Petkula73

Trendy in an "up and coming" sort of way - i.e. cool bars and restaurants, but parts of it better than others. If you like up and coming areas in London you'll like it. As per a comment above, there are no really dangerous suburbs in Melbourne. Crime is pretty low across Australia.

To clarify a bit of Australian jargon... The "PBS" (Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule) is basically a list of state subsidised medicines. Most every day prescription only medicines are included in this list. If something is not on the PBS, you pay the full price for the item. Medicines are individually priced in Australia, so unfortunately some will cost a lot more than others. My personal opinion is that health care here is a mixed bag. The facilities are generally good and level of care is high, but the whole Medicare experience is wrapped up in unnecessary bureaucracy, as in fact are a lot of things in Australian life - doing something simply is not the Australian way! The PBS is a good example, as is paying $80 to $150 (depending on length of appointment) to see your GP, then getting half of it refunded back the same day. Why not just charge half? Or even better why charge at all? To take complexity to the next level, involve a private health insurer, who will only pay for a percentage of things not covered under Medicare. I had BUPA in the UK and when I needed them I just signed a couple of forms and that was the end of it. Not so here. To answer your question on repeat prescriptions, it's normal here to get a prescription (or "script" as they call it) with five repeats (so equivalent to six month's supply). You keep hold of this and take it to the pharmacy when you need more drugs, and the pharmacy will issue you with an updated version showing the number of repeats left. Once you've used up your repeats, you normally need to go back to the GP to have a new prescription reissued. This could coincide with a normal checkup ($80) or you can visit the GP during "script time" - i.e. lunchtime, where they'll provide you with a new prescription without getting in to a wider discussion about your health. This service will normally be "bulk billed" - i.e. the GP bills Medicare directly so you don't need to make any payment. Some GPs do bulk billing for normal appointments (i.e. no out of pocket), but it's generally a very rushed service and normally only in the less affluent areas. Best avoided really, for the sake of $40. The bureaucracy will definitely drive you mad if you're from the UK. The NHS has its faults, but at least their bureaucracy is back-office and not patient facing. Medicare bureaucracy isn't even than bad by Australian standards - immigration, local councils, banks and even opening an online account with a bookies are much worse. To give an example, Betfair required me to post them a form signed by the police or a judge to verifiy my identity for a $50 bet on the Melbourne Cup! You get used to it after a while. Nothing is easy here...

It's one of the undeniable truths of the property market that house prices never go down, given enough time. So, yes there might be a slowing down and an apparent fall in prices, but have a look in 5 or 10 years and today's prices will look like a bargain. I lose count of how many times someone has told me the housing bubble is just about to burst. Never does.

Your 100K will not cover the stamp duty and deposit on a modest 3 bed home in Australia. Sad fact of life. Just to get your foot in the door of a $1M house (which is nothing fancy over here) you'll need $250K.

Had a wry smile to myself when I read it. As if this will happen...

Assuming Perth is the same as Melbourne the answer is it depends... If you're applying for a popular house and competing with people already in work, with Australian references you may be seen as a higher risk for a landlord and struggle to get your application to the top of the pile. However, if you're going for a house that's been vacant and you can provide guarantees etc then it's less likely to be an issue. My experience of renting here after owning my home in the UK (which we now let) is the more you pay the easier it gets. Most people rent are in the $400-$600 a week bracket and the competition is intense. Friends of ours rent a house in Elwood, Melbourne for about $550 a week and had to beat off 45 other applicants to get the house. They did this by offering over the asking price. Someone else we know rents in Brighton and rents a house originally advertised at $950 a week for $800. The difference being the house had been empty for a few months and it was out of the price range of most renters, so there was low interest in the property. A good idea is to keep an eye on Domain.com.au on what's renting and what's not over the next few months until you arrive. Then be prepared to negotiate with the agents. Looking at this from the landlord's side, we rented our house in the UK out to someone in their 50s who had been declared bankrupt as we though he was a safer bet to remain there longer and treat the house like his own. We made him pay 6 months rent up front initially for our peace of mind until he proved he was reliable. Might be something you could suggest - i.e. x number of months up front?

Good point about the tolls. We learned pretty quickly to always have plenty of cash in the car as it's not unusual that places in France don't accept foreign credit cards. Had my UK bank cards rejected plenty of times at automated toll machines but thankfully could always scrape together enough coins and notes to pay! Always fun if you're driving a UK car on your own in France and have to jump out and run round to the toll booth (which is on the other side).

I grew up in Halifax and you'd be laughed out of the chip shop if you asked for cod. In fact you wouldn't as they didn't serve cod anywhere in West Yorks. Haddock all the way! And we knew what a proper fish cake was - piece of haddock fillet in between two slices of potato, battered and fried. A meal in itself, with peas and curry sauce obviously.

WA and Perth in particular are well known for being mega expensive. I would consider this if you don't have a job to go to. Also bear in mind that rental markets here can be brutal and if you're looking at an affordable place close to any of the major cities the competition will likely be intense. Depending on your line of work, you may want to look outside Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. I agree with the comment above that the job is the key thing here, and will determine the place you live and the school. However, what a lot of people do is bite the bullet and rent for 12 months in the catchment area of a good school, then move further away once the kids are settled. Cars are expensive and generally don't lose their value in the same way they do in the UK. Sadly, there are few bargains in Australia and you can end up spending quite a lot on a very ordinary car. The upside is that there's no rust to worry about and generally cars last longer here. Have a look at www.carsales.com.au for guideline prices. Personally, I would leave the cheapos well alone though as repairs and servicing are a rip off and you could end up with a money pit.

Nah, they're great. Keeps the traffic moving without the need for lights. If you're British they're second nature but I can see why foreigners get intimidated (think Chevy Chase in National Lampoons European Vacation!). Anyway, for bizarre traffic rules nothing compares with the Melbourne hook turn or the now thankfully changed NZ priority to turning traffic rule.

The council is Bayside in Melbourne. Nothing on their website on how often they do these, however Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham are jam packed with British people so we're expecting the demand is high and waiting list will be long... No huge issues for us to wait.

Yes, generally ignored.... French motorcyclists are even worse. Seen some crazy stuff over the years such as a guy on the motorway near Biarritz overtake round a bend us in the wet, round the outside in the outside lane, with around 1 metre between him and a concrete barrier, at approx 160kph. Zut alors!

The excess will be nowhere near what it is in Australia. However, I suspect that if you take a UK car to France the excess and costs in general will increase as you're a higher statistical risk having the steering wheel on the other side. Either way, it's always sensible to take out your own excess insurance cover. Don't make the mistake that a lot of people do by getting pressured in to taking out extra insurance for this from the hire car company. They use various tricks to panic you in to adding on $30 a day excess insurance. This is easy money for them. Lot's of people get pressured in to it, and two weeks car hire can suddenly get bumped up by several hundred dollars. There are lots of personal excess insurance policies you can buy beforehand that provide you with an equal amount of cover and will cost you a fraction of what Hertz, Avis etc charge. Do a quick Google for "car excess insurance". Also, be wary of the hire companies upselling you other things you don't need for example satnav, high viz jackets, "return empty" fuel offers and so on. None of this represents value and they're just trying to fleece you. A satnav for example can be bought outright for peanuts nowadays, and you can always sell it on eBay afterwards. Or better still, borrow one from someone. I've driven quite a lot in France (we used to take camping holidays and annual trips down to Le Mans) and you just need to keep your wits about you. Also hired various cars around Europe over the years and life is definitely easier with a LHD car.

As per above comment, there is free movement within the EU for all British passport holders. Personally, I'd advise against taking a UK hire car to France. You'll bump up the costs and you're stuck with the steering wheel on the wrong side and, like all other UK motorists, you'll be a target for the Gendarmerie. The French police are notorious for taking a very dim view of British motorists. On the spot fines are handed out left , right and centre for the most trivial of things (no high viz jackets for all occupants, no spare bulbs, beam deflectors not set correctly and so on). Whatever you decide to do, make sure you are fully aware of French traffic rules before you enter France. Some very different and frankly stupid rules that can get you easily caught out. For example, the rules on entering roundabouts are not the same. In France, the priority is given to the person joining the roundabout, so don't be surprised to see someone suddenly brake and stop half way round. Same goes with being rear-ended. If someone hits you from behind, it's your fault in France, not the other way round like everywhere else. The speed limit on the motorway also changes depending on the weather. 130kph in the dry, down to 110kph in the wet. However, what's wet and dry are open for interpretation by the unsympathetic French police. The one that always drove me mad was people in the middle lane of the motorway sitting with their indicators on. This doesn't mean you are changing lanes, it means you are overtaking the cars on the inside lane. However, when you're in the outside line it looks for all intents and purposes that they want to pull out in front of you. In general, the French are atrocious drivers with little idea about keeping their distance, or thinking more than 10 metres ahead of their car.

Thanks, thought that would be the case. I don't expect this to be completed until January, so a couple of extra weeks won't hurt.

I use Kayak.com for price comparison. Expedia is always pretty good too. Personally, I'd say avoid Webjet and Flight Centre as they are always over priced. No need to buy through an Australian travel agent nowadays.

As per above comments, no need to go overboard. Just give them a good clean with soap and water and degrease the chain and you'll be fine.

Hi - wonder if anyone knows the answer to this one... I'm eligible to apply for citizenship on 3 August (4 years after first arrival). My wife and daughter joined me around two weeks later back in 2011, on something around 19 August. We've been here first on a 457 in my name, then through PR through sponsored 186 since Nov 2013. My question is this: Is the eligibility for the application based on the date of my entry for the family, or is it based on the actual dates of arrival (i.e. my wife won't be eligible until 19 August regardless of my eligibility)? I don't suppose it matters much in the general scheme of things if we wait until the 19th as I suspect our citizenship ceremony date will be on Australia Day regardless.

The thing to remember is looking at a map can be deceiving. Melbourne is a big metropolitan area and things that look close on paper usually aren't in reality, due to traffic. As per a comment above, think of Melbourne as being the same as Greater London. If you decide to move to the west for example, you'll need to consider the frequent traffic jams over the bridge coming in and out. Same with the Nepean Highway if you are coming up from the Bayside area. It can jam up completely in the mornings. I live 15 km from the CBD in Brighton, but on a bad day it can take the best part of an hour door to door getting in to work. The train is a an option, but again although the actual train journey is just over 20 min, there's the hassle of walking to and from the station which adds on time. That's fine most of the time, but Melbourne weather can be a nightmare and you really don't want to be walking on days when it's throwing it down, or 40C+. Being Melbourne, this can be on the same day... Therefore, I'd discount Geelong unless you're going to work there. Nice place and great football team, but you could spend 2 hours each way commuting. For the same reason I'd discount your other option of Frankston. Frankston itself is somewhat of a mixed bag. Some very nice parts to it, and if you venture a bit further south to Mt Martha it's exceptionally nice. There are also some extremely dodgy parts around Frankston and it's often the butt of jokes for people in Melbourne. In my opinion, Bayside is the best place to live, but it's not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. A bit further down there's places like Mentone, Mordialloc and Beuamaris which are also nice and the prices start to get a bit more affordable (in relative terms, this is Melbourne and NOTHING is affordable!). The best advice I could give, would be don't commit yourself to anything until you have the lie of the land. For the first 6-12 months it always makes sense to rent and have the flexibility to up sticks and move around. It's a great place though, and the "bad" parts of Melbourne would be seen as good areas in London - it's all relative.

Yes, that's correct. My wife is Finnish and to be honest Finland prices are broadly the same as Australia, with some things cheaper. Sweden is a bit cheaper for groceries, but much more expensive for alcohol and Norway is just off the scale for everything. Absolutely no bargains in Norway, but would definitely recommend it. Nothing quite like having full sunshine at 1am in the Nord Cap. Impossible to sleep, and after a few days you start to hallucinate! The film "Insomnia" (original Norwegian version is better than the U.S. Remake) sums it up perfectly. Very weird feeling.

We're eligible to apply on 3 August. Anyone else applying around the same time?

Beautiful place, but Oh My God it's expensive. We did the Nordcap in 2002 and it was hugely expensive. My advice would be don't drink (or bring a few bottles with you) and go self catering wherever you can. Definitely worth doing, but be prepared for some of the highest prices in the world for restaurants, drinks, cafes and fast food.

Are you a citizen, PR or 457? Makes a big difference. Also, do you have reciprocated Medicare (i.e. are you American etc)?

A quick comment on this. Our friends recently had a child in Australia. They're in their mid 30s and it was the second one, the first being born in Finland. Their experience was that the Medicare hospitals in Australia were actually better than the ones in Finland and they had nothing but praise for it. All of it was done through Medicare at no cost to them.

As above, you can do it, but it'll take longer than if you had a WA licence. I bought a car in Melbourne around 4 years ago and it was a drag transferring the ownership without having a Victorian licence. Don't get an Australian licence until you absolutely have to - demerit points don't apply on your UK licence. They'll catch up with you when you do apply for a WA one, but often they get missed. For example, I ran up six points in 2 years (after driving in the UK for 23 years with zero points) but only 4 got applied to the VIC licence. All my offences involved going 3kph over in a 60kph zone. Frankly, the Australians have no concept of road safety. Yes, speeding is dangerous, but not as dangerous as spending 50% of your time looking at your speedo because you're worried about getting caught for a minor offence. The other thing that really, really pisses me off on Australian roads is how everyone does exactly 100kph on the motorway and switches off their brains. Seen some ridiculously bad driving because people just don't concentrate enough. Another bugbear is how close everyone drives. Tailgating is not seen as dangerous here and it's normal to have a car 3 feet behind you at 100kph on an empty motorway. Basically, their idea of road safety is totally self defeating. Introduce loads of fines and restrictions then wonder why driving standards are so poor when everyone shuts off their brains when behind the wheel.