miw54

Thank you Lindor - that sounds nice and simple. Hopefully, that is what we will do. Can you just load it then with a top up ?

Just asking for advice re: getting set up with a mobile phone when we arrive in Australia. As we are travelling a bit first we wont have a residential address although we have relatives over there who are residents. We thought we might just buy a PAYG initially as we don't want to undertake any contracts until we are settled. However, I seem to recall, the last time we did this, we still needed a residential address and also the tariff was awful - the money seemed to be eaten up even when we weren't using it. Alternatively does anyone know if there is a way you can use your UK smartphone in Australia ? Any advice greatly appreciated.

Many thanks:unsure:

Hi

In the UK you can buy an insurance policy to cover the excess when hiring a car. The company is called 'icarinsurance.com'. It seems a good idea as £59 gives you an annual policy that covers up to £6000 excess worldwide and for up to 65 days of any single rental agreement. I wondered if anyone out there had used this excess policy at all ? If you take out the insurance with the car hire companies in Oz it can cost in the region of AUD$35 per day.:unsure:

Hi

When we first emigrated to Oz, we had never even been out of the UK before and it was our first time on an aeroplane. It was all just so awesome and we had no idea what to expect. However, from the very first day I fell in love with Australia and, even though we have ping ponged between there and the UK (mainly due to OH)considerably since, I never lost the excitement of going each time. I do think its more scary if you have children because you have to think about their needs but it sounds like yours are looking forward to it. Some good advice above, especially to just enjoy the 4 years, knowing that you can always go back if it doesn't work out. Hope it does though ....:smile:

We got a return ticket for just £750 each with Emirates which was not much more than a one way fare. Although we specified a return date next April, there is the option to amend the return date for £50 fee which we thought was cheaper than a one way fare from Oz. We booked through ebookers.

Well, plenty of food for thought...... Thanks for all the good advice.:smile:

If just on hols then you can get annual excess insurance for about £50 good if you hire cars a lot. Now we are in Aus our annual holiday insurance covers it up to $6000

Thank you for all replies. This is helpful to know.

Hello

Just wondered if anyone had any advice re: hiring a car, particularly in respect of the insurance for waiving the excess. It seems as if this costs more than the hire of the car e.g. typically around A$35 per day. Most firms seem to quote an excess of at least A$3000. When we hired from Hertz once before we were told that, in the event of any damage, the full excess amount would be taken from our credit card regardless of the cost of repairing any damage unless, of course, we paid the daily insurance. Is it possible to get a separate insurance at a cheaper rate ? Alternatively does anyone know of a good car rental company that has more reasonable terms. We would be looking at getting a car on or near Brisbane airport if possible.

Many thanks

My problem is that I love both Oz and the UK. Makes for a very restless existence, back and forth and filled with excitement every time whichever way I'm heading. I just cannot live in either one exclusively but guess, if absolutely forced to by health or finances, it would have to be the UK purely for family and where my roots lie. These two countries are the best in the world but for different reasons.

Thanks so much Skippy1. That is really good to know. If this is the case then we should not have a problem.:smile:

Hi

Thanks so much for your reply. We want to buy a car in Queensland but our contact address (my brother's actually) is in NSW. We would have difficulty getting someone in QLD to let us use their address and we wont be taking on any accommodation in our own name until well after Christmas. Hence we would not have utility bills etc for identification. Until then we will be travelling around, probably staying in holiday lets and motels. We don't want to take on a rental property as we intend buying something once we have had a good look around. We are already Australian citizens and do have QLD driving licences but no longer reside at the address on them as we moved back here to the UK for a while. There is no way we would wish to hire a vehicle for more than a week and would want to get our own vehicle. Looks as if it might be difficult if we don't have an address but just hoped someone would know a way around it. Thanks again. Appreciate the links too.

Hi

Wonder if anyone can advise. We are planning to arrive in Brisbane late November but will be travelling around and staying with different people until after Christmas. Just wondered how we would go with buying a car when we do not have an address. We need to get a vehicle pretty quickly as soon as we arrive but don't want to take out leases on accommodation as we are hoping to buy fairly soon but obviously need time to do that. Many thanks. :confused:

Evidence shows that children who are well nourished learn better. It is also an opportunity for development of social interaction and communication skills as all children eat together and have the opportunity to socialise. Although it seems a bit extreme to roll this out for all children, as someone pointed out earlier, it is not necessarily poor children who don't get fed properly by their parents. This way, no child misses out. Its a bit sad that it is necessary but it seems to have been very successful in those areas that piloted it. I think it is one of the nicer things to have been imposed onto schools.:smile:

We managed 5 years in Oz then we were homesick, we missed the UK, we went back, had a great time touring our own country, Jersey, Isle of Wight then France, then Spain - all so easy to get to when you are in the UK. But then, in the cold of Winter we missed Oz, so back we went again. After two years felt a little bored and headed back to the UK. Had a great time catching up with everyone and lots more travelling in Europe. 12 months later we missed the sunny days in Oz and went back again, only that time our sons stayed over in the UK as they liked it better. Spent 2 more years in Oz but missed the boys and a grandchild came along in the UK so we jetted back again. After a couple of years in the UK went back to Oz but only temporarily as intended at the time and returned to the UK last year. We are now about to go back to Oz for the 5th time, knowing we will probably be back in the UK again at some point in the future. The truth is we love the UK and we love Oz and when in one, we miss the other. You can't completely compare them because the things we love and miss in the UK are not there in Oz but likewise, the things we love about Oz are not there in the UK. For us the UK is where we were born and grew up and it is where our roots are. That can't be changed - hence why we belong the rather restless group of ping pong poms. Sometimes I wish we had never emigrated in the first place but then I wouldn't have missed the Oz experience for anything !! :confused:

Hi

would really appreciate your posting of the entire experience and costs. We would like to take our 2004 Renault with us to Oz as it is a great little car, air conditioned, tinted windows and has been a reliable runner for us for the last 5 years, but we are baffled by all the requirements, charges and duties. We have been advised that it probably isn't worth taking really but we'd get so little for it here and the cost of replacing it in Oz seems enormous in comparison. :smile:

Thank you Andy. Just curious as a friend from Oz has just managed to get a fair amount of UK pension credited to him based on years in Australia for time he was there prior to 2000.

Eligibility

Generally to be eligible to the Australian Age Pension you will need to be in Australia and a permanent resident/citizen at the time of applying and generally need to have been in Australia for a continuous period for at least 10 years or for a number of periods that total more than 10 years with one of the periods totally more than five years.

The age of eligibility is being equalised to age 65 for men and women and will gradually be phased back to age 67 (likely moving further to age 70).

Hi

My question is about the reciprocal arrangements prior to year 2000. In the UK anyone who was living and working in Oz prior to this date can have those years taken into consideration for claiming the British pension e.g. if you were resident in Australia between 1980 and 1989 for example then those 9 years can be included in calculations for the British pension as long as you are resident in Britain when claiming the pension. Is this the same for Oz i.e. if you want to claim age pension in Oz and you were an Australian citizen living and working in the UK prior to 2000, are those years taken into consideration when seeking eligibility to claim the Australian age pension -- that is, if I, as an Australian citizen, was working in the UK between 1993 and 1998 would those 5 years count seeing as the reciprocal agreement was in force then ? Hope this makes sense. Thanks

:unsure:

"We have live on the coast for 6 years and absolutely love it! I've recently started to hear more and more about crime on the coast and heard the coast referred to as the crime capital of Australia a few times and it's starting to make me feel uneasy! I know crime happens everywhere but we moved from the UK to give our kids a safer life and in not sure that the Gold Coast is that safer place anymore. I'm seriously thinking about moving away".

If you love it (as I do) why would you move away? I am not aware that crime is any greater on the Gold Coast than anywhere else and having lived in both Sydney and Brisbane I'd say there is far more crime in areas of these two places than the Gold Coast. However, it made us smile when a friend of ours who lives in Inala (aka Dodge City), upon hearing that we were going to buy on the Gold Coast, also gave us warnings about it being a 'dangerous place' to live. :mask:

......and its uncommonly hot here in the UK - what's going on !! :ssign7:

Thank you Very Stormy, I think this is the best advice.

Yes - just discovered this - he thought it was younger. The remaining relative was far easier though as he would be the last of the family to be in the UK and having done a preliminary check would have satisfied all criteria. He just needed us to be back there and in a position to provide surety for him - hence why he was waiting. Had they given enough notice of the plans to repeal this visa then we would have returned sooner and he could have put in an application before the closing date. Hope there is a replacement visa to assist in family reunion as the recent changes must surely affect many people.

Could he not apply via the regular 189 visa or such?

Thanks - He is going to look at others but he is over the age limit for many visas now (he is 43 years old)

Just checking really. We are Australian Citizens due to return permanently to Oz in the next few weeks after working out here in the UK for some years. We have only one son who was intending applying for the visa sub-class 115 once we were back there. However, on making enquiries this week he was advised that all remaining relative visas are now permanently unavailable. If this is the case, it will be a dreadful blow to us and it means he will be on his own here in the UK, possibly for ever. Has anyone out there any information on what is happening regarding opportunities for family reunion in the future ?

Thanks so much:confused:

Hi

We registered with Aussie Housesitters, it's only $65 per year which isn't much if it gets you what you want. We did book it from the UK and we also organised our first two housesits from the UK too via Facetime. Once we got to Oz we went and visited the people who had contacted us and it was nice and easy from then on.

Hi

We tried it last year and enjoyed sitting for two different people. However, we are a retired couple. I think most sitters prefer single people or older couples and often don't want sitters with children or their own pets. We are going to do it again later this year with a view to travelling to different places. Its a good way to get around without hassle of trying to find accommodation. :smile: