ABL275

What do people think about shipping/customs times at this time of year? I shipped our belongings on 17 March (4 weeks ago) and we're expecting it all to arrive in about 6 weeks time. No problems so far and we can track the ship's movements.

We've been out here 5 years and maybe it'll change when I've been here longer but whenever I go back to the UK, from the moment I step off the plane all I hear is the accents of Mumbai, Karachi, Mogadishu and Belgrade, especially amongst the airport security staff. Britain has ceased to be be British to me: I'm far more likely to hear English spoken here than in Britain which makes the ACT far more familiar to me.

You never stop learning. I was fascinated to read in the UK Daily Telegraph that Australia has a very low population density because everyone just lives in one of the large coastal cities like Sydney, Perth and...Canberra....

Having received a new UK passport last year I've been pulled aside a couple of times when leaving Australia but just for a 30-second check as they clearly still have the old passport details on the system. Try and get it updated in the Australian immigration system - but don't lose any sleep over it if you can't

Just claim your youngest is a Syrian refugee and you'll get through no problem; you'll probably get a new house provided too :-)

I flew London-Sydney via Ghangzhou (and Paris) just last Friday/Saturday for the same reasons i.e. it was cheap, reasonably fast and reasonably timed. Both stop overs were just a touch over 2 hours, Paris was fine as was the Ghangzhou stop-over. In both cases there was just enough time for a relaxed arrival, quick coffee and croissant and walk up to the next gate just before it opened. My bags we're checked-in from Heathrow all the way to Sydney but Heathrow could only provide boarding cards as far as Ghangzhou but that was no problem either as the entrance to the international transit lounge was effectively a combined passport control and check-in so I had the usual choice of aisle v window and meals when getting my boarding card for the last leg. The Ghangzhou international transit lounge was just fine; nothing to write home about because it did everything perfectly adequately, had just about enough of what you needed and there was nothing to complain about other than the cafe that must have heated the croissants in the dumpling steamer to get them that soggy. Seating was standard, the films on the Paris-Ghangzhou leg must all have been at least a month old but the one's on the Ghangzhou-Sydney leg were all bang up to date. The fit was seat-back screens but the controllers were a bit basic. They were fixed into the side of the seat/arm rest so were a bit difficult to operate although on the Ghangzhou-Sydney leg there were touch-screen controls too. The cabin-crew were reasonably good; again nothing good or bad to say about them. Their English was a but limited but much better than my Chinese :-) I'd give them about 7 out of 10; no frills but good value for money.

Just became a citizen yesterday; we had lived here for four years and decided to stay permanently so I applied but would have done so anyway in case we;d gone home and then wanted to come back at a later date. Other main reasons: 1. We live and work in Canberra where you need to be a citizen to work in government (about 55% of all jobs here) or get a security clearance to work with government as a consultant/contractor (about 35%) 2. My wife and daughter already have dual UK/Australian citizen so we wouldn't get separated at airports etc. 3. As I intend to be here long-term I believe in committing and participating in the country's affairs 4. It doesn't adversely impact my British nationality in any way.

Whoops yes, apologies I wrote Medibank where I should have written Medicare. Just for the avoidance of confusion, Medicare is the publicly funded healthcare system (similar but not the same as the NHS - see https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/dhs/medicare) and Medibank is the private medical insurance organisation (https://www.medibank.com.au)

....just another thought; if you wanted to do some research yourself then the following might help: - groceries/shopping: The two main stores are Woolworths and Coles - just google. Aldi are also becoming a significant presence - household: Main department stores are Myers and David Jones. Harvey Norman does furniture amongst many other things - electrical: Bing Lee (or Harvey Norman) for white goods, JB Hi-Fi for entertainments etc. - DIY: Bunnings is the equivalent of say B&Q - Costco and IKEA - both present in Canberra - Cars - try carsales.com.au

Ditto what Quoll says; the only other thoughts are that there's not much in the way of public transport in Canberra so most people drive everywhere but petrol's only about 60p per litre. However expect to pay about $9/day parking anywhere near the city centre or satellite centres. If there are just the two of you then you won't have to worry about school fees which can be a shocker for those new to the ACT education system. All the usual rules apply on housing; the bigger the house and the closer to the centre the more you can expect to pay. Also expect to pay more for new prestige developments such as those around the Kingston Foreshore. If you're looking for somewhere cheap to rent then the new suburbs in the north (around Gungahlin) and the west (Western Creek) are probably the first places to look but as Quoll says, everything in Canberra is on Allhomes.com.au. Most rental figures are quoted weekly and are inclusive of rates - you normally just pay water and other utilities. There's been numerous discussions on this site on places to live around Canberra so do a little searching. Medibank is paid for out of your salary but many (most?) people have some sort of private medical insurance (if you earn more than about $80,000 p.a. you get penalised if you don't through the medical surcharge levy) so have a look at the costs for BUPA or Medibank. Other than that it just depends on what you want to spend your money on

I recently had to get a new British passport and it had to be done through the UK, and yes, it was a real pain sending things back by registered mail and waiting for a reply. Unfortunately the British High Commission (Commonwealth countries don't have embassies with each other) is not able to issue new passports.

I've used Anglo-Pacific 3 times now (I'm a 'boomerang Brit') and they've generally been excellent

Don't bother, Birmingham must have the slowest baggage handlers and most miserable Border Force personnel in the entire country

Just going back to Aus after 6 months in the UK waiting to sell the house and don't regret it for a minute. Being here over winter isn't the best time but I've just be struck by how dirty and decrepit everything is. All the roads just look grey and every bush or tree seems to have streams of plastic sheeting blowing from it. Does everyone now just empty their bins out of their car windows? It certainly looks that way as the sides of many roads seem to just be knee deep in rubbish for mile after mile and clearly no-one gives a damn. Everyone seems to have just retreated into their little bubbles to hide away from all the issues facing the country but the problem is that those bubbles are getting smaller and smaller...

I can generally get most of the British staples (Branston Pickle, HP sauce, curries) so the only things I really miss are: - Real ale (Australian craft ales are way too bitter) - Decent country pubs (a country pub here means tin roof, concrete floor and chicken wire windows) - Small villages between large towns (there are almost none around the ACT) Other than that we get super-fast broadband now in the ACT and pretty much everything else is better :-)

Lovely coastal area but might be difficult to find reasonable jobs there and it's a bit on the long side to commute into Sydney. It can be very like London where you have to be on a train line to be able to get into work. The trains go as far as Nowra but you'd have to change at Kiama and don't even consider driving. You can see the NSW area train network here: http://www.transportnsw.info/resources/documents/maps/intercity-trains-network-map.pdf Somewhere on the Sydney trains line might be easier but that would mean being closer in, say somewhere like Cronulla?

Jusa t used them ourselves - they seem to have been great

...and forgot to mention, Linked-In is widely sued for advertising jobs but http://www.seek.com.au/ is the one site that just about everyone uses except for very senior roles. I've generally just used the two of them and generally founds new contracts pretty quickly - good luck!

Just completed one contract and have successfully found the next one (had the choice of three) using a good old British CV in chronological order. Clearly it depends on who you're talking to but 6% of the Australian population is actually British and over 50% are British/Irish by descent so a little bit of Britishness probably won't be frowned upon, especially as the vast majority of recruitment specialists in Sydney (and probably elsewhere) are British. Indeed there have been articles and concerns over how the British have cornered the market in recruitment in Sydney and are prone to recruit fellow Britons over local Australians. Moral of the story: Don't worry, if anything you may well find that you actually have a slight advantage :-)

Amused to see that the Woolworth's supermarket in Southlands, Mawson has ethnic food sections for Indian, Chinese, Mexican and British! Club biscuits, Branston Pickle, Rolos, Tate & Lyle syrup are amongst the 'ethnic' foods on offer, not sure they are all what we'd call typically British favourites but each to their own.

"When we were on a 457 we were told that the fee covers only a part of what is spent on a child by the school, unlike private fees..." True - when I first came over in 2011 in cost about $10,000 a year to put a child through the state school system. Apparently most states waived this for foreign children although the NSW Government decoded to recharge 30% to parents and in the ACT it was $100% plus an administrative fee, so, as we lived in the ACT it was actually cheaper to just send our daughter to the best private school in town. I asked for, and got an addition to my salary offer to cover it although not everyone will be in that position.

I've asked for it a few times with fish and chips in restaurants in Canberra and received blank stares or looks as if I'd asked for fried koala. On the occasions that it has been provided it's arrived as white vinegar in a small broad bowl like soy sauce....

Yep - posted my application off a couple of weeks back....

I'm currently renting in Rockdale so it's only a $12 taxi ride to/from Sydney international, but clearly the easiest 'major' airport to get in and out of is Canberra :-) Huge new car-parking facilities (generally more than half empty), huge new international terminal (definitely empty until Canberra actually get's some international flights) and generally only about 15-20 minutes to the centre of town - can't beat it!

Good to be forewarned so that people can make informed decisions about the risks involved, but on the plus side, it does sound as if 4 out of 5 people on a 457 visa are not exploited