millers

Hi there I am after some advice.....I am looking at going somewhere nice in Jan for my special birthday ( cough cough) and would like to go somewhere nice and beachy maybe on an island. We live in Queensland and not sure to fly to Fiji or somewhere just as nice or stay and see a bit more of Australia........not sure about tropical weather in some places in Jan though........anyone have any advice I would appreciate it. Thanks:arghh:

I have just started distance learning to be a qualified property manager here in Queensland ( something I wanted to do in the UK ) but never got round to it...... The 7 text books I have to read are very detailed and head numbing!! and was wondering if anyone else is shocked at how much you need to know ? esp the legal side of things???:arghh:

I Hi there The work is plentiful atm but does depend on what you do for a job. We are here on a 457 visa and almost halfway through... the weather is great here and Tannum is nice too....love living near the beach but I do miss the Trafford centre but not the M60 !!!! lol:chatterbox:

Hi Big G- We are from the UK and live in Tannum Sands and its a lovely place to live and great to be so close to a lovely beach. The rents here are slowly coming down in price as the boom has slowed a bit and there area lot of new houses being built so there is competition here with rentals now ( there wasn't when we arrived 21 months ago ). My son goes to Tannum primary school which is very good although you have to pay for books & equipment every year and uniform too ( equipment cost approx $250 and uniform polo shirts cost I think $30 ish dollars each and shorts cost $20 per pair I think? if you go on Tannum sands state school website you can see the uniform price list. There are 2 supermarkets ( 1 in Tannum and 1 in Boyne ) and not a lot more tbh!!!! it is a big change as we lived in Manchester in the UK but have settled in nicely....if you need any help with anything else please feel free to pm me...

Ok, my 8 year old son is really missing roast gammon joints ......what is the alternative in OZ ???? Helllpppppp.....he wants he's favourite tea !!! When I went to the butchers here they looked at me like I had 2 heads!!!lol:arghh:

Thanks peeps- though I couldn't but wanted to make sure 1st!!!

Hi there was wondering if I have to put my son in after school club/ holiday club whilst I am working being on a 457 visa, are we entitled to get 50% or anything back towards the costs of childcare?:arghh:

Need some advice....have heard a couple of stories about the cost of dental treatment over here and my 8 yr old son's new teeth seem to be growing out of line and have been told he may need a brace.!! Is it worth getting some kind of medical insurance that covers us for dental care rather than paying thousands of $ ??? and can anyone recommend a decent insurance company ? Any help would be much appreciated Thanks :err:

Australia ( the country that you say is "horrible) can't have been all that bad if you were applying for PR???

Hi there I have friends coming to visit us soon in Queesnsland and she wants to buy some Ray Bans and not sure where to get them from ......Manchester airport duty free or Abu Dhabi duty free ?? anyone got any idea which is the best place to but them ???:cool:

Yes thats true- we were told we could bring goose feather pillows but not duck ones when we had the surveyor come to our house in the UK so i bought some nice ones from Ikea and sent them over and they arrived fine...and so glad i did as they are very expensive over here!!! and bring as much nice new bedding as possible ( i went to the Next and M&S sale before we came here)...

can we do it at Taronga zoo or is there anywhere else in Sydney we can do it ?:arghh:

We have got our friends coming over to see us in May and we are going to Sydney and our friend will be 30 when we are there and my son will be 8 also whilst we are there. I want to suprise them both and do something really good on both their birthdays.........any ideas ???? :arghh::wink: Thanks

Thanks Michelle- i will tell her to bring it with her...

just be careful with your bond money for your house when you find one to rent as it will be a months rent upfront( $500 pw x 4 weeks ) so thats $2000 out of your $10k straight off and dont forget car insurance too !!! and like someone said earlier the cost of school books and uniform will make your eyes water!!! but when you see the great sunshine we have here it makes it all worth it...

Hi there My elderley relative is coming to stay wit us for 7 weeks in June and she asked me if she can bring and use her blue disabled parking badge which she uses in the UK and use it over here.....does anyone know the answer ??? thanks:arghh:

plenty of suncream !

I live in Gladstone and you don't need to pay $1000 a week unless you want a 4/5 bed house with pool etc but as theres just the 2 of you, you can pay $500 ish for a decent 3 bed house here!!!

My hubby is working here on a 457 visa and we have a 7 yr old boy at school and i wanted to do something school hours and found it hard to get a job to suit our needs so i started to do house cleaning work( with an ABN) and now have 20 regular customers who i clean for weekly or fortnightly. Not the job of my dreams but it pays decent money and im my own boss and home for 2.30pm each day to collect my son from school. Also as long as i earn under $18,000 per year i dont pay tax...

We brought our tv over here from the UK and it works fine. With white goods i wouldnt bother to be honest, we bought a washing machine (AEG) new from the UK and brought it over with us and now it has broken and as it is a european machine they dont have parts over here for them to fix them when they break so be careful what you decide!!! i wish i knew that before we shipped our machine over here. Also 2 yr our warranty is void and the machine is just over a year old!

We bought a brand new AEG washing machine 2 weeks before our belongings got shipped to Australia and after 8 months of use over here it has now died and AEG Australia are not interested in helping us out!!! Basically the drum doesnt go round anymore and we think we need a new belt ( and its proving difficult for us to get one from ebay or infact anywhere) !!!!! has anyone had a similar problem ????

we brought our 2 Dysons with us and so glad we did- v expensive here..

Thanks for the info guys- one wuestion- it says the fee is in $'s can my aunty do it online and pay in £'S??? thanks

Hi there My elderley relative is coming to stay with us for 7 weeks in June and she is getting different prices for her visa...and tbh i think she is getting a bit confused with it all and im going to try to help her......does anyone know which website to use to obtain / apply for the visa for her? thanks

Hi everyone Just want to let you know about my dilemma. We are currently renting out our house in the UK and the tenant is a single lady with a young daughter( she has a very good job and daughter goes to a private girls school ) and all has been well since Feb 2012 but in Nov last year she emailed me to say she was having difficulties financially and was "living hand to mouth" and that she may have to move out of our large 4 bed detached house. Anyway i never heard anything more from her and now my good old neighbours are telling me that there are 2 men and a lady also living there with her who look a bit dodgy with scruffy cars etc!!!! Her young daughter has moved out and 3 adults seem to have moved in !!!!!!! I have emailed the agent my concerns and told them to do an inspection asap ( as i think she may be sub letting the house) and they have just ignored my mails and i am not sure what to do next!!! do i sack the agent half way through a tenancy ? evict the tennants ( but their names are not on the tenancy and could they live there as squatters)??? Hubby is now saying to just sell up and have done with it ! im going round in circles.....I really think my tenant from the start had ulterior motives!!! but clearly didnt share them with me or the agent!!! We are on a 457 visa and if not accepted for PR we could be going back to the UK in 3 yrs time but we do have another house which we rent out around the corner from our own house ( so we will have somewhere to go if we do decide to sell...any advice pleeeeaaaassseeeee...... Thanks