LadyCroft

Having trouble getting the help I need with my little boy's allergies and asthma so am looking for a direct recommendation for a good family friendly clinic in or around Clyde North area. We have Medicare cards but no private health insurance so would have to be somewhere bulk billing or Medicare friendly (is that even what you say???) as we can't afford private GP's costs. Thanks in advance as always

Thanks for the replies. Sorry my post was a bit of a rant but we are not long back from the appointment and it is still annoying me that I felt I wasn't really listened to or understood. No, the GP's 1st language was not English but I think the problem was that I don't understand why he can't prescribe me an antihistamine when I clearly told him the school will NOT administer anything that is not clearly labelled by the doctor with a label and has an action plan from the GP. I am going to print off that green form, thanks, and take it to a different clinic so I can ask them directly to complete it stating that the school have asked for it to be done this way. Thanks for the help. I feel a little bit better now.

We have literally just moved into our long term rental having been in a holiday rental since we arrived last month. It has been hectic. I have just got to the stage where we have only just decided to settle down in this area for 12 months to start and we have been to see the local schools and enrolled in the closest one as I don't have a car. The school have told us we need to get our little one's UK immunisation record transferred to an Australia Immunisation Certificate which I have been told can be done by the nurse at the GP office. We have had no need to visit a GP as yet so off I went to the nearest one that had an appointment today and does "Bulk Billing" as I was told this is what you should do when you have a Medicare card as they just claim the money back directly themselves. Anyway, we waited for 1 hour to be seen (having made an appointment) and when we were seen we didn't get any prescriptions but an Asthma Action Plan and a whole list of follow up appointments with physio, dietician and a potential referral to an allergy clinic miles away if I want any medication to be prescribed for my little one's egg allergy. My head is spinning. I was told I don't pay for any of the Asthma related stuff as it is covered but I am not sure what is happening with the food allergy referral. I don't think the GP could really understand me so I showed him copies of our UK repeat prescriptions and the red book of immunisations to try and explain what I was banging on about (I am Scottish which seems to be hard to understand sometimes) so I asked a few times in a few different ways so I could understand what was happening but I still feel lost. Apparently over here the school need an Asthma Action Plan which involves a full, ongoing treatment of the childs asthma including help with teaching him to breath properly, eat well and returning for updates with the nurse/GP to manage the asthma. All of this is covered by the clinic visa bulk billing. Sounds amazing as this did not happen in our old UK GP surgery. The main issue is that the GP could not prescribe anything for the egg allergy and just told me to tell the school not to give him egg. I was saying he needs medication (anti histamines) if he is accidentally exposed to egg (say he accidentally tasted something with mayo or ate someone's ice cream that was made with egg or anything like that - these things happen in school when they KNOW not to share food but someone else has something that looks yummy) but he just kept saying "Well he can take Clarytin if he wants" but he is only 5. THe only way for them to prescribe is apparently if he needs an Epipen and then they can do an Anaphylaxis plan of some sort. I am now facing starting again with his allergy to egg and asthma treatment that took ages to sort origin\lly in Scotland. Is this usual? I mean is this the usual plan of action? I also still need to go see the nurse to have the immunisation record officially changed over from the red book to the Australian immunisation record. My head is spinning now - it just seems to be one thing after another but if this is the way things have to be done then great but I just didn't realise what we were in for. THanks for any advice on this.

Brilliant thanks. We are totally brand new to this area - ended up here due to my husband's work. We've only ever really lived close to the CBD. I completely forgot about Phillip Island. It is really close now! What about Tooradin - is that more residential rather than a "things to do" kind of place? We will def head out to the Peninsula. Thanks for the info on the swimming lessons - that is ideal. They all love the water and we were going to look for lessons so that is more info that I need - great.

Sooooooo we've ended up renting in Clyde North after a billion and one open houses and rental applictations. The house we REEEAAALLLY wanted was snapped up straight away so we took the one we are in (and if we had taken the other one I am sure THIS house would have been the one I reeeeaaaaaaaalllllyyyy wanted) only for something to happen with the favourite house so we were offered it the day after we had signed up and paid the bond/rent and all that. Anyway, I took the kids for a wander around (we only have one car and my husband uses it for work) making me realise that everyone drives everywhere here and I got lost n spent the rest of our walk trying to find the way back to our new house. I did notice some play parks around the Hunt Club Village and Selandra Rise for the kids. When we are all together at the weekend and we have the car, where are the best places nearby to take the kids (and for us to enjoy too)? I spotted what looked like water flumes/slides at Casey something and Casey Fields had a big family fun day sign outside... What are these places like? Royal Botanic Gardens any good? Any ideas would be fab thanks. I am feeling a bit low just now as it feels like we have just crashed down from all the initial craziness and organising everything. It all feels a bit too "real" now... Trying to find a routine.

I like that idea. Might be the way to go if I can get the other half to agree to it! There must be other people who have just arrived in the area who are feeling a bit far away just now with the run up to Christmas. Everyone back in the UK has kind of forgotten about us just now since they are so busy with presents and relatives all coming over to stay with them for Christmas and New Year so it is making it even worse with the homesickness that has suddenly set in now we have done all the essential stuff. Thanks.

Since we have just arrived in time for Christmas and we have now moved into our long term rental, we have realised that we are feeling a bit lonely in the run up to Christmas but are struggling with the "getting yourselves out there" because of work, kids and all the organising of getting the new house sorted out with all the boring stuff. We don't know the Aussie traditions or what you all get up to on Christmas Day so are trying to find somewhere to book Christmas lunch/dinner. Any ideas? We are in Clyde North so open to suggestions on what to do.

So is Fiji where families go? Kind of like Menorca for the UK alternative kind of thing? (Sorry to generalise but you get what I mean ) Thanks for the links. Fab! Research commenced

Delays in granting the Child Visas mean that we are likely to be taking 1 week's holiday out of Australia in January/February to have his visa validated on return. Where do we go? Any suggestions? Pale, Scottish skin here so nowhere too hot... 2 kids under school age so shortest flights possible really... AND not too expensive as we are a bit skint now. We had originally planned on a few days in Auckland but our case officer has advised AT LEAST 3 working days so there went our extended weekend plans and now it is more sensible just to go for a whole week that covers the 5 working days to make sure we are ok. Just not sure where would be the best place for the best value. Also, what travel agent is best to use (We are in Melbourne) - we have looked at Expedia and they are quite expensive. Hoping for some holiday deals after Christmas but the schools are all off so unlikely to get a cheaper deal I guess. Thanks for any help.

Does anyone know if you get charges import tax or duty if you order a whole load of stuff from Debenhams? I am worried that I am going to order all our home stuff from Debenhams then the taxman and duty prices will negate bothering to order it all from the UK... Thanks

We have spent the last few weeks securing a rental, furninshing the place on a budget and are now at the point where we need bedding (is that what Manchester is???) cushions and all the soft furnishings kind of stuff. Oh, and towels. As a result we are looking for the biggest HArris Scarfe so that we can try and get it all under one roof as we are actually getting fed up shopping (well the boys are :biggrin:) Help please :embarrassed:

Perfect!!!! The things you are expected to know. I have already asked our EA about a billion Stoopid questions so thanks very much that I don't have to add that one as well. Great.

I am off to try it. Thanks.... Will let you know if it works for me! :-)

Great thanks

Thanks. I am just used to too much choice in the UK. The hand towels here are like our dish towels in the UK so we are used to a nice big fluffy towel for many hand dryings. Then again, it is hot here so the towels can be washed an dried much quicker. I obviously have too much time on my hands if I am fretting over the size of a hand towel LOL Just mentioned it cos I would be better off not buying a sh!tty little face cloth when I want a bigger towel to dry hands with. Thanks :-) Will stick with Kmart.

We have been all round Kmart, target, Big W and the price of towels is extortionate compared with the UK! We had bought new towels to sell our house (staging and all that) and they were cheap in the UK but over here the same quality of towel is $25 per bath towel! They cost us about £20 for a bale! Where do you go to buy some decent quality towels without them costing the earth. We need 2 bath sheets and 2 bath towels at least. Thanks. Also, why are the hand towels so tiny here

We have just moved into our first rental and of course this is Sunday and we have an issue out estate agent can't fix cos it is Sunday... We have moved into a new build and at bedtime we went to lock the front door...... It locks so that no one can get in from the outside but as soon as you push the handle from inside the house, the lock disengages and the door can open. We have a 2 year old who LOVES escaping. We can not lock the door..... Are we doing something wrong? OR is there a fault with the door? HELP!

Thanks for the advice. You were spot on, some just flat out said they don't do private appts (for our rent budget I'm sure they meant) but one were happy to show us a couple in the same area that hadn't been leased after the last open inspection so it makes things much more doable now.

Hi! We arrived in Oz a few weeks ago and are in a furnished 2 bedroom apartment from Park Avenue accommodation group http://www.serviced-apartments.com.au.'>http://www.serviced-apartments.com.au. We tried stayz and airbnb but the way they work meant we were putting in a request for an apartment we saw on the site, waiting for the owners to get back to us to confirm and most of the ones we applied for were already let BUT they were still advertised on the site as if they are available. So, it was taking too long for us and we just went straight to http://www.serviced-apartments.com.au after seeing the reviews on Tripadvisor. The only issue is that furnished holiday rentals are VERY expensive. We had to have somewhere to live though and it is a one off so we just went for it. Hope this helps! Good luck.

Thanks again Petals. You are always so helpful. We were getting a bit stuck with open inspections, applying for and not getting houses in the areas we really like eg Berwick where there were loads of people viewing the same properties as us. At the moment our budget and time to be out of our short term rental have meant we will end up in this area. It looks lovely but is far out and I am worried that I have made a mistake in heading somewhere with no locals shops but we need somewhere to live for the first year anyway and my stomach is in a big knot at the thought of going out again on Saturday to do another day of open inspections only to end up with nothing again. When I was back in the UK going through all the areas, schools and looking at the rental properties I thought I had it all sussed. On actually arriving here and going to the areas/open inspections, it is nowhere near as straight forward as I was expecting so I am probably making a big mistake due to my running out of patience and perseverence. At least I will learn another valuable lesson from this I am sure. Sorry for the rant there. It just came out! Thanks though

Ok... After lots of different open inspections in different areas, we have now been put forward for a house in the Hunt Club, Cranbourne East and a bigger house for the same rent at Cascades on Clyde... So we have to decide which one to go for and which one to withdraw now. Difficult. Can anyone who lives there or knows the area say which is better for broadband and what the main differences between the two places are? We went to an open inspection before at a couple of rentals right beside Cranbourne East primary school which were literally 2 mins away and the school looked good but the houses and surroundings at Cascades on Clyde are so beautiful with a but yes I suppose you need a car to get anywhere. Is Cascades on Clyde Telstra Velocity and if so what does that mean? That you have to go with Telstra for your broadband package? I am a bit lost here. I had a look on the Whirlpool forum but it was a bit too detailed and I got lost again. Thanks

"Should this application be accepted by the landlord I agree to enter into a Residential Tenancy Agreement" This was the line I have an issue with when applying for several houses... I didn't notice it on other application forms. We have yet to have our application accepted anyway - they are still thinking about it. We have viewed another 2 and have application forms to complete as we are worried about not being accepted for any and being homeless soon so....

Maybe I misread it and it is actually on signing the contract that we would be bound to rent the place.... Glad that is not the case then!

Ok thanks. I thought it was a bit strange and scary! We really need to start putting in applications left right and centre now and in different areas so I guess the first one we really like that comes up we will be going for it... Thanks

We only have about 2 weeks to secure a long term rental and move out of our short term. The main question is, can we fill in applications for more than 1 rental or do you have to wait until you are declined or accepted before applying for another? I noticed the clause in the rental application that says if you are accepted for the rental application then you are bound to rent the place (obviously I suppose) so that made me think I have to wait to be knocked back before applying for a different one. The problem is that I am starting to panic as we may have to find a rental in Berwick now which I know is very popular and if I CAN'T apply for more than one at a time then we are a bit stuck since we only have a couple of weeks left to move out. Help