supercow

Smaller communities are the best. My Aussie living experience is limited to the Sunshine coast only, but my life is better than I could ever have hoped / imagined it to be. Theres a massive new private hospital being built too We basically ignored all the statistics, ignored the advice given by numerous parties on where I'd find work, where I'd not find work, came over with little to no solid plans, ignored the advice not to buy a house within the first year. After 6 months, I'm : * On a good salary * Work 10 minutes from home * Work is right next to the beach * Own my dream house (within the limits of my socio ecenomic profile I guess ) * Made a handful of good friends * Ocean allowing, I surf before work, during lunch and during the summer, after (or alternatively go to the gym when it does not allow) * Spend multiple times better quality time with my kids With this, I'm not bragging (well, maybe a little) ... but what I'm trying to say, is follow your gut feel, it will trump all other advice, because with a positive outlook, things tend to fall into place.

I realise this is an old thread... but FWIW: Best decision of my life coming to Aus, just wish I could have done it many many years ago Maybe my timing now is actually better and it worked out best for me, as I have a stunning home (I mean: Stunning!) my kids and I spend an awful lot more time together doing a lot more fun things, I have a great job and my Work:Life balance is stellar. The point I'd like to make sure to drive home to anyone who cares to listen, is that advice on the internet is a very dangerous thing, as it doesn't come with context a lot of the time. By that I mean that there are a lot of positive and a lot of negative posts on this forum about Aus - but you (any poster) don't know the person who is making the statements / claims. It's therefore up to you, to try and figure from those posts, if you fall within the same demographic / similar circumstances as the person providing the feedback. Personally, I realised that I actually have very little in common with a lot of people who post regularly on this forum, particularly the "bad feedback" crowd ... which in turn really only fueled my fire to get over here. (I hope the above ramble makes sense )

I don't believe in genetic memory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_memory_(psychology)) , at least, not to the level where you'd yearn for something you don't know. It's in your head, but that's just as valid. How old are you, why not go for a few years on a working holiday?

Yes Yes - see the first post. That's impossible to answer with any degree of accuracy ... so the answer to that is "possibly"

It seems my employment opportunities will be vastly improved by going contracting. I've been contracting in the UK for longer than 5 years + , but have no notion how the Aussie contracting process is like. Have any UK contractors, started contracting in Aus and have any info / link you can share with me? In particular, I'd like to understand whether it's much the same there, in that you pay yourself a base salary + dividends + expenses, using a limited company as a vessel for business? Does it also give you the tax benefits in the same way as the UK?

Plenty of native speakers' English is pretty horrendous - so how long's that piece of string? Hi Gwen I'm not an English tutor, and given my record with IELTS, one can argue I'm pretty rubbish anyway Seeking professional tutelage would certainly be more beneficial. If you have any PTE related questions, then I'd be happy to share my experiences with you.

We're activating / p!ssing off all at the same time in Feb (possibly January if my contract at work doesn;t get extended ) Sending the wife and monrels for a 3 month holiday to South Africa visiting my folks, while I set us up over there... so I don't have the pressure of them all while I'm looking for a place and a job.

Out of interest, why don't you do the same things there? Reason I ask, is because mountain biking saved my sanity in the UK. I met new people and have made the best of friends, through mutual interests. (in fact, it's the only thing I'm going to miss about the place) While you may not know people straight off the bat, you'd surely get to meet people that way? Cycling in particular I feel is a very socialble activity, with a lot of online communities to join / expand on your exposure to other people.

Yeeewwww, what a way to start a weekend!

Sweet as @Orlando !

edit: double posted

Sure do!

Congratulations, you nailed it ! Don't worry about those other scores, you got what you wanted.

No and no. You can submit any full test result of your choosing, as long as it will still be valid at the time you're doing your application (no longer than a year old IIRC)

Fark cengland, this is the exact same mistake I would have made if I had done my own application. Sorry to hear that mate, get those 20 point in English and get submitting again!

No probs - perhaps we should exchange email or facebook details, as we do indeed have very similar situations. I'll get the details of the school we'll be enrolling the two kids in. It's my understanding that one is next to the other (pre-school feeding the primary school), and is supposedly (from what my in-laws say) a great school. My work situation might even be similar, as I'll be looking for BA roles in software development / multichannel systems. Most likely will mean travel into Brisbane unfortunately.

Good job mate, glad it worked out for you

You should seek professional help. We can help with general tips and guidance on the question content, but judging from your scores and brief post, you need more than that. See if you can find tutors locally that can help you.

@RMT1980 I have two little Mongrels (will then be aged 3 and 5), and we narrowed it down to Mooloolaba / Caloundra / Maroochydore / Wurtulla ... I'm moving to Wurtulla in Feb Will only make up our minds where to buy in another 6 months after that. Kids will be enrolled into their little cousins' schools.

High Risk country

South Africa, but have been living in the UK for more than 10 years, so not from a HR country from the perspective of the BIBP.

BAZINGA!!!!! So so so stoked right now, got my grant this morning!!!!

Not sure what I'm looking forward to most ... the relief, or an actual full nights' sleep

@ah keat , looks like it's you, me and @Umair Rafiq this week (hopefully!!) I supplied my additional docs on the 13th, you the 12th and I think he did all his on the 10th or 11th from memory.

Welcome to POI. Since when have you been waiting and waiting ?