rickandange

We arrived on the Friday and I started on the Monday. It's been hard going to be honest, but if you could give yourself a week that should be enough to get over the jet lag and get yourself straight. I think I'd feel like you and would prefer to be around for completion. Hope it all goes smoothly for you!

Cheers chaps. So providing the car is covered by an existing rego, then it's just a case of filling in the MR9 form and waiting for them to contact me with the bill for the transfer fees?

Ta for that.

Hi All I'm sorry if this is something which has been asked loads of times before, but I'm just wondering what documentation I'll have to have in place prior to buying a car in WA? I'm going to have to hit the ground running ready for starting work so soon after we arrive, so I was wondering if I get my ATM card and Medicare card sorted in the first few days (plus UK passport and drivers licence), whether this would be sufficient? I suppose the key thing I need to know is whether my UK driving licence will be sufficient (as I know I can drive on it for the first 3 months I think), or whether I'll need to get a WA licence before being able to buy? Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Glad you've asked this Baz. Sorry to hijack it, but does anyone know which company offers decent coverage in the Baldivis area? Will need 3/4g access.

Wow that was quick, ha ha! Best of luck with it. From what Rick said at the time, I don't think there are any surprises on the day, so as long as your husband has a practice with the book I'm sure he will do great!

We were in the same boat as you trying to push everything through before Rick turned 33, and it was actually the one part in the whole process that held us back because he only got the results he needed (7 or above in each element) after 3 attempts. Like Adonna said, I'd get it booked ASAP and getting doing loads of exam practice questions. IELTS looks simple on the face of it, but you need to learn how to answer their style of questions. We got the 'Official IELTS Practice Materials 2' from Amazon and it was really useful, but it didn't stop me from tearing my hair out trying to explain to Rick that he needed to answer things their way! Good luck with it!

We're close to heading off to start a new life in WA in a matter of weeks, and whilst that therefore means that I don't have the first idea what you're experiencing yet, from the outside (but being someone who has visited and has relatives in WA) the majority of the items on your list seem quite trivial. Apart from the obvious issues regarding family etc, I wonder if you would find similar things in the UK equally irksome if you moved back? After all, you found yourself able to leave the place behind 15 years ago, so how did you feel about the UK when you left back then? Whatever you decide to do I hope it makes you more happy than you are now, whether that's to bite the bullet and make the move, or to attempt to acknowledge the positives that WA has to offer you. Good Luck!

I'd had a nosey at that place online too, but I wasn't sure whether the views were obscured by trees on the front or not. The menu did look lovely though, so we'll have to give it a go for a meal once we get there. Thanks for the suggestion :biggrin:

I'm curious about this too much to Rick's horror, ha ha! We'd thought about something very very low key like a reception on the beach with a few guests (I gather this is free on Rockingham beaches according to their website), and then a nice meal somewhere around Rocko, Freo or maybe the city. If anyone has any recommendations for nice restaurants with a good view that would be suitable for a special occasion, then that would be great! I'd thought about maybe Char Char in Freo, but not sure whether that's really 'special' enough? :biggrin:

Poor little thing. Hope she's on the mend now.

This is probably the default location, but you can easily change this (and the file type e.g. .pdf) when saving the scan.

On my HP Desktop printer you open the scan software and then after each page or side has scanned you just scan the next and it saves them all as one document for you. I can't remember the wording, but after each scan you're given the option to scan again to add to the same file, or create a new file. Also, if you've got Adobe Acrobat then if you save your scans as PDFs then you can combine files to one document or vice versa too. Hope this helps!

Just got us a couple of these from Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008LAXXJG/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item Sure you could find them cheaper elsewhere though.

Would you like to go thru losing someone just because the government refused to aknowledge they had it wrong? Bit of an odd question that really given that I made it clear that from personal experience I don't agree with the governments current policy on it. I can't thank the system enough though for how I was screened, diagnosed and treated back when it was offered earlier, so I think there's also a lot to praise about what is offered too.

That's a good point. I don't think it is in the UK, but maybe Kelly will be able to clarify this.

Wow such strong feeling fifi... I didn't read it like that though to be honest. Sounded like Kelly was just giving us the facts about the NHS's current stance on when the test should be carried out and why. Doesn't mean we have to agree, but I found the point about the labs refusing to process swabs quite interesting - didn't have a clue they would do that!

I think currently in the UK you're only 'invited' to have a smear test from the age of 25 regardless of whether you're sexually active or not, but whether you can ask for one before this age I'm unsure. I had my first when I was 23 (the age was younger back then), and this showed up severe abnormalities which I had to have months of treatment for and now annual smears, and I think it's awful that girls currently have to wait until 25 to screen for a disease which affects so many younger people. I don't think earlier smears would encourage younger people to be sexually active at all either... There was a widespread HPV immunisation programme in the UK a few years ago where school aged girls (12 to 13 I think) were offered the vaccine to protect against some (not all) forms of the virus which cause the disease. The virus in it's different forms is carried by an incredibly high percentage of the population, so the vaccine I think protected against some of the types most associated with cell abnormalities and development of the disease. I just hope the current awareness generated by Sophie's case can lead to changes so that younger women get the screening when thy need it.

Flipping heck they're awkward buggers aren't they!!! Hope you manage to get something sorted anyway.

Hi! Could you not contact your other half's previous line manager or supervisor and ask them for one rather than going through HR? Rick needed one from further back that 4 years, so got the contact details of his previous supervisor and emailed him directly. Rick actually wrote the reference (we needed a really detailed one as evidence for his skills assessment), emailed it to Andy, and then Andy printed it on letter headed paper and signed it. Might be worth a try? Good luck with it though! Ange

We always end up seconding Pablo's comments when anyone asks about agents :biggrin:. Can't praise the fellas at Concept Manchester enough. £1500 fees for us as a couple and worth every penny and then some! :biggrin:

Thanks for all your help everyone. I'll take a look at that link now thanks Weegie.

Hi. Just wondering if anyone can advise on whether I'd be better doing my CBT over here, or waiting and doing everything from scratch over in Perth? Rick has a full bike license but neither of us has a bike over here, so I'm wondering if I'd just be wasting my time doing it before I go. Is anyone familiar with the costs and process over there for applying for a licence and doing the tests etc? Thanks in advance for any help! :biggrin:

That's fantastic! Well done!!! x

Glad to know it's not just bloody us!!!!