All set to get to Aus July 1017. Help with a To Do List please!

We are FINALLY on target to get to Aus for July 2017.

I am Kiwi and my husband has his Visa. We have tow primary aged children.

We know exactly where we want to move to: Medowie in Port Stephens, NSW. (I went on a reccie in Dec).

At present he plans to resign in April and as he needs a 12 week notice period we can't leave until July.

We are planning to rent our house out.

Our pet cat is still a bone of contention as I am desperate to take her (selfish I know) but OH is not!

So that's where we're at.

Can anyone copy and paste a To Do List that we can follow please? As much detail as possible would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Its all common sense stuff. Getting quotes from a few shippers, having a good spring clean and going through everything so you don't ship heaps of stuff you no longer need or never use. Call round shippers and ask how far in advance of shipping you need to book them out for quotes so you know how long you have to whittle down and sort your stuff out.

Read the small print or call the companies re how to wrap up your accounts etc. I just went through all our bills and called them one by one to confirm when I could notify them of our move or end a contract/agreement. All told me and I wrote up a list of when to call or write back and confirm. Car insurance we had to keep right up till the car was sold and same for phone, that got cut off the day before we left but I could notify them in advance of this and set the date. Mobile phone contract took a bit of juggling but got there in the end.

Schools, GP, dentist and any other health practitioner you use, notify them. Its common courtesy to let GP and dentist know you are moving and they can give your spot on their books to someone else who is waiting. School we told about 2 weeks before IIRC. No fuss.

Make sure you are ready for final meter readings etc.

If you want to ship your cat in July get on with it all now as the bloodwork needs a while. You can't just do all that a month before you depart. It needs planning and sorting well in advance. If you sort it now she should be ok to ship in July. Get quotes from pet shippers and get onto it ASAP what you need to do re rabies bloodwork etc.

I've moved this out of Migration is its not a visa related issue. Its more general so goes elsewhere

You need to resolve the cat as this takes time.

Hi Hope,

I've just moved from Sydney to Perth and moved Dublin- Sydney in 2011. A couple of tips in addition to the above

Do a massive spring clean and get rid of as much stuff as possible. My sister uses the rule - if you haven't worn it or used it in a year, get rid of it. You need to be ruthless. I had boxes in my recent move that I hadn't opened since 2011.

Also only ship things that are valuable to you (sentimental or otherwise). eg don't ship cheap furniture as you are paying for shipping and can buy the same things here (Ikea etc)

It can actually get a bit nippy here in winter (from about mid May to mid Sept) so you will need some winter clothes but probably not the volume of them that you have in the UK. Can be nice during the day but mornings and evenings get cold/feel cold (badly insulated houses). You won't need big heavy coats etc.

Gumtree and Facebook marketplace are good for getting rid of stuff. Put it up there at a reasonable price and it generally goes fairly quickly. If it doesn't you have overpriced it. If you still have it close to the end, mark it down as free and it will go.

Your stuff will take 10-12 weeks to arrive. Have a look at airbnb/stayz for short term accomodation to stay for when you arrive (May should be time enough for this). A good time of year for Port Stephens as it will be winter so the holiday stuff should be available at cheap rates.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the information. I didn't realise sorting pets took that long.

I am having trouble finding out how many pet friendly rentals there are. This will be key to my argument for getting her out there.

Thank you so much for the information. I didn't realise sorting pets took that long.

I am having trouble finding out how many pet friendly rentals there are. This will be key to my argument for getting her out there.

There are plenty. I know a fair few people with cats in rentals.

TBH the bigger concern once you are here is where you will be living as to the bugs (thinking this little fella mostly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodes_holocyclus ) and other creatures outside to contend with and that your cat may have to become an indoor cat or one confined to your back yard due to cat curfews or laws that require you to keep them on your property. Unlike the UK, many areas don't allow pet cats to simply free range where they like. Many Aussies happily keep cats in their own gardens or homes without many problems.

Lots of people ship their cats here and start off in rentals. There isn't really an argument for and against (unless she is very old, frail or ill) apart from one of you wants to bring her, the other does not. And cost. Get some quotes from pet shippers ASAP and add on the extra for rabies bloodwork etc and get on it else you'll be moving and if you want to bring your cat, she won't be ready to go in time.

@hope73 I so understand about you wanting to bring your cat with you. When we emigrated in 1991 I wanted to bring both our sibling cats, but they were 16 years of age and our vet was pretty blunt and told me that they were too old to even consider it and would probably die on the journey or in quarantine, which in those days was 3 months. So very very reluctantly I decided to leave them with good friends who knew them well, and who lived just a few houses down the hill from us. Both moggies settled well in their new family and lasted just over a year and died within weeks of each other through old age.... I was glad I had made the decision I did, but I still wonder what would have happened if I bought them with me. Hard decision... good luck with making it.

£4k ish to export a cat, does that help with the decision?

£4k ish to export a cat, does that help with the decision?

To ship our cat from the UK we've been quoted on £1300 UK side plus $1800 Oz side. You also need to undertake rabies testing 180 days prior to them being able to fly out. There will also be vet fees (from your vet to consult/give cat various injections etc.).

Here's a list of things that I've researched

• Looked at shipping containers / getting quotes. Deciding upon Movecube instead.

   

• Making a list of all direct debits / standing orders / insurances etc.. that we currently pay out - making a note to close down/taken note of notice period to end things

   

• Researching job market / start to put CV's together

   

• Keeping an eye on flight prices and playing around with dates

   

• Sorting through paperwork - putting into polly pockets - ie: 'information that will be useful in Oz / birth certifs, passports, financial information etc..'

   

• Starting to sort through clothes and personal items, putting into boxes of maybe keep, definitely keep, charity/give away/throw out - also looking into car boot sales/gumtree/ebay

   

• Researched/kept an eye on (for past year and a half) housing prices in the areas we want to move to, looked into build vs. buy

   

• Looked at what to do about pension

   

• Obtained any medical notes for us / our child that will be important Oz side

   

• Check any qualifications/certifs/licences you have UK side and if they'll be recognised in Oz (if not, what you can do)

   

• Looked into how much cars of a similar age and mileage will sell for, staring to put feelers out

   

• Kept an eye on exchange rates (and cried in the kitchen) :twitcy:

   

• Looked at nurseries/kindies etc..

   

I'll add more if you like once I think of more.