toto10

When we flew, we had a 7, 4 and 18month, we paid for the extra seat for the baby after living with her on my knee to Tenerifie, I couldn't have done it to OZ. Not sure if its the same now as this was 5 years ago but we had a car seat with us that strapped into the plane, pain to carry about the airports but a god send when you could just strap her in, like the car, and she slept easier. When we were on OZ, we had to get some antihistamine for her, that was great stuff for the return journey!!!Toto

Super BTM, we would only have 65 points to so might go the same route. Just got to get hubby through the ielts test! Skani, I am looking at schooling tonight so will look for the sporting activities. Funny thing is when we were in Melbourne is poured for 4 days, we couldn't wait to leave!!!Toto

Thanks, have been working so haven't spent any time on this but will look into it all later. Toto

Hello, we are considering the move to Oz and one of the factors in the decision is Sports in schools. Our eldest is in 1st year and finding the high school great but the lack of sports lets it down, which for some is not really an issue but he is very sporty. We have numerous Private schools which excel at sport but out of our price range as we have 3 kids. What are the options for kids at school in Oz with regards Sports, is there any specific sporting Academies, are they hard to get into? Are the state high schools geared for lots of sports? At present we have 2 periods of sports a week but considering they have to get changed, do sport, then get changed again in 55 mins not much gets done. Also the general attitude of the kids is apathy towards sport and it can get a bit frustrating. Thanks Toto x

Thanks BTM, congrats on your visa, did it come today??? Didn't take long, we were wondering if we should do the regional sponsorship route, does that make it quicker? When are you thinking of moving?

Boganbear, we looked at the Med but problems with language, schooling and work put us off but it would be great for the kids footy!

Hello, from reading on here and other forums, things don't look good for gas heating guys. We have friends in Victoria and they reckon that's the best place to be for work but its not easy. What are your experiences?

Hello, we are looking at emigrating but want to get as many facts together as possible. At present I have a successful online business however if we come across, it may be difficult to carry on doing it, I am looking into it, its just a problem with stock supply as I already sell to customers in Australia, so am looking at what options are out there for me. Is it hard to get a retail, café, type job or what's out there that's available to a smart and motivated but unqualified person. Is there an area I could get some qualifications for before I come out, was thinking class room assistant or child care. Ideally I would like to carry on with my business but I am not daft and realise that we are starting again so have to have plan a, plan b, c, d and e!

Skani, that sounds amazing, they would love that. We are looking at Victoria, as a gas heating engineer, my husband is going to find it hard to get started but we have been advised from friends, that Victoria has the most gas heating systems so it would be the best place to settle. Thanks Toto

Hello Gastech, Are you still looking for engineers, my husband is a British Gas Breakdown engineer with 10 year experience, as detailed above from another poster. We are just starting out on the process, no TRA yet, could get a cv drawn up and sent over if required. Thanks Toto PS Has anyone had any response regarding the availability of the jobs

Thanks everyone, that was quick! We are an outdoor type family so will do most things in any weather but it has now become a bit of a drag when clubs and games etc are cancelled due to the weather and lack of indoor, or frost friendly pitches etc. We live in Scotland, we know its going to be wet, wild and miserable but when its the same during the summer too, it grinds a bit. We have some of the most amazing outdoor spaces in the world, which can be amazing on both sunny and wet days but the sunny days are very few and far between. Our kids love any sport but competitively play football, one in an Academy, athletics, eldest plays cricket, all 3 mountain bike. They are very lucky that they enjoy sports and can play to a good level however its frustrating that everything has to be done outside of school. Recently our high school entered an inter district athletic comp, 2 kids from 1st year showed up for the first training session, they had to pull out, we cant get enough boys together for a school football team.....then the school ran a fifa 13 comp at lunch time, 50 boys signed up from 1st year, I know there is a change in society but its heart breaking. I just don't want the kids to get out the habit of enjoying sports to be like everyone else and that's hard when peers are not interested in sport. Thanks again, better go before I start to rant!!!!

Hello to everyone on PIO, We planned on moving to OZ 5 years ago, did a 3 month reccie with kids in tow and then came home and decided not to go as hubby is a gas fitter and would of had to retrain etc and we have a good lifestyle here and steady jobs. We embraced life here, and got on with things however, the older we get the more the weather is affecting our life and state of mind. Does the weather really make a difference? We read about all the extremes of weather in Oz as well as here so realise its not all blue skys and sunshine, but generally on a day to day basis what are everyones throughts, does it really improve your life? Its not just the weather making us consider the move but also the schools, our kids are very sporty and my eldest has just started high school and although its great, there are some sporting opportunities however they keep being cancelled or the team does poorly due to lack of kids wanting to take part. We don't have any specialist sporting academies within 90 mins of us and only 1 in Scotland so we don't have the opportunity to move him. Schooling will be something I will be looking at over the next couple of weeks. Thanks Toto x PS For some reason I cant use my enter button to move down the page!