PDC

Halifax forced us to take a mortgage at a higher interest rate, and charged GBP1500 for the pleasure. Also, if you call Halifax and enquire about Consent to Lease, and then do not get back to them with an answer, they will assume that you are proceeding anyway and send you a letter around 6 weeks later asking you to confirm that you will be renting the house. It hasn't been an easy ride for us as the rent is less than the mortgage payments now, but we have another 18 months to go before we have to make a decision as to what to do next.

I agree with Pixie10 and mumoffour, we've only been here a term, but my kids (Kindy and Y2) have had opportunities that they would never have been presented with, or had the confidence to take, in the UK. They have settled in, been stretched academically, tried a huge variety of sports, taken part in a musical etc - and I have never once been concerned about them lagging behind relatives or friends in the UK. In fact, we are contemplating my son repeating Kindy as he is the youngest in his class by far, and while he had almost completed his Reception year in the UK, he is being pushed a lot harder (in a nice way) here, and more is expected of him. Kindy really does seem to give them a great foundation for learning - much more than the 'children-led' environment that he came from. I'm university-educated and certainly want my children to be the best that they can be (note I said that they can be, not the best that I think they should be), but I'm thrilled they are in an environment where their 'whole' education is being looked at. They are both more confident and out-going, can't wait to get to school each day, have been given more responsibilities and are less-wrapped up in cotton-wool than they were in their UK school. I understand that it is all very dependent on where you are, but our experiences have been really positive so far.

Thanks Dan - very helpful. I guess as sadly we won't have a massive deposit towards a house, anything that I can do to keep a nice, clear record would seem to be beneficial. I'll try to hold out becoming a director until we've got a few more pennies for a deposit and taken a step towards looking at our mortgage options.

The company I work for in Australia would like me to become a director as they need a signatory based in the country. I know that I would be liable should anything go wrong with the company, which I'm sure it won't. However, my husband and I would probably be looking to apply for a mortgage in a year or so, and wondered if being a company director would be a hinderance? Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

We used Letton Percival. Great costs and we had to make a claim after the removal company broke a bunk bed while trying to assemble it. Brian at LP was brilliant, and they reimbursed us for the replacement bed within 48 hours. Great service - highly recommended!

In my opinion it can be tough. We had our daughter here 7 1/2 years ago, after living here for a couple of years as a couple. My husband is Australian, so we do have a family here, although no day-to-day support, but I had no idea how much I would miss my own family once I had kids. I had taken for granted that my parents would play a role with my children, and felt sad and guilty many times that they weren't there to hold their granddaughter. I cried phoning to tell them she was crawling/ walking/ talking, and missed their advice when she wouldn't sleep/ settle/ eat. When she was 18 months old we moved back to the UK so they could be a part of her life. We went on to have another baby, and I enjoyed seeing the relationship develop. However, with the kids a bit older, and a good job offer, we're now back in Oz. My parents were gutted that we chose to come back, but do realise that the children have family here too. We Skype them which really helps as the kids can show them things that they've made, and their new school uniforms etc. I should point out that my kids are the only grandchildren, so it probably makes it even tougher for my parents. We thought long and hard about coming back, and the pros and cons of moving away from them, but I hope that the relationship they have now endures. I think Australia can be a great place for children, and if you have a good network of friends around you, then the kids will not miss out on being so far from other members of the family - it just takes a little work.

When I applied for a De Facto visa in Australia, my other half and I had been living together for just 12 months, and had been together 18 months. However, I was also away for 3 months of that, and simply proved that we were in contact the whole time - emails, letters etc - which satisfied them. You seem to have more evidence of a 'joint' lifestyle than we did. We did have a joint savings account, but not much else. He was also working as a casual chef, but the lack of big bucks didn't put them off. What we did have though, was a genuine case - his parents wrote stat decs etc, there were family and friends that could vouch for us, we showed photographic evidence of us at family events (weddings, Christmas etc). We applied in person, ourselves (not via an agent) in Australia, and were interviewed on the spot - just questions about our relationship that we could both answer easily (did other people live in the house we rented in London etc? Did we have pets? Hobbies etc), and I was issued the visa on the spot. That was 9 years ago - we have gone on to have two kids, and did eventually get married - and are settled back in Oz (after a spell in the UK). If you have any questions, PM me as I was just looking at our application the other day so was reminded of what a slog it was to prove each point!

We shipped both. We couldn't find the bolts so my husband just made do with some general ones he found. Our stuff only arrived last week but both washing machine and dryer seem fine.

I think it was collected on around 18 April and shipped almost straight away. It arrived in Sydney on 17 June and will be with us tomorrow. You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed tomorrow night.....although it may take some time to sort through the 147 packages for the duvets and sheets.

We used John Mason who were great. Our furniture will be delivered tomorrow (and not a day too soon - living out of a suitcase and sleeping on an airbed lost its appeal very quickly!) so can update then if all has arrived in one piece! We used a full 20ft container, and it's onyl taken 9 days from arrival at Sydney port to delivery, which is much quicker than I expected. I thought it would be stuck in quaratine for ages etc.

Well, I'll give the packers credit, they got everything in the container with not an inch to spare. Fingers crossed it arrives roughly when we anticipate. 2 1/2 weeks until we fly.....officially excited/ having doubts/ energised by the changes ahead/ cr**ing myself/ exhausted/ stressed/ wanting to go/ not wanting to deal with the goodbyes ahead.....

Same for us - we fly on 19th May, but I have to work in HK for a few days on the way through. Our stuff was collected earlier this week so it's suitcase living for us for the next couple of weeks. I'm somewhere between ecstatic and paralysed with fear. Argh! Good luck!

We've used John Mason. The three packers have been excellent, and we are just waiting for the container to arrive, and then fingers crossed we will see our stuff at the end of June/ beginning of July. The kids have now officially gone completely mental so I'm going to see if John Mason will pack them as well - couple of bags of crisps should see them through to Sydney!

I don't know whether I'm excited or now just panicking, but I'm just glad that the cleaning and disinfecting are all over. I'll be even happier tomorrow if it all fits in the container! Reality is now hitting that we are going to be leaving in four weeks. The thought of the 'goodbyes' fills me with dread. Just wish we could somehow sneak away...

I use the Cancer Council creams - not sure what they contain (I'm not really one for caring about it all!), but they rubbed in and didn't irritate the kids or my skin. Pretty cheap too, and money goes back into cancer research.

Have done the trip four times on Royal Brunei. We use them because we could break the journey with small kids - we always knew there was an end in sight. Not drinking didn't bother me with the little ones, and the staff were great. As someone else said, planes a bit tired, and the inflight entertainment not the greatest, but for the saving, all good.

Good luck to you! We leave in 5 weeks and even though we've lived there before, and my other half is an Aussie, I'm still somewhere between ecstatic and wetting myself! It will never be an easy decision, but I think for your family, it's the right one.

I wouldn't worry about the reference side of things - your boss is legally obliged to give you a reference, even if it's simply to confirm the dates that you worked at the company. He cannot blackmail you into staying by refusing to give a reference to a future employer. Can't help with whether to move or not - what are your work options in Australia? Personally I would prefer to keep the family in one place and together. Your husband sounds like he has landed on his feet in Australia and if you have the funds between you to support you while you settle, I think go for it.

Thanks everything. One less thing off my mind - and won't bother too much with my son's toy wooden castle either.

Good luck. 7 weeks until we fly and no sign of the cleaning, packing or re-decorating (we're renting our house) fairies yet. Send them this way if they get to you.

Sounds like a silly question, but do we need to varnish or treat the wooden bed slats? All four of our beds have wooden slats, and they don't look like they have any kind of varnish or finish on them -just pine or whatever. I don't particularly want them all to be incinerated on arrival, but with the shippers coming in three weeks, need to move fast if they all need to be varnished (with all the cleaning and disinfecting of other stuff I need to do)!

It's a Chef Plus Stove - just a two burner, with grill and stand. I think it runs off R907 bottles. It wasn't hugely expensive, but we'd just rather bring everything that we can use as my company is paying for the container. Saying that, there's no point if it's useless!

We are shipping most of our camping stuff to Australia next month. We have a Campingaz stove that we'd like to bring, but we can't ship the gas bottles. Does anyone know if Campingaz bottles are readily available in Oz? If they are hard to come by, we'll leave the stove and get a new one when we arrive - but we'd rather not if we don't have to. Thanks.

It's been great reading these, as like you, we have a 7 1/2 year old daughter who feels the same. Many tears about leaving the lovely group of friends she has and going to a new school. However, just this week her primary did a morning's exchange with another in our area - 10 kids swapped over for a few lessons and lunch - and my daughter's teacher chose her as she knew she would soon be changing schools. She was very nervous to start (mainly as we were a little late - my fault!) but when I went to pick her up she had just had the best time. It has completely reassured her that changing school is not something to be scared of, and that the kids will want to be her friends. It's given me some comfort as well, seeing how well they can adapt within a few hours. Again, there are lots of cuddles at the moment. We've set up an email address just for her so she knows she can write to her friends instantly, and she knows we can Skype them. She seems much more settled about the idea, and we focus on what we are going to, and not what we are leaving behind. It is easier for us as we do have my husband's family there, and she was born there, but I think it is a case of looking forward all the time - rather than behind. I'll deal with the broken hearts in time. I should point out, that to ease all of the sadness at leaving family and friends, we have also promised her a DS (she's been asking for 2 years!) - anything to get her on the plane!!

Yes, the exchange rate works well for us - we need to send some money home every month so we get a good rate, and we have very little savings to take to Oz so we don't lose out too much! We're heading to Sydney, probably Central Coast. I'll be working in the north suburbs of the city. My husband's an Aussie and we've been here 6 years now, so time to take the kids back for an adventure. Not sure how long we'll be there, we never like saying 'forever' but we think it's a good time for us to move, and a good time for the kids to experience Australia while they are still primary age. We're off mid-May - it did feel like an age away but it's creeping up very quickly. What about you?