Wen66

What is available on the skills list is no relevance in reality to job prospects and employers. We and several of our friends have found that out, to our dismay. There is no way my OH could further his career in SA as the job he did in the UK doesn't exist here. They haven't even reached that level, yet. We came in under IT Project Manager and were under no illusions and didn't come here for big money jobs. We could have stayed in London for that. It was a change in life style, we want a different one. Don't be put off SA completely, keep an eye on the situation, but in the meantime, look at Sydney,as apparently that is where the big company IT work is the mo. I firmly believe SA encourages migration, as we bring money to the state, we buy cars, furniture, rent or buy property etc. Reckon they secretly wish we'd all clear off back to the UK and leave out spent money here.

The IT market is a nightmare in Adelaide, imho. My other half has been looking for nearly 6 months. Lots of interviews and plenty of coffee chats. He has networked his heart out, making as many contacts as possible but the message is, alot of companies are sitting tight for now, no budget or wont take the risk. Do lots of research, make lots of contacts. IT jobs are about who you know and being specialised in your field. IT is very different from the UK, no matter what anyone says. If you are lucky to walk into a job, you are lucky. Even some of our seasoned Aussie friends are on the bench, looking for work. OH half has had offers of work back in the UK and Dubai but we love Australia, my kids love it here, so we're staying put In saying all that, SA can't sit still. I believe it is on the cusp of something good. It has to change to survive. It may take a few years, more even. If local government would wake up and see what a brilliant state they have, bunged to the gills with enthusiastic Aussies and migrants wanting to work. Politics suck here even more so than the UK and that is saying something. Good luck, follow your dream, but definitely come with a contingency plan, some financial back up and an open mind. If my OH is in the position to help by then, he will.

Things I wished I'd brought....emmm, my VW camper van as I miss her soo much.......Chocolate....proper stuff, Cadbury's not the same here.....although I have discovered TimTams, so I am happy:wink:

We would love to get biking again :wink:but jeez, the speed limits are soo slow :eek:and the fines are sooo big......:policeman:....

Will hang on to our lids. We've always used good lids, never gone cheap. OH raced 600's and has had several offs, lids have done their job! Cost us a blinking fortune as every time he did have an off, he had to buy a new one to race. Scraped lids didn't pass scrutineering...... Hopefully SA will see sense soon. Cheers:wink:

We were told, ours wouldn't be legal. £ 400 lids unusable;( Wish we'd realized that before we left the uk. Would have sold them....

Holy cow! That looks like something from a movie.....:eek:

There would be no room, if we all loved living by the beach. Thank goodness for variety....I love the hills, trees, beach, ocean...architecture old and new......we live on a beautiful planet....x

Watching 7 news coverage....stay safe, everyone.x

The best thing parents can give their children are roots and wings. Roots, to give them a firm grounding in life and wings, to fly and be independent. I feel, that is what my parents did for me and I hope I am doing the same for my two boys. Needless to say, it didn't stop my mum breaking her heart when we left for Australia, a few months back. But she is coping, Viber is awesome for free phone calls and Skype is fab for her to see the boys. I, no doubt, will be heart broken when my boys leave. I think every parent knows and understands how you feel. Keep your chin up, let him go. He will always be your son, no matter where he is in the world. xx:hug:

There is a petition on the go, not sure if I am allowed to post it but here you go....https://www.change.org/p/keep-the-metcalfe-family-in-australia-sign-the-petition-to-keep-the-metcalfe-s-in-australia

We used Crown Relocations to get us here, they have offices in Australia, too.

We also had Robinsons to quote. No complaints, seemed nice folk. Crown offered a slightly better competitive rate. Get a few out to quote for your needs. Good luck.:-)

We used Crown Relocations, would use them again, no problem:smile:.

Good read and great advice.:-) Also, if you can get your hands on Forever Living Aloe Propolis cream....marvelous stuff, I use it for everything skin related. I brought some with me as I was a distributor in the UK, mostly personal use to be honest. I have heard about the Avon stuff before. I am going to get some as well. x Been googling and.... Avon Skin So Soft Spray Oil Moisturiser is on offer with Avon at 2 spray bottles for $10 :-)

Only been here a couple of months ourselves. But we use the Mortein spray indoors and out. Seems to help. Aerogard tropical spray on ankles etc., burn citronella candles. Cover up legs and arms when outside. Don't wear dark clothing....I got bitten quiet badly along the line of my black knee leggings. Hate mozzies, as I react to the bites. So I try everything. I bought a antihistamine from the chemist, not cream though. Ice cube on the bite as soon as possible can help. Stingose spray for the bite. Haven't been bitten for a few weeks, thankfully.:wink: I do worry, I may be inhaling alot of serious insecticides.....:eek:

Cheers Cal, will look for them as backup:-) x Have gone Googling! Thankyou! x

Rowntrees fruit pastels, they are the only sweets my youngest likes. Have been looking but can't find them locally yet. (We're in Adelaide). Second hand cars are expensive but hey the fuel is so cheap:wink: As for the rest, ask me in a few months, when my supply of toiletries runs out....:twitcy:

We are using a local agent who is supposed to look after everything. We had 3 initially as there is no sole agency in letting. The one who found us a good short term full rental tenant got the job, so to speak. We were here a week when we got our tenants on a 6 month term. Doesn't stop the mountains of emails to sort UK time, though. We took out a British gas landlord package to take care of electrics, gas and plumbing. Saves the agent charging us a fortune sub contracting a tradie. Make sure you negotiate the fees for the estate agent too. Do some research on your local ones, someone will have stories as to how good they are. Good luck with your visa.

Awesome. cheers for posting them.x

Our Uk xbox works fine, although connecting to a high speed internet, well, that's another story.....we have adsl 2. It's not too bad but haven't tried streaming yet. We have standard channels on our Oz bought telly, quite frankly, I thought folk were exaggerating on how awful telly is.....it's awful... have no experience of Foxtel or pay TV as I hear it's quite pricey. Make sure you buy plug adaptors before you leave the UK, they can be expensive over here. Also. we brought a few uk multiblocks in our luggage, then changed the plug to an Oz one:-)

Brilliant! Good luck.:wink:

Hi Pascoe1986, let me know if I can help with anything. Feel free to pm me:smile:.

Hi Pascoe1986, apologies for not replying. Haven't been on for a while. We called Singapore Airlines about the baggage and one way tickets, visa validation. They got back and told us that was fine. It took a few phones calls, to double check. We presented our visa and tickets at check in (go to a person on a desk not a kiosk automated check in) explained to the lady and she got it sorted. We got 40 Kg each. Ours totalled 136kg! We could of brought more bags...:-) But lugging all those big cases around and finding a taxi to fit them all in was hilarious. Good luck with sorting yours:-) x

Hey Chris, only really showed visa stuff at Heathrow. Especially to get extra baggage allowance. We stopped off at Singapore for a few days restbite. That was fab. Not cheap by any means but well worth it. Especially Sentosa Universal Studios Transformers ride. Awesome! We got the express route at customs too. We'll chuffed as queue was very very long. We're staying in a Seaford Rise in a lovely rental. Can see the sea and sunset from.the kitchen window. Moana Beach is just down the road. The new trainline goes to Seaford. We've used it a couple of times and it's excellent. Very happy we chose Adelaide. You'll love it. Still can't believe we're here. It was so stressful in the run up but worth it so far. The weather is changeable but fabulous. We were at the beach yesterday in 30 + degrees and then we drove north to car hunt in the rain and 22 odd degrees. Go on Poms in Adelaide. Lots of very friendly folk on there too. ;-)