Leaderboard

We woke up this morning to some great news from our wonderful migration expert Paul Hand that our 189 visa has been granted. It is a bit of a weight off the shoulders. We are not looking to move for a few months but at least now we know that our dream is reality. I hope a few others have been granted also over the last few days?

Hi Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Some comments I can’t see here but I saw in my email notifications overnight which has triggered me to update this. I was called selfish and immature in those comments. I appreciate that might be the view, but I don’t think I’m either. I was a new mum who suddenly lost a father I couldn’t say goodbye to in a country I’d never agreed to move permanently to, and it was hard. We moved home post Covid. It was the best decision we made. My husbands company is still operational with a fantastic partner running it. We are all happy right now, and can move back to Australia if we want to after giving things a go here. If we decide to stay there eventually, then at least I can do it with closure. It was the best decision, it was tough, but it’s right for now.

Just had a lovely time at a friend's birthday afternoon get together. She was born on a leap year so today was her 19th birthday. There were lots of photos being taken of 5 generations of women. My friend's mother who is 98, my friend, her daughter, her granddaughter and her 2 great granddaughters. A lovely afternoon in the garden with lots of wine and cake.

It depends what you want from the cruise. I love cruising, but I like to be active on my holidays. So I always check the itinerary. Ideally, I want a cruise where the ship arrives in a new city early each morning, then we can get off and spend the day exploring the city (either on a tour or by ourselves). Usually you have to be back on board by about 5pm, by which time we're knackered, so we collapse into bed for a nap. Then it's up, have a shower and dress up, have a cocktail, then dinner, then go to see the show and maybe go dancing afterwards. Then it's up again at sparrow's the next morning to explore the next exciting city. You may notice from the above description that we prefer the larger cruise liners, which have a proper theatre with full-scale shows, and plenty of entertainment. It does mean that the buffets and the pools are busy, but as we're not on the ship much during the day, it has never bothered us. We've been on Royal Caribbean and Princess. I did meet someone who'd been on the same Royal Caribbean cruise as we did, and never got off the boat. She loved having her pick of sunloungers by the pool when everyone else left on their tours. However, if you prefer something more laidback, you might prefer a line like Viking, which have smaller ships and less entertainment but of course, that also means they feel less crowded. A good site for research is https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/. They have a forum where you can talk to other cruisers. Once you've chosen a cruise, they also have forums where you can make contact with other people going on the cruise. It's worth making that connection because Cruise Critic is well known by the cruise lines and they will often arrange welcome drinks for Cruise Critic passengers, and that will be publicised on the relevant group in the forum.

There's a world of difference between negativity and pragmatism, although I accept at times it can be difficult to differentiate between the two. Your original post asked about basic monthly living costs, and whether you were going to be worse off financially when you moved to Brisbane. Then further down the thread you mentioned that your current mortgage is £350/month (c.$675), but you anticipate having a monthly mortgage of $4,000. Even taking into consideration that you will be on higher wages over here, that's a huge increase in your monthly outgoings. If both you and your wife are earning $80k/year it'd be 30% of your combined gross income, so it's hardly surprising that raised a few eyebrows. You've asked quite a few questions on PiO in recent weeks/months, and I think forum members have been very supportive. You had 70 replies to this post in a matter of days, which is far more than any other topic posted recently. Without exception, everyone who has commented has your best interests at heart, so I think it's rather harsh to say that about this site. I'm a bit of a Paloma Faith fan, so the words 'Do you want the truth or something beautiful?' spring to mind. If you want a virtual hug or a few 'care emojis' thrown at you then maybe this isn't the best place, but the people who comment regularly have a wealth of experience which they offer for free. Some of our experiences may not be quite as up-to-date as they once were, but the one thing we have in common is that we've all done what you're about to do, so we appreciate what new migrants are up against.

That is absolutely fantastic news. I am so happy for you. Just one person wrote a nasty comment and a couple of us jumped in to defend you. Those comments got deleted because we were so angry on your behalf, we got too personal and that's against forum rules. Off you go and enjoy life!

I'm sure the students get corrected when they are wrong... You are confusing opinions with facts.

Fox News had to do the same. But it’s too little too late to protect the gullible and the manipulated. They already believe that the lies are the truth and people don’t easily change what they believe. Just look at some of the people on here!

Have they had to do this for anyone else?

Thanks for that detailed reply and link. I don’t think I’d like to connect with fellow cruisers beforehand though to be honest. A chat at the bar or in the pool is as far as I go. I’m a bit antisocial unless it’s on my terms. That’s what worries me a bit about cruising and ‘forced’ interaction with others

I think you mean midges. Small people don't need nets.

Thank you all for your recommendations, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip, with possibly not quite so much, the day the temperature hit 42’! We went to most of the suggested places, The Elephant Beach cafe, Anzac Centre, Busselton Jetty, the Chocolate Factory, Fasse Felix winery, The Voyager, but really liked the Windows Winery, the only winery my husband bought any wine from. Jewel Cave, fabulous inside, the stunning Tree top Walk, and an Eco Boat trip. Vasse Virgin beautiful olive oil skin care. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to upload some photos, not sure why it isn’t working .

If you're running for president it would be expected that you have integrity, and not knowingly make false or misleading statements during your campaign.

I can't believe how easily fooled you are Simmo. OK I understand you don't like M Obama but really? You are too hooked on social media and the drivel most of it is.

I'm not OK with war crimes. I'm perfectly OK with a journalist (which Assange is not) of integrity (which Assange is not) revealing targeted criminal activity while protecting their sources (if necessary) and any innocent people whose information may be otherwise divulged. I am not OK with mass, industrial scale, indiscriminate hacking of private/classified information without any regard for innocent people who may be harmed/killed as a result. If you or a loved one was harmed as a result of this hacking, I doubt you would be OK with it either. Make no mistake, Assange's MO is hacking. He was doing it by the time he was 16 and was very lucky to avoid a massive gaol term - on all counts it would have amounted to nearly 300 years - in Australia in the 1990's for hacking and fraud, including of the Australian Telecom system. He avoided it partly by striking a plea bargain and pulling the mental health, disturbed childhood card.

Don't worry about your reasons for wanting to move back, the weather and leisure time spent together as a family are 2 of the main reasons we moved here and we are now 16 yrs on with no regrets, most of the time the weather is fab and there is soooo much to do and see for free or very little $$$. Work wise ,do you have jobs lined up? depending on your professions you may struggle if your nearing 50yrs to find work quick, some proffesions seem more ageist than others but definately not all , so maybe put the feelers out as soon as you can if you do go for it. Did you get citizenship when here before or do you need to get a resident return visa? Not sure how long it is since you were here, or even what area you were in, but over the last few years the cost of living and rental costs have risen a lot here in QLD so bear this in mind as securing a longer term rental is also harder and may take a couple of months. Will you regret it??? Only you really know but in your shoes ,i think i would. Good luck with your decision and at least you wouldnt be moving totally blind, so your a step ahead of some new migrants. Cal x

If it aint broke, dont fix it I reckon. You say mid 40s, be aware that Australia is a pretty ageist society and by the time you turn 50 people begin to look a bit askance and wonder when you are going to retire (not that anyone can afford it these days given the cost of living hikes!). If your DH is prepared to do FIFO again he would probably make a reasonable living but whether that is what you/he want out of life at this stage is another matter. Assume you dont have kids because uprooting them could be more of an issue. I am always bemused by the "leisure activities being curtailed" thing - I find that just as true here in Australia where the rain is harder and wetter (drowned rat in 15 seconds, no worries) and the heat can be more debilitating than just wearing a decent parka. But each to their own. In almost 10 years in Cambridge I can count on my fingers how many days curtailed my activities whereas back here in Canberra in 4 years there have been significantly more - even things like getting up at 6am to go for a walk because I would fry if I left the house at 10 and it hasnt even been hot in the scheme of things since we've been back. Yes, you are financially going to go backwards, any overseas move does that to you - even us - we came back to our own home which is mortgage free but sending stuff, paying fares, re-establishing things like insurances, buying a new car, repairing the house the dollars rather haemorrhaged, I hate to think by how much but tens of thousands. And we didn't have to give up jobs because we were retired, we had a steady superannuation income and didnt need to find new jobs etc Nor did we have to pay housing bonds, new insurances (except health) or any of the more usual set up costs. You are going to need a home which is a really fair chunk out of any pay packet these days, you might have to go a while without getting work to tide you over, you'll have to get a car or two - it'll mount up but if you are well heeled you should be able to cope with that and just assume you are going to lose $100k in the process which you might never see again. If you are confident you can weather that and recoup more then you should be fine. Good luck with your decision, remember the grass isnt greener and the damn stuff still needs mowing!

If you're going to rent out your UK home and you're already citizens, then those are two biggies you won't need to worry about. You mentioned 'my husband and I', which I assume means you don't have kids either, so it isn't going to be a big risk to re-establish yourselves over here. However, I'm sure you'll be aware from reading other recent posts on this subject that housing affordability (whether renting or or buying) is now a real issue in Australia, particularly if you want to live in a desirable location. I'd have to agree with @Toots that moving just for the weather isn't a good enough reason itself, although I'll admit I never get bored with the nice weather here while I find the UK climate rather depressing. Have you considered the possibility of moving to southern Europe. Is your business something you could continue with through remote work, if you were on a similar time zone to the UK? You mentioned that your leisure time is constantly compromised, although you didn't say how you like to spend it. I emigrated in my early 30s when I was very outdoorsy, so I really embraced the Aussie lifestyle. I'm now approaching 60, and although I still love the great outdoors it isn't so much of a priority these days. Given your current ages you might also find that your leisure interests change in the next 10 years or so. If you decide to give it a whirl then set a date by which time you'll choose to either stay in Australia, or return to the UK. At least that way you'll feel like you gave it your best shot, but you won't forever be in a state of limbo. Good luck with it all, whatever you decide to do.

So do you

Having a read through the judgement from the fraud trial: - The Trump Org said Mar-a-lago should be valued between $1-1.5 Billion. Buckingham Palace is worth $1.3 billion. Buckingham Palace is 830,000 sq ft. Mar-a-lago is 62,500 sq ft. - Incorrectly represented the size of his triplex apartment and overvaluing it significantly. - Claimed control over certain assets, like the Vornado partnership interest, as "cash" when there was no such control. - Falsely represented the number of homes that could be built on a property in Aberdeen to be much higher than permitted. (ie. claiming permission to build 2035 private residences when only 500 were permitted) - The valuation of 40 Wall Street was falsely inflated, with projected net operating incomes far exceeding realistic figures, such as representing a $26.2 million net operating income that was never achieved. - Falsely stated that real estate asset valuations in the SFCs came from outside appraisals. - Lied about the existence of potential claims against the Trump Organization. - Obtained favourable loan terms and avoided setting aside cash reserves by providing personal guarantees based on these inflated financial statements. These guarantees required maintaining a net worth and liquidity based on the false financials, impacting loan agreements with financial institutions. The laws exist for a reason. You can claim that there are no victims, but the standard of law isn't whether someone else lost money from your illegal activity. The point of upholding laws is to prevent others or the defendant from doing the same thing again...

Are you sure that's the worst that can happen?

Worth every penny. They magically make you 6ft 3” and 215lbs.

It also depends on what kind of lifestyle you lead. If you're an indoor person, then as you say, you just have to set up your house appropriately. If you enjoy lots of outdoor activities, you'll find Bendigo too trying, IF you can't handle the heat. But then again, there are people who don't mind the heat and they'd have no problem enjoying an outdoor life there. Thank goodness we're all different!

It's easy to avoid interaction if you'd prefer not to mix. Firstly, use the buffets for meals rather than the fancy dining room. In the dining room, you get dressed up and the maitre d' seats you at a table where everyone will expect to have a conversation. In the serve-yourself buffets, you can sit wherever you like and avoid people. The other thing is, don't join the group tours. The cruise lines try to scare you into booking their tours, because of the risk of getting left behind. If one of the official tour buses runs late, the ship will wait for it to arrive. If you go off on your own and don't make it back to the ship by sailaway, the ship will leave without you and you'll have to pay for your own flight to meet the ship at the next port. They have no choice, because the port authority decides what time they have to leave and the cruise company doesn't want to pay the big fines for overstaying. Or at least, that's what they say. In practice, we saw people arriving back up to 45 minutes late, and the ship waited for them. The reality is that it's a lot more hassle than it's worth to leave a passenger behind, so they'll stay for as long as they can. Anyway, unless you're going to somewhere really exotic, it shouldn't be too hard for you to plan your visit so you're back in plenty of time. If your cruise is in Europe, chances are there will be ordinary 'hop-on hop-off' tour buses that stop near the port. Or you can take a taxi (just make sure to book one to get back).