The Bears

For us we had nothing amazing going on in the UK careers wise. Loves having family and friends around though! So thought why not, it was easy for myself having both passports, my husband we were unsure so just got a WHV. Which has perhaps held us back but enough about us! We have a house full of furniture in the UK in my In-Laws granny flat, where we were living previously. Part of me thinks great if you we go back to the UK we can move in tomorrow and its like we have never left, a bit dustier though i imagine haha. The other part of me sees that as a reason to go home. We could have brought it all with us, but nothing was special, it would cost more to ship then buy new i imagine. They are all replaceable, can you store it? Or at least the most important stuff? There isnt an Ikea near Cairns (Brisbane is the nearest at 24 hours drive away ish of the top of my head) Cairns is missing some of the bigger chains, that in the UK you would just drive an hour down the road too and sorted. Here not quite. But there are still plenty of places to buy stuff from! Am slowly finding my new favourite shops. Cairns may not be your forever home, but it is a good start. It has a little of everything. Have a read online to research as much as possible. For us one of the reasons we moved was for the nicer weather so Melbourn and Sydney were out of the questions. I would maybe have been a little happier in Brisbane, but we can go there in the future. Australia is such a massive place, once you are in you can go anywhere. I would throw myself in to a year hard (not to much pressure tho!) and see how you feel after that. Also don't compare everything to the UK. Its easy to be saying 'oh we do it differently in the UK etc' I would say something Australia are ahead with and some very far behind, but hey thats the joy of it all I don't know the costs of all the Visa stuff, but i feel now you have this idea, there will always be a little bit of you that wonders what if? If you don't make it out here. I know thats how i would have felt.

Are you coming out on Visas or Citizenship?

It also has a very ageing population, so it felt like most people were well in to retirement age. I have to say i think it would be a nice place to retire to!

That would be Babinda. I started to like it, walking down the street to the shop and saying hello to everyone as everyone knew who we were (being i suspect the only English people there). But the mould, damp and jobs made us move. My Dad has lived there for the last 20 years so we moved in with him to start with as it was free! He travels a lot so had the house to ourselves. Win Win, but NOTHING jobs wise at all, and employers weren't wowed with the prospect of us commuting every day. Had more luck with Smithfield on the old resume compared to Babinda! But definatly visit Babinda Boulders if you come out. Its really nice and my favourite creek to visit!

My Husband and I moved to an hour south of Cairns at the start of the year, to a little township where it rains all the time! There we little/no job prospects there so have moved to the big city now! We are 23 and 27, neither has a particular skill as such so are on the look out for low skilled jobs. It has been a struggle to find work. My husband was lucky and has temp work until November now and am still on the look out. Had several interviews and got more things out standing so its just a case of persevering. So if you have a skilled job you may have luck finding something. But defiantly not impossible, not having rent with cut down on worries a lot! We have only been here this year (visited twice previously) and my was it hot when we first arrived! But i was living in a house then with no air con or fly screens so very hot to cool down. We used to have to go out to shopping centres etc to take advantage of the air-con. But if you are in a place with air-con then its really not that big a deal. Just make sure you always wear a hat and sun screen, I got very badly burnt a few times out of sheer stupidity. The British mentality of its not that bad am alright (or my laziness!) can result in some very painful days! After all this time i still get caugh out, i went to Mareeba Rodeo the other day and got burnt as i forgot my hat so now my face has sunglasses marks on and is peeling. I had snakes in my previous place and it was horrible, i hate them! They were little tree snakes that lived in the roof! One guy in the pub told me he put some in his roof to keep away anything else! I seem to remember if they climb then they arn't poisonousness, but that didnt help me. But now am in a suburb of Cairns i havnt seen any ! Yay! I believe there might be some in the open shed at the bottom of the garden so i avoid that! But it the more built up places i believe it will be fine. Sometimes there are little ones on some of the walking tracks i have been on. Close my eyes and walk pass them freaking out like a 5 year old child is my normal reaction. Cairns beach its self isnt nice and i dont think ive ever seen any swimming there, but the lagoon is nice and always pretty busy (mainly with backpackers as there transport is a little more limited) Put a short drive north is lovely (Palm Cove and Port Douglas being my favourite) Also Australians will swim in pretty much any water so creeks are normally full of people (just check for Croc signs) but again your family will tell you more For us the hardest thing has been getting a 'social life' as such as we don't meet a lot of new people on a day to day basis. But if you have children and family here then that won't be an issue. Children are awesome social butterflies! I might be wrong here, but would you need to pay for schooling for your children? This is something i have discovered over the last few days that on some visas you have to pay for them to go. But please correct me! I think the main thing if just been sensible, yes its hot, so drink plenty of water, stay inside 11-2 ish, wear sun cream. We came from Snow in the UK to crazy hot so that made it worse for us. But currently am willing to say its even a little cold in my room right now. On the whole I would say give it a go! I was the same but didnt want to regret never doing it. Even if after a year you think no it wasnt for us, then go back to the UK. Nothing ventured nothing gained.... x

Thanks for every ones advice so far! I wish there was a way of seeing what percentage of applications succeed whether applying themselves or through an agent. As with any reviews on line people only right about the really good or the really bad. I think am going to give it a go myself and see what happens. I feel like it should be pretty simple but don't want to get cocky about it all!

Well that is good news Thanks JockinTas!

I managed to do my Citizenship by desent online last year so i have a little experience, but there wasnt so much pressues on the outcome or money for that matter. Thanks for your help so far! x

Ok I've just logged in and it asking for Immediate Family (DOB, Marital status, and their Australian Visa status) They all live in the UK so do i need to put them down? [h=2]Applicant’s Immediate Family Members[/h] Does the applicant have any parents, siblings or children including those that are deceased? x

Yeah I agree it seems a lot of money I just worry it will be refused and the repercussions from that. Off the top of my head I think it was pages 7 that was asking about his family, I think it wanted all his immediate relatives (Parents and Siblings details) including married dates. It was enough to scare me off on attempt number 1. The MA also said that the relationship statement was one of the most important things and he would be able to coach us on it etc. I thought that would be one of the easy bits!

Hi Everyone, I spoke to a MA agent today regarding using them for my Husbands onshore spouse Visa. I wouldn't say I have an overly complex case however I have limited proof of us having joint assets in Australia as we have lived with Family and have no really possessions currently and don't know that many people. Been together 5 years, married for 2, no children etc. I started looking at the form online today and the first few pages were alright but then the questions got a little more confusing. The MA was really good on the phone and we were talking about things for nearly half an hour. He was very good at reassuring me it would be good to go with him etc, whilst not giving me any advice for doing the Visa. Which makes sense they don't want to give away there time for free! But then it came to the price, and it was more then I was expecting i think at $4000. With the spouse visa costing $7000 it seems like a lot to pay but i do feel like the stress would dramatically reduced! Anyone who has been through the process I would appricate your advice with it!

Thanks Bungo and PommyPaul, Am currently on all the websites looking. I think we can afford the rent its self fine just want to make sure we can afford all the bills before we actually do the jump. Do you not pay Council Rates if you rent? It all seems so daunting compared to renting in the UK! x

Hey Everyone, Just wondering if anyone had any advice for renting our own apartment. We are looking at 1/2 bedroom apartments in Cairns currently. I understand when moving in we will need to pay a Deposit/ Bond and a few weeks upfront. Can anyone give me any information about what sort of Bills we should be expecting to pay. Looking at a month to month contract for internet with Telstra/Optus Any Help with be appreciated! X

For me the differences are : The Indicators and Window Screen Wipers Getting randomly pulled over for a license check and breathalysed (They pull everyone over not just me atleast !) The police doing a lot more speed checks (In a variety of cars and locations etc) Roads being in much better conditions then the UK Not having your MOT is a bit weird A fair bit of tailgating (But between South Cairns and Townsville there are a lot of overtaking lanes) Some people (Not all) driving what i would say is a little fast in heavy rain As well as you can turn right on a green light but also the pedestrians have a green man, so at first that was a little werid! But the main thing in the speeding i would say

Thank you Bungo! Getting our own place is definitely our goal. But with only one of us working we are trying to save up some money and then commit to our own place. I agree I think i am putting too much pressure on ourselves. I think i was a little naive that it would all be magical and everything would just fall in to place when we came. We both had a large social group at home (mainly from working in a large shop for my husband and I worked in a large fast food restaurant) So we are used to being surrounded by people we know. I think staying positive will help as well! Thanks again x