Parent visa 2nd payment

[Mike and Connie]

Hi Caz
Hopefully you wont have such a long wait as us .I believe that POPC had a shortage of manpower through 2006 but plans were in place to staff up,so maybe they will be a bit quicker now.
We're heading for Melbourne which is where our son and his wife live. We too had hols in 2000 and 2004/5 and spent some time at Noosa,we really liked that area.It was February and it wasn't overly hot or humid,not like Port Douglas which is a beautiful area but very hot and muggy. It was frustrating to be walking along the beach at Port Douglas and not be able to go in the water because of the stingers.
Whilst we were at Noosa we hired a car and did some driving around that area and went to the Australia Zoo at Beerwah. Fantastic .We were extremely lucky to pick a day when Steve Irwin was there doing one of his shows.What a showman he was,such a sad loss to the world.
A couple of hours north of Noosa there is a place called Tin Can Bay,where supposedly every day dolphins come in to pier and can be fed by hand(controlled by animal warden),but the very day we went they didn't actually come in apparently because of a cyclone raging just offshore,they'd gone somewhere else for safety. Still there were other things there such as pelicans.
Anyway Good Luck for the future,hope you hear something soon
Mike and Connie.

[cazbeckham]

Hi Mike/Connie

Lets hope that the POPC do have a good lot of staff now to push through those visas and also allocate CO's to those of us lot still waiting.

On our first trip to Australia we started at Melbourne with my cousin and went to Sovereign Hill, Rickets (both great places to visit if you have not already done so) we also did the Great Ocean Road, then flew to Sydney and did all around there and the blue mountains then drove all the way to Brisbane for a few days stopping en route as and when we felt like it and then we flew to Cairns for the last 5 days before flying home.

Second trip we again started at Melbourne with my cousin and did a few places again then drove to Sydney (as we flew before) and went to the zoo there which was great.
We then flew to Brisbane (drove first time) and stayed with our Daughter and Son in Law who took us all around the area and also to the Australian Zoo and like you Steve Irwin was there unnanounced with his Wife Terry and as you have said he was a great showman.
After staying with our Daughter for 9 days we drove to Cairns for our last leg (flew that first time) so all in all we have over two trips driven from Melbourne to Cairns.

We are both photographers so the country is great for the likes of us.
If you get a minute maybe you and others reading this thread would like to check out our web site as there are some Australian pics on there. www.beckhamdigital.co.uk

Hope you get your visa real soon and are on your way to a new life and who knows when we are in Melbourne maybe we could meet for a coffee.

Caz

[Mike and Connie]

Caz
Sounds good.

We'll keep the site updated once we arrive there and who knows?.
You certainly wont be short of photo oppotunities out there.
Keep in touch.
Mike and Connie.

[Anne & Bob St Andrews]

Nico
We transferred the second visa payment through Escape Currency, who we have used several times before, to our son`s account in Australia. It was easier than sending it to our own Ozzie account. Our daughter-in-law then sent a bank draft to Perth and that was it! We were advised by our agent not to use the credit card method as there had been problems in the past. What the problem was is anybody`s guess.

Mike & Connie
Congratulations on your sale. We too went to Tin Can Bay and never saw the dolphins, having set off at 5am! There were no problems with the weather that day so it looks as though they don`t appear every day. We went on to Rainbow Beach to see the coloured sands and the Sand Blow. I'll pop in to see you on one of my travels.

Caz
We have booked our flights for 21 May, so if you let me have your daughter`s phone number I will give her a call.

Anne

[johatts]

Originally Posted by Anne & Bob St Andrews

Nico
We transferred the second visa payment through Escape Currency, who we have used several times before, to our son`s account in Australia. It was easier than sending it to our own Ozzie account. Our daughter-in-law then sent a bank draft to Perth and that was it! We were advised by our agent not to use the credit card method as there had been problems in the past. What the problem was is anybody`s guess.

Mike & Connie
Congratulations on your sale. We too went to Tin Can Bay and never saw the dolphins, having set off at 5am! There were no problems with the weather that day so it looks as though they don`t appear every day. We went on to Rainbow Beach to see the coloured sands and the Sand Blow. I'll pop in to see you on one of my travels.

Caz
We have booked our flights for 21 May, so if you let me have your daughter`s phone number I will give her a call.

Anne

Anne

Caz`s daughter here!

[newnico]

Thanks, Anne, for the info about how you paid the 2nd instalment. With the exchange rate where it now is, I've definitely ruled out a credit card payment, so will be either Commonwealth Bank or Ozforex. Just waiting on tenterhooks now for the go-ahead! You must be busy now, with flights on May 21st. Nice to know there will be a bunch of us slightly older ones out there.
Nico