Diane

Makes no damn difference what the public vote - it's a non-binding plebiscite. Total and utter waste of time and money. Using your argument that this bunch of useless dicks were elected to do a job, then why don't they just get on and do it?

Why on earth do you think you - or anyone else - has the right to pass judgement on whether a particular group of people should be treated equally? Particularly and primarily if you are not a member of that group yourself. It's not a 'serious social change' - it's basic human rights and as such shouldn't be open to question in any way! One of the basic tenets of a democracy should be equal rights for everyone. Why on earth do you think you have a right to decide whether a group of people in society should be treated as equal or not? There have been enough opinion polls already to show how the public feel about this. Just make the bloody change. There are no plebiscites on "Shall we participate in a foreign war?" "Shall we give tax breaks to big companies?" "Shall we pay politicians large salaries and unsubstantiated expenses?" and I haven't heard Malcolm offering a plebiscite on "Shall we have a Royal Commission into banks/politicians/unions?" And on the mandate question - a lot more people voted against this bunch of miscreants than voted for. "For starters, the Coalition received 42% of first preference votes which means 58% of the electorate did not endorse their policies." http://theaimn.com/now-that-the-election-is-over/ This makes me so damn angry - no wonder a few of the far right want to get rid of the law that stops them saying offensive stuff in public - as another article on AIM says "When your words make her put her wrist to the razorI don’t defend your right to say it!"

So Shorten has recommended to Labor's caucus that they vote against holding a marriage equality plebiscite. Good on him. I can't believe in this day and age the government thinks it's acceptable to publicly fund anti-marriage equality advertising on TV! It's gonna be an expensive three years for the country (again) if they insist on putting every small piece of legislation to a public vote before deciding on it. Not even as if the result of a plebiscite would be binding. So many of the far right in the Libs have already said they'd vote against marriage equality regardless of the result. I wasn't here at the time, but did Howard hold a plebiscite before changing the wording of the marriage act in the first place? What a waste of bloody time and money! It's just such a no-brainer - people should be treated equally in law regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation and appearance. Why do we need a public vote on the fact? Just treat everyone equally, and get on with the job you get paid for, you useless bunch of politicians!

Well the main roads - like to and from the airport - are ok, but the rest are pretty awful! They are lots of buffalo around (if you want to marry a girl, apparently the going rate is one buffalo given to her father), and some horse drawn carts (apparently called Do-ka - no idea about spelling) but those seemed to be mainly for tourists. We went exploring one day by moped, but there were just too many potholes for it to be a relaxing experience. The people and the culture are totally different - no comparison at all. Lombok is a mostly muslem country, although we only saw one lady in the full burqa, and a few in hijabs, but not all. It's only really the younger generation that speak any languages other than Sasak and Indonesian, and for a people with mostly very little material possessions, they are the friendliest, happiest, most gentle people you could ever hope to meet. They don't drink and apart from beer, alcohol is not easy to buy in shops (no such thing as a bottle shop there) but unfortunately smoking is still pretty widespread. Oh, and things are still pretty cheap there. That's my biggest gripe about holidays in Australia - your money just goes so much further in a place like Bali or Lombok or Thailand. This is another beach we spent some time on after hiring a local fisherman to take us there - it's called Bumbang and has a few villas for hire and a small bar.

Thought I'd pop back in as we're just back today from our trip to Lombok. Amazing place, beautiful beaches, lovely people - we stayed at the Novotel in Kuta, Lombok and would highly recommend it. As mentioned above we went on a package through Luxury Escapes which was excellent value. Lombok is still pretty unspoilt, particularly compared to what I hear about Bali. Enough development to mean there are plenty of local cafe/bars and restaurants to head out to in the evening, but still mostly frequented by the surf-set (did I mention the great beaches?!) and couples rather than bunches of rowdy teens. There are a few new resorts being planned though so I think in a few years it may have totally changed. Definitely somewhere to visit now before too many people find out about it :wink: If you are still looking for somewhere to go and want any more info, feel free to pm me. I'll also be writing up a JBR for Tripadvisor in the next day or so, so if you want a link to that, just ask.... This is a picture of the hotel beach:

Reclining sun loungers - like this one from Argos - trust me, you can't get them here anywhere near as nice (and people look at you as if you are mad if you ask - it's just not the done thing to relax in the sun here! But they are great for undercover patios like ours.. I wish I'd filled a container with some

The only time I ever heard it called Mellie was from someone on here who wasn't enamoured of the place and was describing it as Smelly Mellie!

Safe travels, Stacey, so glad we got to meet up, albeit briefly, and still smile when I remember your traumatic tram trip!!

A lot of people don't know that even if you are casual (i.e. no paid holidays and sick leave) you are still entitled to long service leave after working for the same employer for 7 years+ - it is worked out on an average of the number of hours you've worked over the previous three years I think. It does vary from state to state. Here's the SA rules http://www.safework.sa.gov.au/show_page.jsp?id=2477#.V7_JG5h9600 There are a few anomolies about the Australian holiday system - you usually have to accrue holiday before you can take it (so no starting in August then taking your four weeks off over Christmas for example), although some firms will let you go into negative holiday, most don't. Also if you get paid holiday, there is something called Holiday Leave Loading, which means you actually get paid MORE when you are on holiday then when you are working. You also tend to get a fixed amount of sick - or carer's, or personal - leave - probably 10 days a year. Untaken sick leave is not paid out at the end of employment like holiday leave is, hence the Australian habit of 'taking a sickie' to use up any unused sick leave - although you will usually be asked to produce a doctor's note for anything more than about a day. If you take more than your allotted amount of sick leave in the year, you will have to take it as unpaid.

My sister is in her mid 50s. Since she was about 30, she has been taking off travelling for several months a year, every year. Sometimes alone. More often now with her partner. They don't go to touristy places, they go to Africa and India, and don't stay in five star hotels, but in small local places. They take local trains, one time - I think in India - bought bikes and travelled on those. She doesn't have kids - I think mine may have put her off! - but is certainly an example of age not being a barrier to doing what you enjoy.

There is a number here but looks like it may be quite old http://www.reverseaustralia.com/lookup/0740613831/

So true...we're talking about a department that has condoned all sorts of horrendous abuse after all, run by Dutton....

I'd have thought to qualify as a family they would at least have to show that they ARE a family....such as by getting married, or registering their relationship officially. Likewise to prove that the child is the father's dependent and not the mother's as the rules do seem to say that someone on a WHV may not have a dependent child with them at any time during the life of their WH visa. But I guess as long as the Immigration Expert put everything in writing.....

That did make me smile! I even saw a post from someone trying to sell a mattress that was not only stained, but also damaged (which was the reason the seller was replacing it, as it obviously was not comfortable to sleep on because of the damage!)

Victoria also has the VCA and Adelaide the ACA which are both of an excellent standard (my daughter is studying at ACA) but if you are looking for kids classes I'm sure you'll have no trouble. My daughter did Musical Theatre classes for many years through a group here in SA called Pelican Productions http://www.pelicanproductions.com.au/ whose instructors are all professionals (choreographers, vocal coaches etc) of a very high standard - Jen and Kylie who run this are the nicest people you could imagine so if you were looking for something similar in Victoria, you could probably message them via their Facebook page and they could point you in the right direction.

If it helps (and I'm not sure if anything will at the moment), I think just about every woman who has ever been pregnant has the same fear! I certainly did. At the end of your pregnancy though, you start to come round to the idea of "better out than in"! Finance-wise for the visa, if necessary could you (or your OH) get a loan from either the bank or his parents? Your OH sounds like a hard worker (you both do) so if it means the difference between being able to stay together or not, it may be worth considering.

You poor thing, it sounds like everything is just piling up for you at the moment, and I'm not surprised it all feels overwhelming. Have a nap - your body is telling you that is what it needs at the moment and you are probably not getting a good nights sleep at the moment for worrying about everything - then when you wake up make a list. First on the list as others have said is to speak to a migration agent - many give a first assessment free of charge and that should be enough to at least clarify your options, and determine if you will be able to qualify for some sort of bridging visa between when your WHV necessarily ends, and another visa might be granted so that you don't have to leave the country straight away. Once you've done that, then you can start working through the other things on the list - telling your partners parents, getting registered with a midwife or GP for the birth etc. Try to break everything down into bite-sized pieces so that it doesn't seem so monumental a task that it's too daunting even to start. Don't forget your hormones are probably up a creek without a paddle at the moment, so just keep taking deep breaths and lean on your partner, his parents, friends and us strangers on the forum for as much support as they can give. Whatever happens, it's not the end of the world, it's just a new challenge, and you sound like a resourceful person to have managed the travel you've done, as well as move halfway round the world with your partner, and find jobs and everything. Deep breaths, one thing at a time, you'll get through this. :hug:

Did you see my reply to your other thread about static caravans? If you google 'cabins' rather than 'static caravans' you will get better results. Also a cabin would be much more liveable than a caravan here, as most australian caravans don't have loos!

Second hand shops here are called Op Shops

Anything here? http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-property-for-sale/nsw/caravan+park+cabins+for+sale/k0c18367l3008839?sort=rank

Makes me weep to read this (from theaimn.com written by Kaye Lee who is an excellent researcher) "Peter Dutton is upset about the allegations that there is anything wrong with Australia’s offshore gulags.“I’ve spent much of my professional career investigating sexual assaults and assaults against people and arresting people for that. I take these issues very seriously.” Dutton left the police force when he was 28 after working in the drug squad. “The trouble, frankly, with the approach of the Guardian and the ABC has been to trivialise the very serious issues by trying to promote the 2,100 reports as somehow all of those being serious when they’re not. Many of those reports relate to corporal punishment by children by their own parents. They report about some minor assaults by detainees on detainees, refugees on refugees. ” The Guardian in fact highlighted the allegations of family violence in the Nauru files and broke down the incident reports by seriousness and category. “We are going through all of that information. It doesn’t help that the files leaked by Save the Children, they’ve only put out a redacted version. We’ve asked them for all of the details.” Save the Children did not leak the files and the government already has the original unredacted copies. He later said: “I’m not going to be defamed by the Guardian and by the ABC because we are doing everything within our power to provide support to people.” Defamed? FFS this man is too much. People have died. People have been raped and beaten. People are self-harming. According to the minister’s department, 98% of the men on Manus who have had their refugees claims assessed have been found to be refugees with a “well-founded fear of protection” in their homelands but “there is no third-country option available for people out of Manus at this point in time. We have a look at these people to help them return back to their country of origin or they settle in PNG. They are the two options available to these people.” Hell or death. For Dutton to say he will “look into” the allegations is gobsmacking. Perhaps he might like to read these reports while he is at it. NAURU Amnesty International, Nauru Offshore Processing Facility Review 2012 (released November 2012) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mission to the Republic of Nauru: 3 to 5 December 2012 (released 14 December 2012) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees monitoring visit to the Republic of Nauru 7 to 9 October 2013 (released 27 November 2013) Keith Hamburger AM, Nauru Review 2013: Executive Report of the Review into the 19 July 2013 Incident at the Nauru Regional Processing Centre (released 8 November 2014) Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children (dated November 2014) Phillip Moss, Review into recent allegations relating to conditions and circumstances at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru (released March 2015) Senate Select Committee, Taking Responsibility: Conditions and Circumstances at Australia’s Regional Processing Centre in Nauru (released 31 August 2015) C Doogan, Review of recommendation nine from the Moss Review (released 15 January 2016) Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee Inquiry, Conditions and treatment of asylum seekers and refugees at the regional processing centres in the Republic of Nauru and Papua New Guinea (Interim report issued in May 2016 when Committee lapsed for 2016 federal election) Australian Women in Support of Women on Nauru, Protection denied, Abuse Condoned: Women on Nauru at Risk(released June 2016) PNG United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Monitoring Visit to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea: 15 to 17 January 2013 (released 4 February 2013) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Monitoring Visit to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea: 11 to 13 June 2013(released 12 July 2013) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees monitoring visit to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea 23 to 25 October 2013 (released 27 November 2013) Amnesty International, This is Breaking People: Human Rights Violations at Australia’s Asylum Seeker Processing Centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea (released December 2013) Robert Cornall AO, Review into the events of 16–18 February 2014 at the Manus Regional Processing Centre (dated May 2014) Robert Cornall AO, Review into Allegations of Sexual and Other Serious Assaults at the Manus Regional Processing Centre(released September 2014) Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee Inquiry into the incident at the Manus Island Detention Centre from 16 February to 18 February 2014 (released 11 December 2014) Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Law Centre, The Pacific Non-Solution: Two years on, refugees face uncertainty, restrictions on rights (dated July 2015) Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee Inquiry, Conditions and treatment of asylum seekers and refugees at the regional processing centres in the Republic of Nauru and Papua New Guinea (Interim report issued in May 2016 when Committee lapsed for 2016 federal election)"

I have an autoimmune condition (Scleroderma) but I had it before I moved here. They are known to be triggered - or exacerbated - by stress, so maybe the stress of migrating had an influence on you and your daughter?

Just wanted to say this is one of the things that is wonderful about this forum - above me we have two professionals happily giving great and really helpful advice for free. You are both awesome :notworthy:

One more thing to consider is that often sites are booked up certainly many months - often years - in advance for the Christmas and school holiday season.

PS (or PPS!) there is a Kuta on Lombok as well as one on Bali - this is what Lonely Planet says about the one on Lombok: Imagine a crescent bay, turquoise in the shallows and deep blue further out. It licks a huge, white-sand beach, as wide as a football pitch and framed by headlands. It's deserted, save for a few fishermen, seaweed farmers and their children. Now imagine a coastline of nearly a dozen such bays, all backed by a rugged range of coastal hills spotted with lush patches of banana trees and tobacco fields, and you'll have a notion of Kuta's immediate appeal. Kuta proper consists of no more than a few hundred houses, a likeable but scruffy-around-the-edges place with a ramshackle market area, and a seafront lined with a non-contigious row of distinctly modest cafes and hotels. Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/nusa-tenggara/kuta/introduction#ixzz4HOMvWmJy