thediggler

I'd ask the garage to confirm the part numbers they are waiting for and then contact a local BMW dealer to see whether there is a stock shortage. Your friendly mechanic may be trying to pull the wool over your eyes (or not perhaps if BMW confirm the parts are indeed out of stock). Might also be worth checking ebay (Oz and UK) in the future to see whether you can source any used or copy parts which might save you a fortune on any future repairs, even with the shipping costs!

Hey Shane, sent you a private message in response to yours about items for sale in Melbourne but not sure it got through, I've had problems with sending messages on PIO in the past. If it didn't arrive, drop me another message with your mobile number and i'll give you a call mate. Cheers, Neil

Good luck with that then

Yeah, agree with this. The North West is quite a big place, you might as well be putting an advert on here saying "House for sale, somewhere in Melbourne offers invited!!" How about including a link to the website where it's advertised for sale such as on Rightmove? Quoting the selling price also helps.........

I know it's not on your list but avoid Abu Dhabi if it's suggested to you, it's normally packed and not what you would expect for such a wealthy city. Also crap for kids.

Hehe!! Snake pass is an awesome drive, as long as there's no snow!! I can relate to your situation actually. I met my wife in Kavos (whoohoooo!) back in 2002, she lived in Hull at the time and I lived in Cheadle near Stockport. She used to get the train into Manchester every weekend for about 18 months before she finally agreed to move in with me, my hard work eventually paid off! Maybe it was just a bad time of year for us when we visited Perth. Having said that, you should be wary of any city that has its own fly museum (is that still there?!). Yeah, a 7 hour drive doesn't sound that appealing when you've got two young girls in the back singing Disney Frozen songs all the bloody way. "Let it goooo, let it goooooo can't hold it back anymoreeeeeeAAAAAAGGGGHGGHGHGHGGHGH!!!" (Any parents with kids aged 10 or under will no doubt relate to this).

Mate, I've been to pretty much every major city in Australia (aside from Alice Springs and Darwin) and Melbourne is the only place I feel we could have any chance of settling. Brisbane was too humid for us, Perth is too isolated, Sydney is a bit harsh and expensive and Adelaide is too quiet (again, this is just my opinion!). I think the longer we stay here the harder it would be, particularly for my girls, to integrate back into the lifestyle we had back home. It would also be more difficult to get a mortgage and even perhaps find work so I don't see any benefit in staying here any longer than what we need to now. I think in regards lifestyle, the problem I've found with Melbourne or perhaps Victoria is that it's like living in a small country, and if you want to go to another state you might as well be travelling from England to say somewhere like Spain or Italy, such is the size of the country. That can be quite frustrating when you've already exhausted pretty much everything you can do with kids in Melbourne (i.e. we've been to all the parks, zoos, museums, farms, etc). There was definitely more to keep us entertained back home and every weekend feels like Groundhog Day here now because we're doing the same things over and over again. Maybe some of that is because my youngest girl is only 2 years old so we can't exactly do as much as say a family with older kids. Personally, I think once you've got past the sea, sun and sand, Melbourne doesn't offer us anything over the lifestyle we had in the UK, less in fact hence why we're returning home. And I know this will sound like i'm a whinging pom (maybe I am!) but to be honest I got bored of all the sunshine in the summer and was pining for some cold weather come March! Too much of a good thing can put you off it, and that's how I felt about the heat over Christmas. Another issue for us is throwing money down the drain by renting over here, $2,300 a month for a weatherboard shack that's about 50 years old, riddled with ants and freezing in the winter. I could get a lovely 4-5 bed newish detached home for that price back home! So in summary, I've been here, got the t-shirt and now can't wait to get home. There's a few mates waiting for me at the bar with a pint at the ready..........!!

I can relate to most of that. I've been here in Melbourne for coming up to a year now and am flying back to the UK with my wife and two young girls 3 weeks from today. Aside from a bit of rain over the past few weeks I think the weather has been pretty good since we've been here. Obviously, the 40+ heat in January was a killer but we managed to get through it unscathed! I come from quite a wet part of the UK though so perhaps my opinion will be different from yours! Agree totally regarding the housing though, I've actually felt warmer outside sometimes and can't wait to get back into a brick built house with proper insulation and CARPETS!!! Oh how I've missed carpets!! I managed to get a job lined up before I came so haven't had to go through the rigmarole of sending out my CV and attending interviews. It was one of the conditions my wife and I agreed before we came out here, as in my opinion it can be financial suicide migrating to Australia without having any work lined up first. Sky high rental prices mean money can drain from your bank account like water through your hands. We've been to the beach a few times but I'd swap it tomorrow for one of Britain's many national parks. We were members of the National Trust back home and used to enjoy driving out at the weekend to some of the various trust locations and spend time walking round forests or nature reserves with the girls. One thing I will miss however is the great children's parks they have here, they're dotted all over the place and it's clear Australia invests more in kids play facilities compared with the UK. There's also less vandalism (aside from the bloody graffiti) which has been refreshing. With regards the people, I can pretty much take or leave Australians the same way I could with folks back in the UK. Customer service is pretty bad here and the majority of call centre workers and shop assistants I've had to speak to come across either bored or sarcastic. It's p*ssed me off quite a bit to be honest although I tend to give as good as I get! Commuting hasn't been a problem for me as I live in Bayside and drive down Beach Rd to work in South Melbourne, about a 25 min drive each day. I think i'm fortunate to be honest as the prospect of travelling to work every day by train would have got on my nerves quickly. Moneywise, we've actually done a lot better than we expected and are looking at going home with around $20,000 more than we came with. This is due to us being careful with money and not going mad buying cars, etc when we first got here. We have friends who came here with no jobs, limited funds and one of the first things they did when they landed was to spend $15,000 on a huge 4x4 which they clearly don't need. We managed to get two cars for several thousand dollars less than that and have been pretty lucky that nothing drastic has gone wrong with them since we've been here. It's all about living to your means really. If you can't be seen dead in anything less than a BMW or huge Chelsea tractor then that's cool, but you're gonna pay the price for it! I'm also careful when I go shopping and took over duties from my wife who was spending (in my opinion) far too much when she went out to Coles each week. An average weeks shopping probably costs somewhere between $200 and $250 (although on some occasions I've managed it for around $150 actually) which is comparable with what we were spending back home so I can't complain really. I am a tight git though and always go for the special deals on offer rather than just put any old crap in my trolley! Overall, whilst the experience has definitely been a testing one for us, it has brought us together more as a family and I think we'll be more appreciative of things we took for granted when we get back home. I know some people will disagree with my comments and have their own opinions, but as I've said before on another post, Australia is like Marmite. You'll either love it or hate it, and everyone's experience will differ depending on the type of lifestyle they left in the UK. For us, we were happier and generally better off back home and we realise now what matters most to us. I wouldn't want to go back and change anything we've done even if I could, as in my opinion life is for living and you'll never know what could have been unless you experience things for yourself. The only real worry I have now is finding work back home and getting my eldest girl settled into school, although i'm hoping those things will sort themselves out over the next couple of months. Anyway, I enjoyed reading your post. Good luck for the future and hope it all works out for you, whatever you decide to do in the future.

I think you could have packed it tighter......:cool:

If anyone is after a reliable, clean and solid car then take a look at my Saab on Gumtree below and drop me a message. I'd rather it go to a good home than have to flog it to some dodgy second hand car dealership at the last minute. Cheers all. http://www.gumtree.com.au/m-my-ad.html?adId=1049181311

Never mind, argue away.......

I think this thread has lost its direction somewhat. Do we really need anymore posts arguing the ethics of getting into debt?

How DAAARRREEEE you even suggest such a thing on here, bow your head in shame and stand in the corner whilst you wait to be reprimanded.................good question though!

I'll stick my neck out here and say I agree with Pablo. Put yourself first and worry about the bank later (if at all), they're unlikely to give a monkeys about your situation anyway so i'd stick them bottom of the priority list.

Ahhhhhhhh, didn't spot that. Our bills are sky high at around $600 per quarter, I think it's because we're in an old weatherboard house and have a water tank in the loft that heats overnight which must be costing us a fortune in electricity. It sounds like a bloody Lancaster Bomber coming in to land at 5am in the morning, Landlord won't do bugger all about it :realmad:

Good tool that, although $50 per month for Electricity seems a bit on the low side.

Something i've realised from reading people's comments on this forum is that finding true happiness and being comfortable in your surroundings is all a matter of opinion. I'm returning to the UK in 6 weeks and personally I can't wait to get home. This is based on my own experience of Australia compared with the lifestyle I had in the UK. I don't expect everyone else to share this opinion, because each of us will have our own experience of Oz and will have course also travelled from different parts of the UK to get here. I think people need to bear this in mind when they post questions asking other PIO members whether they should take the plunge and move to Australia. They might as well be asking whether people like Marmite or not and will never really know how things will pan out until they try it themselves.

Did you send it to the right Neil Russell??? My cover photo has me and the rest of my clan on it.

I fancy some of that Banksy if the offer's still on the table? I'm in Sandringham so only 5 mins down the road. I'm on Facebook, search for me under Neil Russell.

Howdy all. Due to fly home to the UK in 8 weeks and in the process of sorting out what we're taking with us and what we're selling. I've listed some items we're selling below should anyone be interested (i.e. new arrivals or current residents).... His and hers cars (2001 Black VW Golf Generation 1.6 Manual and 2002 Saab 9-5 2.3 Turbo Auto, both in excellent condition with low miles) Huge white double door ikea wardrobes Fisher Paykel Fridge Freezer LG Washing Machine Westinghouse Tumble Dryer Childs cot Various fans, portable radiators, kitchen appliances, etc. Petrol lawnmower and various garden tools Massive trampoline Childs garden play apparatus Basic double bed We also have other items such as a twin sofa, 55" 3D HD TV, sideboard with matching TV unit, etc which we may consider selling if the price is right. Could perhaps do a deal as a job lot for someone who is due to arrive in the country soon as doesn't want the hassle of spending weeks sourcing household items from various shops. Drop me a message if interested. Cheers, Neil

This should help... http://www.paycalculator.com.au/

Points accrued in Australia stay in Australia, they can't be transferred to your British license

TrueBlue Migration are pretty good

Jesus Christ, you try offering some helpful advice and get shot down in flames! The point I was making was that it is better to seek proper advice on the matter, to be certain, rather than accept the opinions of people on PIO as gospel. I've been given advice myself on here in the past and found it to be far from accurate. Whether it be right or wrong, I have been told by my own line manager than the company I work for is no longer able to enforce repayment of the relocation costs they paid to me should I decide to leave within 2 years. If that turns out to be a load of cobblers, then obviously i'll be taking the issue up with my employer. However, my suggestion for others in a similar situation would still be to seek proper advice rather than assume the opinions of those given on PIO are 100% accurate.