Geraldine

ooh lovely, son bought me in a caramac and a coffee when I was getting my hair done , the girl in the hairdressers had never had it before so I allowed her a morsel to sample and saved the rest with a cuppa for later on. She really liked it. Kmart do Thorntons Toffee Chocs one of my all time faves but they are too soft even when I put them in the fridge...has to be the first time I've ever given up a bag of sweets in my life !:biggrin:

We are trying to get used to the mint jelly and mint sauce in the main section, but my 18yr old picked up the mint sauce this week in the english section and gave me a pleading look, I can feel another purchase coming on :laugh:

To those of you who shop in the major supermarkets in Oz do you buy anything from the specific English Section. I had resisted until this week when I succumbed and purchased Paxo stuffing and a tin of syrup. I cannot bring myself to compare the price to the UK but I have just eaten the most fab two pieces of syrup on toast...you can tell its not a fast day :laugh:

I'm a B gal, then straight to new posts to see whats going on :biggrin:

Having seen the politics of the NHS at close hand for me that is the problem. It is and always has been a political football. There is no point in anyone accusing one side or the other of being better or worse this doesn't change anything. I've seen it all, poor management, poor docs, poor nurses, I've also had the pleasure of working with some of the most amazing managers, fantastic docs and superb nurses. If everyone who works in the NHS begins their day with the mantra "is this good enough for my own family" then huge changes could be made. Yesterday on the Oz news discussion was around health systems and funding around the world and it was said that a cochrane review was inconclusive as to the best. It was noted that as a proportion of GDP that OZ spent less than the UK and achieved better outcomes. Have no idea if this is true as haven't read the research myself. I can see differences here between the two systems, NHS prone to rationing OZ system prone to over treatment. We could do with the best of both !!

Gals, couldn't agree more, I sadly lost my younger sister to Breast Cancer and she thought she felt a lump but ignored it thinking it was nothing. At 36 you tend to dismiss things unless you feel ill. This was a lesson none of us wanted to be taught so no matter how old you are just do this simple check and always see your GP if you notice anything xx

Just received my second free delivery from M&S . Ordered last week, delivered today, few bits out of the sale and customary underwear for the kids. It's brill, if only I could get a chicken and stuffing sandwich delivered life would be complete :biggrin:

Lovely to hear, we have some catching up to you guys but we are loving it too...even the rain is warmer lol

Good to have you back...:smile:

Hey, its one of our favourite holiday destinations, I was taken as a 10 year old child many moons ago and the magic has never left me. Been four times since at various stages of life, 18 no kids tagged a bit of a miami adventure on to it. My mum often comes with us now we have kids, have taken all age ranges from the youngest in a pram to teenagers. We have all loved it. The Harry Potter bit of universal was fantastic, we love all of the parks, I particularly like EPCOT. The water parks are also amazing and some of my favourite family memories where captured in a brilliant wave pool in Typhoon Lagoon. So although we have been many times and those who hate theme parks wont be fans, we allow ourselves to be big kids and get right into the magic, even the moody teenager got a picture with Cinderella lol:biggrin:

The most important question has to be about jobs. Without them the rest doesn't happen. If you both have work sorted then you can think about the rest. Ask yourselves, what are the deal breakers for you as a couple. I always like to plan for the worst but hope for the best. It doesn't matter where you live in the world, difficult things happen but so do fantastic things. Fear of the unknown is real for many and maybe us mums worry too much about the kids ( can't help myself). I also see how much they pick up on my mood. So if I see a solution or a positive out of a negative they also tend to do the same. Our two youngest have just finished their first term in school one rated it 7 out 10 the other 8.5. 7 out of 10 for a teenager is a flippin miracle !!! Good luck with whatever you do....ps just off to the beach in the winter for a bit of lunch at the surf club :biggrin:

Can't say I loved the weather in the UK, but I do love the country, however I'm also loving this country that I now live in. We are debating whether to go to the beach tomorrow as its only going to be 23 and we now think this is a bit chilly lol. In the UK I would have been in my bikini at those temperatures. We haven't lived through a Brissy summer yet so it will be interesting to see what I dislike most ... A vile UK winter or a vile OZ summer.... I shall let you all know.:biggrin:

Yaaaaay, looking forward to the banter... You've been missed :smile::smile:

Well, have to admit we have found it a bit too chilly for our liking and we are in Brissy ! So we've been wearing hoodies etc.. Then today our fantastic Ozzy mates were round having a cuppa and I mentioned our lack of heating. He then said but you've got heating. I said no its air con and that we had tried cranking the numbers up to see if it went warm. So after he took the control from this daft Pom and changed the mode to the sunshine symbol we now have heating !!! We are loving it so much we are going to bed with it on...well until tomorrow when I decide I'm too tight to pay for the cost of it :laugh:

Hi TurnersinOz, we used Letton Percival for our insurance as they were cheaper than the removal company. Would be worth giving them a quick ring. Good luck with it all

Hmm, I am more relaxed but that is due to not running our own business anymore. I have got a slightly different attitude in that as I get older I realise that no one is perfect including me ! Thats an age thing not an Oz thing. After being here only a few months I was about to give up the thought of getting dressed up in my sparkle but lo a behold last night went to a function where dressing up was possible. On Friday I spent the morning walking along the beach at Coolum, the next day I was walking along the beach at Surfers Paradise, looking at the sea brings me lots of happiness and I am still pinching myself that I'm here and able to do that. So my surroundings in Oz do bring me joy but then so did seeing some of the sights in the UK and Europe.

Hey Rupert, have found the info in booklet 5 that you kindly sent the link for. "Where a dependent adult child holds a subclass 457 visa, and is included in a permanent employer sponsored visa application, they will be considered dependent for the Temporary Residence Transition stream irrespective of whether they are now married or in a de facto relationship." Once again thanks for helping us with this.:smile:

Have only been here in Queensland for a few months , similar to you guys I'm white, but not religious and OH is Indian origin, born in Burma and Muslim , not had any problems so far where we are . However, we didn't live in a very multicultural area in the UK so are used to that , my OH prefers not to be too close to his rellies lol I did speak to one of his colleagues however and she said her OH is missing the UK as they did live in an area with a big community and plenty of halal shops. Oz is a different country and for us we are trying to adapt to OZ culture rather than trying to impose our own , we are loving it, off out for a trip to the Sunny Coast today, feels like going on holiday. Still got the washing and dishes to do though ha ha. Good luck with it all, there is lots to think about......

Learnt my lesson on this in the UK, two lads had more disposable income than us but because we didn't need the money it didn't occur to me to charge rent. However, I soon learnt that this is a very bad lesson, neither had saved a brassed bean. So I checked out some of the moneysaving discussion forums in the UK and sure enough I was in the minority. Most said the kids should pay a third of their salary as rent if it includes all meals, washing etc... So sat down with the lads and thats what we did . So even if you don't need the money I still think there is an important lesson that kids have to learn. So now unbeknown to either of the boys we have saved all that money and when they come to leave they will now have a little nest egg that they never knew they had. Once you are an adult you should not think living off your parents is ok. It may mean they have to work harder or longer, you may be trying to start your life but they may be trying to start their retirement, if however they offer to look after you for less than you would pay elsewhere you should gratefully snap their hands off and think of yourself as a very lucky person indeed !

Hey Rupert, thank you for this, I spoke to immigration this week and the lady didn't mention any new rules re 457, dependant kids over 18...do you have a link, our employer will be happy to sponsor so that bit isn't an issue. Eldest (22)is on our 457 he has just qualified as a nurse and could try and look for his own 457 or PR but if both kids are allowed on our PR application and believe me they are definitely flippin dependant at the moment, part-time jobs, living at home, not in any relationship,then that would take a massive weight of our minds. Thanks so much

Hi RMN Hopeful, we too have this dilemma, we are on a 457 and can apply for PR however one son who is 18 will need to be in full time education to be classed as dependant on us for our visa. Trouble is as you have noted they are classed as domestic students for choosing a course but international for paying fees. We have been quoted by a local TAFE $1600 for a business diploma as a domestic student and $14,000 as an international one. Own fault, took advice from a recruitment agent who said hey just apply onshore for PR, she clearly didn't realise the full implications for our whole family in doing that. Our 457 was granted when he was 17 aaaaargh. Live and learn. Good luck with it all .

Im a lucky lady that all four kids have come over with us eldest 22, 18, 12 & 9, so thats two boys through the teenage years and two girls left to go.....give me strength !! Have to be honest always preferred kids to babies and watching them become adults is fascinating, infuriating at times but never boring.. My avatar is a pic of mummy sandwich ..me in the middle with my babies around me :biggrin:

Hey guys, re North Lakes, we moved here couple of months ago. Haven't bought anything so have the choice to move elsewhere if we want to. JohnDoe is right , the houses are tightly packed and the gardens are not very big, I suppose it depends what you want, we really like it and once the train station opens in 2016 it will be even better. These days I'm a lazy devil, so I want everything on my door step...schools,shops etc.. As long as we can fit a pool in the garden of whatever we eventually buy I'm not too fussed on having a big garden. Maybe it's the years of maintaining one in the UK and the fact that we tend to go out to the beaches. Horses for courses and now I have said all that I am bound to come across somewhere else that we fall in love with....typical woman lol

Although I agree with some points I was often in receipt of poor CVs and no handwritten covering letters, (that line in an advert was intentional as I was checking if you could follow clear written instructions, essential in helping prepare patients prescriptions) I still would say if you don't meet the criteria then it can be worth a shot. Over the years I have interviewed many who supposedly had the skills and some who didn't have previous experience. All I have learnt in those 10 years is that I can teach you the skills of how to do the job but I cannot teach you a personality that cares for patients or colleagues... I was intrigued to learn that one of the chief execs in a big UK hospital had a major rethink about hiring staff and at interview for domestics, asks can you act the role of someone who enjoys mopping the floor around patients. Rather than asking can you mop the floor...The other issue to consider is skill shortage. Often the person who gets a job is the best out of the bunch who bother to apply sometimes the employer can feel like the beggar rather than the other way around.....just try recruiting GPs.....

We used Letton Percival, sorted very quickly, John Mason were happy to have these as our insurers. Had to supply a list of items over a certain value that were pairs or sets..such as bedroom suite, 3 piece sofa etc.. Furniture arrived and except for a lampshade that was broken everything else was fine. The lamp was less than the excess so didnt claim. Got be honest John Mason were very good to us as they packed the house up and stored everything whilst we lived in short term accommodation in the UK. Once our visas arrived we nipped down to their dept and gave them various other items to ship..more shoes clothes etc.. The whole lot arrived together ( I was worried that it wouldn't) Oh and Letton had insured us for the storage. Good luck..its so lovely when all your things arrive.