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Living in Adelaide I can reiterate It does get very hot and its a 'white ' heat quite dry and not humid very often Winters do get nippy so bring dunas and electric blankets dont let anyone tell you you dont need them Plenty of sports venues and the beaches are lovely - but it is if you can afford the beach side suburbs -down south is cheaper but Glenelg ,Brighton etc much dearer Cost of living keeps going up we have the most expensive electricity world wide (thats fact from the newspapers ) so solar panels are becoming a must Plenty of eating out through all of Adelaide and also close to lovely wine regions as in McLaren Vale ,Clare and Barossa Valley Depending on where you would be working ie in the city ? then travel can take a while and add an hour or more to your day -traffic is chaotic near the city as we have no freeways its all congestion Swimming there is the beach obviously but also plenty of auquatic centre -brilliant world class new one at Marion As for being small I dont think you would think that way coming from the UK as most places here are big We travel to friends to the north of Adelaide - we live at Happy Valley in the southern foothills and its takes us an hour to get North -and that still adelaide Artesian water is not prevelant its mostly mains in the suburbs as long as the Murray does not run dry !

When we arrived many years ago there was entitlement to claim Centrelink straight away -we did for 3 days then got jobs You comment says dont take things personally how can the perosn not when its in answer to a direct statement from them ? The gut also says he is claiming child benefit not Centrelink benefits and while you may hate the thought if this couple is entitled to a payment why not ?

Look up Foxtel and you can see thier packages and costs etc -not cheap but if you like sports etc then worth it Plus you can watch Corrie and East Enders if you so desire

It does you good to get it off your chest so dont regret the post - we have been here 31 years -spent 5 years back in the UK between 2001-2006 but plan to go back later this year Australia sad to say has become so expensive that in retirement we are penny pinching and because of the area the suburbs are spread over feel as if we spend our life in the car ! UK has its flaws but it has its good points too as in a bus every 10 minutes ( in my home town anyway ) and the car gets parked and not needed so much Lots of for's and against for you but its where you would be happy as a family

Hi -if you read through my posts you only get an increase in the UK pension based on Aussie working life if you go back to live in the UK and dont take a Centrelink pension with you We get paid our UK pensions here in Oz but as you say the Centrelink one is means tested so gets reduced because of our UK pension

Dont have a link but working life in Oz did count towards the UK pension that is if you go back to live in the UK though and claim the pension there The letter i have dated 2006 states Arrangements are in place to potect the pension position of people who went to live in Australia before the agreement ended on february 28th 2001 ( thats the reciprocal agreement)

If you get insurance for income protection try to get one that is not cancelable Many years ago hubby claimed for 2 weeks off for his back -they paid but next renewal refused to cover him for his back he was a bricklayer so the back was likely to go ( or so they said )

Ours is $600-$700 quarter for an average 3 bed lounge/family room house We are retired though so spend a lot of time at home Sons house which is 4 bed ,huge and pool was $1800 last quarter !

Reciprocal agreement ended either 2001 or 2002 so I think later contributions working In Oz wont count but not sure People often make contributions to the UK one to get a bigger UK pension but as our Centrelink pension is means tested we would loose out if we had a bigger UK pension so it did not seem feasible to pay back NI I f anyone was not geting a Centrelink pension here in Oz then paying backdated NI could get them a bigger UK pension here We currently receive our UK pension -paid 4 weekly in arrears into our Aussie account It would mean though that if anyone went back to the UK without taking a Centrelink pension they could pay back NI contributions to get a bigger UK pension in the UK Bit of a minefield so hope I have explained it sensibly

I know UK pension is not means tested but to clarify some info we got off them recently -the info stated if we go back to live we would receive full UK pensions - I contacted the UK again for definite clarification and they rang me We would when we go back get full UK pensions based on Aussie contrubutions but wont get full UK pensions because our Centrelink pension is portable -we currently get our UK pensions in Oz and they will when we go back increase by a small ammount What I am trying to say is if you have not claimed the Oz pension when you do retire in the UK then Oz contrubutions count -hope that makes sense

If you private message me I can explain in full as I am looking into the same things

At the moment its 25 years working life in oz to qualify for Centrelink pension not 35 years -that might change from January 2014 if legislation is passed Write to Newcastle they are very good and will give you a pension forecast We would if we go back be able to claim full UK pensions as they count contrubutions form here but its not payable at the full rate if you take a Centrelink pension with you to the UK International Pension Centre tvp.internationalqueries@thepensionservice.gsi.gov.uk Telephone: +44 (0)191 218 7777 Textphone: +44 (0)191 218 7280 Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Download ‘International claim form’ (PDF, 1MB) International Pension Centre Tyneview Park Newcastle Upon Tyne NE98 1BA United Kingdom

Do you mean your Centrelink pension as they do stipulate that you have to be resident in Australia to claim it Plus I think the 2 year rule is if you do come back to claim the pension you have to be in Oz 2 years before the pension is portable ie if you wanted to go back to the UK Credits for work in Australia do count towards your UK pension it might be worth enquring with the UK pension people but that pension is also aged based

All meant was dont waste space -use the empty barrel of the vacumn for whatever tea towels anything soft When we had a 20ft container the furniture was picked up in a van and the guys had difficulty closing the doors ! I have said before we left CDS in their rack and bound it with cling film or glad wrap as the case may be Why send something empty if it will hold other items

Customs can be 'picky' they removed Xmas Decs and santas wand from our shipment -steam cleaned an electric lawn mower that was immaculate and ruined it ! Take all the labels off a new Dyson maybe use it once and wipe it out -stuff rolled up socks in the 'body' of the vacumn so it looks like your using space and hopefully they will never know its new I dont think your warranty would be valid but hopefully nothing would go wrong with it

Caloundra is beautifull as is most of Queensland - cost wise we stayed in Moolollaba for a week and found eating out etc relatively cheap ( we live in Adelaide and thought that the touristy areas of Queensland would be more expensive but they were not ) We have a friend who rents in Moololaba pays $500 a week but dont know if thats average

Hubby has had 3 hips replacements two here in Oz and one in the UK on each occasion he waited 12 months -each time he had good care except her did sustain nerve damage from on op in Oz but that was 'accedental " He also had ankle fusion in Oz and waited about 9 months again the care was very good and all of this was on Medicare The only time he has seen anyone privately was when he made a claim on insurance for being off work and the insurers sent him for a second opinion The doctor was all about operations etc etc until OH told him that he had no private cover it was the insurance company (policy was for time off work ) that had sent him Doc could not wait to usher him out of the door Thats one of the reasons we are not fans of private health the other being too costly Ramping is occuring at hospitals in Adelaide too its par for the course but there again it happens in the UK too in A&E where you often wait hours Having said that I took OH to A&E both in UK and here for kidney stones and he was on a bed and a drip within 5 minutes in both instances Good and bad everywhere I suppose

Sorry but if you have to commute in Adelaide it can take an hour to get into the city if thats where the job is based depending on where you live of course There is no freeway system like there is in other states and huge traffic congestion at time Weather well SA is the hottest driest state according to statistics and when its HOT is hot

Hi -we had Right of Abode as we were born in the UK and hold UK passports - right of abode though is not Habitual Residency and we had to go through a very gruelling interview with the DHSS to get residency in 2001 - we were trying to claim a rates rebate nothing else At first they said NO we could not have it as we had left family in Oz plus a bank account My children wer 43 & 44 at the time and our Oz bank acount was kept open because our Australian pensions were being paid into it at the time Have a look on the web at Habitual Residency UK and it does give you information

Thats not correct about benefits or health care - we lived in Oz for 20 years then went back and got straight back into the National Health Some benefits you cant get because of lack of National Insurance contributions but others you can get once you have been back for 26 weeks and prove residency

Hi -subject not on removalists but right of abdode - you will also have to have habitual residencey -I have posted previoulsy on this subject if you can fidn the thread

I wrote on here previously about a friend who took her 2 Australian born children back on a one way ticket She was held up in Heathrow for hours and scrutinsed -probably best to get your UK passport now it does not take to long

Have you been to Adelaide Lydia as we have large Westfield & Centro shopping centres with some decent shops ( no Primark but onw can but hope ) Indian food does taste different here as do most foods but we also have some beaut Indian restaurants

We have moved to and fro as in we went back in 2001 and returned to Oz in 2006 In my opinion there is good and bad in both health systems as in Medicare and NHS We have an excellant GP in Adelaide but we also had a really good one in the UK so same -same I find in Australia people complain about Medicare when they hear about the 'service " that comes with private health cover as if you get into hopsital for ops etc straight away with private cover But in the end its the same op and you pay you private cover plus the gap fee for something that could have been done with Medicare

We are retired in Oz but plan to move back to the UK because financially we will be better of there Escalating costs here in Oz for the basics have seen us having to really pull our horns in Part of our reasoning too is petrol costs its much easier to get around the UK because of size where as here we seem to spend a lot of time in the car ! The cost of basic food is cheaper in the UK and yes we do know thats fact as we try to get back to the UK each year