Metoo

My OH introduced me to 'West Wing' which I found hard going at first but ended up buying the boxed set.

Leicester

Hi Rachall, Thanks so much for the info. In view of this we will defo be bringing our Swift Conqueror with us next year. We are having air con fitted in 2 weeks time as we will be taking it to South of France this summer for our holls. I have head though that we will have to have the air con de-gassed when we bring it over to Australia. Have they mentioned anything about having the electric sockets changed over to ozzy ones?. We would rather keep the UK ones in place as all our appliances are 3 pin. We were in Sydney recently and spoke to a salesman at the caravan dealers and he said that imported caravans for re-sale purposes have to have all the electric sockets changed but he thought we might get away with it on a personal import, however, if we then wanted to sell it on at a later date it might not pass comliance. He did say however that he was not entirely sure about that. (he was a ping pong pom on his second stint in Sydney lol) So glad you are enjoying your time in Australia, make the most of the lovely weather, its freeeezing here. We had the caravan home for the easter weekend so we could give it a good clean and it started snowing while we were washing it :biglaugh: :shocked: All the best Metoo x

It's your turn, all the very best hope it's all you dreamed. metoo x

Geeeez give it a rest

We flew with Malaysia to Sydney via kuala Lumpur a couple of years ago. The flights went pretty smoothly, the service from staff was great and they provided food and snacks and drinks in a very regular basis. Only criticism was the small things that can irritate quite a lot on such a long flight. Ie the person in front of me had a broken chair back so it was either sit up or lie right back, needless to say she lay back for 10 hrs so I couldn't see my TV screen as it was looking at my knees, OH found the connection for his ear phones not working so he had silent movies. on our return the air conditioning was not working properly so the vents were blowing out very warm air, hence everyone switched them off, I thought I would pass out it was so hot. The flight attendants had to keep handing out cold water as it was so uncomfortable. all in all, the actual flight and service was great, it was just worn out equipment that let it down. metoo x

Hi Rachael, thanks for the info. May I ask how long you owned the van before shipping. That aside, I hope you are enjoying being in Australia and settling into your new life. all the best Metoo x

Ha ha yes we are canny Parkers too, OH has lived in Manly and DY so knows how to seek out free parking in side streets. bits and bobs well that includes beer, coke, gifts, snacks, the odd T shirt just general spending money oh and many Anzac biscuits lol

Hi guys, We have just returned from our 2 week fact finding trip to Sydney. I thought I would post this for anybody who is considering validating their visa and is wondering just how much it will cost. well for just the two of us here are some costings flights with Virgin from Heathrow £850 each secure parking at Heathrow £75 for 2 weeks holiday insurance £30 Car hire through Avis (booked on line from UK) and collected car at the airport £735 hotel North Ryde Metro for 2 weeks £860 (queen room sleeps 3, booked online from UK) we used four tanks of petrol and each fill up cost about $95 aus (we did loads of miles) entry to Taronga zoo $44 each Take away food approx $10 aus each posh dinner at Sheriton on the Park $50 aus each (wow, so worth it) trip to the blue mountains / beaches / parks etc Free except cost of petrol City parking weekend rate $15 all day (costs more during the week) Most parking in Shopping Centers (suburbs) free for first 3 hrs we also spent $25 on a new UBD which came in useful for house hunting On top of this we spent about $120 per day on bits n bobs I hope this will be useful to anyone planning a budget for their Recky. One other thing we did was to install an Australia map into our Tom Tom Satnav before hand. I think this cost about £50 but it was so useful. You can hire a satnav with your hire car but we prefared to take our own. Also, our hire car was fitted with a tag for toll roads. one other thing, there are speed cameras everywhere. Also look out for T2 and T3 lanes in the city. You need 2 or 3 people in your car to use these. one last thing, after booking our hotel we checked trip advisor and read some really awful reports and wondered if we had made a terrible mistake. As it turned out, the hotel was under new owners and was fine. No complaints at all and we would use again. Good luck to anyone travelling soon, we can't wait to go back. metoo x

Thanks for that, don't understand why they want braided pipes, we seem to manage ok with rubber pipes as do all bbq's, but thanks for the clarification.

I have read about the gas braiding that's needs to be changed, could you please clarify what this is, as I am not sure.

Yeah, I watched it too. Those poor women. How a human being can inflict such terrible pain on another person is beyond me, and then to say that she did it to herself OMG. This vile behaviour must be handed down from father to son and then they all carry on as if its normal. Wonder what would happen if the wife did this to the husband while he was sleeping, I bet she would never get away with it as the men seem to.

hello Kassa, I am so sorry to hear this, you must put your health and well being above anything else. I wish you strength and I hope you can stay positive and get through your course of treatment and that you have a happy and successful outcome. with regards to your visa, I am sure you must be disappointed not to be able to validate as planned. I hope someone will be along soon to advise you on how best to handle this. sorry I am not much help but I couldn't let your post go without a response. Sending you my very best wishes, be strong and lean on those closest to you. Lesley x

Good on ya, all the best

Party pies, and anything from Lenards chicken. Yum.

You can take your licence to any RTA office situated throughout Sydney, just look up the one nearest to where you live. where do you live? by the way

Fantastic news, hope all goes smoothly for you form now on. another major hurdle cleared :biggrin:

Hi mac mac, with regards to the stat decs, we included when, where and how we met. how the relationship developed ie meeting each others families, friends etc. all the things we have done together, ie travelling, shared hobbies, social events we attended together including family stuff ie weddings, christenings and so on. When we started living together and how this worked for us. Who pays for what, who cooks, shops, cleans, tidies the garden etc. as I had children, how we attended parents events at school together, how OH escorted my daughter to doctors/dentist appointments if I was working and couldn't go. next, we detailed how we currently felt about each other and how we each saw the relationship developing, our hopes for the future and how we planned to develop a new life in Australia. Most of all, we could not imagine a life without each other. i must admit, I think I got a bit carried away with mine as it ran to 3 pages, OH was not as long as mine but it brought a tear to my eye when I read his and confirmed to me that we were making the right decision. Anyway, it must have worked as I got my visa. hope this helps metoo x

Sandie, i recently had contact with immigration au who informed me that the AFP checks are running behind with a big back log. If you think yours will be delayed contact your CO for a 28 day extension. regards metoo

A very strong recommendation, don't even think about banana boxes, the quarantine clearance will be an absolute can of worms and probably end up costing you a fortune in fees, get the proper cardboard tea chest size boxes that the removalists use (new ones).

Congratulations, where are you headed? all the best, Metoo x

My understanding is that a caravan is classed as personal effects and does not require the 12 month ownership requirement. i may be wrong on this as I have just read the link provided earlier, but I have definately read this somewhere on an official website, but my personal experience with Australian customs is that they make it up as they go along.

All the best true blue, enjoy your new life. She will always know where you are if she needs you Metoo x

Not trying to be hurtful but sometimes your frame of mind can become stuck, or fixated on an idea and that can cause you to be permanently unsettled. I have a cousin who emigrated to Oz and decided to return to the UK after 2 years. however his family where happy in their new country and stayed put. 2 yrs on, he is unemployed, miserable, lonely and broke. He can not return as his wife has moved on and does not want him back. The OP should think hard before she splits her family up. The decision may be irreversible.

Once you make a decision to uproot your family, lock stock and barrel and make the biggest move you could possibly make then I think you have a certain obligation to try and make it work. The fact that your husband and sons are happy in their new country (which you chose for them) means that you are now in a minority of one. If you decide now to return to the uk you will not be going home, you will be leaving home. your home is where your family are and at the moment that place is Australia. The UK is just another place where you used to live. Until you change your mindset and realise that YOU ARE ALREADY HOME you will never settle.