Toots

Yes I did read the thread. It's always handy to have something to fall back on though if you decide to go travelling.

If mrcactus is interested the average wage for bar staff and baristas is $28 per hour. Depends on experience.

We had a lovely drive around the Meander Valley today and had bruncb at Calstock House near Deloraine. The first owner of Calstock was Lieutenant Pearson Foote. He received the land grant in about 1830 after starting out as a settler in Western Australia but finding the going too tough. Foote was forced to sell Calstock in the depression of the 1840s and it subsequently became a property of the Field family. The family patriarch, William Field, had been transported to Australia from London for receiving nine stolen sheep as a butcher and made a fortune out of cattle farming in Tasmania after he was freed. When he died in 1837, Field's wealth was estimated at 1.238 per cent of the country's GDP—billions of dollars, in today's terms—and he owned one-third of all the land and buildings in Launceston. The Field family sold Calstock in 1972.

We lived in Sydney for nearly 30 years and I have to say we had a good social life so it's a shame you haven't found the same. Do you work? I made most of my good friends through work and the same with my husband. We were lucky that a neighbour's teenage daughter was a willing baby sitter if we wanted a night out - not that we were out gallivanting all the time but we did manage to do a fair bit of socialising. We are now a couple of old retirees and live in Tasmania where life is a lot slower paced but our elder son in his 30s has just returned to Sydney with his partner after working overseas for 6 years and they are enjoying a great social life. Just dropped back into the same crowd of friends they had before they left. No children though so that makes a difference.

This portrait of the Cambridges has been criticised by a well known art critic. What do you think of it? It was painted by British artist Jamie Coreth. I honestly thought it was a photograph as it so very like them .................. but what do I know. A few of the remarks ....... "she looks frumpy, inanimate and sulky" and "looks like a wax figure from Madame Tussauds".

He would need a tax file number for work. https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/tax-file-number/apply-for-a-tfn/

If he's a citizen he can come with no problem at all as far as I know.

Is it possible (if you do get the RRVs) for your son to stay with relatives/friends until he completes Year 12?

Right, I'll try again. I did post a reply but it appeared 3 times then disappeared. I think you need to start a conversation with your partner about a return to your home country. It seems you are both miserable here. Even though you say your standard of living is better here it's not the be all and end all if both of you are so unhappy, lonely and missing your family, friends and culture so badly. Like Quoll, I've been here over 40 years but unlike Quoll I'm settled and happy with good long time friends nearby but I really do sympathize with people who are unhappy and unsettled in Australia.

Don't know why this same post appeared 3 times!!

Don't know why this was posted twice.

Yes, the Punnilepanner people (north west coast) were here for thousands of years. Up near the lighthouse there are a few rock carvings. Devonport triathlon is held annually and attracts people from all over Australia. https://www.devonporttriathlon.com.au/

Devonport, Tasmania doesn't have the great history that any UK place has. It wasn't settled until 1850 by an Englishman, Charles Oldaker. There were two villages on either side of the River Mersey named Formby and Torquay. In 1890 a public vote united the two settlements and became the town of Devonport. The 10th Prime Minister of Australia Sir Joseph Lyons was born in Tasmania. He was Prime Minister from 1932 until he died in office in 1939. He built the family home in Devonport in 1916 and his wife Dame Edith lived there until her death in 1981. A photo of the Lyons family ....................... 12 children!! The rambling weatherboard house which was the Lyons' family home.

I'd say most of us on this forum have the choice about where we choose to live. For thousands of other people there is no choice. A very emotive sculpture.

Lawyers for the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins have applied for his trial to be halted after Lisa Wilkinson’s speech at the Logies. The Project host Lisa Wilkinson’s husband Peter FitzSimons’ role in securing a lucrative book deal for former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins could be explored at her sexual assault trial. Wilkinson and her bandana wearing OH just couldn't resist interfering in the whole murky affair.