sunniecat

I still have UK accounts with HSBC, with my Canberra address on them. I have no problem using my credit card here, either, though I try not to. But I do use the UK acccount (as others do) to online shop from the UK! I also use various family members as postal addresses if necessary... Amazon, for example... and then I can transfer them postage money easily from my UK account I thought about transferring it since there's HSBC here but I've never needed to as yet.

should be ok for us, preferably in the afternoon. If the weather's good I'd suggest the park at Chifley, we can get coffee there and there's good play stuff for any kids. If it's raining, Southern Cross in Woden. Anyone else have any suggestions?

finding work depends on your area of work. My hubs took 3 months to get a job (IT Helpdesk). I had one set up before we arrived (admin). I've just changed job and it was considerably more difficult to find something (I'm blaming the upcoming elections). Temp work in admin is down due to job freezes across half the public service, ACT State Govt and universities. If you're something more specialised/vocation-orientated, however, it's probably not going to be too difficult to find work. As for the weather, the saying here seems to be Anzac Day to Labour Day (late Sept). We have certainly had the heating running (just for half an hour morning and evening) since Anzac Day, and I fully expect it to continue through most of September. That said, it's been a beautifully mild August so far and I really really want to get out to the snowfields, even just for a day, while it's so lovely!

you could also try Freecycle, there's a pretty active Canberra group though it's a 'take what you get' thing, you don't get to test the sofas out before you get them!

Salvos fyshwick and phillip, mixed bag but we bought an awesome comfy chair for $40. Best buy EVER. Fantastic furniture in Fyshwick seems to be the closest option to Ikea, it's not *that* cheap but it's not disastrous and they'll do packages. There's a bunch of furniture stores down the Home Hub at DFO as well.

my husband and I bought 2 cars, cheaply, within 6 weeks of getting here. The first cost us $1500, is a mitsubishi lancer that had just over 300,000kms on the clock and runs like a dream. We got that one from a dealer, in Phillip (I'd recommend the Phillip dealers if you're looking for a cheaper car, the ones round the back off the main road). The second we bought from gumtree, for $1750, a hyundai excel that has more like 230,000kms on the clock. Not quite as good as the mitsu but it runs fine nonetheless. We've had both cars for well over a year now with very few problems. If you go to the dealers, walk in with a budget fixed in your head, and tell them you've got $1k less than that. Ignore the prices splashed over the windscreen. We told them we had $2500 and were being shown cars that said $4500 on the windscreen, that they said they could sell to us for $2500. Bear in mind you will have to pay an extra $800/year for rego though!

decent Cadburys chocolate, as all my friends well know. That's probably about it though, other than, as someone else said, all the people the other side of the road. And my advanced ballet classes!

hostels are a great way of meeting people to do some exploring with. hostelbookers.com is a really good website, if you look at the hostel ratings it will tell you which ones are lively, as well as which ones are in safer areas etc. I loved backpacking on my own, a lot of freedom, and I used to literally just start chatting to someone in the hostel, we'd go out and explore for a couple of days, and then our buses went different directions and I never saw them again. other people you might meet up with in other spots on your route, or decide to keep travelling together. be prepared to do anything, workwise, the job market can be tough here. A lot of people work in hostels to pay their board, or in bars or delis. and be prepared for money to disappear quickly if you're not working! most of all: don't skip anything you'll regret not doing (like, say, making a side-trip to ayers rock, or going diving on the barrier reef, or going up the harbour bridge) just because of the cost. the experience is more than worth having to figure out how to make up the money later!

we've got excellent broadband, with iinet, but it does depend where you are and what services you can get. We're on their 'NakedDSL' and also have Fetch TV. our phone is VOIP through their system and we get cheap calls back home as well. They've always been really good, we've had excellent customer service, so I do recommend them if you can get them. I agree with Neal - get a medicare card asap, get a driving license as soon as you have a fixed address (you'll need to take in the tenancy agreement), and get a TFN (you can walk into the ATO office in civic and do it in 5 minutes, they'll post it out to whatever address you provide). And, yes, Canberra's a great place to live if you have somewhere short term to stay for a few weeks it's worth using that time to explore both sides as I find there is a very different feel between the north and the south, as well as investigating schools, childcare etc, so that you can see what will suit you best. Be prepared to apply for longer-term rental places on the spot as you see them (I heard people say it's worth making up an application pack with references, bank info to prove you have the income if you don't yet have jobs, that sort of thing - we did that, and it also meant I usually had the info available for filling out applications as needed). Competition is often fierce and if you can get to weekday viewings you're likely to be a lot less crowded out. Some of the Saturday viewings we went to would get 20-30 couples in, and maybe 10 of those would apply for the house at the viewing. Admittedly we were looking in February when the rental market tends to be at its busiest!

A Bite to Eat in Chifley is really nice for a coffee & cake meet-up, but we'd need to book if we're meeting up there, it's pretty popular so we'd need some idea of numbers. Otherwise maybe the Southern Cross club at Woden? It's nothing special but it's an easy spot. Sundays are pretty good for us. Let us know once you've moved down and we'll find a date. Waramanga's a nice spot, I have a bunch of friends that live up round there

the only other thing I would say is not to be scared at how fast money may initially seem to vanish from your bank account - once you're on a Canberra wage, it will all settle out, but it can seem pretty terrifying to start with once you've shelled out a house deposit, bought a car, got your phones, paid for the new driving license (can cost up to $150 depending how long it's valid for) and the myriad of other start-up costs that seem to show up out of nowhere. Hope it all goes well!

congrats - hope the move goes well! we're always pretty ready to give tips out, so ask away with what you want to know This time of year the best tip is probably: be prepared for chilly nights. By end of September it should be warming up though, so it might not be quite such an issue!

we're getting Championship on Setanta, but haven't yet shelled out for Fox for Premiership... Pete (my hubs, posted just up there ^^) mostly watches those at a mate's or down the club (depending on time). The lads have been known to pull an all-nighter to watch early and late kickoffs overnight! Always happy to meet up for a drink or two, we're in Wanniassa so southside suits us when's a good day/time for you guys?

Hey, congrats! Come and say hello to us in the ACT forum as well, there's plenty of people about to help out when any questions you have there and occasional meet-ups get organised too.

try the master builders association, ACT branch. I don't know anything about course costs. Otherwise CIT seems like a pretty sensible option.

I actually can't, because I'm in Canberra, but I know the dance class scene in Melbourne is good (Australian Ballet is based there and some of the kids from my dance classes here auditioned for several full-time schools). I'm sure you won't have a problem finding something

make it clear you have researched the cost of living and your potential salary and are sure that it'll be financially viable.

airbnb.com that someone else recommended is a good place to start, I found a couple of possibilities through there, along with stayz.com.