The Raillys

you can do either. We used Petair and they were great

Its great, I use it everyday to get to work from Mango hill to CBD. I always get a seat. During peak hours the service runs every 6-8 minutes outside peak times every half hour. It is much quicker and cheaper than driving.

Hi John, I used Petair and they were great!! Quarantine was 10 days long and based in Melbourne (I believe Melbourne is the only one in Australia now) You need to start the process about 7 months before you leave the country or at least I did for my two cats. - As your pet needs to have certain shots. I think the total cost for my two cats was about $4000, this including having Petair do the paperwork, the airfares, the time in quarantine, the vet bills in Uk & quarantine vet checks. The price Petair quoted did not include Quarantine and vet costs.. and they are not cheap. So I would guess about $2000 for your dog - dependant on size. Hope this helps

I got asked at work today if we have joined any local clubs. I responded "Yes, my husband and I do Park run most Saturdays and my husband has joined the local cycling club for a couple of rides and I am thinking about joining too." but the response I got was "What about for cheap nights out?" The response slightly surprised me and I started to realise that Member clubs in the UK are very different to Members clubs here. (or maybe I just lived in inner city London and the concept had never occurred to me) My understanding of a Members club in London was generally a slightly elite venue that did not want riff raff in their establishment. Or an venue that was trying to get around a alcohol licence by making it members only. However here in Australia a members club seems to be a more charitable, operating not for profit and supporting the local community or a particular sport. Is it the Australian thing to do to join your local club even if you may not have an interest in the sport it supports? I would be interested to here if you have paid your membership fee and if you go regularly or join in activities. Close to where I live is mainly Taverns not clubs, so maybe I am excused for not understanding the significants of a club. Or did you have similar clubs back in the UK?

When you spend time and money studying to become a Chef, because you choose Hospitality as a career. Get treated like a dispensable bit of oil in a money making machine time and time again, it becomes tiresome. We are now focusing on ways of moving away from the kitchens, but it is hard when you are 35 and that is all you have done.

We are in Brisbane, That is true wages are higher and cost of living is lower no doubt. And yes you are right maybe its just two bad eggs. Hopefully things will improve..

I Hope so. Yeah we had some crap employers in the UK, but not as bad as they are here. We have been here 4 months and has worked two places. The above mention and previously, a crazy women who owned two cafes, where he worked on a casual contract, but she always said it will go perm. She would text my husband all the time- I mean about 20 times a day. all through the night even and even when she was in the same room as him. The texts were a train of thought about cutlery and micro herbs.. And it just caused confusion as my husband was unsure if she was just rambling or if she wanted him to do something.. She Lead him on with the promise of a permanent contract but was never clear about the hours days etc. So when he asked for more hours and something more perm she said, "your not a Yes man, I only hire yes men" and that was the end of that. No we never had such strange experiences in the UK.

Treatment of staff in hospitality is really shocking here. I am writing this post because My husband has been a chef for 15 years and since moving to Australia is having real problems getting a decent career position, and wondered if anyone else has felt this in hospitality in Australia. He was working as a Head Chef for a Australia wide company Ecco Hospitality and was on a casual contract. He got “Let go” via email! which is so unprofessional - I cannot believe. Not even the decency to make a phone call! Its like being dumped up text - what is this High school? They also would not give a clear reason why they are letting him go. they just said general performance. So there was no specific event that lead my husband to be fired. There is no staff development at all. If there is room for improvement you should let your staff know so they have the opportunity to improve and become what you want them to be. You should invest time into you workforce. I get the impression that within hospitality it is all about the low wage rather than the quality of staff. Chances are he found someone who would do my husbands job for less pay so he replaced them. Be warned when taking causal contracts they really don’t care about your life, they just want work done for as cheap as possible.

Yep a rubbish casual contract the guy will not even give a specific reason why he has been fired. He just says general performance, which is not helpful at all. Trying to stay positive now, but just had my op on Wednesday and feeling rubbish makes positivity hard. Something good has to happen soon

My Husband got fired from his job with no explanation via email! We tried calling and emailing for an a reason and no response. Is this really the way people act in Australia?

The reason I want to stay contracting is I am trying for a baby. I wan to save as much as possible. Even if I took a full-time job I would be unlikely to get maternity pay as you need to be with a company 13 months to get it. Its hard as I can't really explain this to people as I am likely to get no job at all.

I live up in Mango hill in Moreton bay and love it. 10 minute drive to Redcliffe beach 5 minute drive to Westfield that has everything. And a 40 train ride to CBD.

That sounds really nice, and I see your in Redland bay which is beautiful! I enjoy the heat too, I am always being asked "how are you coping with the heat?" Anything is better than feeling cold

Thanks for your comments, Actually cheered me up a bit! I think you are right about commuting to Sydney, just looked at the prices of AirBNB there and realised I might be worse off even with the higher pays and likely to hate it, being away from husband and cats. The busy city thing I hated in London and the whole reason I moved here was to get away from that. How are you finding Brisbane? I assume you work in Brisbane?

So we have been here just over three months and are surprised how settled we are already. Found a great rental in Moreton bay area (North of Brisbane and still just a 40 minute train journey to the CBD.) WORK In London I worked as a contractor and freelancer in the Tech industry. I really wanted to continue this in Brisbane. I found my first contract before I even left the UK and was working within 3 days of touch down. Everything has been great but now my contract is ending I am finding it very hard to find my next piece of work. I have had some situations which have really made me think that the Brisbane Contract market is seriously behind the times. I was offered a contract earlier this week, however they decided to change the offer that I originally applied for. It was an averagly paid day rate. And they wished for me to be on a fixed term contract - which was essentially a salary without any benefits. This happened after the interview and after they decided they wanted me. I would have never gone for the interview, had of this been the offer to begin with. This is something I never experience in 12 years of contracting in London, and it seems to me there is a serious misunderstanding of what a contractor is. I also was rejected for a 6 month contract by a company as they said I appeared to be a "serial contractor" Which begs the question, why are they looking for a contractor? Also in my current contract they refused to respond to requests to renew my contract, which is fine if they did not want to renew, but some level of communication is required. I found out they are not renewing my contract via a forwarded email from the payroll person. Know one in the office has spoken to me not even an email. Its no big secret as a contractor that these things end, but the way they have ignored me and not communicated with me I feel is very unprofessional and also something I had never experienced in the UK. I am now seriously considering living in Sydney Monday to Friday (living in a hotel away from my husband) As the contract rates are nearly twice as high as Brisbane and I get the impression they understand how to treat a contractor. HEALTH Within 3 months of being in Australia I have finally got a diagnosis. For a Year and a half in the UK I was back in fourth from my GP getting one test and not getting any resolution on what was wrong with me. Here in Australia I can wake up in the morning and get an appointment on that day, and they will run multiple tests at one time. Something the NHS can not do. However of course it costs... I get some bit rebate on Medicare but I realise health insurance is required and it is not cheap. Something that really shocked me was something a Doctor said to me. I have to have an operation and the doctor was saying to me I have to rest up for a few days after and he said "So no shoe shopping" Ok he is trying to be funny but sorry that comes across as a bit sexist and patronising to me. Pretty unprofessional again... LIFESTYLE I am so much happier here than in London. The weather, space (especially on trains) and friendliest are the main things that keep me happy. However if I have to work in Sydney this may all change..