tina0101

For your child/children I would recommend getting them in to school as soon as you can. Gives them a chance to get into a routine, make some friends, you can meet some other parents. My son finished GCSEs in the UK in June, we flew out at the end of August and he started school at the beginning of October. He's just had 2 months off for Christmas, and he is desperate to get back to school for the routine and to see, and continue to make, friends.

We are moving 6 weeks after putting in an offer on a house. It's very quick. You also really need a 20% deposit to avoid extra indemnity fees. I assume that you will be renting to start with?? I would not recommend buying until you are here and a bit settled. Then you'll have a better idea on jobs/schools/weather. We are in the Redlands and I love it. Good luck

The school I worked at in the UK had a number of kids who went to Oxbridge on the IB. If you're getting top marks, there is no reason why you cannot apply for them. At the end of the day (and this sounds harsh), your parents wont be around forever. They can't expect you to do everything that they want you to. Be your own person and spread your wings and you will be better for it. I most certainly would never stop my son from going back if he was that unhappy at your age, although I would have to make sure he had somewhere to live and a decent plan.

Good luck everyone. A year ago we applied for our 189 (on 16th). We've been in Australia now for 5 months and have bought a house and move in next week! I remember exactly how you are all feeling!!

Being a Primark girl, I bought loads of stuff and brought it with me. Now I'm here, I have bought loads from KMart, Target and Rivers and found them to be comparable. I probably wear more of the stuff I have bought out here than my UK clothes.

Looking into other Uni's I can't see why she cannot apply. Certainly, when we looked at a number in Brisbane to get an idea of the system here, all the people showing us round knew we were PR and all told us to apply for every scholarship we could!! I definitely know that we have to pay the fees up front though and cannot spread them over each course.

We used Emigrating Solutions and were very happy with Paul Triggs there.

I wouldn't organise a long term rental until you have seen them!! When we were looking, a lot of them looked nothing like their pictures - some of which were 5 years old!!! Also check out realestate.com.au.

We are in Brisbane and we offered 6 months upfront, had our visas/passports, my husband had his letter of offering employment. We had also sold our house in the UK, so had a bank statement showing the funds in our Oz bank account to further strengthen that we had the money!! If you have references from UK landlords, that will help. We took a letter from our UK estate agent saying how lovely our house in the UK was too, and also had references from our UK employers saying how great we were (lol). We didn't need all of this in the end, but we felt it was better to be safe than sorry. Whereabouts in Brisbane are you looking?

I guess it depends on how much you love your house too. If everything goes wrong here and we need to head back to the UK, I wouldn't want to go back to my old house anyway, so selling it was ok for us.

Justice of the Peace's hang out at set times in shopping centres and post offices - google it and you'll find your nearest. I know Caringdale Westfield has one, if you are that way.

ANZ have been really good. I find their app easy and their website. They did totally balls up at the start by not ordering our bank cards (2 weeks of having to get cash out over the counter to pay for things - was pretty stressful) but have redeemed themselves since.

If you look back at older threads, lots of people feel like this :-) perfectly normal, ride it out and start getting excited!! It's a roller coaster of emotions; especially as you get closer to leaving.

In Qld, our UK lids are illegal, there is no filtering, there is no pack riding (although I think there are a few organised ride outs by local motorcycle dealers). It may be different in Melbourne but I would recommend googling it and reading the rules. It is very different to the UK laws and I am hoping they change the rules as my UK lid is way nicer than my Qld one!! https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-rules/a-to-z-of-road-rules/motorcycles

You would need to contact the company providing the third party insurance to find out. Different companies have different policies and different rules.

Congratulations!! I have been quite surprised by how I am not missing home much. For us, the move has been well worth all the heartache. X

Aero guard all the way!! Ive had a horrendous time with mozzies and midges and pretty much any insect within 100metres of me thinking I'm some kind of banquet!! Aero guard has really helped - although if you can get the odourless one, it makes you more pleasant to other humans! Some me peopl recommend taking Barocca to boost your vitamins. Been doing it over a month and still get bitten if not covered in spray!!

I hated my dyson as the cord was too short - I had to keep unplugging and replugging it in as it wouldn't reach!!

Don't buy it at the airport, you'll get better deals in town. Remember to get your phones unlocked and you can just pop your Oz SIM cards in. We were glad we didn't buy a Sat Nav as the car we bought had a system built in.

Do it!! It sounds like the perfect time for you. And coming over travelling for a year (or two) isn't really abandoning your parents. What do you have to lose?? :-)

Verystormy is correct. On a 189, you can do any job - there are no constraints to the occupation used for the 189.

On our side of Brisbane there is Poms on The Bay, which is where we found a few meetups. There's also the Brisbanittes, Poms in Brisbane - Ladies only, PomsinOz and numerous other ones!! You've just got to put yourself out there and people are very welcoming. :-)

It's more stress for her if she goes in and makes new friends and then you take her out of school after a few weeks. Personally, I wouldn't bother, but I would contact your local Education Authority and explain the situation to them and advise them.

We're in Wellington Point. Hubby is a teacher and I work in non-teaching in one of the private schools. Ppi would recommend joining local groups. I have found PIO and Facebook groups invaluable for meeting people and have made some lovely friends through just turning up at BBQs and gatherings :-).

It'll take a couple of days to get over the lag!! Locally, if you don't fancy doing too much, go up to the lighthouse and cafe at Cleveland Point. You can have a cuppa and look out over the bay - a lovely view for when you feel like doing nothing :-).