oidara

Hi Leah, Got your PM< thanks, but it's LauraRusty who is currently looking for a dog boarder, not me (I started the thread back in 2011!). Perhaps you could PM her?

Anita - sorry, I didn't get notified when you replied to the thread. Thanks for the offer, even though it's no longer an issue as it was a few years ago! ;-) Laura - we ended up taking our dog with us and moving to Australia sans recce. However, we decided to return to the UK 12 months later and we sent our dog back a few months ahead of us. She stayed here: http://aidenslabradors.co.uk/ with a fantastic man called Frederick and became a real part of the family. She loves him to bits! The only thing is that he is very popular and gets booked up far in advance, especially during holiday times, but he could be worth a go. Good luck!

Hi everyone, Not sure if anyone has any experience of this (hope not!) but I am looking for some advice. We moved back from Oz last year. The shipping company were an absolute disaster. We had arranged for them to collect our stuff in two batches and then send it all over to the UK in one container. They messed up and ended up sending the second batch over to Perth for some bizarre reason! It sat there for 3 months before joining the rest of our stuff in the UK. When it all turned up, a box containing a brand new Evakool camping fridge that we'd just bought for $1000 was empty! So one of the people involved in the move had stolen it. We know it was a malicious act as we had packed sheets inside the fridge for padding and they were still in the box, so someone had gone in and removed the fridge and put the sheets back in the hope no one would notice. We have claimed on the insurance but, as it wasn't insured specifically, they only want to pay $200!!! Is there really no way to get more than this considering a criminal act occurred through the carelessness of the shipping company?

I have only read the first 3 pages, but I'd cast another vote for staying in the UK and having the second child. I totally understand the pull of Oz, but family is more important, especially when it comes to your own kids. If you always hoped/planned for 2 kids, then I think you will always regret not having the second one. If there is no way to have both Oz and the second child, then I'd definitely stay in the UK. If the only way to make Oz work is to put your kids in childcare and you are not comfortable with that, then I don't think it would be worth the move. We are the same - our kids have never been in nursery/childcare and we've now ended up home-educating as well. I wouldn't swap the time we have had with them for the world, let alone one country, and they are all happy and well-adjusted kids. I know lots of parents do use childcare either from necessity or preference, and I would never judge them for that. But I do think there are some parents, like us, who could never get along with the idea, no matter how nice the childcare is. If you think you fall into that box, then I'd say stay put in the UK if Oz isn't feasible without you parting with your kids. Good luck!

Hi everyone, My goodness, it seems like a long time ago that I posted on this thread about what car seats to use in Oz!!! We have since returned to the UK and now have an Aussie car seat for sale! Could be useful to any of you who are in the dilemma we were about how to get from the airport in Oz to accommodation without a reliable and safe car seat for your kids. The seat is for 4-8 year olds. It was the best scoring seat in the CREP safety tests when we bought it a year ago, and is in excellent condition. Needless to say, it has never been in an accident. It's an Infa Secure Vario Crown in Steel Velour. You can see info here: http://infasecure.com.au/category/ca...s/vario-crown/ We paid $170 for it, but we are open to offers. (PS. The colour is shown in the 4th picture along at the bottom. It's not the garish red colour that initially assaults the eyes when you open that link!)

We have returned to the UK and have an Aussie car seat for sale. Could be useful to any of you who are in the dilemma we were about how to get from the airport in Oz to accommodation without a reliable and safe car seat for your kids. The seat is for 4-8 year olds. It was the best scoring seat in the CREP safety tests when we bought it a year ago, and is in excellent condition. Needless to say, it has never been in an accident. It's an Infa Secure Vario Crown in Steel Velour. You can see info here: http://infasecure.com.au/category/ca...s/vario-crown/ We paid $170 for it, but we are open to offers. (PS. The colour is shown in the 4th picture along at the bottom. It's not the garish red colour that initially assaults the eyes when you open that link!)

Thanks for the input. Glad it worked out for you in the end. We will continue to put our thinking caps on about how to get around this. Contractor mortgages look to be a promising option.

Hello again. Thanks for taking the time to respond to me again - much appreciated! We do have a sizeable deposit, so that's not so much an issue, but we're still a long way short. I looked into what you said and I found this: https://www.gov.uk/affordable-home-ownership-schemes/help-to-buy-equity-loans "Help to Buy equity loans are open to both first-time buyers and home movers on new-build homes worth up to £600,000." It's the new-build part that's the problem as it's not a new-build. As I understand, from January this won't matter, but this will be too late for us for this particular property. Please do correct me if I'm wrong!

Thanks for the input. We will try more brokers tomorrow and see if they can be more useful than the ones we tried today. As far as I understood the equity loan thing, it only works right now for new-builds, but will be in place for all properties from January. Is that right? If so, that will be too late for us on this one unfortunately, which we have stupidly set our hearts on after so many years of looking and finding nothing decent. Note to self: do not house hunt in future without finances in place!!!

Problem is that we have found our dream house, the likes of which will probably only come up once in a blue moon! (somewhere with land in the SW that doesn't cost a small fortune)

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

We have returned to the UK and we are struggling to get a mortgage because were self-employed and haven't been in the UK for a decade. The mortgage broker said lenders like to see at least a year's history of income in Blighty, if not 2-3. It occurred to me that many of you may have faced similar situations, so I wondered if you can recommend banks or other lenders who might be willing to touch us with a ten foot barge pole! Thanks!

Yep, that certainly makes it easier! I found a vet today who can do the jab for $110. It then lasts 3 years (could be 1 year if they use the one year vax though, so double-check what you are being given if you don't plan to move within the year).

Well, the thread title says it all really. Any experience with them, good or bad? Thanks.

Thanks! I found a different section of the DEFRA website and unearthed this info too: Step 2 – Have your pet vaccinated – After the microchip has been fitted your pet must be vaccinatedagainst rabies. There is no exemption to this requirement, even if your pet hasa current rabies vaccination. Rabies boosters must be kept up to date. Thelength of the waiting period before entry to the UK is 21 days after the firstvaccination date. A waiting period is not required for subsequent entries intothe UK, provided rabies boosters are kept up to date. If the vaccination is intwo parts the 21 day wait will be from the date of the second vaccination. Forthe purposes of calculating the waiting period, the date that the vaccinationwas carried out is counted as day 0. Pastedfrom <http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/pets/pet-owners/> Looks like it doesn't matter that it's lapsed as you only have to wait 21 days after getting a new jab, not 180.

Hi guys, Just wondering if anyone had any recommendations for pet shipping companies that ship dogs from Oz to the UK? Thanks!

Can anyone recommend a good shipping company from Oz (Adelaide) to the UK? Also any companies to steer clear of (if I'm allowed to ask that...you can PM me if we're not allowed to discuss that openly). Thanks!

I think we are going back, and our four-legged friend will be along for the ride again, poor thing. Question is, what happens about rabies? I don't have the documentation to hand, but I believe her rabies jab was due back in October. Obviously we didn't give it as it's not required here and we had no plans to return at that stage - we had an inkling but not enough to process all the ins and outs of what we needed to set in place. Anyhow, now her vaccinated status has lapsed, what happens? Do we need to do the whole titer and 180-day wait again? I have emailed DEFRA but I imagine they may take a while to respond, so I thought I'd ask here too in case anyone's had some experience of this. Thanks!

It could also make it hard for fellow Poms trying to rent. Sounds like you aren't the only one who has done a runner without paying bills, so if word of this gets around then perhaps Aussie landlords will be wary of letting to Poms. It's hard enough getting a rental here in the first place without another black mark against us from the get go!

Thanks!

Thanks, Dan. I did call Centrelink and they said nothing would have to be paid back, but now I am concerned having read your message and I wonder if they didn't think it through. Are you just saying that it will be a problem if we earn more than we have told them?

I am usually on hold for one hour or more when I call Centrelink! I will call them to get to the bottom of this if it becomes a reality, but I wondered if anyone had the answer in the meantime. That way we can set the money aside if there's a chance we might have to pay it back.

If you receive state sponsorship (in which you are obliged to stay in a state for 2 years) and then you go back to the UK before the 2 years is up, does that mean you're no longer entitled to come back to Oz on your PR visa even though that's valid for 5 years? I suspect that the PR visa is still valid and that the SS issue is about moving between states rather than ping-pomming, but I just wanted to see if anyone knows for sure. Thanks!

Hi everyone, We have been receiving Family Tax Benefit since arriving in Australia. I am wondering what happens if you decide to go back, especially within one year of arrival? Are you supposed to pay it back or do they just cancel any future payments from the date of your departure?

:biglaugh: I must admit that I did have that "Redback on the Toilet Seat" song in mind when I wrote it!! Thanks for all the reassurances folks. We showed the girls our captive so now they know what to look for.