memmymooch

Thanks for suggestion will have a look at those

Hi Guys, Have been offered a job in Perth that will be split across Midland, Northbridge and Cannington locations. We are a 50's couple with 18 yrs daughter who will be attending Curtin Bently campus. I have stayed in Mandurah previously and we quite liked the area but feel that this might be too much of a commute as I will be working a number of shifts finishing at 11pm/midnight and not sure I want that long a drive at that time of night. Seeking suggestions for affordable suburbs (renting) 30-45 min commute or less. Currently I am about a 15 min drive from beaches, previously was 45 mins which was a bit far but would be happy with alternate water that could access for walks and if possible swim sometimes. Or in lieu of water nice nature walks. I dont have a strong north or south preference have not explored anywhere north. Is there anywhere with village feel centres coffee shops, resturants etc or that is not a thing there? Somewhere with some diversity would be good as daugher is mix race and she sadly has experienced horrendous racism here in our current predominately white QLD location. close to train links would also be good. in our down time we like to do the usual cinema, resturant, live music etc. I am super paranoid about fire so somewhere in hills or high fire risk might not be too great. Not sure if am chasing the impossible on a budget, ideally would like to not be paying above 500pw in rent for 2-3 bed house or unit, apartment not really practical as we have 3 cars and motorbike.

We moved from Melbourne to Qld 5 years ago, currently based in Sunshine Coast but have been offered a job in Perth so will be heading west early next year. Compared to Melbourne weather I love Qld and its lack of a real winter, temps drop down a bit at night around July enough that we would put heating on but still great during the day. Sunny Coast is stunning with beaches, hinterland and pretty much water of some kind everywhere you go. Its more of a family place though very limited night life, my kids 18 and 22 often moan about this fact and my 18 yr old frequently travels to Brisbane which is about 60-90 mins drive away or around 2 hours by public transport dependant on where you are based. Public transport here is pretty woeful in terms of range and times of operation. Housing costs here are insane my eldest and his partner live with us as they are unable to get into the rental market, anything that would be of a reasonable price range to a young couple starting out has a zillion applicants, there are so many people living in tents and cars due to housing unaffordability. Brisbane I have seen some more reasonably priced options and Gold Coast as well but the whole of this region is in housing crisis. That said people apear to get rentals in the higher end range more easily so really depends on budget and/or how much in advance you can pay or offer above asking price. I def think is going to be a challenge though without a job as so many other employed applicants in competition with you. I've spent some time in Cairns and have family in Townsville both of those areas are much more affordable than the south. Qld has a wet and humid summer, the further north you go the wetter and more humid summer is. I believe from my research so far Perth is the opposite with their wet season happening predominatly accross winter. When I relocated from Melbourne I was able to obtain a rental sight unseen just going via pics - big mistake it was a dump but gave us somewhere to be moving to instead of the whole temp accomadation gig, I had a job offer in place though. Im noticing a big difference this time in trying to plan the move to Perth as most properties are requiring a in person viewing to make application. Given that we wil be moving in peak holiday season air bnb is $$$ so am looking at a relocation agent this time around.

Hi Guys just wondering if anyone has brought over an elder child later on and if so how you did it? Have been here on 175 for 2 years now, I migrated with my 2 youngest children at the time of visa application my then 15 year old daughter was with her father who had allowed no contact with myself for previous 2 years and as requirement of visa process I had to either produce medical for her or sign a clause that wouldn't try and bring her at later date. ex point blank refused for medical. anyway long story short she is now 18 and working part time so has opportunity to contact me which has done. she is in pretty dire situation having to go out of house to parks and coffee shops to speak, he takes 450 of 500 monthly wages for board and has threatened to kick her out if reconnects with me. Hugely stressful being so far away. About to marry an oz citizen who would be happy to sponsor her but it seems can only do that if she is full time student and mostly financially dependent on sponsor. Other than very costly oz student route ( around 65k for international fees degree) then after education her applying for post study work visa and possibly then having fulfilled requirement to try for PR is there any other option? hoping someone can help mem

I love st Kilda, would def have been my first choice if could have afforded big enough place. Good luck with move

Thanks for the answers guys, think will maybe look at Thailand instead and save the Queensland adventure for better time of year.

Been here 20 months now thought it was about time I posted an update, hopefully some of you will find it interesting/ of some use. As some of you may remember I had a bit of a tumultuous time getting here having to go through the whole leave to remove process with the kids then having my then current husband bail on coming with us and additionally getting caught up in the fraudulent shipping company saga. It was a very stressful time. Anyway I got through it packed up the kids and the cat and we arrived 19th June 2013. I had rented a holiday apartment in the north of the city, on arrival I discovered this was actually a freezing garage conversion, it was grim to say the least so this together with the fact that my furry baby would need a home in 4 weeks following his release from kitty jail made me really get on to finding us a permanent rental. Wasn't sure on location so looked over a wide area my only constraint was it had to be commutable to camberwell as that was where I had a job lined up. It took me a couple of weeks to find somewhere affordable that wasn't either a shoebox or a complete dump but I eventually found a place in Glen Waverley, applied offering 6 months up front, was accepted giving 3 months and we moved in on July 12th. As a suburb the area wasn't too bad with a direct line of around 35 mins to City and a good little village area with cafés and cinema and good selection of shops. I have since moved 20km further out to Narre Warren, the houses are much cheaper here as are the school fees and little things like eyebrow threading is half the price. It's an hour into the city by train but as I rarely go there that's not an issue for us as it's still very doable if we want to and we are served by the night bus should I feel the urge to go clubbing etc. The first 6 months here I managed without a car, public transport is frequent and not too expensive. Services were cut back on early trains over school holidays though which prompted me to get one for getting to work easier. Driving is largely the same as in UK and for anyone that has lived in a city of any size I wouldn't say it's particularly worse in terms of congestion or travel time. The kids struggled to settle and that was hard they missed friends and family and being on our own here with no support was at times very tough. Since moving to our current area and new schools they are a lot happier and making friends so I think they are getting used to/ finally accepting that this is home now. After 3 months my ex decided that he would come for a visit and validate his visa, he expected to just come and stay with us but Although I did see him whilst he was here I made him get his own place as he made his choice previously to bail on us. I have now divorced him. 6 months in I met a lovely Aussie guy who is everything I ever wanted and more, the kids love him and we are now a very happy little family. We are currently building our own house close to current rental and planning to marry on Xmas eve. Being brave and taking that chance to come alone to build a better life was totally the best decision I ever made. Cost of living here I'm still on the fence about how much more expensive it is as wages are also higher and most things are proportionally similar as in portion of salary that they take. Rental prices are high especially considering the condition of a lot of places. gas and elec and internet I think are more expensive and you don't really get the same cheap season with elec as you need both heating and cooling to be comfortable. Water I would say is roughly comparable. Fuel is cheap, recently it was very cheap at around $1.00 per litre, it has raised slightly now to around $1.14 equiv to around 59 pence. Food I spend averagely around $200-250 on weekly shop, I was spending around £80-100 in UK, I find there is less choice here especially with convenience type things like Cook in sauce jars and frozen goods. Prices vary dramatically on certain things as well right now white grapes are $2.00 per kilo but I have seen them in winter for as high as $14.00 per kilo. Cherries were anything from $8-12 per kilo a few weeks ago, bananas is another thing that prices vary from $2-4 per kilo and there can be daily price changes on them. I also think fish is quite expensive. Something else I find expensive as a family is travel of any distance, air fares are high and accommodation prices are high. For just couples however it's not too bad. Lifestyle in general I love, the weather is mostly good and it's a lot more relaxed here tho that can be frustrating when simple things take forever to happen. The outdoor opportunities are great with beautiful forests and beaches. We recently got a old 4 wheel drive and have been doing lots of exploring off the beaten track. Camping is very doable here as well and relatively cheap. Aussies in general I have found to be friendly and accommodating. Things that I have found odd- people don't see the necessity of shoes here, supermarkets, take away shops, general shops; wet or dry you will find lots of barefoot people in them. The necessity to shorten practically every word. Derogatory terms that would be frowned upon at home like wog- used here to refer to Greek people, are seemingly perfectly acceptable. I'm frequently called a Pom with no thought to the meaning behind that in fact most Aussies that I met through work and friends had no idea what it even stood for. Anyway have waffled on enough. Happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

I got leave to remove my children in March 2013. It took me 6 months of court and around 7k in legal fees, I had to submit a very detailed proposal of everything it was 10,000 words all up. My children's father did not engage with court process did not turn up or even acknowledge any proceedings so court appointed independent lawyer to represent children's interests. I had applied for an independent skilled visa tho which would instantly give me PR and I already had a job offer.

Hi all you lovely Queensland folk. Was thinking of doing a trip to Queensland at the end of the year. Plan was drive up from melbourne, drop kids with partners sis in Ayr then go off for about 10 days as a couple, do the reef and generally explore- this will be our honeymoon. Have heard bad things about the weather up that way tho so was wondering what it's really like in terms of rain accessibility stingers in water etc. would be leaving melbourne on dec 26, hitting Ayr around 29th and leaving Ayr around jan 10th to return home. Should we be fine or better to just look at another destination?

Pay is a bit more open to negotiation here. If you are sponsored tho there is a minimum they must pay you, this works very favourably for relatively newly qualified nurses.

Hi I had this same issue with my 2nd eldest who lives with her dad and was not migrating with us, I had to include her on the form and either have a medical performed OR show evidence that had requested it from other parent who had refused request. I sent letter via solicitor and he rang and said no which solicitor prepared letter to that effect. CO perfectly happy with that

I guess it depends on your time scale for house sale are u planning to sell and then stay somewhere for a few weeks before leaving, if so you could prob wait on funds from sale. I booked everything at start of May and moved mid June. As it was so close had to pay whole amounts for shipping of goods n cat and of course flights all together cost me just under £7000 which was 20ft container, 3 flights and cost of shipping out his royal furriness. If I had been in position to book earlier tho could have just put deposits down on shipping and pet package then paid balance couple of weeks before. Not sure if that helps mem

Its pretty tough here alone With kids freesia but we're getting by been here 3 months now looking forward to nicer weather soon x

Congratulations amazing mix of emotions when they come through well it was for me anyway! Good luck for the future x

Hi Guys just wondered if anyone had any experience of this or knowledge of how to go about obtaining a divorce when spouse is in UK? Cheers mem