jac2011

I work in a mental health unit so my patients sleep most the night. I do my paperwork on the computer so I am checking every 5 minutes! I am so happy it's weekend. I feel like I can live again. I did facebook stalk my CO yesterday too haha.

I would go for a suitcase. I read an article that people presume a backpacker should have a backpack but it is far less practicle. If you are planning on camping and hiking etc then it would be useful.

I am a nurse so my levels have not met the full allocation, however I rang immi and they confirmed that the allocation has been met. My theory for the additional grants is they caught up for a week working out how many visas they had allocated so far and then when they had a total number they were able to allocate the remaining numbers.

Some really good posts so I wont repeat what others have said but in terms of your citizenship comment, you see it as a marriage and don't want to swear to something you are not commiting too. That is a good point if that was purely going to have an impact on yourself, but what if your children in years to come want to return to Australia and are not eligible for their own visa. Citizenship gives them that opportunity. You don't know how you may feel at 60, 70 or 80 years old. You don't know how hard or how expensive it may become to get in!

Congratulations, I hope the little bun is still keeping warm in the oven then! ;-) Good luck! Nice to see grants continuing to be granted, though I must admit these night shifts are long with me stalking my emails each minute.

I am reading the posts and I thank you all for sharing them, I think the reality is our needs and desires change from year to year and we can only make decisions on how we feel at the present time. We cannot predict the future. Don't hold back on your adventures guys, even if your adventure is only a 2 day random trip in a camper van. No where is perfect and each location has positives and negatives. Perhaps looks to your futures and plan some random trips adventure's to liven up the daily grind of work and no play!

I am sure I have read on the immi posts on Facebook that they will release it on the 1st July and not before.

My ex was a little more involved (though dependant on girlfriend) and I asked his permission first. I spoke to him amicably, explained our situation and reasoning and then when he was uncertain we went to mediation. Unfortunately my ex stated that whilst he could see the benefits he didn't want to be the one to sign permission over as this may come across to the children as him not being interested. When we went to apply to court however, he took some legal advice, realised it would affect his wallet and then agreed to sign over for them to come. He is a relatively good father but unfortunately has not played a fatherly role since he left them as babies.

I told my manager as I needed a reference in December. Since then I feel like I have had no training or opportunities to develop myself. My rota has been terrible (getting worse by the week) and I just feel like I am being treated as an agency member of staff. It's got so bad I have had to raise it with my manager today.

Big hugs again CaptainC! I kinda know where you are coming from, today I received the news my grandad's Big C had progressed and was now likely to be spreading into other organs. He is 87 so they are unlikely to operate and despite being raised by my parents, my grandparens mean everything to me. They so selflessly brought up 6 children, 26 grandchildren and now have around 15 great grandchildren and have been there for each and everyone of us. They have never had a nasty bone in their body and have gone without forever. Whenever, I was a grotty teenager and struggling with my parents I could nip round for a brew and they would make everything okay. When my ex cheated on me, I spent days with them and again they made me feel better and strong enough to keep going. It was hard enough going to Australia and leaving them and then this. Despite having such a large family my grandad would always turn to me for advice. He knew that if he asked I would find the information, explain it to him and action anything that needed doing. He relied on me for so much despite spending 4 years living 100 miles away. Leaving will be the hardest thing in the world.

Refer to the initial posts where you are getting good advice, that you don't appear to have noticed that your mother in law wont have had a settled child living in Australia for 2 years. You say you haven't even got the visa yet.

No not at all in recent years. Most employers wouldn't even hire me without 12 months, let alone offer me a package. I have accommodation, food and taxi's to work. I think it's slightly harder as an adult nurse (not impossible) only because they train general nurses. I am a mental health nurse and they only specialise after they are qualified as a general nurse. I think for this reason, it's slightly easier. But, tell your sister not to give up hope. I was persistent, got to know people in HR departments. The woman that referred me for the job and got me the package I had spoken to for 12 months prior to the job offer and we had built up a good rapport.

I am heading to Townsville, got offered a permanent job and relocation package too hard to turn down as a newly qualified nurse.

Im thinking the heat will be an issue with us for a while and a pool alone will help us cool down. It's also something we promised the children. I also find water relaxing, even if I am not in it. Just sitting next to it.

Thankyou, I am hoping Andrew (from Vista) will be available to help us! I know he is snowed under at the moment but he has always been full of advice. Moving to northern QLD and thinking a pool will be a must!

But as a single female in Thailand staying in a hostel would you feel safe?

Congratulations on another grant! I am sooo jealous of you all but also buzzing that people are still getting grants! Good luck to everyone still waiting, I hope more April applicants get some more grants tonight!

Iv noticed 5 out of 7 of the 15th/16th June grants have been computer or software engineers...

Its such a horrible thing to experience, however I have worked in A&E in the psychiatric liaison team working with those that had been rescued or changed their minds. Often the decision to do something like this is so set in their minds their is nothing you can do to stop it. Some people will do this not matter what interventions are put in place, whilst it is awful for others to consider we have no idea how it feels for them. Unfortunately, it has been proven that putting restrictions in place to stop people committing these acts in one place will only shift the issue to another location. A bridge over water is the less gruel-some option in my opinion. Pushing people to do it in a urban area is far harsher for those who will find them.

Can anyone advise... If I purchased a newbuild would I be able to add the cost of a pool onto the mortgage? Do all developers offer this or would this be specific to builder? I remember vaguely seeing something on Wanted Down Under a long time ago...] We are thinking our first home will be a basic 4 bed newbuild in order to keep initial costs down for the first few years...

Enjoy your new life, there are lots of poms in the area so I am sure you will fine with meeting people... Id have loved to live there but the job is further north.

My best was strangely in Austria, I was camping in-between 3 large lakes near the mountains and one night it thundered for hours. It was so severe, we weren't allowed to our tents and had to sleep in the bar!

I love a good storm so I am looking forward to the Northern QLD weather. Most the newer houses (post 1983 or something) are built to withstand most cyclone's. There is always plenty of warning too. Weather around Townsville where I am heading averaged around 35 degree's during Jan/Feb from what I could gather.

Would it be worth your hubby going out alone for a month to see about the work situation? Plenty of shared accommodation he could stay in...

Summer up north is humid and hot, cyclones occur but they only last a few days and are hit and miss whether they will actually hit an area you are staying. There is only likely to be one major one per year. It's like a large thunder storm and high winds in the UK but once it's passed you have lovely hot weather. It's not all cyclones...