vickyplum
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Posts posted by vickyplum
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i sent a small parcel to the UK recently. Took nearly two weeks to actually leave Australia and then about a week to get to the destination! Go AusPost :laugh:
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Sadly people often offer over the going rate - or offer 6 months in advance (for example).
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Durban, South Africa via Oxford, UK. Heading to Melbourne
I'm from Oxfordshire - now in Sydney.
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Ambitious saver! Ha ha :ssign2:
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I work in the project management field and many employers seem to use PRINCE2, PMBOK, Agile, P3O for PMO roles etc, as a minimum benchmark to use when screening applicants. So its not essential for doing the job, but highly desirable to put on cv when applying for roles.
If you can afford to do PRINCE2 practitioner or similar I'd recommend it.
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Yes mine is still open. Nothing goes into now (aside from birthday/Xmas money from my parents) and only small items go out - a few Amazon Kindle type payments, but mainly I try to keep it for spending money on trips back to the UK! Surprised I haven't been rumbled by the bank yet, as it's almost inactive, but guess there must be enough activity for them not to be concerned.
I use my parents' house as the a/c address and switched to online statements only & no direct marketing mail outs.
Have also still got a UK credit card but might cancel that, if I remember at some point.
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Have to say I find Sydney boring, too. Looks good but that is as far as it goes. Maybe the interesting things are all hidden? Melbourne doesn't look that good but it has so many things to do- and we are not all obsessed with money and appearances like the Sydneysiders.
Nothing like a good ol' broad brush generalisation on a Sunday afternoon!
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Have you done any exploring? I don't necessarily mean tourist stuff, but more like seeing different suburbs, coastal walks, exhibitions etc? If you just stay in your suburb, yes it's going to get old pretty quickly.
I came from London, so I understand what you mean, but at the same time you need to research and make an effort. Find "your thing' if it exists here.
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Have you done any exploring? I don't necessarily mean tourist stuff, but more like seeing different suburbs, coastal walks, exhibitions etc? If you just stay in your suburb, yes it's going to get old pretty quickly.
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Hawkesbury river cruise - http://www.palmbeachrivercruises.com.au/river-cruise.html
This is on my to do list, but not sure if will be any fun for the kids, unless you tire them out in the beach beforehand!
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I will third the point about seeing in person. The first place I looked at looked amazing in the pictures. The reality was something else. Maybe come a week before the others to find a place?
Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk
Very much agree with this and @northshorepom! We are currently (half heartedly) looking for a new place, and we haven't yet seen one we'd even consider moving into... (although our current unit is very nice - we are only looking elsewhere to try and get a drop in weekly rental costs). We have local knowledge and are looking in very specific areas.
Most real estate photos seem to be out of date - ie, the property looks roomy / fresh etc and in reality this rarely seems to be the case, unless it's a VERY new property.
I'd wait to get here and eyeball everywhere in person - and then you can at least see in person the things you might be willing to compromise on.
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I just like my home comforts once in a while!
Fair play :wink:
I'm sure all have things we sometimes miss or crave. I've got Cadbury's Giant Buttons and Munchies on my shopping list for when I go back to the UK in May! I don't miss them as such, but want to take advantage of being able to buy them easily and cheaply. In the meantime, I'm doing my waistline a favour by avoiding most of the Australia chocolate... apart from an occasional trip into Haigh's (which I try to avoid doing too frequently!).
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Allen's should do most of the gummy/sweetie things that you're after, I'd have thought. Any Woolies or Coles will have them, and other similar items by other manufacturers.
As you are in Sydney, there's also a 'British Shop' on in the Piccadilly Arcade on Pitt St in CBD (think it's call called Treats from Home). Have only been there once and that was before I moved to Aus permanently. Apparently there's a British 'Lolly Shop' in the Harbourside complex on Pyrmont side of Darling Harbour.
I'd say it would be cheaper and easier to find local equivalents though, or just wait for a treat the next time you're in the UK or someone comes over to visit.
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I assume it's ahead of Teresa May's Brexit speech :
"The government is prepared to abandon the single market, customs union and the European Court of Justice in order to achieve a clean break with the EU, Theresa May is expected to say this week."
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yes it is! ha ha
We really should buy more fans. we only have one, and someone else had it last night
Bunnings have got fans for 11 bucks (well, they did two weeks ago). We've got one and I plan to get more!
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I'm from just outside Oxford, having lived there from age 7 to age 36-ish!
I can't say I noticed the cost of food, but did most of my big grocery shops in Abingdon anyway. The smaller Tesco Metro and Sainsbury Locals, will always be a bit more expensive.
The biggest downer with Oxford and surrounding areas is the price of housing - rental and buying. It really is painfully expensive, not helped by planning restrictions, student housing, University owned land etc. It used to be that Abingdon, Witney, Didcot were much better value, but they are shooting up in price, as people are squeezed out of Oxford itself + Oxford, Didcot and Bicester are all within train commute of London (not particularly good fun though!) so tend to attract people from London / on London salary, for those reasons.
Bicester is a bit more reasonable I believe, but haven't checked in a while now. Has a few big new-ish housing estates.
Might be worth looking at Newbury or Reading, depending on husband's job location.
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Thanks for the replies.
Just to clarify - Exact wording of question is
"Since the age of 18 has the applicant lived or travelled outside of Australia? Give details of all countries that the applicant has lived in or travelled to since turning age 18". It asks to include work/study, holiday/leisure etc
no mention of only including travel outside Australia since obtaining permanent visa. I have searched online for help for this question but can't find info anywhere. I guess I will phone the helpline today, when the open. I certainly won't be able to list the exact dates every time I've been abroad in the past 20 years!
I would answer that as follows:
1) Lived in UK from age 18-35 (1996-2013)
2) Lived in Australia from age 35 (2013-present) and have travelled outside of Australia since then, as folllows:
- Trip 1 details
- Trip 2 details
-Trip 3 details
etc
Although it is open to interpretation!
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I've booked return tickets (put your fictitious return date as far into the future as possible) and then changed the date as the fictitious return date gets closer - there is usually a fee to do this and you need to check the small print before booking!
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ETA: I am going to have a look at my cookery books and copy any recipes that I use into the handwritten recipe book I keep in the kitchen and then just get rid of them. I don't need books with recipes that I'm never likely to make. It's easy to find recipes on the internet these days, so they are a bit redundant.
I used to cut pages out of cookery magazines and stick them into a notebook - that's after I got bored of handwriting them out! It's a great idea to preserve the recipes you actually use, in one place.
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We did our own packing, and I put clothes in thick black bin bags and then did a bit of Blue Peter, cutting up the boxes and doing my best to seal the box walls with them. Just wanted everything to be a bit water proof to avoid anything getting through and causing damp/mould. Everything turned up fine so either I was lucky or my packing skills worked :cool:
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This thread seems to have been side stepped. I for one would like to know what it was. (sorry, not into Punk stuff).
Mike
the answer was on the first page ish - and was "punk and/or skinhead" from recollection. Hence the discussion now ongoing..
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@NickyNook I gave the Bondi Junction example as that journey is the one my colleague seems to take. Maybe she is not near the the express bus route, I don't know.
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Should have said, her main problem seems to be that the bus / train times at Bondi Junction don't seem to link up in a helpful way. Nothing to do with traffic delays, although I'm sure that comes into play too!
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I work with someone who lives in Coogee and it definitely takes more than 30 minutes to the CBD. Put your location details in here and see what routes / timings are produced.
Ship all or minimal
in UK Chat
Posted · Edited by vickyplum
Yes, we shipped minimal, just under two years ago. It was still a fair amount of stuff though!
Bedding - took new / good condition stuff and threw the rest out. Fitted sheets don't fit exactly on Oz mattresses (a bit tight) but not an issue. Replaced pillows on arrival and haven't used a duvet since being here!
Kitchen - brought our cutlery, some utensils like good knives and other small items. Also brought some mugs of sentimental value.
- Didn't bring ovenware
- Didn't bring crockery or pots and pans (our were all cheap so no lost value).
- Didn't bring toaster, kettle, sandwich maker - have replaced all.
- Replaced all crockery with plain white range from Ikea and Kmart and in the process of slowly upgrading to nicer pots and pans etc, as and when funds are available.
Books, CDs, personal items etc...
Pictures in frames - purchased a TV shipping box and packed them in that.
Tools - brought domestic tool boxes over.
Clothing - took most in a two big suitcases and other items like handbag collection and shoes, went in Movecube.
Jewellery - had my box at the bottom of my large carry on bag for the flights over.
DVD player, amp, shredder, mini hifi, speakers, laptop, other small electronics...
- Carried laptop with me on flights and OH put his desktop in Movecube.
- Didn't bring TV.
Didn't bring white goods - as we were renting in UK so didn't own any of it.
Didn't bring any furniture - apart from a two person dining table, that completely flat packed down. Wish we had brought our very expensive super king bed frame and mattress but hindsight is a wonderful thing...
Summary: we made the right decision on most stuff, but there are few small items we could have fitted in (+ aforementioned mattress & bed), and I still find myself looking for them, convinced we DID bring them, nearly two years later. But nothing of any regret!
Also we arrived and stayed with relatives until we got our own place, so didn't anything apart from clothes, immediately.