peanig

My lease states no pets. However, I looked at a number of properties where the tenants have pets. Negotiate with the owner prior to agreeing to lease. The price you are looking to pay, will probably be 2, 3 bed units, or older houses. 1-3 year old houses on new estates circa $400. Hope this helps

I live in Lara and found a rental no problem, Geelong will be the same. Looking at around $400 for a new 3-4 bed house, $300 will get you an older house or unit. Great area to live. Easy reach of beaches, countryside, Melbourne. Not a congested as some of the Eastern Suburbs and Mornington Peninsula. If you haven't found it already - realestate.com.au is the place to look for property.

A friend of mine works for Spence (also a pom, lol), they are not recruiting at present. But, as you are not looking to move until end of next year something may come up. Other companies to look at are: Kane Construction and Lyons Construction

Hi Mitch Cannot help with construction industry as not my area. However, I do live in Geelong (well Lara actually, but close enough!). Suburbs to look at are: Belmont, Grovedale, Highton, Wandana Heights, Waurn Ponds and of course Lara if small towns are your thing. Geelong West and Newtown for a central location, but they are pricier because of this. There's a new build estate going up at the minute at Armstrong Creek, but the infrastructure (shops, schools, etc.) is not there yet and it is a bit further south of Geelong. realestate.com.au will give you some idea of prices. We like (and prefer) Geelong to the hustle and bustle of Melb CBD and its spralling suburbs. It has good a rail link to Melb, and a stones throw to the country and beaches. Other websites to look at: whatsonigeelong.com.au geelongadvertiser.com.au geelongaustralia.com.au Good luck

Be rude not to...:wink:

The Sporting Globe is showing live matches - including England vs Italy :smile: http://www.sportingglobe.com.au/

Welcome to Geelong. We've been here two and a half years, and really enjoy it. Holler if you need anything. LC is great, well done for finding it already

Yep the "Bellarine Peninsula" :cool:

I used HiFX, very easy

We live in Geelong (well, Lara actually - which is close enough to count..) Highton, Wanadana Heights, Newtown are good areas, so is Grovedale, but it sounds like you have been put off that suburb already. As previously mentioned, its certainly worth coming to this side of the bay for a look-see. We don't have children, so cannot comment on schools etc. Personally I think Geelong is a great place, 20-30mins from the beaches at Torquay, Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove. Easy access to Melbourne on the train. Generally traffic is light, so easy to get around. Good luck

Hi Tracy. I don't have the knowledge to recommend a value rental car company. I was fortunate that my company paid for mine when I arrived. All the main players are at the airport though (directly opposite the international terminal). My only suggestion would be choose one with offices in Geelong too, so you don't have far to travel to return it. Incidentally, is Geelong your final destination? I only ask as I live there, as do many other poms. Hope this helps and have a safe journey.

Sorry Sue, that was very remiss of me :notworthy: There are a lot of 'totally fantastic people' who live there too. And my caramel slices are Awesome.. :biggrin:

We've lived in Lara (just north of Geelong) for nearly 2 years now. Geelong is a great place to live, plenty of parks, local amenities, etc. Can get to Melbourne in around an hour, beaches and Great Ocean Road to the south. Suburbs to look at are; Grovedale, Belmont, Highton, Waurn Ponds, Wandana Heights or Newtown, Geelong West (if you prefer nearer the CBD) Sorry cannot cannot help with schools as we have no children. However, we have friends whose children attend schools in Grovedale, Belmont areas. The local paper may give you some more insight: http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/ Good luck

sorry cannot help with this. Try posting the same question on http://www.lifeinvictoria.com there are quite a few poms from that area who may be able to help.

I live in Geelong, try the Victoria specific site: www.lifeinvictoria.com Also worth a look is: www.meetup.com Hope these help

I agree with everything Tasmas has said. Put a pack together (or an number of) and hand it over as soon as you can. My experience is that the rental market moves quickly, so if all the required info is readily at hand you will have a better chance of securing the property you want. Defo on the bank statement, you need to show that you can meet the rental payments Other things to add: Letter from employer (if you have one) & Reference from UK estate agent (if renting your UK property) Rentals are usually advertised as $ per week, the owner usually sets the payment period - mine is fortnightly www.realestate.com.au will give you an idea of what's around Good luck :biggrin:

I purchased my car within 3 weeks of arriving. As far as I can recall all I had was a Aus bank account (which I set up in the UK prior to leaving & already had money transferred into it). I activated this account the day I arrived, using my temp address - the debt cards arrived a few days later. Aus licenses are given to UK license holders without any test. This also applies to motorbikes - not test required. Although you are expected to know the road laws, no tests or checks are made for this either.

I brought my car from a dealer using my uk licence and temporary address without any trouble. Insurance was straight forward too, my uk NCB was accepted. I then obtained a vic licence (after 2 months) when I had my permanent address. Vic roads manage both rego and licences, when I got my licence the rego was updated at the same time, updated insurance details separately. I'm insured with bingle.com.au Another price comparison to try: www.comparethemarket.com.au I believe you can drive on a uk licence for up to 3 months, vicroads website will give you more details

We use Gentle Dental on Pako. But there are numerous others to choose from. Sorry can't be more helpful. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

also check out: http://www.lifeinvictoria.com Plenty of people from Melbourne on this site.

Thank you for replying. After looking at the OQU website we do not meet any of the eligibility criteria as we are neither PRs or citizens...

​Hi all. We're here onmy 457 visa. My partner has worked for many years in the NHS whereshe has gained a NVQ + attended numerous other courses whilst there. She is struggling tofind a job (here in Victoria) due to the fact she hasn't got aminimum 'Certificate III' in any of the health care topics. However,when her skills and NVQ are compared against any of the coursesyllabuses, they are practically identical. Is there somewhere wecan go to get these skills and qualifications formally recognised? Our option so far is to pay for a 6 month course, which she couldbreeze through inside a week. The other complicationis as a 475 visa is temporary, she is classed an overseasstudent, meaning the course fees are typically greater than threetimes the normal fee! Any assistance would beappreciated, many thanks.

10th is good for me, I would love to meet you all..