ruthwin

In the UK they call what we call a Queen bed a King size and what we call In Australia a King bed is called a Super King. Perhaps that is where people are getting mixed up with. So if you had a king in the Uk , its really a queen over in Oz...make sense? I wouldn't take anything back to the Uk. You can buy pretty much everything there and generally we found it all cheaper there when we went for a holiday. Only take special things momentos etc. Not 'stuff' everything can be replaced.

Only take irreplaceable items.

oh and when I say it was much easier bringing her back, that's not because of Australian AQUIS, but more from the UK end. The people at the Heathrow pet reception centre were utterly amazing when she landed too. I loved them. So very nice and helpful.

I took our dog to the UK many many years back. ( and then brought her back with us a few years later) I did all the running around and paperwork as vidtek has told you about. I bought the dogtainer through jet pets, and rang all the government departments and vets ( vets are extremely helpful in getting all the right jabs/health checks etc.) Although there is no quarantine in the UK we had to get our dog Rabies injections, so that took 6 months ( we actually started the process, went to the uk, found jobs and somewhere to live and then I flew back and go her....the money I saved from doing it all myself is what paid for my 4 week trip to pick her up) the biggest cost is the airline ticket, which was then, roughly 2 x a normal adult one way ticket. The price is based on the weight of the animal. Our dog was 21kg and she cost just over $2000. The vet and paperwork added up to around $800 all up. I imagine cats would be a lot cheaper. Now , it is pretty straightforward, but there is ALOT of paperwork , lots of running around, calling departments etc. At one point I got so utterly sick of AQUIS asking me why I wasn't just using a pet transport company I screamed at them. They really hate dealing with the ' general public' but I did it and she got there. It was much easier bringing her back, but then she had 6 weeks in Quarantine which cost a fortune. Any way, good luck with it. It can be done by yourself if you want to save money. But prepare for some head aches.

Thanks again.

Oh...and with electrical, remember you will have to replace all plugs, which you have to buy so is it really worth it? Luckily for us, my dad is an electrician so he did it all for us both times, but its abit of a pain in the bum for that 5 pound waffle iron you bought at Lidl.

Personally , I would only take your absolute irreplaceable favourite items, personal things and buy all electrical and furniture over there. We have done the moving thing backwards and forwards ( both myself and my husband and when I was a kid with my parents) and things inevitably get broken/stolen or....you unpack and then see the same thing brand new for half the price or the same price and think why did I bring this. that's just a personal preference though. I would never take all my stuff back again. Done it one too many times now. But I will always take the kids favourite things, photos, special books, knick knacks etc. I love my bed but I can buy one just as good over there... We used a company called Excess Baggage in the UK and Grays international from this end. They were really good, but I ended up getting rid of a lot of stuff when we unpacked.

I've called the superannuation funds I have, and also the Government clearing house and unless you are in dire financial problems ( ie about to have a house repossessed) you can not claim super back until retirement age. Best bet is to find a safeish one forget about it until then. Only if you are a temporary resident or on a working holiday visa. The Government changed the rules a couple of years back.

Its a wind . You'll know it when you meet it!!

Thanks Sapphire. that link didn't work,b ut I found it at http://migrant.nabgroup.com/en when I click on the UK part it goes to a Clydesdale website http://www.cbonline.co.uk/private/offshore-migrant-banking/migrant-banking-private/moving-to-the-uk/ Is this the site you used when you opened your account. Obviously I am conscious of fake websites.

thanks so much for your replies. I will look into the NAB one . Its a way off yet as we havn't even got the house ready for sale. But even if I get one opened and start transferring odd bits here and there that would be good. Just getting spooked by the dollar fluctuations abit as we were banking on having a great exchange rate. But anyway, that's not the important bit I suppose.

I grew up in Brisbane mostly, but have also lived in Perth. only similarity is the size, Perth was weird as far as I was concerned. Really strange vibe. Brisbane is a massive country town .

Hi, Sorry, I have only just joined this forum, but being reading things for months now. I havn't seen anything that answers the question I have so I thought I would ask one myself. It's probably rude to ask before answering someone else's question...so hence my apology. But...my question is about how to go about opening up a bank account in the UK before leaving Australia. I have only ever opened an account once over there but as we have a house to sell and more money to move I wanted to sort something out as soon as we sold the house ( with the dollar fluctuations at the moment) Is it possible to open something online and transfer funds? Has anyone done this before? I don't have any dates in mind as we have more than a house to sell and it could take months but I like to be organised. Thanks any help is appreciated.