Michelle Cholet

Wow Debs, not long now til you get here. i guess just over 2 weeks till you leave the UK. I bet you just want to get here now and get settled. once the packers have loaded the container you'll be able to relax a little or at least that was how i felt. We are due to receive our shiment next week hopefully so can't wait. the kids have been entertaining themselves with cardboard boxes and things as they have very little toys although they are busy most afternoons with swimming, tennis clubs etc so they haven't really noticed. it'll be like christmas for them when they get here. Hope all the packing goes well and i hope to meet up soon. shell

Hi Whoopseydaisy (michelle) , it would also be great to catch up with you when you get to Darwin. I'm sure your visa will come through soon enough. I'm sure we'll all keep you posted on any meet up's. Let us know when you get your visa through. Shell

Hi Junellew, yeah it would be nice to catch up over the coming weeks with the kids. We have a few things planned over the next few weekends but maybe we can meet up mid week if you are free. My son is in school everyday till 2.30 so we could meet one afternoon? shell

Hi Debs i've sent you a PM with a few ideas on nursery's/ schools etc. Take care. Shell

Well things in Darwin are still going good for us. I can't believe we've been here in Darwin for a month now. We have now sorted most things like banks, medicare, schools and various clubs for kids to enjoy. We are still awaiting our shipment which we should have received on 31st Aug but are now due to receive mid September so not long now. One thing i did learn about Australia is that you can't park facing the wrong direction:eek: as i found myself with a nice parking ticket and a $40 fine in my second week here. A lesson well learnt which i won't be repeating. Ha ha! Hopefully there won't be too many incidents like this again. We did go to Mindil Beach Markets last Thursday which was lovely. We all wanted to go before it closed for the rainy season. I was surprised to see sooo many people there. The Market stalls and food were good with random people jamming in the background. The Sunset was amazing and the kids really loved playing on the beach. So Laura I guess you are almost here by now. I hope all is going well for you and you are finding your feet here in Darwin. I find Darwin easy to get around being that it's not a huge city infact it's a nice introduction to Australia without being too overwhelmed by a big city (especially as we've just come from a relatively small capital city in Tanzania) let me know if you need any newcomer advice with anything once you get here and we can always meet up for a coffee or have a chat on the phone. James.......nice to hear that you and your wife are enjoying Darwin as we are. It would be great to meet up with some fellow brits like yourselves as we all have a story or two to tell about the moves we've all embarked upon. We have a few things going on in the week but maybe we could meet up one weekend if you are both free? Anyway keep me posted on all your Darwin happenings. shell

Hi Laura, yeah it's a nightmare trying to sort out those final few things but before you know it you'll be here. I can't really believe that were finally here ourselves. Anyway i'm sure you'll love it. I'm just off out with the kids on the duck about town tour which is worth a look at online. We have a similar one on liverpool which the kids wanted to go on whilst we were home but we never got chance. They then spotted one when we got here so we're doing the tourist thing. Ha Ha! Well good look on your move and I hope it all goes well. Maybe we can catch up when you get here. Shell

Hi Laura, we too are also new to darwin on a 457 visa and arrived here 10 days ago although my husband came out before us for 12 weeks to sort out a house and get settled in his new job etc while i was back in liverpool packing our house up ready for shipping. We have 2 kids one boy who is 7 and one girl who has just turned 4. We had never been to Australia before now but lived in a few African countries including Tanzania where we spent the last 5 years. Fortunately the weather is virtually the same as darwin so we're pretty used to the climate Really loving what we see at the moment but just sorting schools etc for kids amongst other things like banks, medicare, aussie driving licence etc which to be honest i've mostly done and it was relatively straight forward. More straight forward than the UK and people are genuinely helpfull. Would love to chat some more and maybe meet up when you get here once you get organised etc. Hope the next few weeks go well for you. shell x

Well we're finally here in Sunny Darwin. :jiggy: After packing up two houses, selling our house in liverpool (or trying to) and shipping all our worldly goods including the car to Darwin i can safely say i'm done with moving! I'm originally from Liverpool and Married to a fellow Scouser. We have two Children - Ethan aged 7 and Chloe aged 4. Over the past 12 Years we have lived in various African Countries due to my husbands job, most recently Tanzania in East Africa where we spent the last 5 years which we thouroughly loved........... well apart from the daily 12 hour power cuts, water shortages and fuel shortages. Ha ha! We finally arrived in Darwin about 10 days ago and so far things are looking good although i'm sure there will be ups and downs. I have managed to work my way around town and elsewhere in a hire car and it seems relatively easy to find places as it's well sign posted (unlike Tanzania with bad roads and roads with no names) :wacko: The kids are enjoying all the lovely parks which are so clean and tidy and generally well looked after. The kids will be starting school in the next week or two which will give us the opportunity to meet new people as we've not really met anybody yet although we've not been here long. So if there are any people out there living in Darwin or are new to Darwin who have kids let me know as i'd love to find out more about darwin life and meet new people..... plus the kids are driving me mad. Ha Ha! Love em really! :chatterbox: The weather here is gorgeous and very similar to Tanzania as they too have a dry season and wet season which gets particularly hot and humid towards the end of the year with lots of tropical storms etc so hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a shock to us but you never know. I had a look at the poms in oz website on numerous occasions while we were waiting for visa's etc and read some interesteing and funny threads keeping me motivated through the what seemed like a long wait. Now we are here i've finally got my backside into gear to join. Woohoo! Anyway looking forward to starting our new adventure down under and enjoying life and meeting some Poms in Oz people:yes: shell

Hi Reddebz, we too have just arrived in darwin 10 days ago from Liverpool and slowly getting into the swing of things. We have 2 kids ethan aged 7 and chloe aged 4 and are in the process of sorting schools for kids etc among other things. My husband's new job brings us here to Darwin. We have been previously living and working in Tanzania for the last 5 years too. We also shipped a 40ft container here from Liverpool to Darwin and used a company called 1st move international who so far have been excellent. We don't receive our things till early september so not too long really. They were really helpfull and communicated with us very well. As Jobo said it's definately worth shipping your things over as it really is all those small things that you accumulate over the years that you forget about so for the sake of a one of fee it's definately worth it. You will pay a little more for things here too (although not much more than the uk) but it will soon amount to a few $$$$'s especially if you have kids as all their toys etc soon add up and you'll never get back what you initially paid for them. I really hope the move goes well for you as it's a stressfull time for all the family trying to organise flights, schooling and shipping etc but before you know it you'll be here. It's great that you have also found a job too. As my kids are getting older now i too will be looking for a job as by trade i am a beauty therapist previously working for Clarins so a similar trade to yourself. Anybody who is interested i'd love to meet up and swap tales of the move that we've all encountered. After reading different posts for the last few months on PIO i have only just joined. Finally! take care. shell

Thanks for the response, yeah we're slowly settling into Darwin life and hopefully once our shipment arrives we'll be even more settled. I always say it takes at least 6 months to a year to get familiar and build up a network of friends in a new country. With all that is going on in Darwin i'm sure that time will go quickly. Hopefully through PIO i'll get to meet a few new people along the way. shell

Well we're finally here in Sunny Darwin. :jiggy: After packing up two houses, selling our house in liverpool (or trying to) and shipping all our worldly goods including the car to Darwin i can safely say i'm done with moving! I'm originally from Liverpool and Married to a fellow Scouser. We have two Children - Ethan aged 7 and Chloe aged 4. Over the past 12 Years we have lived in various African Countries due to my husbands job, most recently Tanzania in East Africa where we spent the last 5 years which we thouroughly loved........... well apart from the daily 12 hour power cuts, water shortages and fuel shortages. Ha ha! In November last year, we decided that whilst we loved Africa, we didn't want to spend another 10 years in a developing country while the children were at an age were education was not the best, and my husbands job would only ever offer African countries. We therefore decided to explore other options such as Canada and Australia and thankfully a job offer came up in Darwin which we obviously decided to go for. We then had to pack up our rented house in Tanzania and have it shipped to the UK where we could consolidate all our goods as we would then have to pack up our house in Liverpool and send altogether to Darwin (which we are hoping to receive soon) We then said goodbye to some good friends who were also moving on to new pastures around the world and took the kids out of their school and finally left for the UK before Easter. Once we arrived back in Liverpool we then had our house to sell and pack up. We knew that we wouldn't be going out to Darwin till End July so i decided to put the kids into a local school which they settled into really quickly and seemed to love. My husband then travelled to Australia for 12 weeks to start his job as well as sort a house for us etc. while i sorted things back in Liverpool. He then returned for a week to pick us all up and finally get out to Australia. We finally said our goodbye's to family and friends who were so supportive through this whole process but sad to see us go again. We finally arrived in Darwin about 10 days ago and so far things are looking good although i'm sure there will be ups and downs. I have managed to work my way around town and elsewhere in a hire car and it seems relatively easy to find places as it's well sign posted (unlike Tanzania with bad roads and roads with no names) :wacko: The kids are enjoying all the lovely parks which are so clean and tidy and generally well looked after. The kids will be starting school in the next week or two which will give us the opportunity to meet new people as we've not really met anybody yet although we've not been here long. So if there are any people out there living in Darwin or are new to Darwin who have kids let me know as i'd love to find out more about darwin life and meet new people..... plus the kids are driving me mad. Ha Ha! Love em really! :chatterbox: The weather here is gorgeous and very similar to Tanzania as they too have a dry season and wet season which gets particularly hot and humid towards the end of the year with lots of tropical storms etc so hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a shock to us but you never know. I had a look at the poms in oz website on numerous occasions while we were waiting for visa's etc and read some interesteing and funny threads keeping me motivated through the what seemed like a long wait. Now we are here i've finally got my backside into gear to join. Woohoo! Anyway looking forward to starting our new adventure down under and enjoying life. shell