Zo2Oz

Hi there, I don't know where you are flying from but am flying at about the same time and managed to find flights for $1750 return with Malaysia Airlines (booking directly with the airline). I live in Sydney but this flight leaves from Brisbane so I will need to get an internal flight up to Brisbane for about $125 but it only takes just over an hour so that doesn't bother me too much. The only flights I could get from Sydney were about $2000 plus and that was with China Southern any other airline was coming up at about $2200+ Anyway I hope that helps :-)

Great thank you v much!

Hi there, Can anyone recommend a good dentist in Sydney? I live in the inner west but I am happy to travel to one that has been recommended. Thanks all!

Thanks both. It amazing how quickly this year has gone.

Hi all, This forum has been such a great help to me pre and post move and as I have read so many posts I thought I could tell you about my experience of life in Australia. I am 26 and from the UK and my partner is an Australian citizen, he was born in Australia but lived most of his life in the UK. We came to a decision to move on Aus in April 2011 and we arrived in November 2011. I came out on a working holiday visa as we wanted to give it a bit of a try before we committed with a more permanent move. I had visited Aus twice before the first time for 3 months traveling and again for a two week holiday, both times I loved the place but that was through the eyes of a tourist rather than actually living there. We arrived at the end of November having been on a 3 week holiday in Asia and at first we stayed in Queensland with family for just over a month. We had decided to try living in Sydney as my company from the UK had an office there where there was a chance of getting a job and many of the companies in my industry are based in Sydney. We both had very little knowledge of Sydney so basically decided that we wouldn't want to live too far out and looked into areas such as Randwick, Balmain and Neutral Bay. I trawled gumtree and agents websites for places to view, many of the adverts on gumtree I found to be lease breaks and the tenants were advertising for new people to take on the lease and would tell you to contact the agent. We came down to Sydney for 5 days and the first place we viewed was a 2 bedroom flat in Balmain, we fell in love with the flat and the area straight away and it had amazing views of the city, we looked at a couple more but applied for that one as none of the others seemed to match it. Luckily we were accepted and 2 weeks later we moved in! I love living in Balmain and as it is so close to the city, has amazing parks, shops, pubs and restaurants. For anyone coming to Balmain try out the East Village pub, Our Place on Darling and the Cottage! It feels like living in a village or small town and there is always lots going on, the other week there was free jazz in the park on a Sunday. Back to the job hunt, I had applied for a few jobs with agencies but I hadn't heard much back, I guess a lot of it was to do with my WHV. I managed to get in touch with someone from my old company, had an interview and started work mid February. My employer could only take me on a 6 month contract due to WHV restrictions. By about April we had decided that we would like to stay longer than the year so I started to look further into applying for a de facto partner visa (820/801). Before we left the UK we had decided that this might be an option so had started collecting evidence and shipped it over. The application itself took a lot of work to get everything together, I sent joint leases/tickets for joint holidays/photos over 4 years/form 80/4 Australian stat decs and many other things such as bills etc. We got everything together and sent it off in a folder to the processing centre in July. I got my acknowledgement about a week later and then I booked in for my medical. The medical was fairly straight forward and I just took a ticket number waited to be called where someone at the desk checked my forms, and then I was called to each different room for the different tests. I was slightly nervous as I had never had a medical before but there was nothing to worry about. The medical centre sent my results straight to immigration. A month later I received a package from immigration, I opened it up and inside was all of my evidence. I was thrilled as I thought I must have a case officer who had looked at my stuff but when I read the letter I had been granted permanent residency on the 801 visa. It was so quick and took just less than a month, I was shocked as I was expecting to wait for about a year for the temp visa but I was so happy! We have spent a lot of time visiting lots of different areas, I enjoy going to the beach and although it is quite a drive Palm Beach is beautiful and I have just started learning to surf! I have visited Port Stephens, Windsor and Kiama. I haven't felt too homesick as I didn't live near my family at home but I find I am skyping and talking to them even more! Although I am still new here and I realise that it might just hit me one day. We had to head back to England once for a family emergency and its times like that you realise how far away you actually are, its not even the length of the flight its mostly the huge cost to get back. I have made an amazing group of friends thanks to Poms in Oz, 6 of us had a meet up and clicked straight away, we spend a lot of time together and I think it helps that we all know what each other is going through and they have been a substitute family for me. Anyway I hope I haven't nattered on for too long but if anyone has any questions about my visa process or anything else please ask. Thanks again to Poms in Oz!

Hi everyone. I had the amazing news last night that my visa was granted. I lodged my application on 9th July and it was approved for the 801 permanent visa on 7th August! Less than a month - I am thrilled! I sent off my application will all of my documents, form 80 and my police check. I had my medical done when I received confirmation email from Immigration. This website has been an amazing source of information and I would like to thank you all! Zo2Oz

Hi Holly, We are planning on meeting up on Tuesday eve at Darling Harbour, it will be great for us to all meet up for some girly drinks :-) Xx

Hi! Sounds great! I have just moved to Sydney as well, it is an amazing city but a few girly drinks would make it so much better :-) Where abouts are you living, I have just moved to Balmain. I am 26 and from Kent but was living in London for the past couple of years.

Hello! I just thought that I would let you all know that I have signed a lease for a flat in Balmain East, it is right near the water and I can't wait to move in :-) Thanks for all of your help everyone.

Thanks for your help Srp and Maryrose! i think that you are right Maryrose about being happier close to the city, I was just getting worried about how far my budget will go, I have been searching lots more areas and I am quite excited to get to Sydney! I have contacted a few places that I have seen on gumtree and I will hopefully go and view them. They are all in different areas so I guess I will get to have a good look around. Wollstonecraft, Gladesville, Chatswood, Leichhardt and Ryde, are there any good/bad points about these areas? Does anyone know what is the best newspaper to get for rentals? Thanks again :biggrin:

Hi all, I am heading to Sydney in a few weeks to start looking for rentals and I am just a bit stuck about where to start. I am looking at spending around $500 per week in rent for a 2 bedroom apartment. Ideally I was looking at areas like Randwick but I am not sure if my budget is enough for there. I came across Parramatta on my searches and budget-wise it seems quite good but what is the area like and does anyone have a rough idea of how much it would cost to commute from there to the city? I am quite flexible with where I live as long as the commute is no more than 45min/1hr so if anyone has any other suggestions that would be a great help! Also apart from gumtree are there any other websites that deal with private rentals or do most people rent through an agent? Thanks everyone!

I would like to join too. I should be arriving in January. Will be a great way to meet new people plus I am a big bookworm :biggrin:

Hi everyone, I am looking at very shortly shipping about 10 - 15 boxes, I gave the shipping companies a rough estimate of the size of the whole amount roughly 3 cubic metres but they seemed to want details of each individual box. I am just wondering how much notice do the shipping companies normally need to arrange picking up the boxes. Mostly I am unsure of how much we will have to ship until it is all packed but do you think a shipping company would be able to take our boxes with about a weeks notice? Thanks!

Thanks Snifter! Can anyone help with a couple of questions? We are looking into renting in Sydney, is a 6 month contract quite common or do most places only rent for a year? We are just thinking that it might be worth living somewhere quite central until we get a better idea of the areas, Randwick looks quite nice - does anyone live there or can recommend any other suburbs? thanks!

Hi everyone! I have been reading the posts on this forum for a few months now but this is my first post. The forum has been really helpful to use and has answered most of my questions without even having to post so thank you everyone :smile: Here is a little bit about me... I am heading to Oz in a month tomorrow and I am really excited. My partner is an Australian citizen but has lived in the UK for long time. I am going out with him initally on a WHV to see what we think and then thinking of getting a De Facto visa if all goes well. We are both 25. I have been to Oz before for a few months travelling but I am looking forward to working and seeing what it is like to actually live there. Anyway hello and thanks again!