raeoni83

Hi, yes we did a clean of our stuff ourselves - the bicycle was only used as a road bike so it didn't really have a massive amount of muck to get off it, just gave it a good hose down and went over it with a steel brush and suds. As for the kitchen goods, what i was referring to was the utensils, containers, cooking equipment etc. not the actual oven or fridge so we just gave it all a good washing in hot soapy water dried it off then boxed it up immediately.

Hi Exiled in Wales - you may find that in your situation Warragul is just outside of the 100km radius from a major city - as I seem to remember from memory they place a limit on the distance they will go from the major city for delivery... I can't really comment on why they are advising you need your own customs agent though as it was not something that I came across when arranging my own movecube. Perhaps another member on here who has been through a similar scenario to yours will see this post and be able to advise you better on that :-)

Hi Davenjean - It depends really on how much your prepared to pay to replace those items, here's a couple of examples: * Fridge/Freezer (205-220L capacity) - roughly $440 new * Washing Machine (5.5kg top loader) - roughly $430 new * 32in LED flatscreen TV - roughly $380 new Your best bet is to do some market research, the two major retailers in SA and WA are Harvey Normans and The Good Guys - they pretty much mirror each other's prices. I couldn't tell you about the other states as i've never lived in them long enough to buy house stuff. If you're heading to WA there is also a place called Super A Mart that can provide furniture packages, no electricals - my mum just bought a package for herself which furnished her lounge, bedroom, study and dining room for about $4200 all new Hope that helps a little - we didn't have a lot of stuff furniture wise and what we did have was second hand or chipboard/flat pack so didn't see the point...

Hi All, Thought I would share with those of you who are considering the Movecube option for transporting your belongings to Australia. We went from Salford UK to Pinjarra WA This was the quote we received: b. Medium MoveCube: INTERNAL: Height 1.88m (74 inches); Width 1.45m (57 inches); Length 1.11m (43 inches) = 3m³ or 105 cubic feet or 23LBE Price : £570.00 plus Destination Charges of AUD299.00 and Onwards Carriage Charge of AUD95.00 estimated transit time - 85 days / maximum weight allowance 1500kg Our Movecube arrived on 26th October 2012 and we loaded it ourselves in roughly 2 1/2 hours - we had already pre-packed everything and set aside a measured out area in the house so we knew it would all fit (I highly recommend this little task). To fill in the customs forms we had numbered stickers that we put on everything and as they went into the Movecube I wrote them onto the documentation with description of contents. We didn't have furniture etc. to transport it was mainly just belongings - clothes, bikes, guitars, kitchen goods, TV, Picture Frames, Computer, Games Consoles, CD's, DVD's and books (LOTS of books). We actually still had a bit of space at the top of our movecube as we didn't quite have enough stuff to fill completely, probably about 15-30cms all along the roof area. The Movecube arrived to our house in Pinjarra on 31st January 2013 and the driver was really kind and gave us a hand to unload so that only took about 20 minutes in all. We were worried our stuff might have moved around during the voyage because of the gaps we left, but everything was sitting exactly where we put it originally, nothing was damaged - not even the TV which was just wrapped up in a thick blanket because we couldn't find the box it came in!! Every communication we had with Sevenseas was professionally handled and the customer service was polite and helpful. The only downside was that it didn't arrive in the quoted 85 days - it was nearly 2 weeks late but it did go to Melbourne instead of Fremantle as originally told so that was most likely the reason for the delay. Absolutely without hesitation recommend people use this service if they're looking for a cheaper alternative - you have to put a little more of your own effort in by packing yourself and writing up all the documents etc. but at least you know ahead of time the dimensions you have to work with and the price you're going to pay, none of this quoting on estimated dimensions and waiting for the removal company to accurately weigh and measure your stuff to give you the final cost.

Yes all, as i said to mum of 5 our wait is over and visa granted with a week to spare, best of luck to everyone who's applied around the same time - fingers crossed you all get an early Xmas present!! We did find that by phoning our CO we got more information and assurances, especially as we had already booked our flight and shipped our belongings.

Hey Me and my partner are in the same situation as you - he is Irish and applying for 309 offshore. We are flying to Oz with or without the partner visa, just make sure your CO is aware of your plans and they are "supposed" to warn you that your visa is about to be issued so you have time to fly out of Oz. From my explorations on the internet about the same issue, people tend to do a Bali or NZ run (i.e. take a week's holiday) when they get that communication from their CO and then upon their return to Oz they're good to go... At least i hope to god that is how it works because it's too late for us to back out now!

Hi there, out of curiosity, does possessing an ITIL V3 Foundation certificate hold me in good stead for level 1 Helpdesk roles? I haven't got a massive amount of experience in IT - mainly working as a helpdesk professional with a specific application (Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009) and more recently basic drive mapping via .cmd logon scripts - really only early stages of a career change here in the UK and we are moving back to Oz in December so i'm unsure whether it's going to be worth my while to try and secure employment in IT or look for work in Admin Support where i have more experience... It's been 7 years since i lived in Oz so it's a daunting process heading back without a job and hoping i have skills that are in demand in the Australian marketplace :-) Cheers

Hi Bob, I would suggest in the first instance to go to the UK Border Agency website as that will be where you can find the most up to date official information with regards to settlement in the UK - the following link should take you to the right area on their website for what you are asking about: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/settlement/applicationtypes/applicationformset(m)/ Hope that gives you a more direct path for your query... My situation - Came to the UK on a 4 year Ancestry visa in 2006, my employer paid to extend it another 5 years in 2010 but then in late 2010 i found out that because my Grandpa was born in Belfast, it was still classed as Ireland according to the Irish Embassy so i am now officially a dual Irish/Australian...

Wow, you're actually getting responses from SV then - we're in the same boat, our flight to Oz is about 7 days after the estimated 5mth processing time and we've emailed SV 3 times to make sure they are aware that OH will possibly be in Oz if the processing time goes beyond 5mths but not getting any response yet... Here's hoping we've not dropped into the 8-9mth processing timeframe otherwise it will be OH living it up and me working my butt off since i'm the Aussie!!!

Hi Cockney - I am an Adelaide girl born and bred, i lived in Semaphore Park and Royal Park for most of my childhood and would you believe my best friend was actually a Filipino boy who lived over the road from me (his mum made the best food i ever ate as a child)... You are so right in that it is very hard to try to put into words your own experience of growing up in a place, i've been typing and re-typing this post to you for the last 45 minutes! What i loved most about growing up there was that we were able to do so many different things - going swimming was always a favourite in summer (beach, river or even pools), going to watch the Crows at AAMI stadium (Footy Park in my day) or even Adelaide United playing soccer, going into the Central Market at the weekend with all the amazing food stalls, camping in the Flinders Ranges (a lovely place called Wilpena Pound was our annual spot), going sailing with my dad's family around Port Augusta, Port Lincoln, Port Pirie and Wallaroo, caravan holidays along the River Murray or even just a day trip into the Adelaide Hills to visit the storybook cottage with the wacky woods, the big rocking horse, Monarto safari park, Cleland wildlife park, the whispering wall or even the Birdwood motor museum. Then there is the amazing variety of restaurants, cafes and pubs to choose from that all offer you the chance to have a drink, a feed, a dance, a flutter on the Keno or the Pokies or my personal favourite the pub lunch where you order a schnitzel and when your plate comes out the schnitzel is actually hanging off the plate!! I think a major piece of advice in terms of integrating with your community is that much of this can be achieved through sport - there is a massive culture for playing and spectating in Australia, and in my own experiences the local football and netball teams were where i made many of the friendships that i continue today. I actually left Adelaide when I was 12 to live in Tasmania and when I returned as an independent 16 year old determined to do it alone even I found it hard to make new friends all over again but I got myself a job and re-joined the netball scene and within a couple of months I had a whole new network of friends including the girls that I worked with. I do agree with you about the already formed social networks making it hard to meet new people but again with a little bit of effort on your part and getting involved in local activities I am sure you will find your feet. I think the key is to get yourself out for a night, find a group of people who look interesting to you and just start chatting with one of them – I assure you that if they accept you then everyone else in the group will be more than happy to accept you and from there you can start to build a friendship. Us Aussie’s really are the friendliest people in the world (biased I know) and we love nothing more than socialising! Of course I cannot pass judgement on other parts of Australia or even other areas in Adelaide and I certainly cannot vouch for the attitudes of other Australians, but what i can tell you is that for me personally there is just no better place on earth - and that's a bold statement considering the amount of travelling i've done in my life. Now that is all I can really think to say right now – I hope that it gives you some food for thought and by all means if you have any questions to ask then throw them my way and I will do what I can to assist. Raeoni P.S. In terms of where you could look for nursing work – the best place I can think of is to go to the SA Health website.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...2TWJoLVE#gid=0 This sheet is brilliant - just added our stats (OH is applying for PMV 309), although it would've been nicer to also add the granted date too!

Hi, We are arriving in Australia on 18th December and by the looks of it OH's 309/100 partner migration visa won't be approved by that date - i've read on here somewhere about arranging a tourist visa in the meantime and then leaving Oz when CO advises the migration visa is about to be granted, can anyone who has taken this route advise me on how you got on with it all... Don't want to jeopardise OH application and wind up wasting the near £1700 spent on it!!

Hi, I'm glad that you had no issues with them because my partner is about to book his medical exam there as well - out of curiosity, how much do they charge for the examination?