nikkib

Doree Bonner were excellent, as were there partner Grace in Oz.

I've got one, bought in the UK, just arrived yesterday with the rest of our stuff. I love mine and have missed it. Hand blenders do not do the same job, leaves lumps and bits. The magic bullet is the cheaper version. Not sure how much there are in Oz, but seen the ads!

Fair play, go for it, we did :-) nearly 1 month here and loving it, looking for jobs now. See my other post re expenses you don't really think of, might be useful...... Good luck, if we can help please ask

Yes they do a similar shape and call it something else. Anyway, as advice, i would budget £8-10k if you can to get yourself a decent 10 year old 'ish car. Or, go real low end like we did and wait to see what you think might work for you. In many ways i wish we had budgeted the £8-10k and gone for something like Toyota land cruiser or Lexus LX SUV type, especially with the kids. Fuel costs, for 95 octane petrol is about £1 litre. Diesel slightly cheaper but diesel cars are more expensive. (Like the UK 10 years ago before diesels really took off!!)

We have been here 2 weeks now and awaiting our container. We had quotes from the big 3 companies and we went with Doree Bonner, all we can say from our experience is they were fantastic, the 2 x lads who came and packed our stuff did a sterling job, worked hard, were very polite and nothing was too much trouble. In addition to our house hold stuff we sent a 4 x push bikes, 1 x motorbike (off road one) and a load of tools and car spares. We cleaned everything we could with a scrubbing brush prior to them packing it. The car spares, some were a bit oily but that is fine apparently. Its out of Doree Bonners hands now and reliant on the people at this end who are called GRACE. Will wait and see once it arrives next month........ The car we sent via Karman Shipping, chap called Richard. Again he was more than helpful, answering all our stupid questions and made the process very easy. Given a list of docs and certificates we had to get, got pics once loaded into the container......... waiting on that too

We bought an old BMW 1992 soon as we arrived in Sydney for $1500 which was a cheap price. Cars are very expensive here in OZ, certainly compared to UK. Only advantage is they tend to be less rust than at home. A little corsa will set you back about $3k (barina here) You can drive for 6 months on your UK licence before you have to get an Oz one. We got OZ ones in the first week as most places ask for an OZ driving licence as a form of ID for anything!! The reg doc must be transferred within 14 days for you get fined (for NSW not sure about Victoria state) We came over on 175 residency visas. I tried to get a mobile phone sim card pay as you go for my iPhone and was told i had no chance unless working!! even after proving we had a fair amount of money sat in the bank account in OZ and in UK, the only option was a pre-paid sim card. Chances of you getting credit i would say are very slim! We in UK lived off ebay but here it seems to be a mixture with gumtree being the most popular. My advice would be get something what you can afford to pay when you arrive, and look once your here. Not sure its for real but i feel we get picked on something terrible in our BMW by the big SUV's or maybe the driving is really bad everyone cuts each other up all the time as normal!!!

Hi we have just moved here from the UK. Picked Newcastle from advise and the internet! It appeared to offer the lifestyle we wanted. Only been here 3 weeks, but enjoying. Not sure about crime and places to avoid yet, but we have gone for Cameron park away from the centre and found a good school at fletcher called Bishop Tyrrell. Not found work yet, but not been concentrating on it, now kids in school can focus a bit better! My kids are 11 and 8, both boys.

Hi BEGal, Yes we've kept all receipts, just out of interest as to what we have spent. We will be in Cameron park as of next week, but Charlestown at the mo. I'm a management accountant , hubby mechanic but would like to teach at TAFE.

Hi All We have been here now for just under 3 weeks. I know a lot of you wonder about costs and so forth. Here are some of the unexpected costs we have had. Satnav $150, essential for finding our way around. Plus I spent $30 on a decent map book, fab for looking at localities when driving around. Printer $150 plus ink $150, must admit we bought a slightly better than basics printer, but found necessary for printing the numerous forms we have had and CVs for job interviews. Driving Licence. $110 each. this was not necessary, but we had bought a car from a friend in Sydney so made the transfer easier. This also made taking out a rental easier. Working with children registration $80, hubby wants to work in a college, to obtain the necessary paperwork we had to pay out this cost. Food Costs Our first shop came to about $300, but you have to remember you have to start from scratch again, so all the stuff you take for granted in your cupboards, oils, bin liners, toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, bug spray, washing powder. Its unlikely back in the Uk I would have bought all of these at once, but were needed here. I did not buy too much food in that shop either, bread, milk, beans, cereal and some meat maybe. Since then we have spent about $130 each time, and added more essentials when we go, probably at the mo going every 5-6 days. If you are switched on you can get some good buys, the first time we shopped we got Heniz baked beans for 97c, so bought a few tins. Also meat and veg seem cheaper than in the Uk, and if you look out for the specials. Alcohol is a ridiculous price, I drink souther comfort, so glad I brought a bottle in my case, as $60 here. Also brought Pimms as again $50. Bring you allowance in your case, I am then asking people who (hopefully) visit to restock us! The wine we drank at home which was australian was £8 in the Uk is $17 here. Eating out In the first week, we must have spent a fortune on food and drinks, this was from being in the car all day driving around looking at houses, so budget more for food. An average medium coffee is $4.50, and bottled drinks are about $3 upwards. We kept bottles of water in the car which have been bought at the supermarket. Food costs for an average meal, e.g. pizza has come to $100 for the 4 of us, and a Mcdonalds was $35, so much more expensive than back in the UK. Subway was also coming in at $30+ for 4 of us. Now we are more in the habit we are planning better. Fuel Cheaper than in the UK at approx $1.50 per litre, and the supermarkets give you 4c off a litre as well. Clothes I have had to buy a few bits and pieces, as did not pack for this wet spell we are having. Clothes are more expensive and don't seem as good a quality. My mistake was not bringing a decent work suit for an interview, thinking I would get one here, big mistake, costs a fortune for a suit which feels cheaper than next, but probably cost double. Will now be ordering from Next as they deliver here for free if over $30 plus M & S also deliver for free. (not sure how returns work...) Other We have also had to buy stuff that will become necessary once we have our long term rental next week, while we wait for the container. This included Beds for the kids, plus bedding, kids needed new beds anyway. Bed for us, plus bedding, which we will use as a spare once ours arrives. Table and chairs, left ours behind. Sofa, again left behind. Iron and ironing board, didn't think to pack, left in my rented house. New school shoes and uniform. School has summer and winter uniform. Summer starting the 7 Sept. Pens, paper and other stationery bits, again more expensive than back home. Essential for kids homework and form filling! Will update this thread if people find it useful, once I become more aware of more costs. Cheers Nikki

We arrived last week and the TV is crap here. Mind you we don't intend watching too much. But...... We were given the heads up a couple of days before we left that best thing to do is find a family member or good friend in UK that has Sky package and request multi room. Bring the box out with you, get a dish while here and tune it in using a local company. They tell me it works fine for your £10 a month........... We were too late..... :-(

Our Touareg is on the seas atm with Karman Shipping heading for Sydney, the process has been very painless so far. We spent a lot of time and effort getting the car immaculate, removing the inner wheel arch liners etc before steam clean, detail clean inside..... Will post what happens sept when it arrives.... Steve White is the agent Sydney side

We used doree bonner, and can not fault them, packers were superb and all the guys in the office. Now it's out of there hands and with a subcontractor til it arrives in Australia. Just have to wait til end of sept for boat to arrive.

Our shippers are coming tomorrow, and I'm not sure we are ready! Loaded the car ready to go in container. I have my clothes and shoes everywhere. Will be glad when Tuesday and Wednesday are over.

We also arrive 9th August so our packing and getting rid of stuff is in full flow for the container is arriving to pack us up on 29th July. Stopping in Sydney for a few days when we arrive but planning on Newcastle to live..... No jobs yet, no rental yet, just a holiday let for 4 weeks ....... Oh and there are 4 of us (kids 8 and 11) on a 175 visa, VERY nervous about it all but looking forward to the move....

Yep your right, both myself and husband Andy are really keen to try, nothing ventured nothing gained an all that. What Wattsy is saying makes a lot of sense and its such a shame its not working out for you. Don't think we are under any illusions its the end of the rainbow but our lives here in UK, although comfortable, are boring and think we need this wether its going to work or not, to get away from the routine of life here and give the kids some life experience while we, and they, are young enough!! My husband worked in the far east for some time (just as we met in 1995) and when he returned he said it was difficult to adapt back to UK life because of the experiences he had, that very few people understood what was out there. We are older parents at 45 with kids at 7 and 11 because we were selfish people wanting to live before we settled down but feel we owe the experience to our kids and give them the option to make their minds up where they want to be. In our opinion Australia, verging on a positive economy, is one of the best places for that. We are not tied to particular work or a state as we have a 175 visa so at worst its hubby Andys wish to buy a Split screen bug and spend a year touring ;-)