Tamsalina

Hi everyone My family are in Australia on a 457 visa, and the company are going to sponsor us for PR, just about to start the process. Unfortunately, our marriage has completely disintegrated in the past few months. We are keeping it amicable and agreed we want to continue with the process for all of us to be able to stay here as the children are very settled and happy here. We are currently still in the same house but not sure how long we can continue with this arrangement, and we have no idea if we can even apply for PR together if we are not even living in the same house. Does anyone have any knowledge of this sort of thing?! Thanks

Well I also moved from Bradford to Queensland and I found the Racism much worse in Bradford. My husband is Chinese and I am white so our children were mixed. It got to the point in Bradford where we didn't want to go out anywhere as everyone in that town seems to hate anyone else who doesn't look the same as them. Here in Townsville we have experienced absolutely no racism at all. Of course it exists here as everywhere, but none of it has been directed at us. We have made lots of Aussie friends and neither of us has had any trouble being accepted.

We moved to Townsville in July and we love it. I have made a nice circle of friends who are all actually Aussies. I have 2 small children and all my friends are Mums also and I think having kids can make it a bit easier to make friends tbh. I hope you guys are settling in ok and enjoying Townsville x

We had 96% totality and it was pretty impressive! It went all dark and we got some good pics so I'm a happy bunny. Aparently Townsville ended up being the best place to watch it as those further north with more totality had cloud cover?

Anyone else up north going to watch the eclipse in the morning? I've just used my best Blue Peter skills to make a viewing tube for the kids to use so feeling pretty proud of myself. Gonna try take some pics with the solar panel on my telescope :biggrin:

Hmmm, I'd just assumed it was mozzies! The bites are huge and randomly spaced. I went to the docs with them recently as if I get bitten below the knee I have a terrible reaction to them, he looked and said it was mozzies and these ones look the same... Anyway, just been snooping round the garden and found there are quite a few of the little beasties loitering round my hosepipe. It's not got a puddle of water beneath it or anything but maybe just the remaining moisture from the hose could be enough for a breeding ground for them? What does everyone reckon? That might explain why there's loads about as the hose is just outside my bedroom :eek:. But still not how they are getting in.... or managing to bite me through all my precautions!

Yes we have fly screens and the kids aren't big enough to open the doors themselves yet so no problem with them being left open! I keep my ceiling fan on at night too as someone told me that made it hard for them to fly?? No stagnant water about, I've been keeping a check as it's coming up on dengue season so want to stay safe.... They must be hiding in my room somewhere, but I don't know why the plug in thing isn't getting rid of them! I find the automatic spray thing really effective and I have to sweep up dead bugs from the rest of the house all the time. Just not our bedroom... Might have to look into a net, can you get them for kingsize beds??!!

Hi guys, I'm having a major problem with mozzies biting me during the night and it's driving me insane. We bug bomb the house every 3 months, I have one of those automatic sprays on 24/7, and I spray myself with Aeroguard before bed every night! The kids aren't getting bitten but their rooms are closer to the automatic spray so I figured that maybe they were coming into ours as it's at the far end of the house from the spray.... so I got one of those Raid plug ins for our room but I still had 5 new bites when I woke up :mad:. Anyone got any bright ideas? I must be doing something wrong!

Back to the original post....! I got an Aqua Laser from BigW and it was about $80. It does the job great and I can't imagine trying to do the floors the old way EVER again!

Hi guys, I'm going to have a good old moan now, and ask if anyone else has experienced the same as us. We used (pm me for name of company) for our move, we chose them for a number of reasons, one of them being that out of all the agents who came to give quotes, theirs made me feel most comfortable that they would take good care of our things. Anyway, whilst they were packing I found the 2 men to be really rude and ignorant, they took absolutely no notice of me whatsoever when I was telling them what to pack and what to leave. We had to leave halfway through the packing to catch our flights so had to give them all the instructions before we left. I was also concerned that they weren't being particularly careful! So, our stuff arrived last week and unpacking it all was just horrid. Anything fragile (and insured) had been wrapped and packed carefully, but everything else was literally just thrown into boxes any old how. My childrens books have covers and pages bent back on themselves as they were shoved down the sides of already full boxes. Rugs were screwed into balls rather than rolled or folded. All my small appliances have dents in from being squashed by the corners of heavy things dropped on top of them. AND the cups and spoons I had been making them tea with didnt even get packed! So my cutlery set now has 2 teaspoons. Its really really annoying! We paid a lot of money for them to do the full packing service for us, I really think if they offer that service they should at least try to treat peoples things with a bit of care. People would never pack their own things in such a way. Has anyone else had a similar experience or have I just been unlucky?

I get about 4-5 hours a night, usually broken into 1 hour segments. Yes I'm stressed and tired and grumpy! I have a nearly 4 year old who has only slept through the night for short periods. She drives me up the wall! She was sleeping well but when we made the move to Oz 2 months ago it all went up in the air again. I'm trying to get her used to her new bedroom and settled in it enough to go to sleep and stay in bed. Also, our shipping hasn't arrived yet so we are sleeping in a very old borrowed bed which is really hard so when Naomi is asleep, I'm usually struggling to get comfy. AND hubby snores like a tractor. so bah.

Had to laugh at the bit about UK men being almost gay compared to Aussies! Hubby was amazed at all the adverts on tv over here for big trucks, power tools and fishing stuff. The men definitely do MANLY stuff here lol!

Hi, we live in Townsville, which is North Queensland. As it isn't a mjor city we find everything to be SO much cheaper. You get a lot of house for your money here, and going shopping doesn't break the bank! So I think it's a case of finding a decent place that fits all your requirements that isn't one of the state capitals! Good luck.

Hi guys, I'm bug bombing the house later today but just had a worrying thought... We've got a little gecko running around the house, it moved in a few weeks ago! I totally don't mind it at all and just leave it be as I only see it when I pull the blinds down at night, and I'm sure it eats any insects that get in the house! But do you think he will be ok during the bombing? I know the sprays are harmful to pets and fish etc, but as he's not actually a 'pet' I can't remove him from the house! I'd hate for it to harm him as I've become quite fond of him.....

Like M2M said it's all about the barrier sprays! I live just south of Cairns and bugs freak me out big time. You can buy a huge range of products to keep the bugs away, and using a good combination should keep your house relatively free from beasties. Spray the perimiter and doors/windowsills with an outside spray, use the indoor bombs every 3 months, and get an indoor automatic repellant that goes off itself every few minutes.... also get some citronella burners for your patio (if you have one). But I still haven't managed to keep the bloody ants away! :laugh:

My husbands company put us up in a luxury apartment for 4 weeks right over the road from his office! It was seriously nice, fully furnished with ornaments and lovely things....... which totally weren't child proof! My daughter broke a vase after being inside less than 2 minutes :embarrassed:. We've been in our own place for a week now with another month or so till our container arrives. So I'm really missing that apartment!

Hi guys! I've been living in Townsville (North Qld) for 4 weeks now in a short term rental, and we're due to pick up the keys to our new house today :jiggy:I know that living in a house with a garden I'm going to see a LOT more beasties so want to be prepared and start off on the right foot with keeping them out! We're on the 15th floor here so we don't get much flying in the windows, but we definitely get the cockroaches :eek:. They freak me out big time, especially as they are always strolling along my kitchen counters :mad:. I've got a big can of Mortein cockroach killer but it says not to spray on food prep areas! I'm also a bit wary about using poison sprays as I have 2 small children at home. The Mortein says to spray along skirting boards, but my youngest still picks toys off the floor and chews them so that really makes me nervous. I'm spraying the whole kitchen down with Ajax after preparing any food, and sweep the floor every day so I'm keeping it as clean as I can. SO, what do you guys do/use that is safe and effective at keeping the little horrors away? I would really love any tips you more experienced guys can give me so I don't turn into a whingeing pom who does nothing but freak out over crawly things!

I'm a bit dim, sorry! What is hoon driving?

Ah, so these cars are actually allowed to turn when the green man is on! At least now I know. I agree it is a bit of a rubbish system, and I'm quite nervous about teaching my little ones to cross the road when I can't be sure that a green man means no cars can drive towards them! Note to self...... LEARN TO DRIVE! :laugh:

Is it just me or does crossing the road in Australia actually mean taking your life in your hands? I'm really not one to moan about the differences over here, I really love living here! But I don't get the road crossing situation at all. So I press the button and tell my kids to wait for the little green man so we can cross. On comes said little man and we set off crossing. But the cars keep coming! They seem to be allowed to turn left across our path even when the crossing man is there, so we have to dodge them! I don't drive so have no idea of the 'rules'..... can anyone explain to me what is going on as I'm trying to get some road sense into my kids!

As Bobj said we get less rain in Townsville which is always a bonus! I haven't been here for a wet season yet, but I spent my honeymoon in Cairns 5 years ago and it didn't stop raining the whole time! I've got 2 small kids so I don't do much socialising, but from being out and about there seems to be a good social scene here. And lots of hunky soldiers everywhere!! haha!

You don't need a copy of it as above posts said it's all electronic. But we printed out copies of ours just to have 'incase'! And I'm glad we did as some rental agencies asked for copies of them when we applied for houses.

Update****** It's official, I am now a Pom in Oz! Woohoo! We are finally here, got to Townsville 4 days ago and we are loving it already. Got a swanky apartment provided by hubbys work which unfortunately isn't child proof. Naomi broke a vase after being inside for 5 seconds. So all the breakables are out on the balcony now. Kids have settled straight in and are back to their usual routines, but having to find time for swimming at the Rockpool, playing in the waterpark etc. The weather is awesome, it's like the nicest summer we ever get in England, but this is winter! Been house hunting today and seen some lovely houses, just feel very positive about the whole thing. Lots of things are different, foods and drinks don't taste the same. But instead of thinking 'it tastes funny' I'm thinking 'it just tastes different' and I'm sure I'll get used to it. Positive thinking is the way to go!

Well I've now been in Townsville for 4 days :jiggy: and not seen too many. Granted, we are in an apartment on 15th floor! I'm keeping on top of cleaning up any food and keeping EVERYTHING in the fridge! Hubby keeps leaving crumbs all over the kitchen counters and 10 mins later there are hoards of ants all over the shop. Gonna start putting them crumbs in his jollies.......! Went house hunting out in the suburbs today and saw a few tiny spiders, lots of butterflies etc but I was quite calm about it all so doing well! I suppose the real test will come when it gets hot and humid..... Tandcmum, where abouts are you in Townsville? We looked at houses today in Kirwan, Douglas and Idalia. All areas seemed nice and quiet.

Hi everyone, Just wanted to keep you all updated on our progress..... we are currently in Hong Kong and flying to Townsville tonight! The shipping guys came to our house Monday and Tuesday and we left UK Tuesday night. It was mega stressful and a total panic to get our luggage as little over the weight limit as possible :embarrassed: but got there in the end. Currently staying with the hubbys parents which any of you with inlaws will appreciate is absolutely fantastic and amazingly enjoyable :wink:. Kids haven't slept since we got off the plane 3 days ago and my 3 year old just keeps shouting 'its too hot and stinky here!' We can't wait to get to Australia now, so excited to finally get started on our new life. And I can keep the Hoff updated on the weather too...... but not to make anyone jealous! :laugh: Will update again once we get there..... gotta re-pack again now and find room for all the presents from the inlaws :eek: