ChrisH1

Cairns High in the city is the largest of the high schools. It has a very well respected performing arts program. I don't know.about the beaches.

Public (as in a free state high school), or private (as in a fee paying school, I believe still called public school in the UK)?

Yes, I see your issue with having to present in ninety days to an AHPRA office. It would therefore be worth pursuing your visa first. Before absolutely committing to any one location (even though Cairns is a wonderful place to live), I suggest that you keep your options as open as possible by considering other acceptable locations to live and secure employment. Cairns has only two main hospitals - the Cairns Hospital (a public hospital run by Queensland Health), and the Cairns Private Hospital (owned by Ramsey Health). Whether you can get employment before you exhaust your savings will totally depend on whether there are positions available at whichever hospital you wish to work. You seem to imply that you only wish to work in paeds. There is one busy paediatric ward at Cairns Hospital with an interesting variety of work due to the tropical location and distance from the nearest tertiary hospital with paediatric facilities in Townsville (four and a half hours by road). We typically refer our very unwell paeds patients in ED to the paeds referral centres in Townsville or Brisbane via our on-site paeds team. I gather that it is common for the Cairns Hospital to initially recruit nursing staff on short term contracts, often into a casual or floating position. I would discuss this with them as early as possible, as you may find yourself obliged to work in adult patient care areas for at least some of the time. I would also strongly suggest that you discuss your education and experience with AHPRA as early as possible, to make sure that your paediatric education and experience to date does not require you to undertake further clinical placements to achieve RN registration. We do not have a special category for paeds only nurses (it's a long time since I worked in the UK, but such a category was present when I did) - you will be expected to be competent in all areas of nursing to achieve registration in Australia. Some hospitals around the country are willing to offer such experience to achieve registration, but then require you to work for them for a fixed term. Don't forget to factor indemnity insurance into your costs as well. There are various ways to arrange this. We are not nearly so litigation obsessed as the USA, but AHPRA requires you to have it. Hope this helps.

As an RN working in Cairns, I would suggest that it will be difficult to motivate the hospital to show any interest in pursuing your recruitment until you are registered with AHPRA. A crucial issue is whether you a RN/RM or only RM? I gather Cairns Hospital and Hinterland Health Service (CHHHS) are reluctant to employ RM only midwives as this limits role flexibility (what I have heard, not a declared position by CHHHS). I would also pursue registration first in case you have any areas of practice to make up - AHPRA will tell you.

Piriton is NOT Polaramine Polaramine is: dexchlorpheniramine See: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/20/smpc Piriton is: chlorphenamine

If it wet again tomorrow consider Jump Mania. Our children. Love it, and it leaves them exhausted: http://www.jumpmania.com.au/ Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

May I suggest that your problems appear to be four fold: Home sickness, Loneliness, potentially bordering on clinical depression, Dissatisfaction with your current location, and A feeling of entrapment and powerlessness, with your partners keenness to pursue citizenship, and the implications of residing permanently in Australia Having grown up in Gloucester from 2-11 years of age, and spent quite some time in the Cotswolds then and subsequently. And a year working on the GC in 2007, I feel that I can understand the dissonance that you are experiencing. Personally I found the GC a souless artificial place. So much more so if your reference is the Cotswolds, The Slaughters and Chipping Camden! In my opinion there are many better places than the GC, places with soul and community in Australia. But still they may not address what appears to be the key issue you portray, even in this very artificial environment of a forum, the air of being profoundly home sick. I do not think that any location change will overcome that. So I would suggest: Very in depth conversations with your partner about each of your desires and goals, Counselling with a psychologist regarding your current perceptions and whether clinical depression is present, and Some detailed self reflection on whether what you are missing is an idealized version of what your life was, or in fact you have lost the key essential features of a good life. I wish you the capacity to make a decision that offers you a peaceful, and enjoyable future. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

And blue skies, low 30s today. The forecast is low 20s at night, mid 30s during the day (usually achieved mid morning). Humidity is currently 80%. If mountain biking is any of your children's hobby, we have some of the best in the world, and sea fishing is apparently excellent. Outdoor games can be played all year round. It would be worth calling into some of the tourist information centres to see what is around.

Hi www.realestate.com.au and www.domain.com.au are the two biggest websites. Select type and size of property, then suburb(s) that you are interested in. The Cairns Post Saturday property feature is also useful. LJ Hooker have an office at the Edge Hill roundabout. They would be keen to arrange viewing of property. Ray White is another large real estate company covering Cairns. There are many local companies including: Joan Robb; Remax; Professionals (I think that they focus on the beaches); First National; etc. All of the real estate companies have their own websites which list the properties they have on offer. If you just want to see what is on the market, rather than appear particularly interested, open houses are advertised on www.realestate.com.au and in the Saturday edition of the Cairns Post. The system of selling property is different in Australia. You will only meet the vendor after the contract of sale is signed, and then only maybe. All viewings are conducted by the real estate agent. You will be required to give name, address and sometimes proof of ID to view, as the real estate agent generally stays at the entrance. Each suburb has better and less good sections, with some suburbs probably best avoided, as in all cities.

Some random thoughts. See:https://jointhedrive.qld.gov.au/ And various YouTube videos by Queensland Transport. Consider carefully any driving at dawn or dusk in kangaroo populated areas. They jump across the road at speed, and have no concept of vehicles. A kangaroo can write off a car and kill the occupants. Just because a beach in the tropics looks pristine and straight out of a magazine , does not mean that it is crocodile and/or shark free. It probably has crocs in the shallows. When turning left at a green traffic light with pedestraian crossing, the pedestrians have right of way if the green man is illuminated. If there is a turn left filter lane, it will be signposted that you can turn left as long as you give way, at any time. The emergency numbers are 000 (our version of 999), and either 000 or 112 from a mobile phone. Always check how far it is to the next petrol station. Most cars will do 450-70kms, but in some cases it may be >1200kms between the first and third. Undertaking is legal in large parts of Australia. Check local road rules via relevant websites before driving. If you break down never leave your vehicle. Always have emergency water if driving in rural waters. If driving during bush fire season, in bush fire prone areas, always check local fire conditions and listen to local ABC radio stations for fire reports: http://www.abc.net.au/news/emergency/

Do you anticipate that Tapatalk will still the the preferred app for accessing the forums, or would you suggest another strategy? Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

But if I remember correctly, on an iPhone, only if your phone is not locked (I certainly would not advocate leaving your phone unlocked). I have had considerable trouble trying to find the next of kin while we resuscitate a tourist or local on several occasions in ED. I am aware of only one app (and only available on Android) that permits the rescuer to access essential contacts on a locked smartphone, and then call using the victim's phone a preselected list of numbers: In Case of Emergency by appventive.com, also on Google Play. While not perfect, for example it does not permit linking images of medicine boxes. It would save so much angst of having unknown people in ICU, while their smartphone has the essential information locked away. Disclaimer: I have no association with any app developer or phone provider. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

20% of births in the Netherlands are at home, 0.4% in Australia (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4399594/#!po=5.69620). Same neonatal survival figures in Australia and the Netherlands (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.NMRT). For every anecdotal report of adverse outcome during home birth, there is at least one similar in hospital report. I am not advocating home birth as a practice (all three of my children were born in hospital, and had obstetric emergencies). But I would suggest not getting too carried away with the interested parties rhetoric proposing a single system over all others, without looking a little more closely at why such a system developed. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

Compared to the NHS, birthing is much more medicalized in Australia than the UK. Australia has some of the highest Caesarean section rates in the world. Midwives are still actively involved in "routine" deliveries in Australia. Obstetricians have successfully lobbied to essentially outlaw home births in Australia. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

Avoid any suburb beginning with M: Manunda, Mooroobool, etc. Also Woree, Edmonton. Many rumours abound about the quality of the ex-agricultural land around Cairns, especially in Gordonvale. Some suggest having the land tested due to heavy pesticide use in the past when it was cane farming land. I would suggest talking to some of the local real estate agents. By email.would be a good way to start. The best property and land never gets to realestate.com.au. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

Going west would mean inland, cooler, options for more land in a more temperate climate, but travelling either up the Kuranda Range or the Gillies Highway. Kuranda is lovely, as is the southern end at the Gillies. I would strongly suggest several days exploring around here. The hills around Cairns create a peculiar microclimate. In Cairns a very low winters temperature is 14C, but I have friends who own land in Gordonvale who even sometimes have frost! You are very unlikely to get an acre (4000m2) at the beaches, unless you have a large amount of money, or want to live on a very steep block, and excavate a platform to build. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

As someone who lives in Cairns, by 10-15 minutes, do you mean from the middle (Central Business District), or the edge? If the edge of Cairns, do you mean the beaches (north) rural (south) or Atherton Tablelands (west). And how much do you want to spend? Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

Despite the hammering from successive governments, the ABC remains the most objective news source in Australia. BUT it has nowhere near the funding (especially because of right wing government reduction in funds) of the BBC and that is reflected in the speed of their ability to respond to breaking stories. That being said it is still better than most. You will find however a much less interrogative approach to political enquiry than the BBC. Almost sycophantic at times. There are several reasons for this, which are probably beyond the scope of this discussion. Most of the commercial news media lean to the right, with a marked tabloid format, ie. Daily Mail and worse. The Australian newspaper is markedly right of centre, also. The Fairfax press, ie. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald are slightly left of centre, but certainly not left wing compared to world print media. They balance The Australian to some degree. Overall international coverage by all outlets in Australia is poor compared to the BBC and ITV. I personally read ABC news website, BBC News website for international news, and The Guardian Australia plus UK websites. I listen to Radio National, ABC News Radio, and BBC Radio 4 / BBC World Service online. I don't bother with televised news programs generally. I would be the first to admit that I am very left of centre in my politics, in a country that generally leans to the markedly to the right, and in my opinion is charging further right at pace. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

I lived in Burleigh Heads in 2007. It is indeed a lovely area. Quite different from many of the other GC suburbs. However, the actual area of Burleigh Heads is very small, and commands high property prices (for a good reason). The surrounding suburbs are not similar to Burleigh Heads, even those that abut The Heads, such as Burleigh Waters. If you like the cafe lifestyle, the uniqueness of the area, have the capital, and you actually like the Gold Coast, Burleigh Heads is probably the best suburb to live on the Gold Coast in my opinion. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

If you have the stamina, I suggest you consider approaching a builder to offer an estimation of cost for the property to be completed "for sale", or "for rent" if you are interested in keeping it. This could be very different from the cost of your forever house. You may well find that paying a builder a couple of hundred dollars would reap many 10s to 100s of thousands in the long term, with a moderate investment by you. Alternatively, all property has a price, it depends whether the vendor accepts it! Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

All the previous responses offer excellent insight into how to cope with this terrible situation. May I offer some further advice for your more immediate protection. This is based on over thirty years working in emergency and critical care. You may see it as overkill, I see it as the work I know I will be doing when I work the Australia Day shifts Thursday-Sunday this week. Domestic Violence almost always escalates. You need a Domestic Violence Safety Plan now. There are several very good websites that explain how to establish one. See: https://www.1800respect.org.au/get-help/staying-safe-understanding-safety-planning/ as an example of how to develop one, or Google Domestic Violence Safety Plan from a secure computer. Briefly you need: a practiced method of rapid egress from your current home and place of work to a secure short term, safe location; you need a a "go bag" with clothing, toiletries, personal hygiene products, an amount of cash or an active ATM card to an account that your partner cannot secure (financial control is power), and consider a charged pay-as-you-go mobile phone with charger. These must not be stored at your accommodation, but rather at a secure 24 hour accessible location. You need secure communication access. Make sure you have a secure smartphone, email address and internet access. Does your partner have access to this account? Does he know you contribute to this discussion forum? Is this likely to trigger him into another level of violent action? If there is someone with whom you communicate for support consider doing this with a secure messaging service via a secure smartphone, but keep the notifications quiet (private notifications that he becomes aware of are only likely to increase his level of suspicion and risks triggering escalation). Services such as Telegram, Wickr, etc offer this. Make sure you have access via the go-bag smartphone or from a public PC. If safe to do so. Put your smartphone on voice record during episode of DV for evidence. Secure these recordings at another location as soon as possible. If you have current employment consider discussing this with your supervisor if the work culture is supportive of DV victims. Your work performance is likely to suffer, temporarily. Your employer may even have DV leave (Queensland Health does) of this becomes necessary. If the work culture is likely to be punitive come up with a legitimate excuse for going missing at no notice now, should it become necessary. If the DV becomes physical calling the police is only likely to get you a lights and sirens response if a weapon is involved (certainly in Queensland). Consider the risk and rescue implications of this. I have known some DV victims call 000 for a fire service response, stating fire or smell of smoke. This will get you 2-4 people with lights and sirens. But I cannot advocate this as a stratgey. Not unreasonably the fire service are not enamoured of this being a reason to be called. But... Ambulance will always respond, but if a violent person is suspected to be present they will call police to respond before they attend. If you need emergency care go to an Emergency Department. If it is likely that you are being pursued tell them at triage that the assailant is in pursuit, and tell them that you need immediate protection. ALWAYS report DV to police, both as a crime and as evidence for court, get the police report number. While police and Emergency Departments are getting much better these days, regrettably at times both lack compassion and ability to offer all of the assistance a DV victim may need. Use them for what they can offer, and weather the frustrations placed in your way. The access to social workers in ED varies widely. Some like the one I work in have about 10 hours a day, seven days a week. It is not uncommon not to have any SW support in some states. If you think that your partner is acutely mentally ill you can call police or ambulance for emergency mental health evaluation. If there is an mmediate risk.to self or others they are empowered to take him to an ED for evaluation - it is often not pretty. If you think he is resistant to mental health care, yet needs help each state has a local option of a judicial examination order. Thís is usually a seven day response time by an acute mental health practitioner. Talk to your legal counsel about the legal ramifications of leaving your joint accomodation voluntarily. The most common causes for male on female DV are: financial distress (gambling, loss of work, poor financial management, etc); drug use (including marijuana); and extramarital affairs. They are often heralded by either or both partners having observed DV in their parents relationship. Regrettably there is evidence that people "choose" partners likely to replicate either perpetrator or victim if that is their experience or observation. If this is you or your partner, being aware of this could assist in your recovery and future relationships. You should expect a 3-5 year recovery period from relationship dissolution. Hope some of this helps, and good luck. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

Just to clarify GeoffL. A Medical Centre is not government run or owned facility. They are essentially a private business who contract their services to the patient, in turn the federal government agrees to pay all (bulk billing) or part (the gap) of the health care cost IF the person has a Medicare card. The medical centre may offer other services, e.g. imaging (x-rays, etc), allied health, and even complimentary health services (naturopathy, etc). But it is still a private health marketing business. The reciprocal rights agreement ONLY gives you access to free emergent care, with the proviso I mentioned earlier, AT A PUBLIC ED. If a UK patient attends a public ED with suspected DVT. The ED component is free. If they require ongoing medication such as a LMWH and warfarin or NOAC they pay retail pharmacy noncompensible costs, ie. no PBS relief. Hope this clears up the minefield of Australian health care billing a little. Also beware of of ambulance costs. I gather billing for this changes by state. You could be out of pocket a lot of money if you or a concerned bystander for example call 000 on your behalf, and a helicopter responds, you could be approaching entering a 5 figure bill. All I can do is strongly advise that your health care covers all of these possibilities. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

I treat patients from the UK who are holidaying in Australia without Medicare cards every week in a public ED. They are not required to pay. This does not hold however if they have stayed somewhere else on there way to Australia. See: https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/reciprocal-health-care-agreements People migrating from the UK to Australia, do however have different rights of access to health care and responsibilities to declare their status in Australia. As an aside, I gather sexual health treatment in Queensland Health is free irrespective of your nationality or Visa status. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

Cairns is indeed tropical, as is Darwin. But the climate is not as oppressive in my opinion. Whether Cairns would suit you would depend very much on what you are looking good for. If you want a temperate 4 season climate, with cold, Cairns is not it. However, if you are looking for a tropical climate which on a winter (dry season) morning can be as low as 16C (although frost in Gordonvale is not unknown) rising to mid 20s by 9am, with summer being 24C - 35C with the associated humidity of the tropics then Cairns climate is for you you. I like the regional feel of Cairns. The resources are more than enough for us, the surrounding environment is spectacular. There is a strong local stable population and good schools. But being very regional, it does not have the arts culture of locations such as Melbourne or Sydney. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

I would suggest that reduced finacial stability, and an obligation to work more, with lower quality accommodation are absolutely NOT reasons to move half way around the world. Alternatives could be to explore expanding local friendship groups and acquiring the social needed to do that, reviewing what social connections you desire as a family, or even relocating in the UK. Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk