J&T

Thanks Quoll, I was hoping that wouldn't be the case as it's only valid for 5 years. (163 visa). I'll go and have a cry now :-( T/

Hi. So sorry if I missed the answer to my question, but does anyone know if The Hague Convention criteria includes families on a temporary Business visa? Or does it just apply if you have permanent residency? Kind regards. T

I've not been on PIO for a while. Maybe I should have done as I've missed out on all this socialising. :-( If there are any other meet ups taking place around Perth, please let me know. I live in Duncraig but work in Cottesloe :-)

Hi Ali, We arranged to stay in a furnished rental for 5 weeks but found the house we are living in in Duncraig after 2 weeks. Our container left the week before we did, but we managed with bean bags and blow up beds for a while. We were up against another 3 families who put in an application for this house, and the only reason we were lucky to get it I think was because we were more flexible. - The owner has never rented before and only wanted to start with a 6 month lease to see how it goes (not ideal for us as we wanted 12 months minimum, but the house was perfect for us due to it's size and location with 4 children and also elderly grandfather living with us). If you are looking for a 3 bedroom house of between $400 - $500 per week, you're likely to have a lot more competition. To be honest, for the size of the house that we need, there doesn't seem to be much around in Duncraig, (we keep looking), but if you're looking at a 3 or 4 bed, there seems to be more choice, but more competition too! We were told by real estate agents that the worse time to look for a rental is between October to February, (when people are trying to get settled for the next school year). To be honest, we had been to Australia before and had decided on moving to the Northern suburbs years ago, then when we came back in July for a week, we drove over 2000kms just driving round suburbs south. We liked a few different suburbs, but it was the schools and the location of facilities, roads into Perth and access to nice beaches that swung it for us. We fell in love with Carine, but the houses we viewed weren't big enough. Duncraig was one of the places though that we had never visited until we arrived in September, and although hubby wasn't 100% sure at first, he liked the size with the house,and it's location. After walking and cycling around, and seeing what Duncraig and the suburbs nearby have to offer, he soon fell in love with the place. He was especially happy when he rode his new bicycle to Sorrento beach from our house in just 5 mins whilst I was at the local park with some new friends! We are both working in Cottesloe from Monday and it takes us 20 - 30 mins depending on what time of the day it is driving down the West Coast Highway! (Lovely sea views along the way). If you live in Duncraig north, the primary school is Duncraig Primary, feeding into Duncraig senior high. If you live in Duncraig south, you may be in the catchment area for Poynter Primary and follow on to Carine senior school. It's all down to what street you are living on. The schools are fussy and you have to take in your rental agreement, (supposed to be for 12 months), with birth certs, immunisation info, passports and visa. The good public schools over here will not even let you look around it until you have moved in the catchment area. They won't even give you a prospectus! All you can get from them is a map and street list of their catchment area and a good luck smile.:biggrin: There is another primary school in the Glengarry area, but we didn't look into that as it's not an area we considered. I noticed that you're from East Yorkshire. We have moved around a bit, OH from Cheshire originally, but we moved here from Driffield. Where abouts are you? Hope this info answers your questions, pm me if you like. Tracey x

Hi Mark, We have just relocated from the UK and are living in Duncraig. We love the facilities here. The schools are good. We live within walking distance to the High School and primary school, and also a few yards from one of the shopping centres here. There are a few small shopping centres in Duncraig, bigger though at Whitfords or Warwick (5 mins drive), Joondalup or Karrinyup (10 - 12 mins drive). We're also next door to Sorrento and other beaches are within minutes. We have just been sorting out our kids for the surf live-saving club today, sorted our son out for Rugby at North Beach, and have yet to sort out the kids swimming club, there are a few nearby, but think we are going to go with Joondalup. (Their reputation seems pretty good!). There are plenty of parks nearby and the people are pretty friendly. Am going to meet up with a couple of mums tomorrow that I met on the second day of the kids starting school! You need to look at a few suburbs, google as much as you can, then when you get here - do a lot of driving around. What you like the sounds of from the UK, you might not like when you get here! All the best on your searches. Tracey

Hi, we used Concept Australia. Grahame Igglesden is very highly qualified, we would highly recommend him and his staff. Regards Jon & Tracey

We have just taken our youngest two shopping so they could spend some of their £'s before we move. We were looking at wii games, and noticed they are more expensive in Australia. Our kids currently have a wii, psp's, Nintendo Gamecube and Nintendo DS's. Will Australia bought games work on these or are they regional like DVD's can be? We have been considering buying an Xbox 360 too before we left and wondered if this was worth doing or not. Many thanks, Jon

Thanks Laney, Have sent you a pm. Not long before we can catch up over another cuppa!! Take care, Tracey xxxx

Sorry to hear that, so last minute. Not sure who you booked through but if you haven't tried already, (although you probably have), you could try Tracey at ozhouserentals too, stayz, rent-a-home, take-a-break.com, holidaylettings.co.uk. Hope you get something sorted soon. (We've had to book 3 weeks in one holiday let, and 2 weeks in another as couldn't get 5 weeks together in the same place). Tracey

Finally booked removals!!! :biggrin:

Thank you both for your kind replies. I have spoken to the ward clerk at the hospital today. Feeling very positive regarding the outcome of the meeting that has been held today also. Am speaking to his social worker in the morning to go through the details in more depth. The good thing is that I am officially down as his next of kin now, so we can help with the best arrangements for him and I will be informed of any decisions along the way. I suggested somewhere warden assisted to my grandad today and he was much happier. He's not ready to lose his independence just yet. Hubby has spoken to a real estate agent regarding a particular property for a short term lease, which sounds perfect for him. Am feeling much better today. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Thanks guys, Tracey

Big of a long shot probably, but we are in a bit of a dilemma. My Grandad has split with his long term partner of 42yrs. She is Australian born and bred with a lot of family around her. My Grandad however, migrated to Perth 43 yrs ago and hasn't got any family in Australia to help him. They put the house on the market and it sold with 2 days. He was going to move in with us once we are settled over there, but we don't fly out until September. Things have all got a bit messy over there and he has no-where to live at the moment. Her family are trying to put him in a home which he isn't ready for. There's not a lot I can do for him beng in England at the moment. I am concerned for his welfare and although I have left my contact details for his social worker, and spoken to various hospital staff, I feel my hands are tied. Has anyone else experienced anything similar with loved ones being so many thousands of miles away and have any advice? Just to confirm that the reason I am so close to my Grandad and why I want to help him so much is because my Dad (his son) is no longer with us and since my Dad died, my Grandad and I have been so close even though we're miles apart. Hence, I want to do the best I can for him! At the moment he's stuck in a hospital when he's not unwell, just because he his ex won't have him back in the house before the sale completes. There is a meeting taking place tomorrow between the social worker, and hospital staff to decide what to do with him! Any help/advice will be greatfully appreciated. Tracey

We have only ever flown with Emirates to Oz, but have booked Singapore Airlines for our one way tickets due to the price difference. When we first flew with our 4 children, (the youngest who was 2), we timed it so we mainly flew at night so the children could sleep, had 2 hour stopover at Dubai and the children got their gifts from the airline to keep them amused along with our colouring in books, magazines and the on-line entertainment, they weren't too bad! (I just always got lumbered with the children who wouldn't sleep, while OH got the settled ones)!!