MicheleW

Enjoy your flight, I am at Changi airport now, flown in from Jakarta and just waiting for my flight to Brisbane.

Are you flying Qantas by any chance? I am on a flight out of Singapore on Thursday night, arriving 0630 Friday morning in Brisbane

We bought a wifi dongle type thing that allows up to 5 devices to be connected at the same time. They don't connect via USB so can be used with phones, iPads and laptops. It meant that we didn't need a data plan for each of our different gadgets which has been great. We picked ours up in Telstra, but I believe Optus has some great options as well though their coverage can be a bit dodgy around certain areas of the Sunshine Coast. It will probably set you back around $100-$120, but that is with data covered for the first few months.

Just a warning, this can make you stack on the weight big time. My partner was given this while in hospital as she couldn't eat and piled on the weight. I was also given this recently and advised to try and get back on solids sooner rather than later due to potential weight gain.

You could also try this website, they have some decent looking deals. There are a few places around Newstead available which look good, it has great public transport links but just one thing to note is that there is a fair amount of construction going on in Longland Street (I work around there) so have that in mind if you do find something in that area. http://www.rent-a-home.com.au Good luck.

I have but maybe it's a south of the river thing, particularly around the Logan/Shailer Park areas??? Though strictly speaking Logan is a city and therefore isn't part of Brisbane.

It all sounds pretty safe to me, he only told you about being a fighter and didn't touch you in any way, lol

Sorry to hear about your problems with the luggage. It doesn't actually surprise me as in my experience SA has some of the worst customer service for women around. I have to fly with them every 3 weeks for work and I watch them fawn over men, tending to their every need while often ignoring requests from female passengers, particularly single travellers.

I would recommend looking at alternative insurers other than the one offered by the shipping company. We used Insure Your Move and they were a fraction of the cost of what the shipper was offering. No problems at all when we had a claim either, very professional.

I would go the swag option but the American wife can be a bit precious, I have done well to get her in a tent!

Glad you made it back safe AKA. Ellis Beach is a great place for camping, we just love it there.

Beach for a pure relaxation holiday and outback for an adventure holiday. Either way it has to be camping, nothing better then pitching the tent and just being at one with nature. And no AKA, that does not mean we go all natural!!!

If the tv is valued over $1000 you may be liable for import duty (someone please correct me if I am wrong), plus insurance and shipping costs may mean that you could actually buy a brand new tv here in Australia for less. We have going electronics a lot cheaper here and we pickled up a 40 inch 3d led for $600, and for a few hundred more we could have gone up to a 50inch.

Have you tried http://www.wotif.com.au or http://www.needitnow.com.au for a cheap deal?

Totally normal and acceptable for a FIFO worker and a great financial benefit to you.

That would make it a fraudulent application and is not at all recommended. If, and when your omission is found out your visa would be cancelled anyway.

I would recommend that you have a look at http://www.ahri.com.au and see if there are perhaps some online or short courses that you can do to update your knowledge with Australian laws. I have worked in the HR arena in both the UK and Australia and while the standards of HR apply in both countries employment law, h&s and even training regulations can be very different. This could have been what Hays were referring to when they mentioned local experience. Good luck.

Check out the cancer council website, they have an online shop which should give you a good idea of some recommended products.

A 2bed flat, if you are lucky, in many areas of London. Our rent used to be £1200 a month in zone 3-4.

They do have a habit of doing that, they are pretty harmless though.

I would agree. They are beautiful spiders with amazing webs.

Check out the motels around Hamilton/Ascot on Kingsford Smith Drive or Nudgee Road. Most of them will have a shuttle and they may pick you up that late and drop you back at the airport the next morning. Good luck

There is a chance that http://www.greensharecar.com.au or something similar will be available soon after you arrive, so keep an eye out for that. As for doing without a car in Australia it can definitely be done, I lived in Brisbane a number of years ago without a car, and that was when public transport was not particularly great.

Absolutely agree. We have a swimming pool, but we also have solar so that offsets the cost of the filter 100%, in addition to reducing our overall electric bill in the house. There is also only the two of us, no children or pets so that definitely keeps our costs down. I am also travelling a lot for work at the moment and so I am only home 2 weeks out of 5, with all my food covered while I am away, so our food bills at the moment are only around the $200-$300 a month mark. The figure I stated previously of $400-$500 a month for food is when we are both at home. We do eat out but usually only on a spreets deal or with coupons from the entertainment book, as for us it is a great cheap way to explore the many restaurants that Brisbane has to offer. On average a meal out for the 2 of us would be around $30. More than 60% of our outgoings are our mortgage, but we still manage to save a fair amount each month on 1 income. If we had wanted to we could have bought a smaller house and therefore reduced our mortgage, but we chose to buy a 3 bedroom plus study with 2 living areas as we have friends and family staying a lot. With no children we didn't have to worry about school catchment areas either so this allowed us to live in an area that perhaps wasn't in such high demand for families, but we fortunate that we are walking distance to great shopping and transport links in Chermside. Having a good bus service nearby also means that we don't actually drive that much and our petrol costs can be as little as $40 a month for a 4wd, offset by bus fares of $160 a month. As mrs keily says, it all depends on your lifestyle.

Our outgoings are pretty similar but with no car finance and we spend about $400- $500 a month on food etc.