Stovies

Wow! That was some wait! Congratulations! Also, good choice of State! I am always amazed at how much housing costs in other States. We have always had lovely, big quality houses with land in (Outer) Adelaide for really good prices and it is such a lovely, peaceful lifestyle here too. Best of luck with everything!

Fantastic, isn't it? How did he sleep last night? Our one slept like a log on the floor in our bedroom, snoring like a trooper. Woke us up at 7.30am with the cold wet nose in the face and then the four paws in my stomach as she leapt on to the bed. Bella's back! :biggrin:

Hi, don't worry, she'll be well looked after and be fine! The photo above was taken about an hour after she was delivered here and she was bright eyed and bushy tailed and raring to go! It is a worry though and it is good to get it over but we were upset when we left her as she ran off to play with a ball with one of the kennel guys.... completely oblivious to the tragedy of the situation lol! She was played with, cuddled and walked daily. I would imagine she would be a bit confused as to where we all were but I seriously don't think she suffered as much as we did! Our dog is now 2 years and 4 months. Yes Ponte Pom, she is a definate people magnet when we are out and about!

Thank you, she is beautiful and has a beautiful nature too!

Our beautiful dog came home from being in kennels in Scotland then quarantine in Melbourne and then flew into Adelaide this morning :biggrin:. We used Pet Travel Services in Dunfermline, Scotland who were excellent. She is in great condition and is settling back in well (Ping Pom dog) , had a good sniff about the place and is now fast asleep on the couch. We haven't seen her since we left at the end of July so are absolutely delighted that she is back with us now and we can all finally settle down!

The first flat I bought was in Edinburgh .. for £10,500. It is now worth over £200,000 lol! Wish I'd hung on to it! I love Lanarkshire and considered moving there but thought it was just that wee bit too far from my family. How ironic as we rarely saw them when we moved right next to them ha ha. Yes, I have a completely different perspective of living here in Aus now.

We lived in North Berwick before we came over the first time in 1999 then went back to live near Linlithgow near West Lothian where most of my family seemed to have drifted to. We lived in beautiful spot in the country and still have that house. Whereabouts are you?

Neither did I ... at the time! Just shows you how your mind can play tricks on you.

I had terrible homesickness for 12 years ..... and then I went back for 16 months. I am now cured. Scotland was nothing really like I remembered and pined for, neither was family. I am so delighted at being back in Aus and soooo grateful we were able to afford to come back. I LOVE it here now.

Our big, stupidly overly attached dog gets delivered back to us tomorrow! We last saw her at the end of July and sooooo can't wait to see her again!!! Just to say that she is a ping pong dog and has travelled from Aus to Scotland and then from Scotland back to Aus ... and survived well. The reports we have had from quarantine have been really good and apparently, she is a favourite! When she arrived in Scotland, she was her usually bustling, busy and loving self. As I said, cannot wait until she arrives back with us tomorrow. Good luck with your move.

Thanks :biggrin:!

Hi Wellieboots, She was made a citizen at the same time my husband and I were made citizens (after being permanent residents in Aus for the required 2 years and attending the Citizenship Ceremony) .... is that naturalisation?

Thank you very much for this information. It is a great help towards getting the ball rolling. I didn't have a clue where to start.. it seemed so much easier when we applied to come over in 1998!

Hi, I wonder if anyone could point us in the right direction of the best way to do this? My 26 year old daughter is currently living in the UK, and as I say in the thread title, she has an Australian passport. She is engaged to a Frenchman and they have a 3 year old son together. They plan to get married before moving to Australia. What Visa would my daughter's partner and her son have to apply for? They are hoping to move over in 2014. Thanks for any information anyone can give.

We had our container delivered on Tuesday and are absolutely delighted with the service received from both White and Company (Dunfermline, Scotland) and Kent Removals (Adelaide). The Kent Removal guys were an absolute pleasure! Friendly, helpful and super efficient. When we were unpacking the boxes we were amazed at how well packed everything was by White and Co. Even our plastic sodastream bottles had been double wrapped in special paper. Not one thing had been damaged. Everything was just as it was when we last seen it. We were amused to find a half used toilet roll wrapped up in tissue paper too! All in all, we cannot fault either of the Companies we used and we are super delighted to have our things back in one piece. It was a long wait but it was sooooo worth bringing everything :biggrin:. Now just excitedly waiting for a week tomorrow when our beautiful dog gets delivered back to us!:biggrin: We have missed her soooooooo much.

Hi Emma, Our container arrived in Adelaide on 23rd September and was delivered to our home on 9 October. I hear you re missing your bed! It is so fantastic having all our stuff back at last! We have unpacked most of our boxes now .... it was like Christmas ... :biggrin:

I didn't tip my packers. They had plenty of goodies to eat and drink during the course of the two days and anyway, I think tipping is an unnecessary piece of nonsense. (IMHO :wink:)

Oooooh ouch! That's terrible! Our container, packed by the same company, arrives early next week........ I will report in again then. I remember, at the end of the packer's second day, having to remind them to pack the mugs, etc, they had been using otherwise, I think they would have just left them. I did feel very happy with their service and professionalism the days they were packing though. Mind you, I wasn't about some of the time and didn't see how things were being packed. Time will tell I suppose.

I knew I should have taken things out of their packaging but after reading somewhere (on here?) that as long as it was for personal use and due to the fact I was exhausted mentally and physically in the days leading up to the packers coming, I left some items as originally packaged. I did declare them on the Quarantine form but obviously that doesn't stop the extra tax charges. It could have been worse, I suppose, at least the container didn't sink to the bottom of the ocean ..... I know I was insured but I was really worried about all my personal photos etc and the children's special things :smile:. I am annoyed at the extra unexpected expenses but am very happy to just get our stuff back. Mind you, I would like an audience with those 3 rogue pine cones .... how the heck did they slip through the net?

Just as a little warning to any of you who are still in the process of thinking about what to put in your container from UK to Aus. I have just had to pay an extra $210 in tax because I had a few new items in my container that I did not take out of the packaging ie cutlery, linen and some dishes. I was, foolishly, under the impression that if they were just for personal use then there would be no extra charge to pay. Then, just now, I had a phone call to tell me that I will have to pay another $120 to Quarantine as they found 3 pine cones in amongst my Christmas decorations (sooo kicking myself over that one as I went through it all carefully, or so I thought). The $120 is for destruction, I could have paid over $400 to have them fumigated :wink:. However, I will have my container delivered early next week and we are all so ready for it! Cannot wait to have all our furniture and things back :biggrin:!

Try Listerine mouth wash. Put some in a spray bottle and spray all over, works for us most of the time. The mozzies are out in force here in SA after all the winter rain and I heard there have been a few cases of Ross River Fever here too so I'm going to stock up on Listerine and get a couple of zappers and citronella coils and candles. ETA: I'm also going to try this recipe (it's from an old camping magazine) - INSECT & MIDGEE SPRAY 1/3 cup dettol 1/3 white vinegar 1/3 baby oil Mix all together shake well and use in a spray bottle

I had to say goodbye to my 4 year old grandson. I had spoken to him on various occasions before we actually left, explaining that Granma and Pops were going back to live in Australia. On the day before I left, I said my goodbye to him, fighting back the tears, telling him how much I loved him and that I will be in touch with him soon etc etc etc.... he turned to my daughter (his mum) and said, with mass confusion written all over his face, 'Mum..... where am I going?' He thought he was being sent off somewhere! Anyway, I think my point is, I think at 4 years old, they seem to just take things in their stride.... it will be you who feels it more. It's not easy and I hope it goes well for you.

A bit aggressive! I merely voiced my opinion that this thread was causing panic amongst members. I certainly do not appreciate being spoken down to in this way.

In my opinion, this thread is extremely damaging as it has caused mass fear amongst those of us who are awaiting arrival of our containers and for those of us who have recently booked international removalists. The company should be named. Our things are due to arrive in about 4 weeks time through White and Company and now I am fearful as to the condition things will arrive in. You surely just can't post a terrible experience like this without letting everyone know which company caused the problem?

Definately get the UK passports for the children before you enter the UK. Makes life a lot easier. If they arrive on their Aus passports they will be treated as visitors and there will be restrictions to their time allowed in the UK. I got all my Aussie born children's UK passports organised before we left Aus and was grateful I did as I was asked for them for so many things ie registering with a doctor, claiming Child Benefit etc etc.