koalaclare

One year my OH got me a lottery ticket with all our impotant dates on (b/day, anniversary etc) cheap to do but could have been brilliant if only it had been the winning numbers. Does she have a favourite food? My OH loves cherry bakewells he hasn't had any since we got here so I'm going to buy him some and wrap them up as a silly present..... sometimes cheap little present mean more.

Hi Matt I would say it would depend on how fit you are and how much you are into cycling. MY OH brought his road bike on the plane with us with the intention of using it as transport to and from work, then spent the 1st few weeks here not feeling safe enough to go on his bike. Once he'd sorted out a safe route to go though he was fine and now cycles every day to work. (Frankston to Dandenong) I think most of the journey from Mornington to Frankston on the Nepean Hwy has got a dedicated cycle lane (but not 100% on this) There is a monster hill just as you get to Frankston great on the way there no so good on the way home (unless you like hills) Clare.

Hey fab news that you are on the way but I bet you are dying to know more about where you are staying. You must be frustrated. Are you coming out on your own or with a partner/family? We are in Frankston (me, hubby and 2 kids 10 and 8) Its ok here. We have been here for 5 months and have been in our rental for a couple of months now. Its close to the beach and the shops and the bonus for us is it's in the zone for Frankston High..... not something you will have to worry about if you don't have kids. Fingers crossed your company will come up with all the info you need to know before too much longer.

we have just started recieving family tax benefit and rent assist. We applied for them a couple of weeks after being here and it took about 3 months to process and I think without it we would be sinking fast. It feels wrong somehow to be have this healthcare card although we are happy we can have it. Does this make any sense to anyone??? Our kids are 10 and 8 and we live a 5 minute walk from school and we have made quite a few friends that are happy for the kids to walk to school with them if I can find a job and Stuart finishes at 3.30 and is only 20 minutes away so thats another bonus for us.... unless he changes his job. Maybe I shouldn't have read the how much is enough thread then maybe I wouldn't be so spooked now but on the other hand at least for now we know we have to tighten our belts. Its an alien feeling for us as in the UK we were doing ok. The good news is that even though we are struggling we both think that the lifestyle we are experiencing now and the quality time we get here with the kids is worth it.

we have been here 4 months now and we are enjoying the experience so far except for 1 major factor.... Stuarts wages :frown: He's not earning anywhere near enough to keep us here long term. We were hoping that his wage would increase after his 3 month probation but we've just found out that's not going to happen nd now I am seriously worrying. on the positive side we are managing so far not to use any of the savings we have brought with us (not sure if that will last as we haven't paid any utilities yet....only been in our rental for just over a month) We have got options as well like him looking for other work.... a shame because he loves his job. He has spoken to other companies and wages all seem to be around what he's on now... seems like toolsetting doesn't pay here like it did in the UK. Becuse we are permanent residents we have just recieved a health care card which gives us some benefits.... still working out exactly what they are. I have been applying for jobs since we got here with no luck. Because I want to change career paths slightly I have booked to do a 3 week course in Dandenong when the children go back to school. Now I'm worrying about being too old to start something new and hoping I'm not going to make a fool of myself. I am trying to think positive but really I'm scared silly. I'm wishing the bills to arrive so we will know for sure where we stand. Fingers crossed things will start looking up soon

we brought our wardrobes with us as they were part of a very expensive set. They are still flat packed in the garage and when we finally get to buying our own home they will most probably end up either in the garage for storage (lots of motorbike kit in our house) or dumped. In hindsight we really wish we had sold them before we came out

I'm sooo excited and everyone at home in the Uk is asleep so I've got no one to share it with We have been accepted for the rental we applied for at the weekend :biggrin: Our container was delived to the furnished rental we have been staying at since we got here so its been a bit cramped here for the last week. I can't wait to move in and start unpacking boxes.

Chiara hope you dont mind me asking but what is the dental bus? have noticed tonight my little boy seems to have a hole in hhis back tooth so need to get it sortes but don't want to endup with a massive bill xx

OMG its here and its cleared customs. They had been emailing us but using the wrong email address. We have got to start paying for storage at port and warehouse handling costs or we can have it delivered to our holiday rental (our landlord doesn't mind if we do this) but then we will have to find a removal company or van to move it again when we find somewhere to rent long term. Got to start looking at different costs now and decide what to do for the best pretty quick

sorry can't help you on other ways to get your bikes here but just make sure you pack them well.My OH brought his bike as part of our luggage allowance it was packed in the correct cycle bag (bought especially for the journey) and when he unpacked it it was damaged cost him around $100 to get it fixed. We have complained to Emirates but so far they are refusing to accept blame. They are saying the bike should have been packed in a hard case not a soft cycle case (no mention of that until after the damage had been done though) My advise would be to double check how to pack them for travelling. Good luck on getting them here xx

We were exactly the same when we 1st started. We started with the idea of going to Adelaide with no real reason why, just a feel good instinct from an emmigrate show we had attended, and we ended up in Melbourne. We also considered Perth because of the sunshine. Our main reason behind Melbourne was jobs. Stu did huge amounts of intenet research before we came and found more exact matchs for his job here in Melbourne (he's in Manufacturing) We,ve been here 5 weeks now and love it Stu got a job as soon as we got here thanks to his research and now we are major confused on an area to live. Good luck with your research, not sure what job you do or if that will make a difference on where you choose in the end xx

thanks for that I don't think getting into the city every day will be something we have to think about Stu (my hubby) is working in Dandenong and when I do get a job its gonna have to be local to fit around the kids schooling. (we have an 8yr old boy and 10 yr old girl) Can I ask what the hunt club is like? On our travels over there I never thought to check out local shopping (is it walking distance or am I gonna have to drive) We love cycling can we do that easily over there or are we gonna have to put the bikes on the car. We checked out casey fields and the leisure centre and I assume thats not walking distance either. I was virtually positive I wanted to move to the Hunt Club but after a glorious day here playing on the beach and walking back through the shops I'm wondering if I am making the wrong choice, OMG THIS IS BLOODY HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!

no we were only given the name of 1 vessel do you think its to early for me to email our shipping company to see where we are upto? After all its only 2 weeks after the earliest possible date for docking that we were quoted.

Did anyone track the vessel that was bringing their belongings? I know the name of the vessel our stuff is on and the earliest day it could have docked was 24/06/2012. I've typed the name of the vessel into google today and according to the map (if I'm reading it right our vessel is someone by Egypt and looks like its heading back towards the UK :unsure: When I checked last week I thought it had just gone past Singapore :huh: Now I'm just confused. How long did it take for your belongings to arrive?

We did. Got here and spent the 1st week not even looking then OH went out cold calling just handing his CV in to places he had sourced while we were still in the UK and got an interview and started work the next day. He's in manufacturing (toolsetting) we are in Melbourne. I haven't started looking yet we,ve only been here 5 weeks so I'm still on the finding a rental etc before I find something hopefully as quick as OH did.