DBC

Does the man have nothing better to do with his time?! What bloody difference does it make to him if the dog was sleeping in the kitchen? People just don't think how their actions will affect others. It's such a shame as I have found the Australians to generally really like dogs - I have my two attached to my little girl's buggy and people always stop me to comment on them and give them a pat. They usually ignore my little girl and the fact I'm heavily pregnant - they just want to stroke the dogs!

Poor boys - my little one would be the same. Blimey, I don't know what to say - when you have dogs and you hear something like this it's so upsetting. As you say, you'll move on but it'll take time. I just hope that you and your family grow to love it here so that you feel that the move was worth it all in the end. Best of luck.

I'm so sorry to read this - you and your family must be devastated, especially as you moved her all the way over here. I know from previous posts that you really struggled to find somewhere to rent with her so it must have been heartbreaking to find yourself in this situation. I can't believe some people are so petty - fancy reporting on a dog sleeping in the kitchen. It sounds like you've done the right thing, however hard, as I know that I couldn't leave my two dogs in a cage everytime we left the house and by the sounds of it you've found her a great home.

I think it's perfectly natural to feel that way - we made the move in December when my little girl was 6 months old and the whole packing up, sorting out getting the dogs over etc was quite stressful. We were lucky as the whole thing happened in a matter of 6 weeks for us as my husband was offered a job so we didn't have mich time to reflect but looking at your timeline your journey has been a bit longer so it's not surprising that doubts have crept in. I can honestly say that I haven't looked back since we arrived - even when we had our first Melbourne winter! I'm not even inclined to go back for a visit - my little girl is out in the fresh air each day and we've spent our weekends exploring and seeing new things. That isn't to say that we'll see it differently one day but for now we are really happy here - I'm glad we did it and that I'm not sat at home wondering 'what if...?' I walk my dogs down at the beach each morning and we have another little one on the way now so we're really content. If it doesn't work out then you can always go back - look at it that way. Good luck!

Agents won't let you a house until you're out here - that's what we found when we moved over in December with our 2 labs. When we arrived we had 2 weeks in an apartment given to us by my husbands company and the dogs came out of quarantine at the end of that period so we were getting in a huge panic as lots of the places we looked at were absolute dumps! However, there are houses out there that will take pets - when you look on sites like realestate.com.au don't tick the box that specifies 'pets allowed' as very little will come up - just speak to the agents to see if the landlord would consider pets. We got a letter from the agents that we got to rent out our UK house to say that our house was immaculate despite having dogs and that they didn't have to do anything to rent it out as it was in such good nick. We were lucky as our landlord lives next door and loves our dogs, his daughter works for Guide Dogs Victoria and babysits them if we go anywhere! It cna be a very frustrating process but you will find something if you give yourselves enough time. There are lots of posts on this topic on here with lots of advice - offering a bigger bond, more rent etc so search through them and you'll pick up lots of tips. Hope the move goes well!

I find the postage very expensive here - when we first moved I'd find silly little things that I knew people would like and post them over at a crazy rate. I now tend to use UK websites to send gifts.

The Frankston lline has been rubbish the last few weeks - I've taken to giving my hubby the car on days when I don't need it so he gets in and out of work without any delays.

Congratulations! I hope your lab is OK - my two were most put out when we bought Saoirse home for the first time but the 3 of them are as thick as thieves now! If you had an emergency section make sure you take it easy - I tended not to and it makes the recovery longer, so look after yourself.

We lodged the application in March and got a notice to leave the country in September so could have had it then but we went away in October so it was granted then. Our agent told us to expect much longer but it only took 6 months! That was before the new sytem came in though in July so I'm not sure what the timescale is now.

We arrived in December on a 457, complete with baby, dogs and all of our belongings. The 457 was great to get us here in that my husbands company helped with the moving costs but there was always that nagging feeling that if he did lose his job then we would have 28 days to sort something or have to go back. We were granted our PR last week and are over the moon - it gives us peace of mind which is worth more to us than the other benefits that people have already mentioned. One thing that is worth considering is the Medicare arrangements - we didn't take out private heatlh insurance when we got here as we knew that we were going to try for another baby and unless we paid an absolute fortune the policies wouldn't cover pregnancy costs for 12 months. I'm 27 weeks pregnant now and have found getting midwife appointments a nightmare up until now as I could only see certain doctors at certain times due to the fact we were listed as visitors rather than residents. As this is our second baby it hasn't worried me but I would imagine that if it was the first I'd be a neurotic mess (like I was the first time around!)

As has been said, it very much depends on what sort of job you do. My husband and I were applying for PR and he sent off a few CVs to various companies (he's a structural engineer) on the chance that we might get sponsorship. He heard nothing back for a couple of months and then out of the blue a company called him, interviewed him and we were here 6 weeks later! Once that had happened another 2 companies called but he had already accepted the original position. It's a risk for a company to bring a family over if they have never met you, so it's understandable that many are reluctant to shell out to do so. However, some industries are crying our for suitable people to fill roles so you never know. Good luck!

We were given an apartment for 2 weeks by my hubby's company and that gave us enough time to find somewhere in Melbourne, and we have 2 dogs so we were quite restricted in what we could apply for. We had a hire car to drive around the different areas we had seen on the internet which was a huge help. If you were to book 2 weeks then extending your stay in a hotel shouldn't be too much of a problem - better to do that than pay for 4 and not need them!

Hi - if you go onto the Kingston Council website you can find a list of playgroups in the area - this is what I did when I moved to Mentone. Mentone isn't too far from you - on the trainline - so if you fancy meeting up then PM me. I have a 16 month old little girl and a boy due in January, we moved here in December so I'd be happy to fill you in on what there is to do in the area.

Exactly! It works that way back in the UK sometimes too - I know someone who moved back with 3 boys who really struggled to find something.

I've heard that about kids actually - thankfully we only had the one when we moved over!

Me too - I have a 15 month old already so this has been going on a while! I hope I haven't confused anyone - it drives me mad when people give the wrong information out on here and I've just gone and done it!

I'm not usually this thick - I blame the hormones! I've been through this many times with our agent who I'm sure thinks I'm a complete idiot!

Right, I'm with you, I didn't know whether the OP was in Oz or not. As we're here already our circumstances are different.

Then why, once our PR is granted next week, is my baby automatically added onto our visa? We will have PR and then our baby will arrive so he will have PR too.

Are you in the UK or Oz? I think that'll make a big difference. Our baby won't be a citizen, but will have PR.

As far as I am aware, as you already have your PR then your baby is automatically counted as a resident too. We came over to Melbourne on a 457 visa and were applying for PR in the background. I am now 23 weeks pregnant and as we are leaving the country to validate the visa next week the baby will be a resident. Obviously clarify this with your agent but I think you'll be absolutely fine (unless someone can tell you any different). Congratulations!

I don't eat bacon so can't comment on that but have found some great beef sausages in Woolworths that are 90% beef - you'd spend a long time looking for those in the UK! I do find the chocolate pretty nasty but at least I eat less now! Lindt, however tastes the same, and Woolworths have started to sell Galaxy Minstrels from the UK.

Mmm...! A lady down the road brought us a load of oranges from her tree to us so I made chocolate orange ones, they were yummy! You should freeze a batch too - before I popped with my little girl I cooked liked a crazy woman and froze all sorts which was so handy once she arrived - I think we had meals for a month!

He did! They are also the landlords and such lovely people. He thought it was funny that I was the only person outside of their house not glued to to TV set!

That's true - I might end up having to sit through games with her. We also have a boy on the way so I'm just putting off the inevitable!! We managed to get a nice walk in on the beach with the dogs before the rain started and the little lady is fast asleep now so it hasn't been that bad a day in the end. I made a huge batch of cupcakes and took some round to my neighbour during the game - whoops! Only an AFL-ignorant Pom would make the misatke of knocking on the door at that time!