DonnaBB

What number did you call Tess?

Thanks all. I bought mine direct from the apple store so I think it is not locked anyway. But I will double check with the store

Great, thanks Diane

Hi, has anyone brought an Australia-bought iphone back (bought directly from apple store and not locked to any carrier) and used it with a UK sim? Does it work? Thanks.

I think about A$960 for a 32Gb

The new one is. The old one was an iphone 4. You have only heard half the story. They charged me the cost of unlocking the phone twice as well and won't give me a refund even though they have not done the job. So, I had to pay that in the end as well. I will never use orange again!!! Seriously, good luck with T mobile. I hope it works out for you cos I can't live without my iphone either

Hi Tony. Unfortunately, I was in the same situation as you (with Orange). I tried all sorts of avenues and stores - legit and possibly, not so legit - but there were no solution. Only the original carrier can do it. After fighting with orange over the issue for about 4 months via all sorts of medium (phone, twitter, email, Facebook, etc.), I finally gave up and bought a new phone. The old iPhone is now a game console!! Good luck with T mobile. Hopefully, they are better than Orange with their customer services.

Ahh, that makes sense Our 7 and 10 year olds settled in to their Aussie school very quickly and made new friends easily. What they found different was the curricula but got used to that pretty soon too. It all depends on age and school and sometimes luck of the draw on which class they are put in and who they sit next to. Just like us adults

Interested why you think it would be easier going from oz to UK rather than the other way round..

Congrats LR. What wonderful news

Hi, thanks for all the info. We have asked Wridgways, Chess and Grace to quote for now. May try Pickfords and Kents if the quotes we receive are not competitive. Fingers crossed.

Thanks guys. Guess I'm not looking forward to the upheaval again

Gosh, I am feeling so nervous about moving back. Which is rather silly as we haven't been here that long. But just woke up in cold sweat. I know we are doing the right thing so not sure why I am nervous!

Oh, sorry to hear. Their final choice may not have had anything to do with you. For instance, they were obligated to go for an internal candidate or something. Their loss

I've had no problems with westpac. Opened the account in UK, prearranged an appointment time to go in once I got here and then collected my cards from one of their branches a few days later (I could have collected it sooner but I couldn't get to a branch sooner than a Saturday). Definitely got the cards before a permanent address as the lady at the bank actually printed stuff off for me with regards our bank account to help me secure a rental.

Ooo.. That's the lowest quote I've heard. Will definitely get in touch with them. Did they supply the packaging?

Thanks fourcorners. I will have a look at their website.

Hi. What shipping companies have you used to ship from Oz to UK? We had Wridgways out this week to give us a quote but would really like to have another two other companies to quote for comparison. Thanks

Good luck!

I have found something definitely cheaper tho. Borrowing DVDs from libraries are free! You have to cling on to the little freebies. Lol

I'm with them for our mobiles (no problems at all). Not with them for broadband but have heard good things about them from others.

Hi SGHJLL, have you looked at TPG for broadband and mobile deals?

Oh my gosh! $380?!!! I think the meat and veg cost here in Melbourne is comparable to the UK. Seafood is very expensive tho. What we have found really expensive are insurance, road tax and books.

Hi EndlessWinter, various reasons. But the most practical one is that it is far too expensive for us. By the sounds of it, Melbourne seems cheaper than Perth but I reckon we will still need to triple our UK mortgage payments (after taking into account exchange rate and wage comparison etc.) to be able to afford a similar house here and we are not prepared to as we are not in our twenties anymore

Hi SKW, we are on the east side. We are planning Jan 2014