jtct

..................and our shipment gets delivered tomorrow!!!! only took 12 weeks!!!!!!!

Have you asked Gollywobbler? (Gill) She's a mine of information and I'm sure would clear this up for you very quickly

Tuesday

Household belongings left the North East today with Pickfords heading for Brisbane, don't know whereabouts in Brisbane as my son has yet to find a rental for him or us.

Checked in on line today for my flights tomorrow with BA from Newcastle to Heathrow to Singapore to Cairns.

Packed the cases and ready to go.

 

David

Good luck on the next stage of this roller coaster ride!

Great news David - enjoy your new life in Oz, won't be long now.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Never a dull moment - and just when we thought the end was in sight.

Val x

:biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh:

Sorry, but you'll soon discover that there is usually something else which creeps up and surprises you

Well it's now official. Our CO sent us a withdrawal form which I completed and have just sent off :cry: it was sad to see our name no longer on the Tracker too :cry: but it had to be done.

 

The form was simple enough basically just name DOB and date for each applicant and once the CO has logged it and thankfully the sponsor does not have to do anything.............

 

I have some personal and family health issues going on ATM too and things with the business are up in the air with the economy :swoon: so we have decided to wait until after the New Year before we make any decisions on the future.

 

Thankyou all for your kind posts and messages they were very much appreciated :yes: and I will stay in touch with the forum in the meantime.

 

Once we make a decision you will all be the first to know :wink:

 

Phoebe

So sorry it came to this but hopefully things will seem clearer in the New Year. Our ups and downs seem so trivial now compared to what you are going through.

Thinking of you and sending lots of :hug::hug::hug:

So sorry things haven't gone according to plan Phoebe. I do hope things will be back on track again next year and you will be 'living the dream' It must be heartbreaking for you after getting so close.

I know today is probably a bad one but I pray things will get better for you soon - don't give up! I just wish some of our good luck could rub off on you. Sending massive hugs ((((()))))

Congratulations - I thought we were fast, arrived in Australia 14th June, completed house purchase 11th August, took delivery of our container and moved in 14th August! Hope it all goes smoothly for you. Gill

Our timings are very similar - 8 weeks for you and just over 7 weeks for us by the time our furniture is delivered!

Survey went OK today - exchange Monday and complete/move in on 18th November. Our shipment is due in Adelaide around 14th but I assume you add a few days more for customs clearance.

Good to hear that Fiz, we get ours on this coming Monday, also via John Mason.

 

Unlike JTCT (very brave people) we have a rental to start with, as we wanted more time to check out where we wanted to end up. One step at a time seems to be the way to go for us. :biggrin:

Not that brave really - we have been coming here for 5 years and had done loads of research. We are normally very cautious but with so much planning done in advance everything fell into place very quickly.

Look at properties on-line but do as many 'opens' as possible to see how accurate they are in their descriptions, get a 'feel' for the area by driving around as many roads as possible and check out neighbouring properties/traffic noise/nearness of shopping centres and public transport links (schools too if you have children) etc......

Brilliant.....enjoy living the dream :cool:

 

Phoebe

Buying a house here is so easy compared to the UK. We put in an offer saturday, it was accepted yesterday, signed contracts today and once survey is done (Thursday) and hopefully OK we pay the deposit next Monday and exchange formally. Could be in our beautiful new home by 18th November!!!!

We Tarrants don't hang about. We only arrived 2 weeks ago tomorrow. (But we had visited, researched and looked on-line at loads of houses since we started this whole Visa process)

After a frantic fortnight of packing up, parties, goodbyes, house and car selling, staying with friends and living out of a suitcase........:chatterbox: WE HAVE SET FOOT IN THE PROMISED LAND. We arrived yesterday on the 5th anniversary of my daughter's arrival and are happily settling into our new life in Adelaide.

Off to sort out Bank, Tax, Medicare, Seniors Card etc in the next few days and have already planned a few 'opens' for the weekend! The adventure has begun (shame we left 30 degrees and blue skies in Surrey and arrived to 16 and rain in Australia):biglaugh:

Can't believe we're finally here (probably never to return to the UK) and living the dream. Good luck to all on the journey, your time will soon come and 'g'day mate' to all those already here who have helped us along the way.:wink:

 

Worst case senario is.....if for some reason we can't get into Oz we can still use it for holidays etc :biggrin:

 

Phoebe

We don't plan on coming ack to the UK

Sure you'll make it OK - the Visa is easy compared to selling a property in the UK. The last few weeks have been the worst on this whole journey - just over 6 days to go now:biggrin: Adelaide here we come.

We paid our ASOS money into our daughter's account is we can't access our NAB account till we arrive (its earning good interest till then)

I seem to be behind your curve again Steve, I complete on a property this Friday so moved out £800k on thursday at £1.54 ready for the completion.

 

K&M

We've sent £200K at £1.54 and the rest will go (at the higher rate of around 1.58 we hope) soon so we can buy a newish property after we arrive. (Sadly no-where near £800K) but as we budgeted for 1.5 and can afford something a little better than we have here we're satisfied!

ONE WEEK TILL WE FLY OUT TO ADELAIDE!

living a nomadic life with friends and family till then.

Contracts exchanged just 2 hours after we waved goodbye to all our worldly goods on Wednesday (hope to be united with them by Christmas) After quite a hastle, managed to book flights leaving heathrow on 3rd October. Couldn't get a flight at Singapore Airlines for love nor money - could get to Singapore but nothing through to Adelaide for at least another three weeks

 

Finally got a good deal with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong with a 40k luggage allowance each. We will set foot on Aussie soil 5 years to the day that our family arrived - what an amazing coincidence!

 

We've moved out even though we don't complete till next Thursday but several friends have offered B&B till we leave. In the meantime we are in our son's little house while he's in Portugal playing golf. Shame I packed my internet power cable but at least I can scrounge a bit of time on various friends computers to keep up with all the news and pick up important emails.

Got all the remaining nights 'B&B sorted :SLEEP:and even managed to organise a ride to the airport from a good friend with a large car.:wubclub:

9 DAYS TO GO ............ (not that I have time to count):goofy: Lots of meals out and farewells still to do and the daily diary looks horrendous.:arghh:

That would be nice - need our completion to happen as shippers are booked for Wednesday - we could be semi-homeless and living out of a suitcase for a while but so nearly there now. Will confirm flights when the money is in our account but till then ..........:goofy:

Contracts exchanged just 2 hours after we waved goodbye to all our worldly goods on Wednesday (hope to be united with them by Christmas) After quite a hastle, managed to book flights leaving heathrow on 3rd October. Couldn't get a flight at Singapore Airlines for love nor money - could get to Singapore but nothing through to Adelaide for at least another three weeks

Finally got a good deal with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong with a 40k luggage allowance each. We will set foot on Aussie soil 5 years to the day that our family arrived - what an amazing coincidence!

We've moved out even though we don't complete till next Thursday but several friends have offered B&B till we leave. In the meantime we are in our son's little house while he's in Portugal playing golf. Shame I packed my internet power cable but at least I can scrounge a bit of time on various friends computers to keep up with all the news and pick up important emails.

Oh to have friends in high places :wideeyed:. Wish we could all 'tweet for intervention' with problems we have here :yes:

 

Phoebe

That would be nice - need our completion to happen as shippers are booked for Wednesday - we could be semi-homeless and living out of a suitcase for a while but so nearly there now. Will confirm flights when the money is in our account but till then ..........:goofy:

Hi again David.

 

If you want to use your preferred currency dealer I anticipate you may need to have the pension income remitted to your bank account first.

 

You might then simply set up a regular monthly standing order to transfer x GBPs to the currency firm.

 

Best regards.

That's what we're planning to do but maybe every 3 months instead of monthly

.................. and she did, at 5.00pm to say:cry:

wait for it..................:mad:

the person at the bottom of the chain is going into their solicitor at 6.00pm TOMORROW to sign the contract ready to exchange on MONDAY!!!!!!!:arghh:

They still want to complete at the end of next week so we're going to be busy packing suitcases and dropping the last few bit off at the charity shop so the packer can come next Wednesday as arranged.:chatterbox:

We are still here, waiting for the near extinct house buyer!!! :wideeyed:

Hope get a buyer soon - this is the worst part of the process I think. Getting the Visa was a doddle in comparison and far less stressful. I'm a nervous wreck today and just waiting by the phone for the solicitors to phone later.

We are due to exchange contracts today and they are hinting that all the others in the chain want a quick completion - ie as soon as ONE WEEK!!!!!!!!

This time tomorrow I should know what's happening but we've pencilled in the shippers for next week just in case. Thought we had another 6 weeks before panic set in again.

Lucky you - have a great flight ('fraid all we can manage is cattle class - still, what's 24 hours of discomfort when you have the rest of your life in a new country and family nearby)

Hi all, im now busy in preparing all my documents so I can apply for 143 before this month end(I hope) Im so thankful to all of you, its so encouraging and Im sure it will help me to go thru this journey with smile...will update you all after filing.

Good luck - it will be worth it in the end and this forum really helps to pass the time as well as being full of helpful advice!

Wear lots of layers including a thick coat (you can always fill the pockets too), pack your hand luggage tightly, take a large handbag and wear your heaviest shoes!

Safe journey and have a fabulous new life in Oz.

Can't believe how some people behave. They don't seem to realise what stress and anxiety they cause us! Getting the Visa was hard enough on the nerves but house selling is the pits!

Hope things improve for you soon (and everyone else waiting to sell before they go). We've had a real rollercoater ride too but crossing fingers that the promised exchange goes though as planned on 15th September.

We only signed for the minimum 6 weeks for sole agency - got the offer in 4!

Another well-known agent here regularly does 'open days' but they are a bit hit and miss on the houses near us who tried them. 1 had very few 'hits' the other had a stream of viewers and did get an offer but it fell through soon after and they are still waiting some 8 weeks later.