suandianbrown

Wow, reading this has made me feel very nostalgic, I remember all you guys, we made the final move in July 2013, we did settle in Mornington, but have now downsized and moved to Brighton. So happy and feel this is really home.

Hi Marie Jo I live in Mornington, we arrived 2years ago, my son goes to Mornington Secondary College, you will be hard pushed to find a state school with more extra curricula activities, so if your daughter is into sport they have everything from Aerobics to Swimming etc. If she is more into the arts the Musical opportunities are amazing School bands, drum corps to name but a few, the school productions are fantastic, the staff are so dedicated and put a lot of time and effort making this all possible for the students. My son is now in year 11 he is studying for his VCE, there was a huge choice of subjects for VCE, students also have the opportunity to do VCAL or a VET course at TAFE, they also have introduced apprenticeships this year, where a group of students, not only from MSC but also Mount Eliza and other local schools can study horticulture. Personally I think it's a great school, go and have a look around.

Hi all Just a rant to let you know about the nightmare we have had trying to get our lovely dog Oscar shipped to Melbourne, I have been reading all the literature and getting tips from Poms in Oz so I felt well informed when I embarked on the mammoth task of getting our dog out to Australia, I took him for his Rabies jabs in plenty of time, I got his Blood tests done I got the vet to sign the RNATT decleration, I told our local vet that Oscar was not allowed to have the Lepto vaccine when he went in for his boosters. I applied for his import permit. I applied for the medical health certificate. I found a shipper that was very helpful they booked his flights, I booked his quarantine a Spotswood, I took him to the vets on Monday for his final checks, his flea treatment and internal parasite treatment, got part A of the Medical health certificate completed. Took Oscar to Heathrow airport on the hotest day of the year in the worst traffic. Dropped him off at the shippers, said our goodbyes. We drove all the way back to our temporary accomodation on the south east coast and had a nice relaxing drink, thinking that we could tick that one thing off the list, he has now gone..........WRONG!!! Woke up Wednesday morning to my phone ringing,"Hi this is the dog shippers, Oscar did not get on the flight last night, the portal vet discovered he has not had his Parvo Virus Vaccine" I could not believe what I was hearing," Yes he has " i replied, it turns out that my rather incompetant vet did not realise that when he omitted the Lepto vaccine he also omitted the Parvo Virus, as the brand they use is combined. I could not believe my ears. This is where it gets complicated, we had to go and collect Oscar from Heathrow, we rang the vet that should have administered the Vaccine, thay agreed they would stay until we arrived and give him the jab straight away, fair enough it was their error after all. Shippers have managed to get dog booked on the same flight but a week later, so the blood tests will be out of date and also 14 days would not have lapsed after the jab was given, we needed to contact DAFF to get certificates of equivelance then get permission from Animal Health in the UK to allow the vet to alter the original Medical Health Certificate. What a BL**DY nightmare. Quarantine at Melbourne were brilliant, they have changed Oscar's booking for the following week. So a warning to all you lovely dog owners out there, if your vet uses "Vanguard 7" for your dogs boosters, the Parvo Virus vaccine is freeze dried and needs to be mixed with the Lepto vaccine to be administered. Please check check and check again that your dog has been given the Parvo Virus vaccine even though they have not had the Lepto, I would hate for anyone to have to go through what we have gone throught his last week. Sux

Finally got Oscar's blood test results back after his Rabies Jabs, it has taken 6 weeks, our local vet sent them to a lab in Germany. All OK!!! I am a bit concerned now, as some tests have to be done 10 days before he travels, Not sure if our vet is up to the challenge. :arghh: The trouble is we leave the country in June to visit the inlaws in Spain before we head downunder, our 20 year old Daughter is going to look after him until he travels on 20th July I don't want her to have any worries. Can I just get one of the Pet shippers to come to her house and do the necessary checks and then collect him 10 days later and take him to the airport, or will she have do all this on her own???

When do you plan to go? You sound as if you've got about the same amount of stuff we have Dorree Bonner quoted £2218 for 365 cubic feet PSS quoted £2550 for 487 cubic feet I called John Mason and they reckoned about £1700 for 400 cubic feet, they are sending someone round on Friday 1st March to give us a more precise estimate. They don't seem that more expensive than F&N, as I said in an earlier post my mum used therm 6 years ago and couldn't fault them, but companies change staff etc. you have to listen to the warnings!!! That is why we ask people on here for their opinions. BTW we are shipping to Melbourne. Good luck with your choices and let us know how you get on

What sort a problem did you hit??

We were in Melbourne in August to validate our visas, the weather was fair. We went up to the University of Melbourne, the wind was freezing and cut right to the bone, but the campus is on a bit of a hill so very exposed to the eliments. The architecture was amazing, how anyone can say that Australia has no interesting historical buildings, they need to have a look around Melbourne...........I loved it and can't wait to make it my home this August.

I know!!!! They do seem to provide a great service, but they are just sooooo expensive. But then I guess "you get what you pay for", I am already having sleepless nights thinking about what we need to do before we go. So letting someone like Petairuk do all the dog stuff would make sense.

Hi Has anybody used Transfur to ship their dog?

Hi All Just getting quotes for shipping our lovely Cocker Spaniel to Melbourne, I have quotes from 3 pet shipping specialists. some include absolutely everything which works out about £3000, others don't include the "Export Health Certificate" Do I get this from my own Vet or do I have to go to a special Government Vet??, I have looked at the Export health form and it looks as if it needs to be stamped by a governemnt vet, where do I find one? is there a register of government vets on line? the best quote I have had is £1796.00 which includes the import permit and vet sealing of the crate, this seems very reasonable!! any comments greatly appreciated.

I know how you feel, We will be taking Oscar our 8 year old Cocker Spaniel, I could no sooner leave him than I could the children. Yes it is expensive and people say you could buy 6 new dogs for the cost of shipping him, but he is part of our family. I know the flight will probably frighten him and I know he wont understand that we will all be together again soon, but hopefully when we pick him up from the quarantine centre and take him for a lovely run and lots of cuddles, he will understand that it is all over and he will never have to go through that again.

What a great post....I am really starting to get excited about our move now!!!! (Melbourne - 4th August)

They cane round on Monday and assessed what we need, They said we had about 365 cubic feet, however we had a fella from PSS come round yesterday and he said we need nearer to 500 cubic feet.......Were Dorree Bonner spot on with their estimate of stuff? or have you gone for a full container?

My mum used them to move to melbourne about 6 years ago....and had absolutely no problem with them, however, that said, she did pack all her boxes herself. We only have about 400-500 cubic feet to ship.... we have had quotes from 2 well known companies both around £2200 - £2500 I was going to give F & N a try, but when my mum used them they did not send round an assessor, she had to do it on line, is this still the case?

Can anyone tell me what the minimum wage is in Australia?, if they have such a thing. Su