rob dc

mm somewhere you pass through what exactly do you want to know, i know it well

We lived in Chapel Lane, head down from the garage towards Langley, past the dodgy old barbers set back on the left and past the little shop on the right then first on the right just as the road bends left to Langley, and right again into Chapel Lane, Dell yes St Marys no, but then since the glory of 1976 and a bit of luck from Bobby Stokes right at the last min........ well we peaked didn't we....... Was in Southampton not long ago had a bit of a memory lane trip, OH was very patient !

AHH the Top Rank, all houses now, the Dell too, small world, Shirley for me then Blackfield as well for a lot of years, then to Fareham. I'd rather be here tho !

well now, i know the avenue very well, are you a former sottonite too ???

Aus friend burns them with a lit fag when he finds them on his dog and they let go and fall out - ticks - not wives

we started with vetassess for my oh that took the longest but was just collecting and sending all the docs they wanted, the rest is just collecting the info they want and uploading etc the process itself was straight forward and once you get a co you just follow the instructions, our case was not complicated so we tackled it ourselves. we both managed to secure jobs from the UK before we left which reduced the stress levels vastly, too long to post here but if you want ant more info send me a pm good luck

Dont know what you job is but guess if migration agent says you can apply for ss then you are on the skilled list, why not search on seek and any other recruitment sites you can find, email some companies for job info etc. show to your oh with financial package etc. to show what you could expect to earn in Aus

well been there already, excitement gives way to mild panic as the flight gets closer and you still have tons to do but just push through it, it's more than worth it when you get here good luck

As Rupert says, you dont have to change your money now, if you think the rate will improve leave it in the UK. You will be renting , I guess, when you get here anyway so just change enough for your short term needs. We sold and changed it all and then the rate went down and has not really come back up since. After the wait for the visa process and the stress that goes with it there was no way we would have willingly stayed in the UK for another 2 years, if you have come this far...... ????

and he's coming out to play

we moved from dorset with white and co very good price on sole use, they included stuff others wanted extra for, kept us informed etc just waiting for it to arrive now

Ok, I pride myself on being fond of the above 3 things, having spent many hours on here before we came I was worried. Chocolate, well to be honest I cant really taste the difference, although my cravings do generally start after red wine so this may cloud my judgement somewhat. Sausages and bacon?, well having experimented since we arrived I have to disagree with those who complain, we have found them both better then the UK, they seem to contain an alien substance we are not used to, I think it's called meat. When cooked you dont get tons of fat come out of sausages, and you dont get that horrible white gunk out of the bacon because its not pumped full of water. Go to Woollies, buy the 100% Aus beef sausages and try them, if they taste different it's because they are full of guess what, meat. Yesterday we had a bbq breakfast at work for 35 people, yes we are provided with a patio and bbq's outside the offices, as 'new boy' I was delegated to cook the bacon and sausages and it was a joy, no fat spitting, no flare ups just well, meat. Usual jokes tho, why is british bbq food black, because you have to cook it real fast before it rains again etc. If you want to eat processed stuff full of water and fat then spend you time searching out the 'English shops' if you want to eat 'meat' go to woollies or coles and buy Aus sausages and bacon. For those who say you cant afford to drink try liquorland for buy 1 get 1 free on some really great Aus red wines Not that I'm obsessed with red wine or chocolate or meat you undersand

cocktail shaker the removal people forgot to pack in boxes for container and a pic nic blanket priorities

now that we both have flu the total lack of day/night nurse is a real pain for my oh, just cant get it unless someone can tell me different, pack some if you have room

well i think there is a lot of luck involved in all this. I read all the posts about jobs and how hard it was to try and get one from the UK but we both thought we had to try. My oh works in environmental health so registered with seek to get emailed jobs with local authorities in WA, she applied for maybe 3 or 4 that came along, had 2 skype interviews and was offered the job which she accepted and they were happy to wait for the 3 months notice she had to work in the UK. I searched the internet for contact details for companies I wanted to speak to, emailed their HR departments with a copy my CV which I did not change to the Aus format. I sent about 10 emails most replied, some said come see us when you get here but 3 were keen to talk. One offered me a job if I could start in 3 weeks, i couldnt, one offered me a 3 month trial. With the third a major international, I had lots of chats by email, a long conference call interview and a second long 'general chat' on the phone and was offered the job a couple of days later and they were also happy to wait the 3 moths my OH had to work for her notice. So with a bit of luck and in my case a bit of cheek in one of the emails after a phone call it is possible to get a job from the UK. We both started work here about 3 weeks ago and both loving it good luck

moneycorp give free transfers to all NAB account holders, under £20k you can do on line once you have registered, over you need to phone and do it with one of their brokers, either way they will email you at every stage with all the details and it takes about 3 working days from uk to your NAB account, have done it both ways and all worked ok for us

dont know where you are heading to but I do remember that at the one we went to the WA government had a stand just for docs, nurses and all other health care professionals

sold a house in there somewhere as well

No not sponsored, my oh occupation is on the skilled occupation list, mine isnt, submitted Vettasses Nov 2011 that was the longest wait about 16 weeks, IELTS in Jan, state sponsorship took about 2 weeks then applied for visa sometime end Feb, police checks and meds early April and visas granted 2nd week April. Both managed to find jobs from the UK with skype interviews etc. OH had to give 3 months notice, booked flights, removals, dog shipping, rental property etc. flew end Aug and here we are, both started work 2nd week Sept, all a bit of a whirlwind really but 3rd week here now and loving it all. We are in Kalamunda in the hills above Perth. OH is in environmental health, im in electrical service industry You will read all sorts of experiences on here about finding jobs and the cost of living, choice in supermarkets etc. for us the job front was the key to when we could fly, soon as 1 of us had some positive response we were going but as it turned out both secured jobs before we left, OH with local authority here me by sending emails with CV to what looked like good companies I found on google Australia, sent normal UK CV got several positive replies, offers from 2 employers, accepted 1 and signed contract from Uk, same for OH, recruitment process here takes longer than UK as they wait for your references to come back from UK employers before they will offer you a job. Workplaces seem much more informal compared to UK offices, its all first names with clients etc not much formality which is different for a few days but is much more relaxed when you get into it, no one seems in much of a hurry for anything which I guess is a lot of the reason for coming, apart from the weather, the relaxed lifestyle etc. Immigration was nothing like on the TV, off plane, stamped passports, sniffed by drugs dog, outside in the sun 40 mins after getting off the plane. Supermarkets where we are woolworths and coles, prefer woolies, both have far more choice than the Tesco we left behind in the uk, once you stop converting to pounds and remember you get paid $$$ it seems to work out roughly the same for food shopping etc. Hope this helps a bit Rob

Where is that one?, we went to one about this time last year in Islington somewhere, it wasn't quite what I expected but we did get a lot of useful info. There were advisers for trades telling you what visa you need etc. and an employment type desk but didnt get near it as such a long queue, lots removal companies and pet shippers, few aus banks and foreign exchange (cash) companies, and good for us was the WA government desk. Center of the room were short talks on different aspects of moving to Aus from different companies, some of which were good. That was the first step for us and now we are here Let me know if anything you want to know Good luck

must be done by one of he panel doctors from the diac list, may mean a bit of travel but worth it in the end good luck

insurance letton percival paid it last month was 1.3% to Perth

it will work just fine just change the plug

was there yesterday was very nice seemed to be a few 'characters' in the woolsomething shopping center tho !

yes letton percival