Nohea

Thank you for the replies ​Funnily enough it was roughly 30 years ago that I first visited Australia, and made my mind up I would move there one day, so it sounds perfect if thats the case. I really like the fact its all abit backward, we found it all abit dated and backward when we did the major states on our reccie last year, I think thats a real draw for me, although maybe not for our children when they get to teenage years, who knows! I was after more recent info from families who live there really, i've done searches but all the posts are a few years old, we have been in contact with one family with 3 children who have been there for 4 years and say they love it, but would be nice to hear from others to get their advice on things also, maybe it might be best to wait until we arrive to get more recent information on things, I'm thinking maybe once people are settled, happy and have a life, they don't have time and have better things to do than visiting expats forums and answering my monotonous questions

Hi any current information on Townsville would be great, places to avoid, places to go etc. i am currently looking for a holiday rental for 2 weeks and struggling to find anything i like the look of thats child friendly, any recommendations would be good. We are a family with young children initially heading to Townsville, not sure how long for, we will see how we get on, if its not for us we will move elsewhere. My husband and children are all looking forward to the move, i've got a few reservations, not sure why and maybe its all normal, we have no family to leave behind in england so that parts easy, i'm worried about education as my two boys go to a really good school in the uk, we live in a really nice town in the uk and have said if it doesn't work out we can always come back, looking forward to the adventure ahead although quite nervous and wondering where we'll eventually end up. Would be nice to speak to other families living in Townville and to hear your experiences. ​Tia :smile:

The cost is calculated from where you are going from/to so every quote will obviously be different, Anglo pacific have been our cheapest quote so far, but have no idea if others have found any other companies cheaper as we have only had 4 quotes, the feedback and reviews from all companies seems to be good and bad, so i'm wondering whether i should just leave it at that with no more quotes and go with anglo pacific, pss quoted us £6,200 and Anglo pacific were actually a couple of hundred cheaper, for what seems a similar service. We have insurance to add on top, but i've not looked at the individual prices for that yet, and were told by all companies what the aquis fee would be, can't remember off the top of my head but i'm sure it was around $450, what a headache! and this is only the beginning

Any recommendations please? we have had 3 quotes so far cheapest being £6,200 most expensive £7,500, this is for a 20ft container door to door service, there is the aquis fee to be added onto the cheaper quotes, the most expensive includes it. We were thinking of going with the cheapest, really just because its the cheapest! but before we commit to book was just wondering if there are any good companies that i've missed, Thank you

we have hired cars with car seats, you just compare the cost of the car, choose whatever car you want and then add on, car seat, sat nav or whatever you need as an optional extra, the last one we had was from perth airport and worked out the cheapest, i cant remember who we booked it through though, maybe argus, or something similar, at the time we booked it came out the cheapest, and I compared hundreds!

We are a family of 5 hoping to move this year, or maybe next year depending on how quickly things happen. We originally were set on Perth, but after visiting are now not sure so at the moment researching Townsville (not much difference!) Would be good to hear from others in a similar situation, we used to go to the midland meets a while ago, but think everyone from the meets are now in Oz

I agree with what the others have said, get it over in one go! we recently did it and was awful (not saying your experience will be like ours), we flew singapore airlines and would never again! our little girl first began crying in the check in queue, and continued crying screaming and being hysterical until we arrived in perth 22 hours later, return journey pretty much a repeat of the journey there! it was quite stressful, sorry very stressful as people were complaining and demanding to move seats and saying nasty things, but to be honest when a toddler starts crying and you've tried everything to stop them and nothing works theres not a lot you can do, she didn't sleep for a minute and neither did the rest of the plane we had a problem with food so i would say stock up with snacks and food to take on the plane, (which we didn't do) just incase, really hope you have a stress free journey and your little one takes it in his stride

We had a similar situation only my son was much younger, we started our visa process in 2007 when my son was just 12, from day one he was adamant he would never live in australia, he went on holiday there for a month, had a nice time, i really thought we had convinced him, but he still preferred the uk! we validated our visas when he was 16 and although everything was paid for and organised, he decided that he didn't even want to validate, as he hated flying and knew he would never like to settle in oz or even holiday in oz he didn't see the point of validating, anyway after lots of arguing, tears, stress etc. we validated without him and he went to stay with my mil (who is against our move, and full of negativity regarding oz), well he is now 17 and still living with my mil who lives an hour away from us (he refused to come home after we returned from oz), so we hardly ever see him, he seems to have settled with her well and is enjoying his life, his original excuse for not coming was 'he didn't want to leave friends' which obviously wasn't really the case as he has left all of his friends now anyway by moving away from us. He will be 18 by the time we move to oz so technically an adult, it still really upsets me to think of the way things have turned out, we did discuss not going (although we dont see this as a forever move more an adventure for a while and see how it pans out), but as my husband made me realise, staying in the uk, it is likely we will rarely see him, or hear from him. I did suggest to him to come out for holidays etc. or maybe a whv in the future, but still a definite NO! I've come to the point where i think theres nothing more i can do, because its really just not what he wants, it doesn't make things any easier for me, but i'm kind of understanding how the mil is feeling about us going now! Hope things work out for you and your family, these things are never easy

it won't happen unfortunately, he's doing exam resits at the moment, he's got a job in a cafe and says he plans to go to college in January when he works out what he wants to do, he's living with my husbands mum which I think she likes as its company for her and so she's not exactly encouraging him to leave, even if I managed to talk him into validation we wouldn't be able to get his passport to him in time, I'm sure things will work themselves out in the future, and if I find being apart a big problem I can alway come back to the uk having tried, and if he decides it is for him in the future then he is young enough to get the relevant qualifications, maybe I need to accept that things don't always turn out the way you plan, thank you to everyone for your comments and advice it gives me options and things to think about, thanks again

He's 16 so in the uk legally able to leave home if he wished, at 16 we are not able to force him onto a plane against his will, he's had plenty of lectures but being an immature 16 year old that thinks they know it all in his mind he has made his choice, he's too immature to realise how this impacts on the rest of the family, I asked one if his school teachers to have a word with him and she basically said, if he doesn't want to go that's his choice, and she could understand why he wouldn't want to go! I just wanted to know if there was any options for the future should the situation change, maybe it will, maybe it won't but I'm sure in 5 or 10 years his view of the world will be very different

Thank you, I will have a look at the last relative visa, were just finding it difficult thinking that if we do decide to move we will be so far apart and no way of being together if he wanted to, I'm not sure how I would cope with this long term, his validation expires on 8th November so no chance of that happening. If any one knows of anyone who has been in a similar situation it would be good to know how things turned out, I'm just finding it really upsetting, my husband doesn't seem phased by it at all, I think I'm on my own with worrying about how to sort this one out

This is exactly what I think, and I've tried to explain he will be a different person in the next few years, it's too late for him to validate now, but even if it wasn't there was no way we could talk him into coming, we bought him a plane ticket to validate with us, I really thought I could talk him around, but the night before our departure he announced he definitely would not be coming, packed his bag and moved into mil's house, she did nothing to help as she is full if negativity as she says we will fail, it's a bad move etc, In the uk we live an hour drive from her and see her only a couple of times a year, so were not close, when we first applied I never thought we would be in this situation, I just worry that if we move here without him, then he changes his mind and is unable to get a visa we will then have to return and its such a massive upheaval for our other children, not to mention financially for us, I wasn't sure if it would have been possible to get him some type of visa later if he did have a change of heart

He didn't validate, at the moment he has no interest in living in oz, he didn't even want to come for a holiday. In the uk we've only got my oh's parents who are disabled and in their 80's, he's staying with them but when there gone he'll have no family what so ever, it's playing on my mind a lot, I think if I knew what options were available to him should he wish to come in the future it would make it easier for me to make my decision on the future.

Hi at the moment me, oh, and 3 children are weighing up whether or not we think we could make a go of it in Perth, there's a lot to consider, financial, education, jobs etc. but the main thing that I think is keeping me undecided is the fact that our 16 year old wants to stay in the uk with my mil, is anyone else in a similar situation or know how difficult it would be in the future for him to obtain a visa and join us? This is not something that would happen anytime soon but I would like to think in the future he would have a change of heart and we could all be together, I'm not sure what type of visa he would need or if it even exists or is possible, does anyone know what options there are? Thank you

Thank you, I will have a look and hopefully find something decent in the areas we like the look of to live, sorry I thought I was on the Perth section so didn't mention state, all this researching is sending me crazy, not sure where I am anymore!

Hi, we are currently researching suburbs nor and with 3 children we would prefer an area with a decent school, how do I find out which schools are good and which to avoid? I've heard some have a bad reputation, our eldest who is 12 is above average in the uk and in top sets for everything, I'm worried that the move will set him back, he's quite shy and quiet, I'm just so worried for him, not so worried about our 6 year old as he's much more confident, any advice appreciated, thank you

hi Lisa, my oh is also a joiner ( sorry no idea about the tools), we are here at the moment nor just having a look around, my oh has been asked to pair up with someone SOR when we make the move but I think he would prefer to work nor if possible. How is your oh looking for jobs and is there much work around nor? How have you found things so far (I know it's early days), my main worry is that my oh wont find work that pays as well as his job in the uk, so far the jobs he has seen have been a similar wage, but then we have to take into account rents etc are dearer than the uk. Any advice you have would be appreciated, we have 3 children so am slightly worried about the financial side of things. Also what cards/ certificates did your oh need before he could start work? Has it been straight forward? Sorry for all the questions but I just want to be 100% sure about this move and have as much knowledge as possible Thank you

Our house has been on the market for over a year now!! Everyone that's viewed apart from one haven't been in a position to buy as they hadnt sold, so annoying! We had one offer and turned it down and they never came back with a higher offer, I don't think they could really afford it, all our feedback has been good, not one negative and it's competitively priced compared to others in the area, it's just so frustrating. I would live to keep the house and rent it but its not an option financially for us, the one positive is that my friends mum who is a cash buyer has said she wanted it although I was reluctant to sell to her in case anything happened and we fell out, but we think we are going to find out if she's still interested and go for it, fingers crossed she still wants it, good luck with your move and hope you get the house sorted soon so you can make your move

Were only here until Tuesday but will mention it to the owner, the house is immaculate and new and we've not seen that many bugs, one cockroach, something big that jumped and something on the top of my foot when I went to the toilet, looked down, noticed, and freaked out as I wasn't expecting something sat there looking at me! And then this morning the spider, is it likely that it is a one off? Or do they come in groups? I don't know much about spiders, at home I Hoover them! I'll be checking my bed and shoes from now on

Thank you I'll flush it, didn't want to be cruel! But then don't want it coming back in and bringing its friends not keen on spiders

Hi not keen on spiders or bugs, we've been throwing bugs outside but this morning we have a red back spider walking across the floor, we've got it in a glass at the moment so it can't escape, what do we do with it?

Thank you I'll try google maps, couldn't see the transports website properly as I'm on my phone so will give that a go instead, thanks

think it might be easier to drive to clarkson, no idea where in jindalee we are it's called forecastle street, never even realised there was more than one area here, haha, we seriously have no clue, this is all new to us! It's awful being so clueless

Thank you, I know clarkson is just down the road, I think I saw a bus station type place with a big car park to the right of it, is the train station near by this? I was probably looking at the train station and didn't realise it! How do you pay? And do you pay for parking, how much? And how often are the trains? Sorry for all of the questions but I've never even caught a train in the uk so not really sure what to do, and do you pay separately for both ways or can you get a return? Thank you

Hi could someone tell me the best way to get to CBD from jindalee please? Wanting to go tomorrow and not sure do you drive or public transport, if public transport where from and how do you do it? Thank you in advance :smile::smile: