ClaireyD

Oh good luck with the move! We have one more year in Townsville and we'll be coming home too! We wish it was sooner. Can I ask how much to ship your belongings home and how much stuff did you have? Exciting times ahead! xx

Oh good luck with the move! We have one more year in Townsville and we'll be coming home too! We wish it was sooner. Can I ask how much to ship your belongings home and how much stuff did you have? Exciting times ahead! xx

Hi, has anyone had to revalidated their NMC? I'm in oz for another year and my revalidation is due to be renewed.. I'm wondering if I should let it lapse and reapply next year or do it now? Anyone had this experience? Any info gratefully appreciated.

Hi Lorna, did you get revalidated? I am in the same position but know no-one locally NMC registered. How did you go about it? Thanks claire

You dodged a bullet getting out. Townsville CBD is a disgrace with boarded up shops, nothing to do and a huge aggressive itinerant community. We would leave but are sponsored by our employers so are counting down the days until we can return to the UK. Now Cairns is a different matter. We just love it there. Good luck.

What???? I thought it was tax free!!! Ive got around $50,000 and will probably go home next year. I need to look into this and if that's the case I'll be reducing my payments!!!

Thank you for your quick reply George. Good to know.

I'm on a 457 and work as a registered nurse. Hubby and I have recently started talking of staying permanently. Thing is I'm 51. Am I too old to apply for PR. I think I am but just wanted someone to confirm so I can rule it out. Thank you.

I think you're quite right! Life's too short. You've a lot to return for and at least you gave it a go! You'll have lots of good memories to look back on. People say we are mad because we decided (before we even go) that our move to oz won't be forever, (we go over on Feb 4th.) We just want to have an adventure for a few years and work while we're there! So I say good luck and may the adventures continue!! Claire xx

Hi Davo1 Thanks for reply. We are both mental health nurses.We initially only ever considered Queensland but they seemed to have a job freeze and I made enquiries and Darwin came up first....talk about taking a chance! Anyway, we must be quite unique in that we have already decided we are not emigrating but definitely want to see more of Australia so would like to do 2 years in Darwin (got jobs in the Royal Darwin Hospital), then maybe a couple on the east coast before going to south australia. We plan on retiring in 10 years time and just wanted to 'see what it's like on the other side of the world!' Want to eventually retire in Spain or Gibraltar as we have lived/worked there before. I was happy to hear your friends like it in the NT. We've obviously done loads of research but nothing can beat actually being/living there. Good luck wherever you end up and thanks again! Claire

Hi, I notice not many people post from Darwin, and admit it wasn't always our first choice of an area to go to but that's where the job offers came from so Darwin here we come! Just wanted to know what it's like to live there and how ex pats have settled in. Is it difficult to meet people and why did you choose Darwin? Any info would be much appreciated! Claire

Hey all, moving to Darwin on Feb 4th....Sooooo excited!! xx Claire

So sorry for your loss xx

Hi Rani, Referral date was 10/12/12 and got finalised today 15/12/12 so 5 days. Not bad eh?! I sent an email to my C/O who emailed the MOR so I think that speeded things up. Claire x

Medical finalised today!! WoopWoop!! Claire

Hi all, I'm becoming quite frantic with all the waiting I'm beginning to think it will never happen! We have had job offers since March. (OH and I are nurses.) He passed his medical and things were finalised in october. Unfortunately mine was deferred as I have a history of slight hypertension, diagnosed many many years ago. I have been on medication all this time with no problems. I have never been off sick a day in my life with it. My own GP thought it was a bit extreme but anyway there was nothing I could do about it. I got all the tests I was told to have which were all normal. I ended up paying for a private Cardiologist due to waiting times. Everything went to Australia and I was then told it had to go to 'The Medical Officer of the Commonwealth.' My C/O says this is normal as I had to have further tests done. Does anyone have any experience of this and know how long it generally takes for a decision? My C/O said we should hear this week but it's now the weekend. I emailed him as I was told by my future employer that staffing levels have reached crisis point so he emailed the medical officer a few days ago but it is obviously still sitting on his desk....HELP!!! Claire

Hi Gordon, Was wondering how things were going for you. Sounds like things are going really well. So excited to hear you are settling in. We are waiting 'patiently' for our visas to come through! Keep us posted on your progress!! xx Claire

That's fantastic Missus B!! Good on you for persevering!!! Claire xx

Congratulations! Well done!!! Claire xx

Congratulations! Good luck with everything.

So excited for you!! Make sure you keep us posted....!!! xx

Hi tfarrell, Sounds like you've made your mind up. Good luck in whatever you decide to do. Hope it all works out the way you want it to. xx

Hi, great to hear you're enjoying it. We're hoping to make the 'big move down under' in a couple of months. Doing lots of research online on areas in Darwin. We'll be working in the Royal Darwin Hospital so will aim to be fairly close by at least initially. Love to hear how you are getting on. Claire x

Very honest and informative post, thankyou. We're just finalising coming over to Australia, to Darwin. Not many people I know even know where that is. I can't help but worry if we're doing the right thing. I suppose we'll never know until we try. We're also psychiatric nurses. At least we're under no illusion that mental health nursing over there will be any better than here. We lived and worked in Gibraltar and they were about 30 years behind the UK. The people were lovely though. One positive thing about nursing in Australia is that it is better paid. My other half is a CPN. We've both been in the profession for nearly 30 years and all he takes home is £1.400/month! After a pay freeze for 3 years he just feels totally unmotivated and undervalued and who could blame him? We also lived in Cornwall but instead of beaches and sun we had small town mentality (we lived in Bodmin) and the worst rain they had experienced in decades! Anyway, I hope it works out for you. Really appreciate you sharing your experiences.