David Bottomley

Whoops - sorry forgot to put on our timescale! 12 weeks for us - flew out 12 Jan 10 and landed back 4 April 10.Our boys were 7 and in Y2 - they thought their Aus school was fab - me and David thought it was far too laid back. They missed their football tho, and the novelty of our swimming pool soon wore off!! I had dreadful guilt for a long while afterwards - even about our poor cat who we took with us. He spent 6mths in quarantine (locally fortunately) and became diabetic. Thankfully, his bloods have settled now he's not stressed and he's off the insulin. On the whole though, I/we are all feeling a lot more human (if that makes sense) and are settling back well. David's better than he was before we went ( it was all his idea - we moved to be close to his sister and her family amongst other things) - I miss his sister and my nephew terribly. Sorry for the ramble but it does feel good to write it down!! And Snaith - small world innit - we're in Pontefract, Glad to hear that everything is working out for you - hope your children have settled back well. Take care and keep smiling, Di Apologies Ph0en1x for diverting from original thread

Hi Becky, I can't help personally, but if you send Laura G a PM I'm sure she might be able to point you in the right direction. All the best, Di

Hi Connie, yep, I think we are back in Yorkshire for good - David found it extremely hard to settle and his health began to suffer - so we cut our losses and came back. How quick was your turnaround? Regards, Di

Morning, we just went to ASDA and got really cheap adapters for them!!:wink:

Morning Amy, We chose to take our cat from Yorkshire down to Heathrow ourselves - rather than using the courier people. Its very straight forward and a lot quickly than I thought it would be. We got to stay and talk to the blokes that Xrayed the cat in his container and we had a quick chat with the duty vet too. Good luck whatever you choose, Di x

Morning Louise, just wanted to say good luck and all the best for the future. We flew out with Korean Air with two 7 year olds and the check in/ground staff were fab. They took us out of the queue and ushered us through check in very quickly - I'm sure Singapore Air will not leave you struggling with two tots. Again, best wishes and ENJOY Di x

For me it has to be Scarborough and the North Yorkshire Moors - York also has loads to offer visitors. Happy travels, Di

I have no regrets about mine - got one at the mo and am working on the design for my next. I'm quite fascinated by other peoples tattoos - and love looking but often wonder if people think I'm some sort of weirdo. So my question to all those of you out there with tattoos - Would/Do you mind people asking you about your tattoos? Thanks Di

Hi Rach We use Mike Price Mechanical, Glenora Street, Wynnum, 4178. He's a good bloke and didn't rip us off! Regards, Diane

Hi Sharon, I'm not sure how far you want to travel or if you've tried here already, but we used Mark Gamble at Manly Road Veterinary Hospital, 219 Manly Road, Manly West 4179, Tel 3396 9733. Good Luck, Diane

Hi Physmum, Can't remember the exact details, but Letton Percival were first class with our claim. Quite a few large items of furniture were damaged during our shipment and after a couple of emails and scanned photo's showing damage, Lettons settled the claim very quickly. If my memory serves me right, they settled in GBP into our British bank account. Would definitely recommend them. Regards, Diane

I liked him One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but he really made me laugh (and cry) in Terms of Endearment. Ta very much, Diane

Nigel Wishing you and your good lady a very happy day, honeymoon and life together after. Take care of each other, Best wishes, Di

Hi Rudi I didn't mean to whinge about the cursive script - it just appears that there are many levels of ability in the class. Some of the children have real difficulty writing their own name, never mind printing simple sentences. It would have been nice (if thats the correct word) for my sons to have been encouraged to keep writing - rather than what I see as a backward step. On a different note, hope your WDU family are enjoying their stay. I'm not too far from you in Manly West! Regards, Di

Morning, I'm not sure if this is advice or not, but we are currently in Brisbane. I have two 7 year old sons who are in Year 2 here. They were hardworking, good all rounders in UK, doing very well in English and maths. We thought they'd have no problems at all in Australia. How wrong we were! Maybe we are just unlucky with the school. I have to totally agree with Quoll about teachers not coping with "tall poppies". The curriculum is totally different and we accepted that. However, my sons could already do joined up writing but have been told/bullied to go back to printing. Joined up writing isn't done til Y4. Don't get me wrong, the social aspect of the school is very good, but the structure and discipline, in my opinion, is sadly lacking. The most shocking for me is lack of eating area for little lunch/big lunch. The boys class have to sit on the concrete floor outside their classroom with the ants. We've had more run-ins with the management at school, I'm past caring that I'm a whinging pom! Good luck though!