frogian

Have you tried "Hire for Baby"? Website for their SYD franchise is: http://www.hireforbaby.com/franchise2.php?id=156 No idea what they charge, but getting a quote wont cost you anything (I only know of this company as a friend has the Cairns franchise). If you decide to buy after picking up the car and you are unfortunate and get pulled over, the fine per child not properly restrained is around $250.

I live in FNQ so wont comment on bills as from what I gather they'll differ from those in Perth. On the taxes you will pay on your salary have a look at this site: http://www.paycalculator.com.au/ It's been pretty acccurate when I've used (give or take around $5 projected take home per week).

Nah, there’s nothing wrong with Oz, it’s a personal / location issue. Being an expat can go any number of ways, irrespective of where in the world someone has relocated to. From experience I reckon there are 6 breeds of expat (that I've met so far): 1 – They absolutely love where they moved to, are having the time of their life and stay where they are forever. 2 – They are very happy where they moved to, but there is a little ‘something’ missing, so they move on within around 5 years (but not ‘back home’). 3 – They are happy where they moved to, but it’s not quite for them, so they move on within around 5 years (50/50 that move will take them ‘back home’) 4 – They are OK where they moved to (but are frequently ‘putting up’ with being where they are), so they move on within around 3 years (50/50 that move will take them ‘back home’) 5 – They hate it and are ‘back home’ within around a year 6 – Personal matters necessitate for them to go ‘back home’, whether or not they are ready to or even want to (could be any timeframe on this aspect) Someone could play out any permutation of the above over the course of their life and it’s very likely that there are other ‘expat breeds’ out there that I’ve not had the good fortune to meet just yet.

Both are great places for a family to live, so don't let that worry you! If you hit the UAE you'll have a ball. Just keep your heads screwed on and try your best not to keep up with the Jones's too much - you can still have a great lifestyle there without it costing every dirham you earn!

Here are some comparisons for you (notes: UAE costs are from the end of 2011 so not sure if or by how much they will differ from todays costs. Oz costs are based on living in FNQ): [TABLE] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]UAE [/TD] [TD]OZ (FNQ) [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Rent for nice 4 bed house (excluding bills) [/TD] [TD]$45,000 upwards per year [/TD] [TD]$24,000 upwards per year [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Electricity (per month) [/TD] [TD]$105 [/TD] [TD]$140 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Water (per month) [/TD] [TD]$208 [/TD] [TD]$25 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Rates (per month) [/TD] [TD]$190 [/TD] [TD]$185 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]TV & Internet (per month) [/TD] [TD]$120 [/TD] [TD]$90 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Mobile phone (per month) [/TD] [TD]$100 [/TD] [TD]$40 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Carton of beers (24 cans) [/TD] [TD]$25 [/TD] [TD]$39 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]General weekly shop [/TD] [TD]$160 [/TD] [TD]$200 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Meal out w/drinks [/TD] [TD]$120 [/TD] [TD]$200 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]15 min taxi journey [/TD] [TD]$6 [/TD] [TD]$30 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Mid-size SUV (new) [/TD] [TD]$23,000 [/TD] [TD]$35,000 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Gallon of petrol [/TD] [TD]$1.50 [/TD] [TD]$7 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Fully comp car insurance (mid-size SUV) [/TD] [TD]$450 [/TD] [TD]$650 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Pint of beer at pub [/TD] [TD]$10 [/TD] [TD]$6 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Pack of smokes [/TD] [TD]$0.50 [/TD] [TD]$16 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Safety [/TD] [TD]Always felt safe wherever we went [/TD] [TD]Always feel safe wherever we go [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Hope the above is of help!

We spent 4 years in the UAE before relocating to Oz so if you let us know specifically what sort of info you're after we'll see if we can comment. On the family aspect of the UAE, I reckon it's a great place for a family with younger kids.

A long shot, however, the name and interestests tie in. Have a look at page 9: http://landcareportmac.com.au/NewsLetters/PMQ.Landcare.Newsletter.issue4.pdf All the best.

A few of my mates are mechanics and work on anything from lawn mowers to mine trucks. The people I know working on stuff in town earn between $55 and $65k per year (+ overtime). Those at the mines $95k upwards. Demand for mechanics will vary, dependant on where you live (here in Cairns I see jobs for mechanics advertised all the time) so check out job sites such as seek (http://www.seek.com.au/) to get an idea of availability in the areas you are loooking at relocating to. All the best!

I’ve learnt that moving to a different country can go any number of ways and have noted over time: 1 - You love where you’ve moved to and will stay there forever. 2 - You are very happy where you are, but there is a little ‘something’ missing, so you move on somewhere else within five years (but not ‘back home’!). 3 – You like it (although it’s not really ‘you’) and have a great time where you are, then move on somewhere else (probably within five years - 50/50 that ‘somewhere’ will be ‘back home’) 4 – It’s OK and you can get on in life and have a good time where you are, then move on somewhere else (probably within three years - 50/50 that ‘somewhere’ will be ‘back home’) 5 – You hate it and are ‘back home’ within a year Someone could play out any permutation of the above statements over the course of their life. Having tried but not liked something doesn’t make someone a failure – unlike others they at least gave it a go. No regrets. Everything is an experience. On my move to Oz, all is good, although after 1.5 years I’m partially erring towards statement 2 at the moment, but if I do move on, I know I’ll be back here one day (note: Oz is not 'back home' for me).

Sorry mate but neither of them recall who they used. All the best!

I am / was in the same boat as you - married an Ozzy and relocated to Oz (have been here in FNQ a year and a half now). Cash wise it's hard to put a figure on it (I'll try to) but the best advice I can give is that you bring as much as possible with you, particularly if you are going to start from scratch (buying houses, furniture, cars, household appliances etc). If you aren't bringing furniture and appliances etc with you and want to set up (what I'd say from our POV) 'a household you can live comfortably in and are used to' from scratch and in a very short space of time: Deposit for house: 10 - 20% of house value A couple of cars: $35k Furniture & household appliances (3 bed house): $25k Other 'stuff' along the way: $10k If you are happy to make your 'household' what you want it to be as you go along over a few years: Deposit for house: 10 - 20% of house value A couple of cars: $10k Furniture & household appliances (3 bed house - 'what we've got we can get by with'): $10k Other 'stuff' along the way: $10k If you are going to bring furniture and / or cars from the UK with you though these figures will need adjusting. Yep, living with family (particularly if one of you is working) certainly helps with cash flow during those initial few months! All the best with the move!

I've always used this one and reckon it's pretty accurate: http://www.paycalculator.com.au/ For my salary it's out by around $5 per week ($5 down on what actually goes into my bank).

We shipped some stuff over as unaccompanied baggage with Singapore Airlines (granted we weren’t bringing any furniture with us). With SA we shipped personal items such as books, ornaments, electronic goods (three large suitcases weighing 75kg in total). Doing this cost less than half the price I'd been quoted by shipping agents and was a much faster service (shipping agents were going to take the stuff by boat). You have to drop the items yourself at the cargo terminal, fill in the relevant forms etc, go to desk X, pay some cash and get your paperwork stamped, then go to desk Y, pay some cash and get your paperwork stamped…..you know the drill ;-). It took me about 2.5 hours at the cargo terminal to get the three cases 'sent'. When they arrive at your chosen airport in Oz you have to go to that airport cargo terminal to get them, fill out more forms etc. When my stuff arrived it took 2 hours to retrieve it (would have been more like 30 min if I had not put paintings that were on papyrus in one of the cases, which resulted in us having to go to the quarantine section and have every case opened and all items inspected….They let us keep everything in the end). If you don’t have any furniture to ship, will live close to an airport in Oz and can spare the time to deal with the import / export and customs forms yourself, sending as unaccompanied baggage may be an option. I have a couple of friends who have used shipping agents to send stuff from the UAE to the UK without any issues - in case you do want to ship furniture I will find out who they used and will let you know ASAP.

Those who are in, I've just sent you PM's ref our meet up this coming Friday evening. Anyone else reading this who wants to come along? If so, let me know and I'll send you details.

Hello, Not sure if you are after info on 'the journey' starting with quatantine stage or what happens after quarantine re: getting your pooch up to you. Haven't quarantined a dog in Oz so can't offer any pointers on that aspect, but we flew our pup on a 2 leg flight from down south to FNQ (total trip from her being put in her crate to us getting her out at this end was not far off 24 hours). She came up via this company and arrived with us safe, sound and happy: http://www.dogtainers.com.au/

From what I gather to ride a moped the P plate will need to have been held for a year, after which you take a bike test to get an RE license class added. This RE class then allows you to ride a moped of 50cc or less that has a top speed of less than 50kph. Got this from here: http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Licensing/Getting-a-licence/Getting-a-motorbike-licence.aspx As an aside, when I moved here and applied for my QLD license, the person serving me asked whether the bike class on my UK license was provisional or open. I told them it was open and that’s what they put on my QLD license…..without any check to see if I was telling the truth!

I’ll be honest, I’m partially there – deleted all my personal info / photos etc a couple of weeks back. Wasn’t a huge user before and have dropped off significantly over the last month or so. Tried over the last year to get a bit of banter going here and there, but tended to find it all a bit too “clicky”. No hard feelings or offense meant to anyone when I say that, it’s just my perception of stuff. Have learnt a lot from everyone though, and wont be leaving completely (I'll help where I can and 'cos there is stuff on here from time to time that gives me a good laugh!). Another reason I wont leave is ‘cos I’m trying to get a PIO meet up going and am waiting to hear back from 'someone' in order to get it arranged :eek:

Etihad fly from Manchester to Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi to Singapore, Singapore to Brisbane (well, they did a couple of years back!). If you ‘just want to get here’, straight through via that route will give you around 8 hours flight time each leg and be straight forward as you wont have to run around the airports with luggage changing planes (same plane the whole way with an hour or so stop in both Abu Dhabi and Singapore so you can get off the plane and stretch your legs). If you go for the stop-over choice and you have flown into Abu Dhabi but want to stay in Dubai, it’s only around an hour away. One way in a taxi from Abu Dhabi to Dubai will set you back around AED 300 (50 quid ish) (maybe a bit more, maybe less, dependent on which end of Dubai you are travelling to/from). Or, if you flew with Etihad, they have a courtesy bus from the airport that that will take you to Dubai / pick you up and take you back to the airport (you have to pre-book). As dxboz said in his post (besides the well-known hotels you tend to hear about), there are loads of other, great hotels about the place that are much more reasonably priced. If you decide you may want to stop in the UAE for a couple of days and would like some ideas on accommodation I’m happy to provide some suggestions.

Think it may have started last night!

Not yet - figured your PM's may get out of hand at times so was gonna give you a bit of time before I followed up!

Hi Lucy and welocome to Cairns! How long you been here? Am currently trying to get something sorted with those that have replied to this thread - will drop you a PM over in a sec.

So did I Joan01, Maybe there are some PIO members here in Cairns that just aren't up for it as it's "not their thing" for one reason or another. Can't knock anyone for that (I have friends who are that way). Or maybe there could be some out there that are not who / where / do etc what they would like to have others believe.

Just in process of filling mine in mate. "Aknowledgement card" is postcard sized and was included with the docs they sent to you for the second stage of the visa app. On one side of the card it has space for you to fill in your mailing address and attach a stamp. On the other it says "Dear Sir/Madam The Dept of Immi & Citizenship is pleased to confirm......." "Travelling" - I supppose it depends on the visa you are currently on. I'm on a 309, which has no travel limitations. If I were going to be absent from the country though I'd let them know dates and give them my overseas contact details such that they could reach me easily if they need to. "Temp visa ends at start of March" - you must be on a different visa to me mate as the one I have (309) doesn't have an expiry date (it is valid until a decision is made on my permanent residency status). I suggest you contact Immi to get an answer on this one. You say your app is 'a bit late' - will you be responding and providing the docs requested within the timeframe that was stated in the cover letter that was included with the forms you are filling in? If not, I'd get in touch and speak to sommeone at Immi ASAP.

Hi Jason, This position was filled (sorry forgot to delete the post). Are you currently in Oz? If so, we do need a casual small engine mechanic to help out as and when required during the wet - see my latest post in this forum for how to apply.

Ha ha! Just spotted that thread. Only know of one person that tried what I have suggested, but it worked for them, so maybe give it a go - you never know?!