seraphim

Humans are generally creatures of habit and any upheaval will probably be unsettling to most people. Once you've settled downs and found the 'new normal' for you it might be easier. or you could be experiencing [h=1]"hiraeth", A sense of longing, of homesickeness, for nostalgia, or for a place that may never have been but that was felt as having existed in the past, that never really existed. [/h], which I'd imagine most people who are brave enough to take the plunge experience!

We stayed at Chamomile BnB when we visited in Feb and the owner was a very lovely lady who our daughter was very impressed with, and she keeps hens for fresh eggs at breakfast too on the balcony so you can watch the parakeets come down to feed. About a 5 minute walk to the RSL and 5-10 minutes drive to the 'big' shopping bit. Would have been lovelier still if we hadn't been stranded in the floods at the end of the stay!

advice is appreciated. there is one large difference between 2x and 2.5x salary though even at a low salary 20% is a lot to have as a shortfall. I've based my coats on 2.5 as the worse case of the 2. thanks for the childcare info, I have looked at centeelink but my child so v useful. childcare seems to be between 67-95$ a day. were the amounts I guestimates for bills about right, as that's really what I wanted to find out from this thread! especially as it applies to smaller city living. current costs can't really be compared as were mortgage free here and both working so v different situations. re:the cold. I'm sure we'll acclimatise and find mild UK cold if we ever visit but over the last 12 months there has been around 5 out of 52 weeks where UK was warmer than the hunter valley, and that's our summer to your winter! I'd imagine houses get cold due to construction style from what I've experienced. anyway, thank you all who've replied so far for the info, hopefully I'll get some more info regarding the bill amounts.

HI, I am wondering if anyone living outside of the major cities can give me a heads up on the kind of figures they’re paying for bills? Specifically East Coast, I’m looking around Lake Mac and Newcastle. I’ve made some estimates below but can you let me know if they’re wildly out (too much, too little etc.) Also if I’ve missed anything! Our situation is, we’re PR, family of 3 (child still small hence the decision to move before school etc.) Only I would be working at least at the start until settled, would like to live in a not too rough area thanks but we’re not snooty either, good neighbours is more important than wisteria lane type massive houses! A 2/3 bed house in a reasonable area with access to the lake/beaches within a half hours drive would be nice, I’d assume you’d have to pay around $400 a week for that based on realestate? (fairly certain we can’t afford the suburbs like eleebana valentine etc but I’m sure there are OK suburbs for less than this?) We’d hopefully run 2 cars (A smaller efficient commuter for me for work and a bigger safer 4x4 for partner/child and weekends visiting national parks/unsurfaced roads), so partner and little one can get around and start to integrate, and yes we shop at Aldi in the UK for most things so are quite happy to do the same here with the odd visit to the bigger supermarkets and real markets for other things! My main criteria is can we live on the 1 salary as partner may not find/want to work or may want to do voluntary work which I’d love to be able to support as the whole idea of the move is better quality of life family time and enjoying life so I’m hoping we could afford partner would be able to do something she finds worthwhile and satisfying (working with animals etc.) rather than at the grindstone just to stay afloat. We’re not extravagant people so won’t be eating caviar (as it’s disgusting!) but the odd steak on the BBQ/glass of red wine wouldn’t go amiss every now and then! Rent = (400pw) $1733pm Council Tax = $0 if renting? Gas = $70 pm (don’t even know if houses in Aus HAVE gas and if so, what for, as it’s hot all year round (compared to here anyway, I had to scrape ice from my windscreen this morning = :arghh:!) Electricity =$250 pm (assuming AC is expensive to run all year round and if we managed to get a place with a pool would this cost double?) Water (Usage Only) = $85 pm (standing charges paid by owner if renting?) Contents Insurance = $35 pm (we’re not bringing much and nothing of value other than ourselves!) Broadband Unlimited (not foxtel) = $93 pm (essential for entertainment, Skyping and job hunting!) Groceries = ($225pw) $975 pm (2 adults 1 small child who eats well!) is this enough? Private Medical = ($66 pw) $285 per month OR ($18.20 pw) Extras only = $78pm Life cover, Critical Illness, PTD Insurance = $90pm Income Protection for 2 years = $66 per month Dentists x 3 = $450per year checkups (3 x $150?) Long Day Care 1-2 days a week (I have NO idea how much nurseries charge, but we should be eligible as ‘low income <150k PR holders for some CCB) Anyone know how much this might be in this area and how easy it is to get little one in to start integrating? I’ve also thought about cars, mobiles, hairdressers, contact lenses, etc but these are all very personal and not as easily compared whereas a lot of people will have the above costs! Can you let me know if these are rightish for living out of the cities in a smaller city and if yours are different, what yours are and your situation (i.e family size rough location house size and are you both working or just 1 person etc) Thanks! (wow just reread this and I have lots of questions on the cost of living!) :biggrin:

I am hoping to hear back from a job slightly inland and am looking to relocate no more than about a 45 minute commute. I was wondering as there's very little written on some of these areas, what they are like for facilities, things to do for children (2-3 year old) amenities e c.. ? I know valentine and eleebana are the nicest but they are A out of distance range and B out of price range (only I would be working to start with!). also, importantly for me, are other people for my partner and daughter to socialise with so they can integrate. any advice from those in the know would be appreciated!

Is this right? What I mean is, have I identified each thing as the correct equivalent? And have I missed anything? It appears the UK has no equivalent of CTP or ‘Green Slip’. Can you buy CTP from any insurer or does it have to be from the Roads Authority? (note all figures are what I’ve obtained for me!) UK MOT £40 = AU Roadworthy $60 UK Tax Disc £110 = AU Rego $270 UK Insurance Fully Comp £350 = AU Insurance Fully Comp $750 UK NO equivalent £0 = AU CTP (green Slip) $585!!!! Costs UK £500 AU $1665! And that’s before I’ve turned the key? Even taking into account the 2.5 multiplier, it seems costly, and we would need to run 2 vehicles due to distances involved in ferrying our child around! Does Rego and Roadworthy have to be done annually? What are Australians like for servicing their cars regularly? I.e is it done like the UK every year/X km’s or just as and when in general? Is buying a car without a RWC the same as buying a car without an MOT? (i.e likely to fail it’s safety checks?) All cars seem to have spaceship mileages on them, what is considered to be ‘high mileage’ in Australia? Here it always seems to have been 100k Miles, so about 160k Kms. Probably the most common question but why does FULLY comp not include the bits that CTP does? (and why pay CTP if Fully Comp includes everything?!?!?!Surely if it’s additional to CTP it isn’t’ ‘Full’ at all? Any light shed on this would be helpful from those in the know!

How long does it take you get to get to and from work (time and distance?) Location would be good too, as I'll bet it take longer to get 10k's through Sydney at Rush hour than 40k's in the sticks! Wondering what the average Aussie and PIO'er has each day!

care to elaborate? wouldn't mind knowing why about comments like this! to clarify, work could be cessnock or Grafton, living (for sea breezes) more likely to be lake Mac or one of the small towns near coffs. didn't realise Grafton was that much smaller than cessnock. can appreciate benefits of larger job opportunity pool nearer Newcastle, and amenities as well. ta for the replies folks, keep em coming!

Bit of a hypothetical at the moment, but has anyone experience of one/both of these areas, as I'm looking at them at the minute, and have visited the hunter (great wine) but not clarence/Grafton (floods while we were there so didn't get to stop). Not a real feeling though as a reccie is very different from a daily life! Was wondering what each area would be like as a resident if I could secure a job there and if cost of living was broadly similar in both or if one was cheaper? 2x 30 somethings and a 2.5 y/o! Thoughts?

crystal disk benchmark is a free benchmarking piece of software, google for it. It's show you the read and write speeds for different file sizes . Some flash drives advertise high speeds for reading but are very slow to write. you need a flash drive with a sustained write speed of around a class 6 SD card (over 6mb/s really) and read speeds are almost always faster than write speeds. pluggin it into pc won't show speeds as it depends on file type. streaming video is most like moving a large file (essentially, that is what you are doing!) so you can also see how quick it is by writing a big video file to the card and seeing what the pc says the speed of the transfer is while it's happening. Good luck!

How fast is the USB stick? if it can't support a sustained write speed of over, say 4Mb/s (quite slow really) then it might not be able to keep up with the data being streamed to it. Haven't used a thomson so don't know of any other settings it could be. You could test your usb stick on your pc to find out it's read and write speeds using crystal diskmark or something similar. A question back, did you buy your pvr in Oz? or can you bring a UK PVR and it will tune in?

sounds complicated! I take it it's only really worth it on high salaries then? Sounds like you need an accountant to work it out!

hi all. I've been looking on job adverts and get that most advertise salary plus pension at 9% unless stated otherwise. recently most of the roles I've looked at applying for also say plus leaseback vehicle, I.e. salary $xx + 9% super and leaseback vehicle. how does this work and what are the tax implications etc? anyone got one and what are the costs and benefits? ta!

Just did this to validate ours! Tips for toddlers! Well, firstly, our little one loves sticker books, esp peppa pig etc. crayons and whatever yours sleeps with at home. A pillow, so if tey won't settle they can sleep on your lap with that. A sarong or other similar. They never put the lights out when you want them to, too busy selling you duty free. We made a little 'nest' and eventually ours got 4+ hours sleep, all you can expect as it's so different. Rope, such as para cord. It may sound a little boy scout but I took 4 lengths and used them from everything from washing line to weaving a belt for the little one! came in useful making a shade on the plane so she could sleep. you will both be knackered and ours took 3-4 days to readjust to the time difference, the first day or two in the same place recouperating will help. Personally, I'd advise against doping the little one up as it's not great and doesn't allow the body to adjust well so will make the transition worse and also doping your child for that long a haul prob isn't the best idea. Stewardesses took ours of us for a few minutes occasionally. Don't forget to order kids meals, they arrive before yours so you can help them eat and then eat yours when it arrives, if one of you has the veggie option this'll arrive same time so worth thinking about. Snacks. different types. Ours mostly ate fruit which was available on the flight anyway! Things they will like that they have never seen, buy them (they only need to be small), wrap them, and spread out giving them to intervals so they can play with them during the flight until novelty wears off, like lots of little presents! We took a tablet with childrens headphones loaded with peppa pig dvd and night garden, and some games. She didn't use it much but was too short to see the in flight entertainent. You can take pushchair if still used to the gate and get it at your transfer airport. Nappies, on way out all was fine but on way back we got through lots for some reason! Patience, pack lots of it, get your little one used to swallowing to change ear pressure (we used a cup with a straw as it helped) as this and tiredness/hungriness is usually why children cry on flights. Our flight was as good as could be expected, a heck of a trip for a first flight for her but we made it there and back again in once piece. Oh, and don't underestimate HOW much stuff. I went round the world with a small rucksack a couple of times. On this trip, we had to have a large size motor and we still had stuff on 2 seats as most of it was for the little one! Enjoy the trip planning! Oh, and they won't care where they are as long as your happy and give them attention so if you like us get trapped in rising floodwater and the child ends up sleeping in the bottom on a wardrobe in a tiny room they'll be just fine if you are!

Hi all, Me, the 'better half', and our mini-me are doing a validation/reccie trip from next week for a month down between Brisbane and Sydney. Whilst we're here we were hoping to meet anyone in a similar position whose already made the leap (we're serious enough, have the 175 and aren't that attached to the UK!). Anyone who fits the bill and wouldn't mind meeting up for a brew and a chat about what it's been like so far please get in touch as we'd appreciate being able to pick your brains about real life in oz ie how kids have coped, how you've dealt with tax/childcare/centrelink/medical issues etc../oh, and bills!. Ta! Jim

We're heading on a reccie/175 validation trip down the east coast in Feb/March next year, and we've more or less sorted accommodation, flights and car hire (well, the Mrs has, I couldn't organise a p***up in the hunter valley!) How much would a reasonable daily budget for food be for 2 adults and a 2 year old? (2, but eats like a starvin marvin!) I've guessed at £120 a day for us all as I've heard it's very expensive but have no idea and we're not posh but good fresh healthy food in restaurants (bris to sydney) and groceries for when we're in self catering accom. Obviously I'm expecting it to be a lot more expensive than it would be if we were living there but do I need to plan for a lot more than this per day, or should be eat ok on this? (I refer you all to the funny thread on being 'poor' in WA on 220k last month!)

Looking for a rental for our reccie in Feb and the terms are so complicated! costs a fortune, insurance almost the same as the rental! plus a ton of extra taxes?!?!?! Anyone recommend/guidance on a company they've used which was good (if not allowed on open forum, then please PM me!) Likewise, any bad experiences/companies to steer clear of? Is the waiver insurance really worth the same again as the rental?

if you mean ALL documents so including police clearance medicals and all evidence etc. that has been approved ielts vetassess de facto evidence or whatever else you required, then we waited about 4-5 days and then e-mailed our CO who was very prompt at all stages. Visa was validated a couple of days later. Hope that helps! Good luck!!

We have our 175. That went quickly, around 6 months from start to finish. Mentally I was expecting 18+ months! :wideeyed: yay, small dance!:eek::eek: Now, the tough part. Telling the parents! We haven't mentioned anything yet to anyone as we're planning a reccie/validation trip to see if we can live in Oz before we apply for jobs etc. A question for all those who have been through this, how did you tell your parents, and how did they take it? We're hoping to use your experiences to improve our chances of not being excommunicated by family!

Hi All, thought I'd post a mini-review now we've had our full experience at the Spire Longmoor Clinic in Birmingham, which might help people looking round for a medical centre in the midlands. It's well placed for a lot of the midlands and east midlands, and the cost for us was £675 for 2 adults and one child. Booking was easy and friendly and we were able to go on Saturday which meant no holiday taken from work which was useful for us! I believe they do also offer twice monthly evening clinics as well. Arrived and we were the only family there at that time, service was very good and thorough, the administrator and nurse were friendly and we had a chat with the Dr (Not sure if this was to 'assess' us in any way but felt very much like a natural conversation about why we were interested in moving etc.). The whole experience including x-rays for my partner and I took a bit less than the estimated 3 hours and the longest wait was the x-ray at 10 minutes a hundred yards or so down the hallway! Tea/coffee and biscuits were provided. We did have one referral which was our daughter which was so minor the health visitor hadn't ever noticed it in 20+ visits and when we did the obligatory Google the examples of it were so different from it I'm amazed the Dr. noticed. As a result, we had a referred note on the online application, which I then phones a week later about and sure enough, the Dr sent further info stating it was likely to rectify itself over time anyway (strange that wasn't included in the original information). The week after, the Medical panel finalised our daughter too. All in all, The experience was very positive. I think that if you do get anything mentioned it may be worth asking at the time if they can send any additional information due to possible delays from the medical panel so they can make their decision quickly i.e if it's very minor then ask them to send something that explains just HOW minor so it's not a sticking point. Medicals are always nerve wracking (nothing has been totally stress free on this journey so far!) but the Spire was good and professional and we found it quiet pleasant (except the cost but that's similar everywhere!) Anyway, we all passed! :biggrin:

Congratulations on getting your visa! I've just checked and prgress the referreal is now showing as 'finalised' for all 3 of us so I shall wait (impatiently!) until tuesday and then e-mail my CO as he's been very good so far at responding and fingers crossed he'll make a (positive) decision at that point! It was the silliest thing we were referred for anyway so has been worth chasing the medical panel Dr to send further info which he apparently did on the weekend!

Quantitative Easing

Quick thread hi-jack, $63k plus super would be about $68.5k, which, going by the 2.2 rule rather than the exchange rate would be roughly £31k as a salary? (I know, I know, the exchange only matters on the way over!) Is that not liveable for a family? I know it is here (cos we do;) )! I'm not talking inner city posh apartment of 1000sqare meter palace, but a normal 'life' with a normal 3 bed house in a normal area, if this is the average salary in oz, isn't this ok? Would it make a difference if the OP was on a 175 rather than a 457? and if not enough, what would you consider to be enough anyone? (bit of info about the life you lead too to put it into context would be useful!) Most of the jobs that aren't FIFO I'm looking at are around 62-70 k plus super so a a little concerned if we'll be living hand to mouth as we're not too badly off here (or at least I didn't used to think so!)

Caveat; I've had one job for the last 10 years as PAYE. I spoke to my case officer and uploaded 10 years of P60's as a single .PDF and a reference from my manager as a separate .PDF file I had already passed VETASSESS with points advice.

If we're already on the existing list and have applied and been allocated a case officer, does it not matter if we're no longer on the list? (My occupation still seems to be on this new one, but thought I'd check!). I belted through the application process to get in before the deadline, lots of panicking!