samozsoon

Hi.. We're in Camden too Hubby worked at Toyota in Derby but is from Wolverhampton but we keep quiet about that :laugh:

Isnt Golden Arrow situated in a fabulous place? I would have paid to stay there myself for a couple of weeks haha. Good Luck Sam

Hi Emma Both my two kids have started Uni this yr. My son has a Commonwealth Assisted Place but is living away from home so more expense there and my daughter is at a private Uni in Sydney but is still at home. As Quoll has already said they cant get student loans/fee help until they are citizens and we dont get the 20% discount for paying up-front either. Fees are paid beginning of the term (4 a yr). My son however is eligible for a NAB student loan (daughter isnt as shes only 17) NAB - Enjoy all student life has to offer he can use this loan for almost anything and is looking at getting one for a new (not brand new lol) car as we cant afford to help him buy one because we have two lots of fees to pay! This loan does incure interest from the date you recieve the funds though but repayments dont start until his course has finished. Anything else you would like to know please ask. Sam

Did she settle ok?? Lets just say she's had her ups n downs lol. Its been hard, harder than I ever imagined it would be for her. She's very outgoing and makes friends easily so I thought she'd be ok but there have been times when she has sat sobbing, begging us all to go home. The Aussie kids are great and they made her feel welcome from the first day she started school. But things are different over here. She has had boyfriend trouble, exam stress and not knowing what she was going to do when she finished yr12 really worried her (all her aussie mates didnt seem to care...it was summer and they'd just left school, they couldnt understand why she wasnt happy). We also went back to England, 10mths after leaving, for a hol and I think it was too soon. Leaving again 3 weeks later was worse than leaving the first time. BUT, on a more positive note, she has made a few really close friends, has a part time job that she enjoys, is still with her boyfriend after all the ups n downs and is really loving Uni. There have been more good times than bad (its just the bad are very bad lol) and after 14 months shes still here with us and I am very proud of her for sticking it out. Goodluck and stay positive :smile: Sam x

I would def say go into school in the Sept/Oct. We planned our arrival in the Jan (08) so my daughter could go straight into yr 12 but once she arrived there she found out that the school had started yr 12 work the October before, when the previous yr12's had finished school! She ended up doing 9mths of a 2 yr course. When applying for Uni, most Uni's will have 'special circumstances' form which you will be able to apply for because of 'distrupted education due to moving', but make sure you start looking early because this has to be in quite early on, also you have to get ref letters from school etc. I have two teens who've just started Uni last month so if there's anything I can help with please ask. We are in NSW btw Sam x

Hi Val, We never insured ours, not because we didnt want to but we just ran out of time. Like you we thought the quote from the shippers was really high so we were going to get other quotes but just didnt get round to it. We had a 20ft container plus another 80 boxes in a shared container which both arrived safely and passed quarentine without a hitch. We used Crown btw. At the end of the day its a risk we took, but really the stuff that matters (photos, etc) cant be replaced anyway no matter how much insurance you have. Sam x

Hi Michele I'll send them a msg on Facebook and tell them u are after them lol. Whats ur email/phone number, I'll pass it on. I'm not sure how often they get on FB, but its worth a try. Sam x

Hi Twinkle, Where abouts in Sydney are you? We're about an hour south west of Sydney, and have been here 14 months now. I dont work atm so I am available to meet up if you wanted to. I dont get on here much anymore so email me if you'd like to. samozsoon@yahoo.co.uk Sam x

Hiya We live nr Camden, been here since January now and have settled well. We have made quite a few friends, all English though:spinny:, there are quite a few of us around lol. I'm in the UK at to moment until 16th Dec so probably wont have time to reply again but please get in touch in a few weeks time. Sam x

Hi Gill Does this mean that the $100K/5 points might be back on? My sister is 5 points short of a 176 family sponsored visa and is having to go 475 prov to rural Qld instead (mom lives there). I would love her to be nearer to me in NSW but we dont live rural enough. Sam x

Hi Herbster, Talking of late flights, it took us 9 hrs to get out of Detroit airport because of the snow! I had allowed 5 hrs in LA to catch AirNZ flight which we missed then consequently missed flight from NZ to Syd. Eventually arriving in Syd to start our new life with just hand luggage as our bags were still somewhere in LA having failed to make the flight (or perhaps making the original flight but being off-loaded as we weren't aboard). Turned up 11 days later! Cant say I'm looking forward to the flights again but its a means to an end I suppose. Yes, Michigan certainly left us wanting to see more, more than LA or Las Vegas did. We'd never been to the US before and just never expected it to be so good really. Would like to go in the summer next time, although seeing all the little kids stomping off to school in their snow suits and boots was great, how long must it take them to get out off them once they get there and putting them all back on again to come home I couldnt guess. Bless em! Detroit was a strange place, the city centre I mean, we went there on a Sat afternoon between Christmas and New Year and it was like a ghost town. Where were all the January sales shoppers? We managed to see about 6 people and two of them were cops (with big guns!). Had a lovely lunch in the Mexican part of town though. Would really like to go further south next time we visit (I'm sure there will be a next time) too. Oh well, back to Korean Air, I'm going to ring them I think, although cant do much about it now, its booked and paid for so we'll be on it whether it has tv's in the seats or not. We are going back to the UK for a hol 11 months after leaving, bit soon really but daughter (16) was going through a bad time some months ago and had saved her own fare and was determined to go back and, well, I couldnt let her go by herself could I? lol. Hopefully the 'getting on the plane' to come back here wont be quite so traumatic for any of us as it was 12 months before hand. Good Luck in your new home, we bought 4 months ago and its so much better than renting which we all hated. Sam x

We stayed with friends in Northville, nr Detroit (I think). Very nice area and they seem to have an ideal life, lots of snow and skiing in the winter and in the summer they have a caravan not far away and a great big boat in the garage. We didnt get to go to the lakes but I wish we had though. We did go to Niagara Falls though, something we had to do as we were so close. Would love to go back and I think had we gone there beforehand I could have been very tempted to try and move there instead of to Oz but our friends would love to move to Oz but are stuck in negative equity so cant afford to sell up now. Hopefully Korean Air will be ok, have heard mixed reports, one even saying they dont have tv's in the back of the seats which I'm hoping is wrong otherwise kids, although not little, will drive me nuts! Sorry to hear your flight with Emirates wasnt so good, ours have always been great, I can understand how you felt about hanging around Mel waiting for you onward flight though, when we landed in NZ from LA and had to wait for our flight to Sydney it was a pain, so close, although we only had a couple of hours. Hope you're enjoying your new life in Tassie. Sam x

Hi Dionne We went via LA with Air NZ last Dec and stopped over in America for 4 weeks! It was great, we did a day in LA, saw Hollywood sign, 4 days in Disneyland and a day at San Diego Zoo to see the Panda Bears. We then went to Las Vegas for 3 days before flying to Michigan to spent Christmas with friends (and real snow). The flights were longer than we were used to as we normally go with Emirates (3 x 7hr flights) and I think I prefer the shorter flights where we can get out for a walk about and use a proper loo! But visiting America was certainly worth it. Going back to the UK for a hol in 2 weeks, this time going with Korean Air as they were the cheapest, two 10hr flights with a night in Korea on the way there. Hope they're ok! Sam x

Hiya We used Golden Arrow in Shropshire who were excellent from start to finish. It cost us 4300 pounds for two Retrievers plus microchipping and blood tests which were about 300 pounds for the two of them. Quarantine was $1300 for them both, they shared a pen though so might be a bit more than half for one dog (if you know what I mean). Some shippers may be slightly cheaper as you can do some of the paperwork yourself but I decided to let Golden Arrow sort it all as I didnt want to get it wrong. BTW not sure our own vet had to sign anything to say they were fit to fly (nothing was given to me from him except their blood test results and a letter stating they had been given Frontal after the bloods were taken). Golden Arrow have their own vet and we dropped the dogs off two days before they flew and GA sorted all that out with him. Might be worth contacting them and asking how many animals they refuse to let fly. Their vet might be more willing to sign the fit to fly form as they have more experience of flying animals. I know my vet hadn't a clue what to do (re vaccinations/blood tests etc). Sam x

Sorry OzzieWren, didnt realise you'd already replied with the same info, still better to have to much info than not enough (I think:wacko:). Good luck with your move back. Sam x

Hi Carole Just been looking on the AQIS website Category 2: 30 days quarantine in Australia - DAFF and it seems that they do have to spend 30 days in quarantine and it also states No additional documentation, vaccinations or testing can be completed to reduce or avoid the quarantine period. You can download all the info from the website, I've had a quick look at it and it seems to tell you all you need to know. I hadnt looked at it before as our shipper, Gloden Arrow, did everything for us including obtaining the import permit. Shame they cant avoid the quarantine period but at least it gives you time to find somewhere to live beforehand lol. All the best with your move, Sam x

Our two were fine but they were used to being in kennels as they both went in a few times a year since they were pups. Would love to have known what they were thinking on the flight though! Have settled well, just lie around all day in the sun. Definately the best thing we did:v_SPIN: bringing them. Sam x

As far as I'm aware, and things could have changed since we arrived in Jan, but this pet passport thing is for bringing your animals back into the UK. Taking them to Aus requires 30 days in quarantine and no rabies vaccinations just blood tests to check for certain diseases. Maybe you can use the pet passport thing and avoid quarantine but this was never pointed out to us and we had 3 quotes from different shippers. Worth checking out though. Sam x

Yes, we used them to ship our 2 dogs last December. Excellent from start to finish. Sam x

Hi Kay Tee Yes 4weeks was a long time, it just sort of spiralled, on minute we'd been invited for Christmas in Detroit the next minute I'd booked us a whole 4 weeks worth of flights and hotels lol. It helped that OH's new employers paid for airfares/shipping/dogs/etc otherwise we would've been on the cheapest flight going. With regards cost I think AirNZ were slightly more than going east but not too much. We paid 2880 pounds one way for 3 adults and 1 child last Dec but I think all flights have gone up since then. 46kgs is standard on any flight going via the US so no extra charge. I must say though I thought the flight from LA to NZ was long (about 13 hrs) then you have a bit of a wait in NZ before flying to OZ (another 3hrs I think). I felt like we'd done the whole 24hrs by the time we got to NZ and we'd left the 4 weeks beforehand. I would much rather go via Dubia and Singapore/Hongkong but the extra luggage was a bonus and I loved America and cant wait to go again. AirNZ were good, on par with Emirates who we've been with twice before, no complaints, infact we actually missed our flight from LA due to the snow when trying to leave Detroit and consequently missed our NZ to Syd flight but they just put us on the next flight an hour later no probs but thats another story lol. Sam x

Hi I would just like to add a couple of things too. Firstly have you thought of learning in an auto, not saying that you will find manual hard or anything but most cars here are auto and it would probably be easier and quicker (so prob cheaper too) to do auto. Not sure how long you have before you leave to fit in your lessons and test etc. Secondly, yes you should do it in the uk if you can as if you do it here you dont get a 'full' license for 3 yrs (nsw). You will be on red P's then green P's for the first 3 yrs (P stands for provisional). I think that would mean if you went back to the UK you wouldnt be able to change your license for a UK one (actually I have no idea if this is right but it just seems logical to me). My daughter is learning here but is hoping to do her test in the uk when we go back for a hol in November then she will have an Aus and UK one. BTW you will still have to go on P's here in NSW if you have had your uk license for less than 3 yrs. Each state has different rules too. Sam x

Air New Zealand go via LA. We travelled this way when we moved last Dec, stopping in America for 4 weeks over Christmas, it was great, we'd never been to America before and we did LA, Disneyland, San Diego, Las Vegas, Detroit (real snow at Christmas) and Niagara Falls then back to LA for flight to NZ/Syd. Some AirNZ flights also stop at San Fransisco, Fiji or Hawaii. You also get 46kg of luggage each:yes:. Good luck Sam x

BTW would be quicker on your bike but you still have all the traffic lights and the lanes are a lot narrower than in England so less chance of you squeazing through the traffic.

Hi Dave With no traffic its about 10 mins from Mt Annan and 20/25 mins from Camden. I did it one night Camden to Sizzler in Campbelltown in 15 mins BUT I was speeding (naughty) and all the traffic lights were in my favour (I was late picking daughter up from work lol). With traffic, in mornings or evenings and during school zone times then its more than double that. I allow 15 mins to get from Camden to Mt Annan in the mornings for school as there are 3 school zones I have to go through (speed limit reduced to 40kph) but during the day its less than 10 mins. The Narellan Rd is the worst and unfortunately there is no other way. Sam x

Would just like to add, only Oz citizens are intitled to HECS help (student loans) so unless your son is a citizen be prepared to pay up front for his fees each semester. The way the fees work in Oz is you have ; 1, Commonwealth supported places where the fees are subsidised by the govenment and are roughly $4 - $9K per year, teaching and nursing being the cheapest, medical, vet science etc being the dearest. 2, Domestic fee paying places. These are for citizens and PR but they are much much higher, about $20k per year (sorry dont know exactly as we cant afford them so havent really looked into it). 3, International student fees. Again these are very high, over $25k I think. Not looked into it much as dont need to. As Permenant Residents you are intiltled to commonwealth supported places though and most Unis offer these and some courses I've looked at only have commonwealth places available. There are also Private Unis where the fees are roughly the same as International fees. It is very confusing and you are doing the right thing by looking into it early. My son has just done his A-levels and is now here in Oz looking at Unis for next year. There wont be a problem with his results but he will need to get them converted, we havent done this yet but my son has rang a couple of Unis and they have told him 'roughly' what his UAI score will be going on his A-level results (if you know what I mean). Anything else I can help with just shout. Sam x