ramot

My daughter had a WHV and is epileptic, although this was 11 years ago she had no problem getting a visa, I’m sorry I can’t remember if she had to supply any extra health information. She also had no problem getting PR either. It might be sensible to check if exactly the same medication you take is available here. Previously it was possible to get 3 months medication issued in UK to bring with, to cover your first few months I hope this helps, wish you all the best for your trip

As Marisa posted, there are degrees of rural in Qld. The Sunshine Coast is designated rural, and it’s certainly not rural. Many country towns here have plenty going for them. My friends, who moved from England 20 years ago, have recently moved from the coast to Blackbutt and love the community there, but it could be challenging for some people. It would help if you give us an idea of where you might work,

Subletting is never ever never allowed in these places, and you have to get permission for anyone to stay longer than three days, and long term visits are not approved. An example, my friends had overseas family staying, and there was an emergency situation that required them to rush to help other family for 2 nights. They quickly arranged for a neighbour to stay in their house, as they obviously had to leave their visitors on their own which is not allowed, so thought that would be ok. Oh no, they were summoned!!! into the office by management, to be reprimanded for breaking the rules.and the fact that busy bodies neighbours had taken it upon themselves to report them, also shows how petty these places can be. The management seems to be the biggest complaint and despair of our many friends who live in a variety of the many retirement villages here on the Sunshine Coast. but I will add that our single friends, mostly widows, do seem to benefit the most from the companionship that living in retirement villages brings when now on their own.

We have quite a few friends who live in retirement villages, and to be honest the ones who are sadly on their own, aren’t too unhappy, they do benefit from the companionship,. The couples we know vary from acceptance that it’s the sensible thing to do, some quite happy, to others who hate the regulations, and have left as a result. there is no way we will live in one, unless we have no choice but to move from our house. The rules would drive us mad. You have to get permission if you have guests to stay for more than 3 days, guests can’t stay even for one night in your house unless you are there, they can’t park overnight in your drive, have to use visitor car spaces, you are reported if you drive over the speed limit, we laugh when we visit and say watch out for spies!!! You have an obvious visit from management if you break any of the above rules, and there is always someone willing to report you!! The standard of the houses are excellent, as are the facilities, but all the activities are run entirely by volunteers living there, the management is not involved at all , so activities like the cinema, social events, the bar, can grind to a halt. Around here there quite a few villages, run by different companies, and there seems quite a lot of differences between them as regards the conditions of buying and selling. You really need to do your homework to find what suits you, and what all the restrictions are.

Deleted, don’t want the thread to go off topic

The reality of emigrating is different to the dream. You worked incredibly hard to get here, so my advice having lived in several countries, unless you are really unhappy, give yourself time to settle, enjoy the experience of living in another country, and if or when the time is right, make the decision that is right for you. Wish you both the very best, and hope you enjoy your time here, however long it is. x M

The blue skies and warm weather. Still love the view from my house after 20 years. The sea is minutes away, the joy of seeing the migrating whales, and dolphins. The contrast of the hinterland a 20 minute drive away. Brisbane close enough to go to shows and art exhibitions. Family and friends having such fun in the swimming pool.

There is this fixation that you have to take exams at a certain age or your life will be ruined. Having had no option but to leave our 13 year old in boarding school in England, when we moved to Brunei, because at that time there was no available schooling there, I would never do it again if there is an option. She felt abandoned, as did lots of others in the same situation. Her guardian, it is advisable to have someone in England , was her Godmother, ( who was fantastic with her) and she spent occasional weekends and half term holidays with her. Although posters have stated that the OP’s daughter can spend her holidays here, it’s a very long journey for her to fly on her own, if she isn’t used to long haul flying, and it’s traumatic saying goodbye at the end of the holidays, and unless you have experienced having a child at school on the other side of the world, you probably don’t realise how hard it is to be so far away. We were in a lucky position of cheap or free school holiday airfares, and our daughter even came for half term holidays when she was older, and I flew back several times a year to be there for important events as my husband worked for an airline, and we kept a small house there as we had 2 sons at university there as well, I’m not sure how I would have coped being so far away, if I hadn’t been in the lucky position of very cheap fares. What would I do in Pilch’s position? I would bring her daughter here to Australia, and go to school here, and take advantage of a great life experience. Then when you return to England, accept she might be older than other students and go to college to take her GCSE’s, or look into distance learning, or see if there is an International school in Sydney and are the fees are affordable. Although we obviously coped, England is a long way away, there are decisions to be made, upsets to be coped with, and trust me with a girl teenager they are very hard to cope with long distance. Wish you good luck with whatever decision you make,

It was $3 to the pound when we came in 2003, not complaining about today’s rate though.

Lived on the S coast for 20 years, not sure I can remember many if any 30 straight days at that temperature, wouldn’t live anywhere else, and I’ve lived in 5 other I countries, including Brunei for 10 years. Not saying you’re wrong have Just googled to try to see when that 30 day temperature was recorded, failed to find it. The hot temperature here at the moment is unusual that’s why I posted, won’t post again as I don’t want the thread to get sidetracked as my post was supposed to be lighthearted

When you have days like this, 27’ in a Mooloolaba winter, who cares about the mozzies, snakes and all the other miserable things people have posted about, not a bad place to live!

Have plenty near me, took these photos at a friends house, their expressions made me laugh Was Trying to do this in a hurry, always a mistake!!!

Wish you all the best xM

In case I wasn’t clear, the equivalent 51.50 pds is for 2 people cleaning for an hour and a half, not just one person.

Sorry 51.50 pds per clean, and been our cleaners for 13 years, no one has to justify having a cleaner to me,

I pay the equivalent of 103 pds for 2 cleaners for 90 minutes fortnightly, 3 bed, study, 2 bathrooms, extra loo, generous open plan kitchen, dining area, 3 sofas in sitting area, plus lounge and dining room, 2 storey house, Sunshine Coast.

It all depends where you live. i have 2 sons, both with masters degrees, both in good well paid jobs, and living in good areas. One son lives in Bristol, commutes to London office either 2/3 days a week, or 2 /3 days in Bristol office, he earns less than my son who lives and works in Brisbane. Bristol house, a standard 3 bedroom 1930’s semi, small lounge, extended dining room and kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 4th bedroom is a loft extension, single garage too small for modern car, fairly small garden, worth 750,000 Uk pds. Brisbane house worth 461,000 Uk pounds, at present exchange rate, large block, 4 bedrooms, open plan large kitchen, lounge and dining area, large extra living room, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, plus large covered outdoor area. Both equally happy where they live, on balance Brisbane son has a better lifestyle balance than Bristol son, Bristol son doesn’t have to pay for his commute to London.

We had all our Christmas decorations binned by customs, when we arrived, they didn’t like something so didn’t take any chances,

Sorry Marisa I know you weren’t suggesting that awful possibility, I was merely pointing out what sadly the government actually did in 2010? to all the students who had done everything right, had completed their studies living here and already paid for their visa applications, and , were now faced with the prospect of being sent home, through no fault of their own. That was cruel, but as we know governments don’t care.and can do what they like.

The parent visa has become almost unsustainable, and I agree cruel, , when the reality of the wait for the visa is revealed. The minute there is a rumour of new applications on hold or worse, there will be a stampede of panic applications. The acceptance of so many visa applications, should never have been allowed to get so out of control, but then think how much money the government is sitting on from the non refundable visa application fees!!!! Having had a family member on the receiving end of a retrospective visa change to the student visa, the emotional side of the reality of ‘how can a government do this’ led sadly to some suicides. In the case of the parent visa, the applicants are so much older, and should they have the hope of joining their families taken away from them, there could be some sad reactions and out comes. Just think it’s unforgivable that something wasn’t done when the panic for applying for the parent visa started in 2017? sparked by the concerns over visa changes.

As I posted before we are going through the assessment system, to stay in our home, as we had a wake up call when we both had a health problem at the same time. first a referral was sent to our Dr, and ACAT from the hospital. Nearly 3 months later, my husband had a very thorough ACAT assessment, report sent to GP. Assessed for level 1 care, we have applied to one of the companies who provide the care and package you are eligible for, but it might end up not financially worth taking the package on level one, we are waiting to hear when we can go on their list, and don’t knowhow long that might be, or if we still have to go to Centrelink as well. I’ll post when I know and understand more how the system works, as it all takes time . My husband is also eligible for a short package for home physio, and to have our house assessed for what future aids we might need to stay in our home, Not sure how long it will be before this happens. i have no idea if you don’t have PR/citizenship what help you are entitled to? As Although it was my husband’s assessment, the fact that I have a few health problems was relevant, so if any parent is needing help, but is actually living with their children, might not be eligible? Plus not sure if the 10 year Assurance of Support bond affects anything, as this didn’t apply on our visa. We are both fine luckily don’t need to do more for hopefully a long time, but it makes sense to find out exactly what you are eligible for, before you really need it.

It would be interesting to hear from any parents who have actually been eligible for a health care home package and made use of it. It’s not straight forward here. We have finally been assessed at level one, and not sure if it’s actually worth taking it, as we might actually be out of pocket. We also still have to be assessed by Centrelink You are allocated a certain amount this is to help you stay in your own home, for the package to decide how it’s spent on your care, from the lowest level 1 to maximum level 4. we have been assessed as needing house and garden help, plus physio and podiatry for my husband, on a slightly different short term help, and an assessment is included for an occupational therapist to see what aids are advised to be installed and waiting to hear what happens next. There is also home assist here on the Sunshine Coast again designed to help you stay in your home, and not climb ladders!!! you can get someone to change light bulbs, clean your gutters and solar panels, plus a few other basic home maintenance, all at minimal cost, not gardening, doubt much if anything available if the parent is living with family, I don’t know about the cost or conditions about going into care, or how it works, or how long you need to be PR before you qualify for any help at all if aren’t PR, or citizen eg on 804 visa, if you come on the parent route? It all needs investigation when considering moving here and income relevant

I should add that my husband has been retired for 16 years, plus we were living in Australia on a temporary retirement visa then, so rules claiming UK pensions for Australian residents might be different.

My husbands UK private pensions, are all index linked, and should he die before me, I still get a very generous amount until I die. I have my own state pension All our income comes from UK, we use tax agents who understand both UK and Australian tax, last year we paid all our tax in Australia, double taxation agreement. Other details are too personal to discuss on a public forum

RBA is not a bad airline, Brunei is a dry country and it’s a dry airline, you used to be able to take your own alcohol on board, but it was confiscated in Brunei, when flying from Australia, while in transit for onward UK flight, and same on return. Don’t know the recent rules on this. If you are visiting Brunei you can take a fairly generous alcohol allowance into the country. It’s an interesting country to visit, and the Empire Hotel is stunning, but there isn’t a lot to do there. It’s a very short flight to Kota Kinabalu Sabah,which has great hotels, not a dry country, you can see Orangutans in the wild, or visit Sandakan on the other side of the island visit the Sepilot orangutan Sanctuary, Weston Probiscus monkey river trip, or a magic overnight trip to Turtle Island. . Brunei and Sabah will take more than a couple of days to add onto your Sydney visit, so probably not a practical add on, but Borneo is a fascinating country to visit. It was home for me for 10 years. My godmother, who was a real character, took two small water bottles, that she had emptied and filled with vodka and gin with her, when she flew back to Scotland, this was years ago, and she had no problem taking them on board!!