Aussie Abroad

I found the Australian Breastfeeding Association was a good way to meet other Mums too. You don't have to be breastfeeding either to join and most groups I have found are accepting of all parenting styles. https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/

They are called Maternal and Child Health Centres in Victoria. http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/CommunityServices/ForMyFamily/MaternalChildHealth/Pages/CentreLocations.aspx

After living in Asia for nearly 3 years, I'm dying to get home and get back to my Aussie tv! Guess it's all relative.

Not quite the same, but we moved to Malaysia from Brisbane and found it really useful to not think about it as a forever thing, but to put a time limit on it. We decided that if, after 3 years we still weren't 100% happy here, that we would move home. So, while we've had a great time living in Asia and travelling all over the world, we've decided to move home next year. I know things aren't great in Ireland at the moment, but things will eventually pick up again, and in a few years moving back might be a real possibility. In the mean time, this http://www.brisbane-australia.com/free-stuff-to-do.html is a bit of a list of free stuff to do in and around Brissy, so it might help to try and get out and do some things and see what is great about living in the Sunshine State. :biggrin:

Were you only there during winter?

Considering you are so set on what you want, have you thought about using a car broker to do all the ground work for you? They can usually get a much better price as well.

I never had any problems taking bottles filled with sterilized water on the plane either, usually they just have a quick look before you put them through the scanner. I always pre-measured out formula at home into a formula dispenser, so I didn't have to worry about scooping from the tin on the flight. Made it heaps easier to prepare bottles. http://www.bigw.com.au/baby/feeding/bottle-feeding/bpnBIGW_0000000067931/nuby-formula-dispenser?utm_source=GoogleProductFeed&utm_medium=cpc&origin=%7Badtype%7D&id=%7Badwords_producttargetid%7D

Oh ok, that sucks. I know a friend used that site to find somewhere to live last year after his house was flooded. Good luck!

What about http://www.flatmatefinders.com.au

I think Pampers are the more popular brand in the UK, rather than Huggies. Huggies in the UK are different to the Aus ones. The NAN formula is made by Nestle, maybe give them a call in the UK and see if they offer a similar product there? Otherwise I would just pack enough tins to see me through, I'm sure your sister would be able to take it in a plastic shopping bag as carry on.

It's strange, my husband and I are both Aussies and are prepared to move OS for work as we get to live together as a family unit, but we are not prepared to move to WA and have him FIFO. FIFO just wouldn't work for us, especially not long term and the money isn't enough to compensate for all the sacrifices we would have to make as a family. I suspect a lot of Australians feel the same way.

Mmm love a good lamington with jam and cream. Kiwis like to lay to the lamington though, and don't even get me started on the pavlova!

All this talk of cake blatantly highlights the lack of research undertaken by future migrants to Australia. It's all about the pumpkin scone down here, dontcha know?? :laugh:

Definitely Aus for me, I hate the cold. We are moving back to Brissie next year after living in Malaysia and one thing we really aren't looking forward to is the cold Australian winters :biglaugh: We were tripping around Europe and the UK in February this year when a massive cold front came though, -10 when we landed in Paris. Brrrr. Never visiting Europe in winter again.

I don't think there are too many disadvantages, but off the top of my head, you normally have to have a credit card linked to the offset account, so you can incur an annual charge for that. You need to be disciplined in paying off the credit card within the 60 day interest free period (if you choose to live off the credit card). A redraw account makes it harder to access your money, so you have to exercise a little more self control with an offset account. A minimum balance may be required to maintain the offset account.

There certainly are Government and Private school run kindergarten and preschool programs in each State and childcare centres also run preschool programs, not just long day care. I'm not sure where you are in Aus though or how old you kids are? This WA site gives a good idea of the different programs in each State: http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/ece/enrolments.html#compare My daughter starts the year before Prep in QLD next year and we are sending her to a Faith school, where they call the program kindergarten, but another Grammar school we were looking at called it Pre-Prep. It might be worthwhile dropping by a local school/child care centre to find out what programs they offer.

Cadbury Furry Friends, Chokito

What about the Bayside suburbs - Wynnum, Manly and surrounds. Still a lovely country town feel but with enough shops/services to be convenient. Plenty of good cafes, parks and walking paths along the waterfront. They are close enough to the airport to be great for commuting, but not so close that you get aircraft noise.

When we lived in Aus a few years ago, we used iinet. We have also used aanet previously. We had no problems with either company.

I've never stayed in Brisbane using Airbnb, but I have used them in other cities and have never been disappointed. http://www.airbnb.com/

Haven't read all of the rant, but I have been driving in Aus (all States and Territories) for 15+ years, no speeding fines for me either, and only one accident where I reversed my car into another parked car. I will admit to being a terrible reverser! If you look at the figures per KM driven, then there is very little between the UK and Australia's road toll. On a recent trip to the UK, I hated going into a roundabout with another car as they invariably shot across into my lane. And the speed limit of 80m/h on some country roads was downright dangerous! Horses for courses I guess. I live in Malaysia ATM and love driving in Australia, it's actually quite relaxing after dealing with the chaos here.

We live in Malaysia ATM, so no shortage of good curry around here! When I'm home though, Figueiredos at Annerley is my favourite Indian restaurant in Brisbane. http://www.ferngallery.com/currymixes/aboutfigueiredos.html We visited London in February and as it was our first time in the UK, we were really looking forward to trying an English curry. Well we had the misfortune of stumbing across this place http://www.theindianfusion.com/ and had the worst curry ever! The korma tasted just like chicken soup. :mad:

I think Toowoomba is a lovely town, but you would have to like the quiet, simple life. There is a University of Southern Queensland campus in Toowoomba, but it would be about a 15-20 minute drive from Cotswold Hills, which is far in Toowoomba terms! Gets really chilly in winter too, with fog descending and never lifting some days.

Newcastle is a decent enough sized city, shopping is largely concentrated at Westfield Kotara and Charlestown. There are plenty of nice cafes and restaurants concentrated around Beaumont Street. Nicer areas to live are around Hamilton, Kotara, New Lambton Heights, Merewether and Adamstown, rougher areas are Mayfield and Islington, but even houses in these areas are starting to be renovated. There are plenty of lovely beaches in Newcastle and the surrounding area, including Stockton beach which you can 4WD on. Port Stephens and the Hunter Valley wineries are within an easy 1-2 hour drive. We lived in Newcastle for 2 years and didn't experience too many really hot days. Winter can be quite cool and wet. For the kids, like most Australian towns lots of sports, surf life saving, the beach, shopping.

Sorry, not sure how your UK quals align with Aus quals, but just wanted to say that becoming a PT is very popular in Aus at the moment, so you will find yourself up against a fair bit of competition. It would be ok as a second wage, but I wouldn't be counting on it to support a family. Most of the people I know who do it work full time jobs and train clients before or after their 9-5 job as a bit of extra cash. There would be a lot more money in brick laying ATM than PT.