" When we went to Aus last year just to validate our visa we had changed our sons passport and I didnt know you had to let them know (Panic!!) but the lady on checkin desk called a number and did it over the phone. Thats why we knew to do it this time around

Yes we packed 2 bikes. Pressure washed them down, used a hard brush to get out all the dirt in the tyre treads and drowned in Jayes fluid. It was helpful that it was a sunny day. It is not as bad as you think. x

20' foot container full packing and unpacking service door to door. Cost £4,000 plus £905 insurance with Insure your move.com

Hi, We are in sunny Sheffield! When the rep came round he said we would have an area the size of our 3 seater sofa remaining. Which we duly added a few more suitcases to fill this so called "void" and yet still I would say the container wasn't two thirds full. I was really stupid about stuffing every single void such as shoes, vases, tubs...everything with an internal space was stuffed with something. Every drawer had a cushion in to, the divan drawers on the bed had quilts and more cushions - there was nothing that was not stuffed!!!!! maybe that created far more space than the rep had expected - but he told me to do this so I don't understand. Every time I asked if the stuff would fit (this is the day before whilst they were packing) they said "yes" - I just wish they would have said "yes - with miles of room to spare" then that night I would have stuffed a couple more cases!

We decided on PSS to ship our goods and they arrived yesterday to start packing up. I can honestly say the 3 guys were totally amazing :-) I just kept them watered and fed. I did have too check as I saw a kitchen shelve that I had marked to stay, had been packed away but no big deal. The mistakes I made: completely and utterly convinced that a lot of stuff would absolutely no way fit in the container, so I left them out of the way. What I should have done is let them package EVERYTHING up regardless because as it turns out there was massive amounts of space left in the container. It was simply too late by then to start cleaning the items and get them wrapped and stacked. So it was gutting to see so much left behind that could have gone in the end. what created a lot more space than we anticipated was that our dining table dismantle and even the chairs dismantled so that ended up taking hardly any room. I even threw away loads of things just before they came - why did I do this??? It all could have all gone in the end.... I was far too premature in doing this. Here are some photos of the container and I will let you know how we get on at the other end. So far this has been a fantastic experience. 149F464F-C170-4D5B-B910-0DA2B31ADB32.MOV

Where on the Sunshine Coast do you live? I really feel for you, and I don't know what to suggest. I think I will try to stay away from the large housing estates (if this is the case) the houses look beautiful but I worry about the noise of dogs and parties etc being so close to one another. Really hope you find a solution x x x x

We are moving to the sunshine coast and I am sooooo drawn to the Hinterland, it looks simply beautiful and appeals to me far more than the coast. However, if I mention this I get the impression people think that I am bonkers!!!!! The only problem is that the schooling is not (or appears) not to be as good as the schools on the coast. If I could change this I would live there in a heart beat and your photos @Johndoe just prove this. Stunning photos!!!!