Marisawright

1 hour ago, InnerVoice said:

Newcastle is worth spending a night in even if you have no intention of living there. There are some lovely places on the way up to Brisbane, like Port Macquarie, South West Rocks, Nambucca Heads and Coffs Harbour (panorama below) to name a few, that are definitely worth a detour if you've got an extra couple of days. I hope you enjoy you trip.

I loive the Koala Hospital at Port Macquarie.  It's a small place and you don't get to cuddle the Koalas, but they often have orphan babies which are awfully cute.  

Once upon a time I'd have said Ballina was an absolute must, to see the Pelican Man, but I believe he passed away a few years ago.  Does anyone know if someone is carrying on the tradition?  I remember watching him on the waterfront feeding a great crowd of pelicans -- then he'd spot one with a hook in its beak or a fishing line on its leg, and he'd take a flying jump into the water, get his arms around its neck, and haul it out.  There were always onlookers eager to help him hold the bird while he removed the hook or whatever, (though you could sometimes regret it if you didn't keep its beak closed properly, as you'd get a lapful of regurgitated fish). 

36 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

The Sydney bridge climb has to be one of the most over-rated and expensive attractions in Australia, but some people just have to do it - and I admit to have been one of them. My advice would be unless you feel your life will somehow be incomplete, then save your money. And don't bother unless the weather is spot on.

I have to admit, I was the same.  I enjoyed it, but was disappointed with the view.  I imagined it would be spectacular, but actually the top of the bridge isn't very high.  There are countless tall buildings around the city centre, plus the Sydney Tower, which are much higher with far more impressive views.  As you say, it's being able to say you've done it that's the reward. 

38 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

On reflection it probably was a bit harsh. ... The median price for a 3-bedroom property is currently around $1.5 million, so unless you're moving there with a bucket-load of cash, you're going to need to be on a decent whack.

Haha, being used to living in Sydney and Melbourne, that median price sounds delightfully cheap. 

28 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

Newcastle isn't a bad place but saying people prefer it to Sydney is a bit like the fox who lost his tail.

Those who say it's better are basically trying to convince themselves

Rubbish.    I can understand why you think so, because you're on record as thinking London is a wonderful place to live, and you wouldn't live anywhere else in Australia but Sydney (or maybe Melbourne at a pinch).  Clearly, you're a big-city gal who can't imagine anyone not liking big cities.    I am a bit like that myself, but I'm not so closed-minded that I can't understand other people's point of view. 

Believe it or not, a great many people hate big cities and couldn't think of anything worse than living there. 

6 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

I don't think it will take you long to scratch that itch. Newcastle is a nice enough town but it's mostly folks who can't afford to live in Sydney, yet can't bear to be too far away from it. ...

A week is a long time to spend in Sydney considering you don't intend to live there. If I'd been in the situation where I needed to spend a night in Sydney before flying home then I'd have stayed there at the end of my trip, and done the whole thing in the opposite direction. Chilling out on the Sunshine Coast for a few days would be a much nicer way to start your holiday than the hustle and bustle of Sydney.

I think that's very unfair on Newcastle.  It used to be a boring place, but these days I know several people who much prefer it to Sydney -- better access to great beaches, wineries on your doorstep, dolphin-watching and dune-riding close by, housing half the price, good schools, more laidback lifestyle.  It may not be an exciting place to visit but it's very liveable.  

For me, it would be like when I lived in Stirling instead of Glasgow or Edinburgh.   Easy enough to take the train to access all the big-city amenities when I wanted it, but I didn't have to put up with the hustle and bustle and expense.  That didn't mean Stirling felt like a compromise or second-best to either of those cities, far from it. 

I agree that a week is a long time to spend in Sydney.  The harbour is spectacular but it's the only tourist sight worth seeing.   Aussies make a big thing out of the Blue Mountains but coming from Scotland, @Cheery Thistle would be wondering what the fuss is about.   The best thing about Taronga Zoo is the great views of the Harbour, but otherwise it reminds me of Edinburgh Zoo, only with better weather.  

Again, Sydney is a great place to live (if you can afford it) but once you've seen the harbour, there's not much to see.  The beaches are lovely, but they're no better than all the other lovely beaches all the way up the East Coast, and the ones outside Sydney aren't nearly as packed!

6 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said:

Re: Tall Poppy, I thought that was people trying to make out they were something better than they are? Or bigging themselves up? Rather than a working class chip on shoulder? Lol. 

Tall Poppy refers to the Australian habit of cutting people down to size when they're considered to be getting too big for their boots (or 'up themselves' as we say).  

It's also used to refer to people discrediting or disparaging legitimately successful people out of envy.

15 minutes ago, Simontucks said:

Thanks for that.we keep looking for an equivalent for her job but am yet to find anything. According to my family out in Brisbane she will get work with her qualifications and experience.

Public housing in Australia isn't managed by councils.  In each state, it's looked after by a Housing Commission that manages the whole state.  Here's the info for Queensland:

https://www.qld.gov.au/housing/public-community-housing

Public housing is rare in Australia.  There's only 50,000 dwellings in the whole of Queensland.   I'm sure she'll have transferable skills though.

3 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

 There's ...a tendency for organisations to design the app UX in a way which benefits them more than the customer

Exactly. Often the app is more intrusive and has more access to your private information than the web version.  I've never found using apps difficult but I resist them for that reason.

On 30/12/2023 at 21:15, Cheery Thistle said:

A Scot in Southampton though. 

Ah, that's where you've got the wrong idea.   I grew up in Scotland but I don't feel particularly Scottish.  I had to have speech therapy when I was little and as a result, my accent almost disappeared (if you've ever heard Annie Lennox speak, I sounded like her before I moved to Oz, and I now have an Aussie twang on top of that).  I had severe asthma until I grew out of it at 17 and as a result, didn't get out and about much.  As a result, I barely know my way around my own home town.  I moved to London at 19, then to Bristol, loved both places.   Reluctantly moved back to Scotland in my 20s due to hubby's job, but then I was off to Africa and after that, Australia.   

So if I was going to move back to the UK it was always going to be England, but I agree Southampton was a bad choice.  

19 minutes ago, Toots said:

For the time being, I just use a pair of those specs you can get in the chemist....I've no doubt I'll need "proper" specs at some time but so far so good.

No, you won't ever need 'proper' specs if you only need them for reading and close work.   For that, the ones you get at the chemist are absolutely fine, and I've been told that by a Professor of Opthalmology.    He said that some opticians will try to tell you the chemist ones will harm your eyes, but they're just trying to sell you expensive specs!

The only reason I got reading glasses from Specsavers is that they're a lot sturdier than the chemist ones, and I got the whole cost refunded by my  health fund.

12 hours ago, bonanza said:

There is a small HSBC branch within Claremont Quarter shopping mall which you may find helpful.

The benefit of the HSBC account is that you don't need to visit the Australian branch to get it set up and fully operational.  You can do the whole thing from the UK and even get your card sent to you.  

On 29/12/2023 at 19:53, InnerVoice said:

I was talking retrospectively about buying glasses in the UK. They have Specsavers in Australia now, which is where I bought my last pair a few months ago.

Specsavers is good if you just need basic glasses.  Just wait for their special offers and you can get great deals.  I got two-for-the-price-of-one reading glasses there last year, and that was fully covered by my health insurance.  However if you need something more complicated, the price shoots up.

I needed new multifocals and I waited until they had a "multifocals for $199" offer. All seemed well until I sat down with the 'consultant' to complete the order.  She told me the special offer lenses were very basic and wouldn't be suitable for me as I'd be annoyed by the blur (???).   I would need the next level lenses, plus a few other 'essential' features.   She did the sums and hey presto, my $199 glasses were suddenly $850.  I walked out.

4 hours ago, Blue Manna said:

Haven't felt well for all of December. Cold after cold. Or one long cold. Not sure, but felt like two. Haven't been sick sick, but just bloody miserable. Been walking, but nothing too strenuous. Coughing and continuously blowing my nose. Finally seems to be drying up. Maybe next week I might be able to do some proper exercise. Still. It's a good excuse for drinking whiskey. Tried monkeys shoulder for the first time. It's not a bad drop for a blend.

Cold after cold --- or long covid?

On 20/12/2023 at 00:09, DrDougster said:

Early greying is associated with some diseases where your telomeres shorten prematurely and predispose you to developing lung fibrosis and other horrible things. Lobsters do not have this issue... (Telomere shortening I mean, but they obviously don't get lung fibrosis either!)

Ooh, does that mean if you are late going grey, your telomeres are going to shorten later?    

Probably not, clutching at straws here...

7 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said:

@Marisawright Southampton. I think we have identified the problem. 

Some truth in that, it's irrelevant to this discussion. My point is that since coming back to Australia, I've been like @wattsy1982, wondering about trying it again.   Not because I have the slightest desire to move back, but because I feel guilty that I forced my oh back to Australia, when he'd much rather be near Europe.  So because I feel guilty, I try to talk myself into thinking it wasn't as bad as I remembered, because we all want to make our partner happy, right? 

I suspect Wattsy is in exactly the same boat, I remember him saying he "felt really bad" about making his wife move back to the UK when she loved her life in Australia.  I hope he'll go back and read some of his old posts on this forum when he was still living in Australia and having feelings like this:

On 03/04/2017 at 13:06, wattsy1982 said:

@TopTohScnal I think when you know you know. I started feeling like you at the 8 month mark, Aus wasn't impressing me how I thought it would and the novelty of the beaches and heat/sun had worn off and I started thinking about what I had given up and what I'd gained.

People on here said the same to me (probably the same people who have commented to you) it takes time, you will feel better in x months, making new friends here will help, new job etc........

fast forward 3 years and I still feel the same, if not worse as I am now thinking about the time ive wasted here (strong word to use...maybe not wasted but you get what i mean) Ive tried soccer clubs, gyms, golf clubs, both kids have started school here and not met any parents live clicked with, weve even built a house here hoping that would change things but no, still feel the same. 

The wake up call for me was when my wife found out we were expecting our 3rd child (due this july) I suddenly thought do i really want me baby growing up here, another child growing up not knowing family, not having grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins at their birthday parties and xmas, no extended family to watch their sports day or school play....and after those thoughts had it me I realised how i really felt, what I wanted and realised I wasnt ever going to settle/be content here.

We are going to apply for citizenship here in July then heads home.

Its been an adventure but as a family unit home and family means more than sunshine and a beach.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

8 hours ago, StevenP said:

I have just been invited to apply for my 189 and wondered if it was possible and worth setting up an account. We are travelling in November to look at Schools, areas to live and will be in Perth for 3 weeks. Not sure if their is any benefit on having an account pre travel?

I'd say no unless you go for the HSBC account that FirstWorldProblems mentioned.  Some Australian banks will let you open an account before you arrive, but you can't actually withdraw money from it it until you've got an address in Australia, so it's not really achieving much.

22 minutes ago, Haydn Drake said:

In fairness money isn't that much of an issue for an extra month, it was mainly because we've heard stories of people struggling to find work for 6 months and then it could start to be a problem after that. 

So you think 2 months would be a better plan? 

  @benj1980 is a teacher in WA and should be able to advise on your chances of finding work from overseas, and also whether you really need to worry about that.

As Bendigoboy says, it's not so much the difficulty of finding work, as the difficulty of trying to find work and trying to find a home, both at the same time.   So yes, two months is  much more sensible.

33 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

I'm often calling out the BBC for Australia-bashing but on this occasion I think they're on the money. This disparity of wealth in this country is now quite shocking.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-67723760

To be fair, the same thing is happening all over the world.   I don't think Australia is faring any worse than anywhere else.   It does seem like a lot of people in other countries think that for some magical reason, Australia has avoided it

29 minutes ago, rammygirl said:

Sadly some people have  to be asked to help.  
 

That's true, and it's not necessarily because they're selfish.  They may all think you love having the family round for Christmas and you do such a great job of it, you love doing it.  They won't know otherwise if you don't tell them.

@Jehwal, start planting the seeds now by making comments about how exhausted you are after all that hard work and you need to do something different next year. 

@wattsy1982, the best reply I can give is the one I gave when you posted 3 years ago:

On 20/01/2020 at 11:11, Marisawright said:

Are you absolutely sure you didn't try to settle, or was it really because your homesickness was so powerful, you couldn't settle?    If you were being bolshie and not trying, then you'll make a go of it the second time.  If you were horribly homesick, that feeling will return just as strongly the next time - it won't matter how fantastic life is in Australia, it will all feel empty because you're not where you belong.  And that feeling never goes away.

I give that warning because sometimes when we have a row, my OH throws that "you didn't try" argument at me (we tried to settle in the UK a few years ago), and now the memories are fading, I'm almost starting to believe him.   I think back on our time in the UK and think, I can remember some nice walks and we had a nice home, and....maybe I'm exaggerating and it wasn't that bad?  Maybe I didn't try hard enough? 

And yet I know I wasn't making it up, because I also  remember waking up one night in our flat in Southampton, and thinking the easiest solution would be to jump off the balcony.  That was the catalyst that made me insist on returning to Australia.  

So i guess my message is, don't underestimate the power of rose-coloured glasses.  It's human nature to remember the good bits.

12 hours ago, Simontucks said:

I'm sorry if this has been asked many times before but is there any websites which shows the cost of medical insurance in Australia?.

Firstly, medical insurance companies in Australia offer two different types of policy. Their main policy, which most people think of as 'health insurance', is actually "Hospital Cover" -- it covers ONLY treatments in a hospital.   Their other policy is "Extras Cover", which covers dental, optical, physiotherapy and some other services depending on the company you choose. 

There is no insurance that covers medical treatment or prescriptions outside a hospital, e.g. visits to the GP (more on that later).

Because of the 'extras' name, many people think you have to take both covers together. You don't.  As a new arrival with kids, I'd recommend you to take Extras Cover as soon as you arrive, so you're covered for dentistry as soon as possible -- it is VERY expensive here.  Eye tests are covered by Medicare, but spectacles are not, and they're also expensive. 

As a new migrant, you've got a full 12 months from your arrival, to decide whether to take Hospital Cover or not (if you don't take it out within that time, there may be tax implications).  I'd advise you to take that time -- you'll have enough to do in your first few months here anyway.  

Coming from the UK, you may struggle to understand why Australians take Hospital Cover.   If you don't have it, you'll be treated in a hospital exactly like you'd be treated under the NHS.  Hospital Cover can let you skip the waiting list for elective surgery, and you'll get a private room instead of a bed in a big ward -- but if you didn't feel the need to go private in the UK, why would you feel the need in Australia?

As InnerVoice says, the main reason most people take Hospital Cover is that it lets them avoid the extra Medicare levy. Also if you don't take Hospital Cover while you're young, you'll be slugged a surcharge if you take it out when you're old.  But like I said, I wouldn't worry about it right now, you've got 12 months to work that out.  Bear in mind that if you have an accident or need emergency treatment in a hospital, that will always be covered by Medicare anyway (you just won't get that nice private room or get to choose your doctor).

Now for your day-to-day medical treatment.  It is covered by Medicare, which is Australia's equivalent to the NHS.  However, Medicare doesn't cover 100% of the fees.  There is usually a difference between what the doctors charge and what Medicare will pay, which is called the "gap".  Like I said, there is no insurance available to cover that gap, you just have to pay it.    The gap can be anything, it just depends what the doctor decides to charge ( doctors aren't employed by Medicare -- they have to run their own business, so it's up to them to decide how much to charge, like any self-employed person).   Depending where you live, some GPs may "bulk bill", which means they don't charge more than Medicare will pay. 

There is also a 'gap' when you get prescriptions.  For instance, my preventive asthma inhaler costs me $40.  

15 hours ago, Jehwal said:

 Christmas is an absolute nightmare for me. It has gradually got worse as the years have gone on. It seems my family just expect me to do everything. 

I  know it can be easier said than done to stand up to family, but ask yourself -- if next year, you said, "Sorry, I'm too old to do Christmas for everyone now, some of you need to step up and take over", what's the worst that could happen?  

9 hours ago, Eric3197 said:

1. Whilst I have been working as a Graphic Designer I have also held a second job in hospitality, which has uncovered a hidden talent in me for customer service which I am good at. I am open to exploring options to use this for PR.

That's unrealistic, because you will need to first get a recognised qualification and then gain work experience (work experience gained before you get the qualification won't count).  That would be an extremely long-term plan and unlikely to succeed. 

If you already have a migration lawyer, the agents on this forum will not advise you because it is against their professional ethics.  

If your adviser is a migration lawyer and not a MARA-registered migration agent, then I would strongly recommend you do sack him, because you don't need a lawyer right now. You need an agent.  

10 hours ago, Eric3197 said:

 

1. I have secured a positive skills assessment for Multimedia Specialist in 2023 which is currently the occupation I am looking to obtain a 189 or 190 visa under (my background is Graphic Designer).....
2. My current Graphic Designer job ....

You don't need a sponsor to apply for a 190 visa. You just apply.  Why don't you do that?

16 minutes ago, Cheery Thistle said:

Lenders are also funny about you renting to family members so you’d want to think about that. 

So is the Australian taxman.  AFAIK if you're renting to a family member then it doesn't qualify as an investment property

1 hour ago, InnerVoice said:

Can you check your luggage all the way through even if your stopover is for a couple of nights? If so, I never knew that.

I think it has to count as a connecting flight.  I don't know, because I've never booked a stopover longer than 12 hours.