North to South

Hi, I currently live in Adelaide but want to move to Brisbane and while I know everyone’s views on suburbs are subjective, so I would just appreciate some guidance on where the furthest suburbs I should start my search from in all directions if I wanted no more than a 30 min commute into the cbd. Also, any areas to avoid looking at would be appreciated. If anyone has made the switch from Adelaide to Brisbane it would be good to hear your views and whether it’s been a positive move. appreciate all comments.

Hi, We currently live in Adelaide and have been given the opportunity to relocate to Perth with work and wondered if there's anyone here that's made the move from Adelaide to Perth and whether the move has been a positive one. I know all of these things are very subjective, but it would be interesting to see prior Adelaide residents thoughts on Perth, both the positive and negative. We don't have any family here, so don't have any ties, but would just like to know peoples views on the lifestyle, how the city compares to Adelaide, what's the city like for teens compared to Adelaide and generally just an overview. We're heading there soon for a week to get a feel as we've not been there for 15 years and I'm sure it's changed a lot since we last visited. Again, I know peoples views of suburbs is very subjective, but it would be good to know how far up/down the coast you would want to live if you didn't want more than a 20/30 minute commute to the CBD. All comments would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, I would like to travel back to the UK in December having just had to abort my trip this week due to testing positive for Covid, but will be about a month short of my 2 years residency in December (existing 190 expires in Sep 22) and am seeking recommendations for migrations agents here in Aus that can provide some guidance on whether it's likely we'd be granted a RRV (we've owned a house for 16 months, have had jobs for 17 months and a 16 y/o at school) and then do the processing for them. I have looked online and I can see they are straightforward to do, but I am looking for the expert help to do this for me in case I miss something that may mean I can't travel in December. Any recommendations of agents would be most welcomed. Thanks

Hi, I'm looking to visit Perth for the first time in 14 years now I'm finally living in Australia and would appreciate some guidance on what areas around Perth are good for restaurants, cafes, beaches etc. I've been looking on Airbnb and Stayz and come see a couple of nice places inn Sorrento and one in Halls Head, but not sure if these are good ares to stay for a week or if there's better areas. It's mainly a week to relax during September and also to spend some time exploring the areas around Perth as I'm sure it's all changed since our last visit. Any guidance on areas to stay and also visit would be most appreciated. Thanks

Hi, I currently live in SA but have an opportunity to relocate to Sydney next year for work, but only know the Sydney CBD and am seeking some guidance on what areas I should focus a house search on to see whether even considering a move makes sense given difference in house prices. I have a budget of $2.5 million and need ideally a 4 bedroom house in a nice area within a 30-40 min commute to the CBD. I think my preference would be to be in the northern suburbs from everything I’ve read, but again open to ideas. I’ve looked on Realestate and can see some lovely houses around Epping/Penant Hills but don’t know if this is a good area or not, so appreciate thoughts on these areas. Any ideas would be great so when I visit for a weekend I can drive around and get a feel for the areas. Thanks :)

This may seem a daft question, but if we went in July this year for a couple of weeks, would that impact our 'living in Australia' for 2 years if we applied for RRV's next year ?

Thanks for the comments it most appreciated. We just need to decide whether to travel in December or wait until Easter where we know we'll get the five year RRV.

Thanks Paul, if you're here longer than two years, with our ties, is it likely we'd get a longer RRV than the one year to avoid going through the process if we want to travel overseas the following year and avoid paying the $410 each as I'd rather delay our trip to get the slightly longer visas and save what would be $1200 in another year ?

Hi, My existing initial 5 year visa expires in September 22 and want to travel back to the UK for Christmas so will need to apply for a RRV. However, when looking at the guidelines you need to have lived in Australia for 2 years or have substantial ties to Australia. I moved here at the beginning of January 2021 after being delayed by Covid so will be just outside the 2 year window, but do have ties to Australia - Own a house, my daughter attends school here and my wife works here, but not sure if these will be seen as acceptable or not when applying. I'm also not sure when you need to apply as looking online there is a 155 which seems to be quite quick turnaround, or a 157 which seems to take a few months. I would appreciate any thoughts or comments on this as I don't want to book flights if there is any risk of not being granted RRV if our ties to Australia are not enough and we need to wait for the 2 year eligibility. Thanks :)

Hi, appreciate some guidance on what the current eligibility is in order to apply for citizenship so I know whether I can apply to avoid fee increase ? Thanks.

Hi, I need to get my daughters UK passport renewed and just wondered if anyone has done that recently and what the timeframe from sending the passport back to the UK and receiving the new one is. Also, as she's under 16 she doesn't have any formal ID except a school ID card, so what can she use for interstate travel should she need to do anything whilst the passport is being processed ? Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks

Hi, I'm now five months in to living in Adelaide and it now feels normal and I just wondered how long before the magic and excitement left people after first arriving before it felt like normal life. For me the first few months were wow, wow, wow, look at that, go here, go there, see that etc etc but now it's just normal. Driving my daughter to school I used to marvel at the view across Adelaide on the journey, but now it's just, that looks nice today. I only feel that I'm living in a different place when I visit somewhere I've not been before, or see something new. Don't get me wrong, I love living here, even in this colder weather as we're doing so much more than in England, especially at weekends, but it just feels normal now and not sure if I was expecting that to come so soon. Be good to hear other peoples experiences on their first few months.

Hi, Following on from the popular thread on what you miss about the UK, I thought I'd turn it around and ask what you'd miss about Australia if you went back to the UK. I've only been here 5 months so I don't really have the history, but my initial things would be - And I live in Adelaide. - Variety of fresh fruit and vegetables in supermarkets and produce stores. - Whilst Adelaide has lot's of traffic, I'd miss it as I know what going back to the UK would be like, certainly in the SE where I lived before. - The beautiful scenery and walks in the Adelaide Hills which is right on my doorstep. - Abundance of great cafes and restaurants catering to every whim you might have. - Pies! Just love a good Australian pie. I'm sure there's more, but over to fellow PIOers.

I’ve been here in Adelaide for just coming up to 5 months and here’s the things I’m missing. Jars of pasta sauce - haven’t managed to find a decent one here yet. Buying alcohol in a supermarket - I’m not a big drinker, but used to like buying the odd bottle of beer with my groceries. Smoother road surfaces - unless you’re on a main freeway. British bacon - the bacon just doesn’t seem to taste the same here. NHS - I’ve found the medical system here very good, but I don’t think you’ll ever be able to beat the NHS for what it offers the people of the UK.

Hi, I did find myself in your position when selling my house in the UK and it is quite stressful. I eventually completed when I was on the plane and only exchanged the day before, but I kept pushing the agents/buyers that I had a committed date that I had to leave by. I'd also recommend putting a covid clause in the contract so that if Australia closes its borders/transit routes to Australia, you can delay the sale of the the house for X days so that if after exchanging Australia for some reason closes it's borders, you're not left homeless. During my sale I had to cancel some flights as the buyer was too slow, then I had to cancel others due to Singapore closing it's border and eventually booked with Qatar, in fact I booked two flights one month apart as a back up in case one was cancelled. Just check the cancellation policy before doing this. Qatar were fine on refunds and I got the money back within a few days of cancelling. Just also bear in mind that flights still have limited capacity and sadly economy tickets tend to get bumped in favour of business class, which is purely economic for the airline, but not great for the consumer. I would avoid Singapore Airlines as I still don't think you can transit through Singapore to Adelaide, so look at Qatar as they've been the most reliable coming into Adelaide. I looked at Flagstaff Hill, Craigburn Farm and Aberfoyle Park and they are lovely areas and you get a lot of house for the money, but I just found they were too far out for me to commute into the CBD each day. I used to work in London and had a 1 hour commute and now have a 15 min on a good day and 35 on a bad day and even now that seems long once you've been doing it a while. Memories soon fade of the UK commutes! The process of buying a house here is easier, but initially more stressful. We bought a house on a 'best offers by date' and after some negotiation we managed to get it as we had nothing to sell and finance was in place. Once you make an offer that's accepted you have 48 hours (cooling off period) to get the house inspection completed in along with any other inspections you need. Once this time has passed, you are committed to buy. I had to pay 5% deposit five days after the cooling off period and then settled 23 days after that. Most of the process is quite straightforward, but as it's so different from the UK, you just have to make sure you buy the right house as there's no pulling out as you can in the UK. Finance should be okay as long as you have a job, or a job offer and I can share details of someone that I talked too about finance options. I would use RealEstate.Com.AU for the house search as all agents use it, Domain is number two, but not all houses are listed here. Homely is useful, but it's like TripAdvisor and very subjective on peoples views. Most suburbs tend to merge into one another here, but for me I wanted to live in the Hills, but now glad that I live in the Eastern Suburbst as it's so easy to get to most places during the week and weekend. I think the main thing is looking at where you think you'll be working and then hone in on some suburbs that look nice and just ask on here for peoples view on what they think of them. Also look on google earth and do some street views around the area to see what you like. Most people do drive to places as there's no 'town centres', just suburbs with a small selection of shops, restaurants cafes etc. If you're looking down at SE, then I think Flinders is the main Hospital down that part so getting there from Flagstaff wouldn't be a problem and you're only 20 minute drive across to the beach at Brighton. I'd encourage you to make contact as soon as you can and start building up the relationship with the recruiters so they know you're coming, what you want to do etc so that you have a head start when you get here. It is strange that once you've been here for a while you tend to forget you're in Australia. Certainly for me I have. Initially it was 'wow', look at that, shall we go here, shall we go there etc and pinching ourselves that we made it. But now we take it for granted and only when we go somewhere new you feel you're living the dream that for many years you dreamt of. I've been fortunate and have travelled to Australia most years since my first trip on 04 and while Melbourne and Sydney are great, to me they don't have the variety of attractions that Adelaide has on it's doorstep. The beaches here are amazing, the hills are beautiful and the wine regions are just lovely and all this is within an hour of the city. With regards to schools. You will find some will respond and some don't as they prefer you to be here rather than a speculative email, that's what I found. We elected to continue down the private route the same as we did in the UK as that gave us more freedom on where we wanted to live. I know it's not everyones taste, but it just took one level of stress away from us. Most schools do have websites that are very informative, so I would just look at those, shortlist some, then when you have some dates start to contact hem to say you're arriving on X date and do you have places etc. Selling the house at anytime in the UK is stressful, but during Covid it's harder, but it's worth every second of stress you go through to get here!

Hi, as a newbie to Adelaide I can tell you it's a great place to live and so far am enjoying the life here. I made a couple of 4/5 days visits prior to moving here which gave me a good sense on where I wanted to live, but am now living in Burnside which wasn't even on my list of places. Before I came I looked down at properties at Hallet Cove and up at Golden Grove, but it's not until you're here, you realise quite how far out they are from the CBD if you want to travel in each day. That said, Hallet Cove is a great and the beach and walks around the conservation park are beautiful. Our short-list of places to live were Craigburn Farm, Blackwood, Belair, Stirling and Aldgate but having viewed houses there, they are lovely, but certainly with Belair, Blackwood, Craigburn Farm I didn't like the one route in/out option where traffic in the peak is very busy. Stirling and Aldgate are still my favourite places, but just couldn't find the right place there. I would recommend looking at the schools and select some that you like, then look at houses around those areas as that will give you a sense. When we arrived we took an Airbnb for a few months, initially in Newton and then Athlestone which were fine, but then bought as soon as we could to avoid renting and converting cash into dead money. We moved into our house exactly 8 weeks after leaving quarantine and whilst the house market is quite tight, we found that being non-dependent buyers we were in a good position. Schooling here is very different, my daughters in Y10 and initially she did have some bad days because she was the new girl and didn't know anyone, but now she's thriving and loving the variety of subjects on offer, certainly far more than the UK. Adelaide doesn't have the glitz and glamour of the other major cities, I tend to look at is as the Manchester of Australia whereby it's got everything you need, but without the hustle and bustle and glamour. The beaches here are amazing, the countryside in places breathtaking, the cafes/restaurants are great and overall we've not looked back and are so glad that we moved here. I love the countryside and to be able to get in the car and drive for 5-7 mins and be high up in the hills with great walks for me is far more than I could ever get in Sydney or Melbourne. And whilst my favourite beach at Port Noalunga is an hours drive, it's worth every minute of the drive. If you're looking for schools, check out BetterEducation as I found that quite useful, also the SA Education website as you can put a postcode/address in and it will tell you what schools you're zoned too. Mortgages here are based on what you can afford, not multiples and it's quite straightforward once you're employed and you shouldn't have any problems with the equity on your home. The hardest thing will be deciding where to live given the places available. All I'd say, is look at Realestate.com to get a sense on budget/places etc, but also look at travel times to where you/wife might be working as while they say it is a 20 minutiae city, invariably it's 35 mins in peak times. Happy to help if I can

Hello, appreciate all the useful tips on this. I've used the AC heating in the morning and that definitely takes the chill off things and the gas space heater for an hour in the evening in the living area and that seems quite effective. Certainly, not the same as heating a house in the UK, but nicer than looking at pipes and radiators everywhere which means you can place furniture wherever you want I've started looking at some new windows as the ones at my house must be original and are very pool for insulation. If anyone can recommend a company/person in Adelaide for windows it would be great. Thanks again

Hi, It’s my first autumn in Adelaide in my own home and trying to work out what the most cost effective way to heat a home is. Currently, I have reverse a/c with a heat pump and a gas space heater in the living area but not sure how cost effective these are to run or if there are other options I should look at. Appreciate any advice on this. Thanks :)

I’m sure this has been covered plenty of times, but for new arrivals like me and with ,my container arriving in the next few days full of electrical items I wanted to know whether I am permitted to change the plugs, or do I need to call an electrician to do this. I can easily change plugs myself, have done all my life in the UK, but moving to a new country, just not sure what most people do when they’ve arrived, so appreciate some guidance. Thanks

I’ve always been the cook in the house so have always sought inspiration for new recipes from books or online, a couple of my favorites I use are recipetineats and marionskitchen and now I’m here in Oz I can find more readily some of the fresh ingredients they use. I love wandering around the markets, being in Adelaide, I enjoy Central Market and can’t wait for my container to arrive so I can start to enjoy cooking more in my own home. I grew up in a farming family, so meat was my staple and fish only came battered on a Friday, and try as I can, I don’t enjoy fish probably as much as I should, so I’m looking forward to mastering how to cook some of the lovely fish that I see everywhere. I don’t think I’ll stop eating things like pasta, but hopefully I’ll start to replace the jarred sauce with fresher ingredients and take advantage of what’s available here compared to the local supermarket in the UK. And who has moved from the UK and now has ketchup on a meat pie ?

Hello, I’m intrigued to know whether people’s home cooked meals have changed since moving from the UK to Oz and if so what now are your three top home cooked meals and if eating out, what’s your go to meal ? Here’s mine..... Home cooked - Chilli, Lazy pasta with jarred sauce, Korean beef rice bowls Dining out - Has to be Chinese or Yum Cha during the day.

Hello, I’ve been in Adelaide about six weeks and am so confused why the petrol prices jump/fall so much by the day. I’ve seen prices at 1.59 then 1.19 at the same garage within a couple of days , sometimes the next day. Ive also seen garages with 0.30 per litre difference at garages just 100 meters apart. I know crude prices fluctuate as does the dollar, but I’ve never seen such swings in retail prices like this and wondered what causes this? It has taught me not to fill up until I really need it, or the price is low. Is this just unique to SA or is it Australia wide as I don’t recall seeing this in other states over the past 15 years of visits to Australia. Appreciate any views.

Thanks for that. I’ll look into FOXTEL especially as it avoids having a box.

Hi. The TVs are all less than 18 months old. I was told that as they have a different PAL system in Australia they would need set top boxes so keen to see how they work when my goos arrive in a few weeks.

Hi, F1 was the main reason I had Sky Sports. Is F1 here by Sky, Martin Brundle etc, or is it an Australian broadcast ?