DBC

Really? I can't keep up with the changes here! I know that the Metcard went out as of the end of last month but didn't realise that you can't just buy a one off ticket. My in-laws were doing that as late as November when they were over. It's a bit cheeky really considering that you have to pay for the priviledge of having a Myki, and that's before you put any credit on it!

Sandringham is probably your best bet to get into the city from Black Rock. Trains are frequent and it's a short trip. Melbourne is pretty easy to walk around so once you get off in the city you can do it by foot, or use the free tram (Google this and it'll come up) which will take you to all the interesting bits if you get tired or we have one of the plus 30 days. You can pay as you go or get a Myki card - again, Google this. It's similar to an Oyster card which you can top up.

We only did this when we actually needed to see a doctor - it's a bit different from the UK where you are registered with just one doctor. For example - if you or your other half work in the city then you can make an appointment at a GP near you there, no need to travel home to go to the nearest one. I had to find one as I fell pregnant and literally just walked to the nearest one down the road, filled in a form and made the appointment. I found the GP awful so next time I had to go I spoke to a few people and got some recommendations and then went to another surgery.

Hi, we live in Mentone and it's a great area - if you like cycling then you're close to the beach and there are lots of cyclists out each day along Beach Road. Mordialloc isn't far down the coast and would also be good for cycling. Each town has plenty of coffee shops and a lovely atmosphere. The Frankston line services both these places and will take you straight into the city. We've been here a year now and have an 18 month old, another due in a couple of weeks and 2 labradors. The people here have been really friendly and I can't imagine living anywhere else! Cheltenham is one stop down the train line from Mentone - further from the coast but has a huge shopping centre called Southland which is handy for everything. You can also get to Waves Leisure Centre easily enough from all 3 places.

Lucky you, I've been driving for 9 months now and am fed up with it!!! It took us just over an hour to get down there and was a lovely drive. We did it in Winter and so had the guide to ourselves. My in laws did the same trip when they were here in November and because of the good weather there were about 9 people in total on the tour. If I see anyone stumbling around Mentone I'll know it's you!

Hi, we also live in Mentone and as Petals has said, it is pretty far out from the wineries. However, if you fancy a brilliant day out then head down to the Mornington Peninsula and do a horseback wineries tour. Myself and hubby did this back in June and had the best day! We went to 3 different wineries and you get to taste all sorts - we don't like white so the tasting focused on red, and the wineries are happy to accomodate individual tastes. I was (and still am) pregnant at the time so didn't do much wine tasting but my hubby had a great time! Also, we took our little girl up to the Healesville Sanctuary last week and there are loads of wineries up there - we haven't explored that far up yet but it was a lovely drive so might be worth looking into. I signed up to the deals sites when we moved here a year ago and often see days out advertised that go the wineries so I would recommend looking at those to get a cheap deal - we got the horseback tour at half price through Group On.

Same here - we got everything sent to my mum's house (although having paid for the service with the Post Office they then failed to forward anything so the agents that rent out our house ended up posting it!) As soon as you have an address over here you can then change your details with each company.

Mmm, wine..... If only!

The 3 of them are funny when they go in together - the labs drink the water and the little one copies them - I'm sure she thinks she's a dog...!

I'm also giving the beach a miss! The dogs have been out very early and the poor things are boiling - will have to get the paddling pool out for them and the little one later on. I'm taking Madam to soft play, she can run round without overheating and I'll sit my enormous pregnant self in a quiet corner!

Ikea is over here and really good for furniture. When we first arrived we found it very expensive but that's because you keep converting everything back to sterling. Once you stop doing that and have been here a while you find the best places to go to buy bits and bobs. I've found a shoe shop down the road that sells Clarkes kids shoes cheaper than in the UK! The only thing I really struggle with is bed linen and towels as others have said - you can get cheap sets etc but for really decent ones the prices will make your eyes water! I still do online shopping from the UK. The sales are great - when the UK is getting rid of the winter stuff it's just in time for the slightly colder weather here and the same goes for summer clearances. We're expecting our second baby in 3 weeks and I did a big Tesco shop (bibs, vests etc) as they had free delivery for a while in December and I've recently kitted out my little girl and the new arrival for Winter with sales stuff from John Lewis. You can get good value kids stuff (and adults stuff) but it's always nice to be in something that the rest of the kids in the street don't have! I find cosmetics expensive so when we have visitors I send them to Boots first to get branded things like Clinique make-up.

I have one of those - they ask you to read it out over the phone to go through to the next step and it doesn't recognise it - I have a pretty standard accent so can't work out what I'm doing wrong! Oh well, I'll pack some sandwiches and head off there tomorrow!

Thanks for that. I've been trying to call them for the past 2 days but just sit on hold so have resigned myself to the fact I'm going to have to go in!

Hi all, Myself, hubby and little one had our PR granted back in October (we came out on a 457 a year ago) and so I lodged a claim for Family Tax Benefit Part A on 21st October. I understand from the Centrelink website that there is a bit of a delay but I still haven't heard back from them. Has anyone else experienced this sort of waiting time? Just to be clear - I took all the necessary documentation into the local Medicare centre to get it all approved and it's all been sent through. I'm quite anxious as we have another baby due in 3 weeks and I can't apply for the Baby Bonus until this is sorted and would like to get as organised as possible. Thanks!

We have used Northwood for the past 12 months whilst we've been here in Melbourne and have found them to be pretty good. Our house is in Macclesfield, Cheshire, so I can't comment on the rental market where you are but the house we have is near to a big hospital and we would have been able to rent it easily enough but we went with Northwood for several reasons. Firstly, we have a tracker mortgage which means our repayments are very low so while we perhaps get £150 a month less than we might if we rented it another way, our mortgage is covered. It took them 2 months to find a tenant but we still got the mortgage paid while they were looking. Lastly, we have had no issues at all - if things need doing (this has been very minimal) then we get a quick email from the agents, we agree to whatever and it gets done - we have no hassles or worries this end. As people have said above, you get no say in who goes into your house and whether they have pets etc but we've been very lucky in that my neighbours and mum (who's driven past a few times) have commented on how nicely the house is beng kept and by all accounts the garden is nicer than when we were living there! We also found Northwood to be very helpful in that we paid the Post Office to redirect our mail which didn't happen so they sent it all out to us. They also wrote us a letter when we left to say that our house was immaculate, even though we had dogs, which helped us secure a property in Melbourne.

Help please...! My mum and stepdad are going to be here in late Sept/early Oct and it'll be the first time they've been when I'm not either pregnant or having just had a baby so we're very excited about doing a few trips with them. I've got a few days to Ballarat planned and also want to take them to the Great Ocean Road. There are many towns that we could stay in but wondered if anyone had any recommendations as to which they have been to and preferred. My little girl will be 2 and a bit when we go and the new arrival (due in 4 weeks) will be around 8-9 months - so somewhere close to a beach, town for shopping, not too far from the 12 Apostles would be ideal. We're probably looking at a caravan park to get a 3 bed cabin for all of us (hotels work out very expensive) and they tend to have good facilities for the kids. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

As above, take the labels off - we had lots of stuff we'd picked up in the sales for our little one and it was fine. Until you're earning Aussie dollars everything seems very expensive because of the exchange rate and the last thing you want to be doing is buying stuff you could have gotten in the sales!

There are good and bad everywhere. We had great neighbours in the UK and have great neighbours here too. When we first moved in our neighbours came round with chairs, TVs etc to lend us until our furniture arrived. The lady down the road brings us fruit from her trees and a couple of weeks ago when I was rushing to get on the bus with my 18 month old for a hospital appointment (I'm pregnant) my landlord (also my neighbour) demanded that he drove me in, waited for me, while his wife looked after my little girl. As you say, there is a lot of people who see a 'them and us' situation but stay anywhere long enough and you'll meet all sorts! We had to move seats in a cafe at the weekend as 2 grumpy buggers didn't like the fact that our little girl was chatting away - she wasn't shouting or being naughty but I couldn't bear the looks so we moved to avoid any confrontation. Seen similar things happen all over the world though...

I think it depends on what people are looking for with this type of visa. We came out on one almost a year ago, shipping all of our furniture, dogs, small baby etc but knew that should my husband lose his job then he would have to find another within 28 days or face leaving again. We are not risky people since having kids but as we were applying for PR in the background we appreciated the financial help in getting us here and having a job to come to. We are lucky as both of our occupations are on the list required for PR (which we were granted in October) but for some a 457 is one of the very few ways they can get out here. For some it works out brilliantly but I think too many assume that once they're here their employer will automatically help them with PR. One of the downsides that I've noticed with getting PR first from the posts on here is that people move over with huge expectations and then end up using all of their savings within a couple of months whilst searching for work so in that sense a 457 eliminates that.

I heard on the Dog Whisperer once that dogs cool down from the bottom up, which is why lots of them will head into the sea/water when it's warm. Damp towels for them to lie on are supposed to help and if they have to go anywhere in the car, putting one in the boot keeps them nice and cool.

I should have known really! There's a similar thread on here today about Australia catching up when it comes to the internet - such a shame as when I moved here I didn't want to be buying stuff from the UK still but that's all I seem to have done - because of both the price and quality of internet shopping. Whilst in an ideal world it'd be lovely to be shopping down the road in local stores, it isn't always possible (when you're working or have kids etc) and most peple have to look for bargains, especially with the increased cost of living nowadays.

Did anyone else sign up to Click Frenzy and was then sorely disappointed? Loads of people were talking about the amazing deals that would be on offer, as did the website itself, so I signed up and waited for Tuesday evening.... I had visions of getting lots of lovely pressies for Christmas, a few nice bits for when I finally stop being pregnant, maybe some new stuff for the kitchen etc. What a let down! The site crashed and then when I could actually get on it this morning there were about 3 things on offer in each catergory! I had my eye on a trike for my little girl from Toys R Us and it was the same price as it had been for weeks on their website. I'm just wondering if anyone did actually get anything that was a bargain or if the whole exercise was pointless. The organisers must have known how many people would visit the site as you had to register to go on it, so why the meltdown???

Just wanted to second what people are saying about there being some good landlords - there really are, you've just had an awful first experience and I feel so bad for you that it's worked out this way. Also, we've been here almost a year now and have only really just gotten into a financial routine (if that makes sense). Each month there seemed to be different things to pay out for, and the start up costs are huge, but things do settle down and things get much, much easier. Each time we got a utility bill, vet bill, people coming to visit and that costing money etc we thought back to how we were better off financially in the Uk but things, as I say, are now fine and we are happier here than we were at home. I hope it all works out.

Take a look at the council website for the area that your family are in and you should be able to find a list of local playgroups with phone numbers etc. You may find that some require membership but I know at mine that we are happy to have people come and take a look and do a pay-as-you-go type arrangement. Playgroups may also require Playgroups Victoria membership (which is like insurance, and also a good website to find local playgroups) but seeing as you won't be there for that long many places might overlook this. Good luck!

She is gorgeous, no wonder you are all so upset. She does look really happy and content though so I think you're really brave doing what you have done for her.