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The only food item I have had scrutinised when declaring is blancmange (or however it is spelled!). I was able to take it through in the end. The declare line is always quicker than the nothing to declare line when I've been through!

We've got KP too, I don't know about visa grants while a CO is away, but I know he's pretty quiet! I've emailed him once to let him know (something he wanted to know) and there was no cheery thank you email. Wow, away since 18 oct! Oh well, I'm glad we expected to wait the full 8-9 months!

When I contacted them about this extra charge they explained that it is charged at the port in Australia. Then I got emailed a better quote with an approximate destination port charge. Get in contact with them and they should explain it it full. I'm yet to use them though!

OH has just had the medical. A detailed medical history has been requested from his GP & he also got stung for an extra £20 for urine analysis. He's type 1 diabetic and is concerned that his visa application will be refused. I would love to hear from other diabetics! I'm pretty sure that it will all be ok, but I guess it's another one of those niggles...

OH had medical today, extra £20 for urine analysis! Also waiting for detailed medical history from GP. I'm now expecting 3 month referral Reckon ours will take the full 9 months.

Has he tried the YMCA, I believe they now have hotel style accommodation. He's also more likely to get postive support there too.

I start asking them questions such as "what's your full name?" "What's the company name?" "Where are you?" Etc. had a lot of fun annoying a woman who had duped my 75yr old grandad into giving her remote control of his computer. Ended up in an argument as I interrupted the connection & googled the company. Spooked her when I described the exterior of her office block thanks to google earth! Grandad hasn't been bugged since either

I googled the school via Aussie search engines and not a lot came up. Managed to find the Aussie equiv of netmums (sorry can't remember the site now!). There was a bit of to & fro in the forum when Silkwood changed from a Steiner school. I also asked my mum to ask her Brissie mates if they knew of the school. Apparently there was some unhappiness at the schools change. From what I can tell they have kept the Steiner philosophy, but dropped 'Steiner' officially as they now incorporate technology for the older year groups. I personally think this is fine; not teaching children tech puts them at a disadvantage later on. I did manage to speak to parents of Steiner-schooled children here in the UK & they all said pretty much what Cal has said.....the kids are engaged with learning, polite, well-mannered, teens are free of the 'normal' attitude and they all seem to have an inner-calm. Short of the website being untruthful and the school being a complete dive when we check it out, I'm pretty sure we'll be sending our kids there.

We're not in Qld until May 14, but we're submitting enrolment forms for all three kids, even though the youngest won't go until 2017! When I emailed them they did say they have long waiting lists at the younger end of the school. Our eldest will be going into Yr 5 and is super excited...she keeps looking at the website! Good luck!

Try working backwards from the apps you want to use and see what tech they are compatible with. Be warned, take any 'calorie burned' figure with a pinch of salt. I use a Polar HRM and a Nike Sportband+ and the calorie figures can vary wildly. I did research into this when I plateaued (have now lost 3 stone) and discovered that to get an accurate picture of calories burned, the tech needs to take account of weight, gender, age, height (plus stride for pedometers), heart rate and V02 max. The last one is usually the reserve of athletes.....think of them running on a treadmill with all that gear on their face! If you have the iPhone, forget about the Nike+ app because the accelerometer in the phone doesn't work so well in the gym. Well not for me anyway!

His current school should be ok. I can't imagine they would want to go through all the hassle of liaising with another school if it was only for 6-8 weeks. We've got 3 kids, but only 2 are in school. The plan is we fly out middle of May but they will finish at school on the bank hol weekend as I'll be taking the kids to my grandparents for the final week or so. This gives my OH the time to get our house back to rights before we hand over to the landlord. I've had to pack many times with kids in the way.....steam cleaning carpets and painting walls no way! Good luck!

This is a good question! I have read that it is recommended to put on a CV what Visa you have so that HR/recruitment agent can see that you are entitled to work. Are you hoping to get the Perm granted? I have read that employers can be twitchy about any visa that is 'provisional' or 'temporary'. Do you have Skype? My hubby (the applicant) will be applying for work off-shore, but because we're expecting the visa to be granted Feb, we're not planning to leave until May. He's going to state in any covering letter that he can offer to have the first interview online. I'd be interested if this plan worked for anyone else! Good luck!

Thanks! Will look for playgrounds and 'evidence' of children when we hit the ground!

Uh-oh.....I had most of my docs certified by a solicitor, but got the last two done by the Post Office for my kids' citizenship application. Nervous wait now :-/

Hello! We've been looking at the rentals available in the Nerang/Ashmore area and I noticed quite a few are in gated communities. I have no personal experience of these as I never came across them while living in Adelaide. My mum sucked her teeth at the mention, telling me we might not be welcomed by the other residents as the inhabitants are mainly retired or childless adults. However, the properties are often marketed as 'family-friendly'. We have 3 kids (10,5, & 3), and the older 2 are used to playing out with local kids as we are lucky to live where there are safe areas away from the roads. They don't fight, yell or swear at each other, in fact they are well-mannered. BUT they are kids, and like to kick a ball, ride bikes, laugh and generally be noisy in the way kids are. Would love to hear anyone who has experiences of living in a gated community - whether or not they have kids! Thanks!

If a bank will do it for free, go for it! But in my experience it is rarely the case. A main post office charges £7.15 for 3 docs but you have to do the copying & complete a short form. Good luck!

Hello! We will be making the move with 5-7 boxes as most of our furniture would struggle to make a 100 mile journey intact! Any have any experience with Voovit? Thanks!

Although, you might want to keep an email address that thinks you are in the UK if you want to watch ITVplayer etc. My mum has been complaining that filter on her computer has stopped working & the on-demand (UK) service now asks for an email to verify her location. If you watch it ;-)

Tom Tom sell map upgrades on their website.

Awesome news Snifter! Good luck with the move

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/newly-arrived-residents-waiting-period This is the info on waiting periods & exemptions I'm referring to. It is a link from the Newstart allowance (jobseekers) section. I guess it comes down to the Aus Govt interpretation of 'the family member of an Australian citizen'. If this does include partners then this appears to be a contradiction with the moral obligations in the visa application. Not that I'm suggesting the OP or anyone else should step off the plane and head straight for the Centrelink office!

You will be able to work on provisional visa. I'm the Aussie & I stay at home with the kids so its vital that if hubby only gets the provisional instead of the perm visa that's he is able to work....I've been over the booklet & websites sooo many times! When we submitted our app, I too was concerned about the lack of funds in our accts if anyone asked! We're also saving madly & planning to have £10k too. There used to be an assurance of support attached to this visa, but it has disappeared. The most recent app also doesn't ask if the sponsor has a debt to the Aus govt (which I do, uni debt ). Glad that got removed too! our CO hasn't asked for any proof of funds. His only concern is our kids are made citizens before the grant date. I'm guessing that the main concern is whether the relationship is genuine. I have noticed that although there is a declaration that the non-Aussie partner will not claim benefits for 2 years, yet according to the centrelink website, they can claim pretty much off the plane!!!! Good luck!

thats more than we had! We're social hermits as we have kids & no babysitters nearby. Did go to a wedding but didn't keep the invite! We submitted a Christmas card & extra statements from friends. I have seen loads of others in the forum submit travel tickets as evidence.

Try asking Iron Lady imports. There's a thread on here somewhere. Tell them what you want to ship, and they tell you if it is worth it. Sometimes if you love it, take it! I had a '69 vw beetle no air con in Adelaide...just rolled the windows down! The air-cooled engine struggled in summer though!

We included a letter from the bank confirming when we opened a joint account. The only docs we had that could show we have lived at the same address for a number of years was tax credits statements. Even then we didn't have much that could show the whole 12 years! I only keep docs for 5/6 yrs then its shredded, even less for bills. It was pure luck I found tax credits letters going back to 2007! We just explained it in our statement that we didn't enter into he relationship with a view to getting a visa, so we didn't keep 'evidence'. Be warned, your CO might keep most of the evidence & only send back the photos, cards etc. I was expecting stuff like council tax bill & tax credits letters back, but no! More annoyed that I overpaid the return postage! Good luck!