Moving to Canberra

mschulhof · 31-01-2008, 01:38 PM

Hi I am moving to Oz at the end of February with my husband who is going to work as an OT. Initially we will live in Sydney for 3 months then be moving to Canberra .Does anyone know of any pub meets or similar as we won't know anyone and would be great to make some new friends. We look forward to hearing from everyone .:)
michele

ViknMark · 31-01-2008, 02:07 PM

Hi Michele,

My OH and myself are moving to Canberra also - just waiting on the visa (which we were expecting yesterday - so to speak), we are going on a temp 457.

A meet up would be great. I imagine it would be very hard to to meet people when first arriving. Do you have any idea what area you will be living in? And will you be working?

I'd have been there a couple of months (hopefully, it's in the hands of the CO right now

), so I could fill you in with what I know when you do arrive. My OH and myself do like to go the pub now and again - so hopefully there will be some nice ones in Canberra.

PM me any time if you like.

Vikki

mschulhof · 31-01-2008, 02:36 PM

Hi Vikki Ta for your reply we are coming out also on a 457 and hopefully if we like it will stay. we fly out on Feb 24 my OH will be working as an OT in Sydney for the first 3 months then we will will move to Canberra to the Queanbeyan area around the end of May. We are in the process of removals etc what a task!!! we are not selling up straight away my daughter will continue to live in our home here. I work with adults with learning disabilities and have NVQ 2&3 so would when we get to Canberra find work. (I hope) we are excited about our move. I will treat the first 3 months as a holiday getting to know the Oz way of life. Pete my OH will need to concentrate on his job. My brother lives in Melbourne so i hope to see him. What work will you do.? stay in touch.
michele

ViknMark · 31-01-2008, 03:27 PM

We've no idea what area we will be living in yet - I've become addicted to real estate websites. But we have agents that find us some places to look at and we choose out of those - we just give them a rough idea of area. Although I've been looking at a school in Red Hill which looks promising for my son to go to, so we'll probably look into the inner south and inner north suburbs and just outside of those.
We too have not sold our house in UK yet - we are planning to, we want to find somewhere in Oz we like and then sell it to build one so we can live mortgage free (that's the plan anyway!!)
I am sooooo looking forward to it - my OH keeps telling me I'm too impatient - we had our meds finalised on 14th Jan, and from checking other timelines on here we should have had ours by now - I've done everything I could to not be a pest to our agent, but it is so frustrating. Do you have your visa now then? We won't hand our notice in at work until we receive a definitive answer.
My OH will be working as a Construction Site Manager, while I'm going to have a change of career, I currently work as a PA in London, but will be studying to do a Design course in Canberra - already contacted a company and they are interested in meeting with me as soon as I settle in - they said they often employ full or part time assistants whilst they study.

What part of the UK are you from?

Vikki

mschulhof · 31-01-2008, 04:29 PM

we are from west sussex, yes we have visa's our flights are booked for 24th feb I am very impatient, although we got our visa's in good time my OH is being employer sponsored so they did the visa for us so we didn't use an agent. there seems to be so much to do and only have 3 weeks to do it .as well as saying our farewells to everyone. ( I didn't realise I had so many friends to say goodbye too) I am excited and just want to board the plane. We will sell our house in about 18 months once we are sure we want to stay ( i have no doubts) my brother has been out there for 6 years and loves it and his children love it too. although queanbeyan is the area of work for my OH we may not live there , once we get to sydney we will look at real estate agents and pop down to canberra at weekends. I have decided to take up cross country skiing much to Pete's amusement, but as the snow is only 2 hours away I thought what the hell. We are looking forward to our first beer in Oz. I hope your Visa comes soon as the wait is awful , when it arrives its a great feeling and just mad as so much to organise.

ViknMark · 31-01-2008, 05:49 PM

Funny you should say that - I've just been looking on the internet at Snowy Mountains, I am very keen to go, although I've never been skiing before, so it should be fun

.

Our visa was also done by OH's company, but they arranged for an agent to liaise with us. They've been very helpful, also arranged relocation for us too - I dread to think of how much work would be involved if we had gone through the process all by ourselves.

I do sympathise with you (but very envious too lol!!), we will be going through all that hassle very soon, it's funny because we don't want to start with our shipping of furniture etc in fear of jinxing the whole thing. We too will be looking to sell, but in about a year I'd imagine.
Once that visa comes through we're going to have so much to organise and arrange, and I'm trying to get us prepared but there's only so much you can do. But I'm not going to complain.

I don't think it'll be long once we're there for my OH to find a pub, he likes to go out once or twice a week - but it's good to meet people.

I'll pm you and give you my email - you can email me anytime, and definitely meet up when you arrive in Canberra.

Vikki

mschulhof · 31-01-2008, 06:37 PM

yep loads to do we had the removal quotes all ready as we were not under any obligation so it was just a matter of confirming. flights were easy all done on internet so the initial part was fine its all the nitty gritty bits , we are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel . I have never been skiing before but am up for it. I will let you know if the Auaie beer is up to scratch!!

ViknMark · 31-01-2008, 06:58 PM

Well you've not got long to go now - that's going to fly past because you're going to be so busy. I must admit, I'm glad we have the shippers coming in and packing, our company are using Crown, and I've heard they're pretty good and they do it all for you. The relocation agent will also be arranging our flights - we just have to pick 1 out of the 3 options. Cor, that seems so long away yet.

Let me know how it is in Sydney - we'll literally only be going into the airport, stopping for 3ish hours and then out again.

Keep in touch - it'd be good to know how it is and to meet up when you do get to Canberra.

Good luck with everything.

Vikki

:)

Quoll · 01-02-2008, 08:19 AM

Great to hear yet more people are coming to Canberra!!!! Those other folk who go up to the Gold Coast (bling!) just do not know what they are missing. Just be sure you dont talk to any Sydneysiders when you are up there and tell them you are coming to ACT because they will tell you it is terrible (it isnt!) and boring (all depends what floats your boat!).

Not much of a pub culture place really. I dont think I have ever been in one here - those that are here are for very much younger folk than I and also more clubby than pubby if you see what I mean. I am always up for a coffee however and can probably pinpoint a place to get a good latte. There is an "English" pub at Cockington Green if you are feeling a tad homesick though.

I have been here nearly 29 years so that sort of makes me one of the natives. We live in Ainslie and I have recently retired from the ed dept and now work for a charity in Civic - part time thank heavens!

restfamily · 01-02-2008, 10:44 AM

No, I havent been to a pub either, but then I did arrive 6 months pregnant!! It is mostly clubs here, which to me are more like hotel lounges with "pokies". Having said that I have joined a few as they have good childrens play rooms and cheap coffee for those days you just need a change of 4 walls!!