KLexpat

Just looking for some advice because my pet handler and vet in Malaysia aren't experienced with this. He was due to fly out to Sydney from Singapore last Monday but at the last minute before I boarded my own flight I received a text from our pet handler telling me he had failed the test. That is another story as it shouldn't have been left until then to get the results. The numbers mean nothing to me on the lab results. At the higher dilution he is negative. He is now on Doxycycline and the vet in Malaysia tells me we can retest in 4 weeks. However his partner vet is saying not to bother testing for 6 months!! I know the antibodies can linger for that long but I'm hopeful we can sort this long before then. At 550 AUD a pop for testing we can't afford to do it multiple times. He is currently staying with our very kind neighbour but she can't keep him for 6 months. Wondering if others have been through the same and can advise on what our next steps should be. I spoke with Quarantine who were lovely and said just to keep them updated. I plan to visit a vet here in Sydney to get their opinion. Feeling very worried and lost. I have never even seen a tick on our dog. He was regularly frontlined too. He is a beautiful Boxer and very much part of our family. Our kids have grown up with him and adore him. This news has taken off some of the shine from our final arrival in Sydney and we're anxious to be reunited with him.

I have made a move twice with my now 4 year old and have been lucky to have travelled a lot with her and her little brother internationally too. Jetlag is always tough, so don't expect too much of you or them for the first week or so. It generally takes a day to adjust for every hour time difference. I let any routines we have go out of the window, and I try to just gradually get them and me back on track. Make it an adventure and they will pick up on your spirit. See the travel as a fun trip to take together and you'll get through it just fine. My kids love airports and planes. Similarly when you get there make it fun and interesting but also allow some decent downtime. Don't rush about too much in the first few days and allow them time to adjust to their Aussie family too. If they have any favourite toys or bedtime comforts, be sure to use those. I find kids are a bit like cats and dogs in a new house for the first time. Let them explore and spend time in their new room and trying out the bed before you expect them to sleep there, they will feel more comfortable at nap and bedtimes. There are probably some good books you can find about moving house too. I'm not quite there yet as we plan to move early next year, but I had a quick search on Amazon recently and found some suitable for Toddlers. I found a good link on Pinterest to moving with toddlers but I believe its against the forum rules to post links, but you can PM me or google it for yourself. Good luck with it all! Relax and take everything at a slower pace. Kids are very adaptable generally!

Joe great news and impressed that you are quick to get going!! Good luck with it all! Fingers crossed for everyone else!

I love it there too. I think its a pretty special commute from there to the city but we will probably have to look north of Manly before we find anything we like house wise in our budget. Good luck with your application. Won't be long now. I've been doing my best not to think about it, so I really was surprised when it came through today! I'm in the UK at the moment spending lots of time at the beach with the kids enjoying this good weather and looking forward to doing the same in Sydney soon!

We're Sydney bound! So excited. We've held onto this dream for more than 5 years since we first started talking seriously about it and had several setbacks along the way, so this is really lovely news for us. I stood in Manly looking at the sea and have a photo of the moment with a caption of me dreaming I would be living there one day. Well maybe not Manly, but close enough will do :-)

So happy I could burst. We just received the Grant email today!!! So relieved and happy I stared at the email forwarded from my partner in slight disbelief! Thank you especially to Rupert and Steve who helped us when we were having issues with our migration agent and lodging our visa on ImmiAccount. For those waiting for that golden email, stay patient and keep busy, it will happen! We lodged on 13th May, applied for Health & Police certs shortly afterwards and received our direct grant email today. Time to get busy job hunting! We're booking tickets for Sept for a recce from Malaysia. :-)

Brilliant! I would be there tomorrow if I could but we have 2 kids, a dog who has to spend 180 days here before we can move him and my OH's current work contract to bear in mind! It definitely helps having friends there. We also have several friends and some family in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and they have been great. I'm itching to get moving! I'll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything. I'm travelling back to the UK next week for a month, which should keep me very busy and my mind off the wait!

No problem! Hopeful that us May applicants will hear from them within the next month! Then it will be all systems go. My dog has had his Rabies test now too, so we can export him from Jan onwards. I'm trying to focus on the bits I can do until we hear from DIBP! Domain househunting online, looking up schools, looking at budgets and looking up things to explore in Sydney and further afield to keep my motivation going. I have an almighty to do list as well

Nothing yet. Have you seen the visa tracker google document which someone on this forum kindly put together with visa application dates and CO allocation/ grant dates etc? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AkrdCphtU8u-dGJQSWROUlZ0bThIaUF2VW9zdUZmMlE&usp=sharing Looks like they are currently beginning to process April applications, so I reckon it will be the 3 month mark when May applicants start hearing from DIBP. Trying my best not to think about it too much!

I agree with all the above posts. Take extra nappies and then some more, just in case!! With that distance I would take several changes of clothes for the baby and a change of top and maybe a pair of leggings for yourself, again, just in case! My friend's little girl had a nappy leak on a flight to the US recently and she didn't have a change of clothing so her little girl sat in her nappy until they dried out after a wash. Its helpful to have a small nappy pod or just a large ziplock bag with a few nappies, wipes etc you can just grab easily to take to change them. It sounds like you've already booked your flights. I have always travelled on night flights with my two whenever possible. The airplane noise often knocks them out! It sounds like you are just transiting through Dubai but I would also recommend stopping overnight and breaking the journey up so you can book the second leg on another night flight. When they are that age I think generally they are pretty easy to travel with as they aren't quite so mobile yet. I'm travelling on my own next week with my 18 month old and 4 year old and I know I'll be spending a lot of time walking up and down the plane when he's awake. Take a sling or carrier in case your baby won't sleep in the bassinet. That way if you fall asleep you can relax knowing your baby can't slip off. Also it gives you something to carry them off the plane with until you can find a stroller. There are lots available in the airport. if your baby has a dummy, buy a couple of dummy clips, it really saves crawling around for them on the dirty floor. I find it easier to keep everything in a trolley bag with a smaller soft bag inside for the essentials you need to keep on hand. Or if you are able to keep your hand luggage small, then a backpack is great for leaving your hands free. Other essentials for me are :- Calpol or equivalent teething tablets Antiseptic Hand gel Antiseptic wipes to wipe down arm rests etc around you. Planes are dirty! travel pillow for yourself zip lock bag with snacks (if already weaning) zip lock bag or equivalent with travel documents to keep them all together a new toy for each leg of the journey as well as a favourite tried tested one. Keeping everything grouped in separate bags helps you to locate what you need quickly. There are some great online blogs on Pinterest with plenty of other ideas too. Most of all relax, they sense your anxiety, so you may as well roll with it and enjoy travelling together. My now 4 year old is brilliant and always has been. I plan for the worst but I try very hard to put myself in a very calm state and just relax. People are generally very kind and helpful and love entertaining a baby who is looking in their direction. Good luck!

I'm happy to find this thread as well. I've been putting together a relocation budget and we are concerned about how much it will realistically be to set up home. We haven't even got our visa granted yet but we want to move relatively quickly, so it makes sense to do our homework now. Good luck with your moves! We're planning a recce as soon as our visas are granted and hopeful that my OH will be able to secure work from here which would help massively with the budget. It's much easier for us to visit from here though than the UK as we live in Malaysia at the moment. However, my friends in Sydney seemed confident that we would find work fairly quickly if we had to move down with employment secured first.

Great news! Very happy for you. I love a positive grant post!

^^^ I'd be lying if I said I'm not a bit jittery about my upcoming flight...even though logic tells me it will be fine. I'm travelling with my two young kids, so I am going to have to keep any nervousness to myself.

I live in Kuala Lumpur and feel the shockwaves of this recent tragedy, as it could easily have been any one of my close friends from KL on board. I am also due to fly back to the UK soon and would have flown over this region. I think this is just a case of bad luck and there were many other airlines flying through this airspace at the time. If some of the reporting is true it is a case of mistaken identity. The Ukrainian separatists claimed to have shot down a cargo plane... Most flights from this part of the world to Northern Europe fly over this area and I have often peered out the window wondering what life is like down on the ground while passing over Iran, Afghanistan and some other nations where there has been fighting in the past. Yes, some airlines chose not to fly over this airspace at the moment and serious questions will be asked, but it was deemed safe by the international Air Transportation authorities. Malaysian Airlines are a reputable airline with a previous exemplary reputation. I am a frequent flyer with them and wouldn't hesitate boarding another flight with them. The fact that I chose to fly with Ethiad for the UK route from KL is for personal preferences with timings with young children as my travelling companions (plus their Nanny service!). MAS is already in financial dire straits so this is yet another terrible blow. I get shivers every time I walk past the memorials for those lost on MH370 in our local shopping centre. To have two awful tragedies in such a short space of time is so shocking. So very sad for all those on board and their families. Thankfully all my friends are accounted for. Two friends are due to fly this sector next week. The wider consequences of what transpires between Ukraine and Russia worries me....and the Ukranian separatists didn't have this kind of capability before. So it if is them who are proven to be responsible the question is who supplied them? Most likely Russia...

Thanks Pom Queen! I think I may have to do this. We will be shipping from Malaysia. The reason I wanted a comparison was just to challenge the quote as it should be cheaper than from the UK. Its half the distance and everything is cheaper here, especially vets. I should have another quote today from another large vets which handle international export as well. The main removals firms seem to go through the agent I have got the high quote from. All the information seems fairly well laid out online on The DAFF website, but obviously just lots of hassle when you have two little kids at home. It's slightly complicated too given that he's a Boxer and we need to transport him to Singapore first before he can fly with Qantas from there. I will contact Bob so thanks for that. I had another quote for £5k but that was last September and I know costs have increased since then.