RachelS

Hi I've worked for a well known not-for-profit organisation in Wollongong since arriving in July 2008 & due to internal promotion am looking to hire a replacement for my old role. I'm looking for a good all rounder - with the potential to progress & increase responsibilities over time. Key Responsibilities will include, but not be limited to: Month End preparation Balance Sheet & General Ledger Reconciliations Balance Sheet Analysis Month End Journals & Accruals Month End reporting day to day management of two assistant Finance Officers The role requires someone who can operate on a hands on basis (posting journals) as well as being responsible for a large portfolio of cost centres. Excel skills are essential & the finance system used is Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains. This is a permanent, full-time role & doesn't offer sponsorship so you'll need to have your own visa in place. For more information please PM me asap - this role hasn't been advertised yet but will be shortly & the requirement is fairly urgent.

Hi fellow PIO'ers My Dad's coming over for a visit & he's an avid walker in the UK - finding old/obscure footpaths on his OS maps that may not have been used in donkeys & generally exploring. He's freaking me out (deadly snakes, spiders etc) by wanting to do the same when he comes over here & I was wondering if any of you know anywhere I can go to look for walking tracks that are preferably off the beaten track? We're based south of Wollongong, NSW near Shellharbour Village but would be interested in walks in the Southern Highlands, further south & north - the whole of the Illawarra really. Thanks in advance for any tips Rach

Yep - there's no licence fee over here! We've got a mix of TV's we brought from the UK - they'll need a digibox type thing if we want to watch TV on them soon - & Aus one's which have built in tuners. The free channels aren't that great - way too many adverts - but that's all we had when we first came over. Austar Mystar is okay though as you can record to your box & then fast forward through the ads!

Hopefully I've worked out how to post so that my replies aren't in the same boxes as the quotes - let's give it a go... They're in the process of migrating to fully digital - there are quite a few free to air channels - 9, 7, 10 SBS, Go, ABC, 11 & a few variants of those - ABC 2, ABC 24 etc. Then for satellite TV you get Austar or Foxtel - depends on if you live in one of the main cities (& a few other places) if you get Foxtel coverage - we're classed as regional so have Austar but it's pretty similar to Foxtel - and the remote control was the same as Sky+ in the UK. We've got the HD, My Star version which is akin to Sky+ - but since we left the UK I think Sky has totally changed & is much, much better than over here:-( Seems a bit pricey compared to the UK - about $140 per month with the odd Box Office movie too Not 100% sure on this one - we get a landline along with internet & mobile in our bundle with Telstra (Aus equiv of BT pretty much). Costs us about $140 a month for 25GB of download, iPhone 4 with tons of minutes/texts & landline with cheap international dialling pack. If you're in a Foxtel area you can bundle your satellite TV in with the bundle mentioned above too Interested to hear what other people say - I know a lot of people don't like Telstra but we've had no problems at all with them - and moving home with them was a complete breeze!

Hi - I'm a defacto on my OH's 856 application & we only provided joint bank statements, joint rental agreements & a couple of joint bills across our 6 year relationship - it was difficult to find things in both of our names as I do all of the bills & paperwork! We used an MA who said that these were more than enough & submitted our application as DRC in Nov 2010. Nomination's approved & just waiting on the visa part now

Whatever you do, don't forget to take your paper counterpart with you - if you'll be using your UK licence that is. We're on a temp 457 visa so don't have to get an Aus licence until we're permanent & when we turned up at the rental offices they told us they couldn't hire us the car we'd booked & there was nothing they could as the DVLA is closed on Sundays. Not a problem if you've got Aus licences but thought I'd mention it in case anyone else tries to rent with their UK licence. We had to spoil the surprise to the in-laws - we were just going to turn up for a family sunday lunch - but we had to phone them to come & pick us up from Heathrow instead - still a surprise though! :biggrin: Avis were extremely helpful the next day though & offered excellent customer service so I would recommend them. (I won't mention the name of the company that told us they couldn't do anything on the Sunday - what they said was true but they could've delivered the info in a much more friendly/better way - after a 24hour flight & probably about 30 hours travelling in total they totally sucked & I wanted to turn round & come back to my Aus home there & then!)

Hi again guys - meant to say would it be legal in both Aus & UK - or would we have to do what I've read about on the net & get something signed by the UK before we could go ahead - has anyone got any experience of it? Or would it just make sense to wait until we have PR?

Hi guys I've searched on PIO & generally online but can't find an answer so thought I'd start my own thread & hope you knowledgeable PIO'ers can help! My OH & I are currently on a 457 visa (he's main applicant) & have been thinkingof getting married for years - but we've got family visiting next year & would love to do it then. Our 856 application goes in tomorrow but with the published wait time being possibly 6-8 months we might not get PR before the date we're thinking of. My question is - is it possible for us to get married while we're on the 457 if we have to - is it legal? Is there aything special we'd have to do? Thanks for taking the time to read - hope someone out there can help Rachel

Ooh that sounds fab Debbie - where did you get that from - is it in ground or above? A spa's next on our wish list - actually I think it's moved to the need list now! A friend with one said their electric bill's gone a bit through the roof though after getting it - but well worth it!

When we went back to the UK for a recent holiday the roads were the thing I hated the most - so many cars going so fast & so narrow. The trip down to Heathrow on the morning of our flight (6am start onto the M40) was the most horrendous part of it - my arms nearly seized up from gripping the steering wheel so tightly & the concentration needed meant I started the journey home feeling rough already. I wouldn't wish driving in the UK on anyone now I've experienced Oz roads - and I've been driving for 27 years of which only 2 are in Oz - lol! :biggrin: