Toots

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.

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.

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.

As long as things don't end up in WA as they have in Portland, Oregon. Big problem with addicts. Not so much with marijuana but then one thing can lead to another. https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/science-space/2021-03-07/oregon-just-decriminalized-small-amounts-of-all-drugs-now-what "The marijuana products of today are high in potency and can reach 99% pure delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). 1 The THC in marijuana causes the “high” and leads to addiction, mental illness, violence, crime, traffic deaths, and many health and social problems. Research linking marijuana use to psychosis and schizophrenia and acts of violence is uniformly ignored by the proponents of marijuana use. The American Psychiatric Association and other authorities, report that current evidence supports, at a minimum, a strong association of marijuana use with the onset of psychiatric disorders. A recent book by a former New York Times reporter details the research showing that the chronic use of marijuana leads to mental illness and violence. What has been the law enforcement experience in states that have legalized marijuana in some form? California just had to call out the national guard to deal with 22 years of growing marijuana “medicine.” In 1996 California passed a “medical” marijuana law. They recently legalized recreational marijuana thinking it would end black market sales. California had over 22 years to get this right. It is a disaster." What with that and your often stated use of 'ice' in WA, the place could end up in a right old mess.

I'm not surprised you're a bit confused about it all. For heavens sake I'm no spring chicken and I most certainly don't sit around waiting to die. What a load of nonsense. All the retirees I know are flat out busy with loads going on in their lives. Yes it is a difficult decision for you but you will make yourself ill thinking and worrying about it all. Agree with the above poster. Remain where you are. Your family in Australia can visit you and you can spend the UK winters in Australia.

I knew many backpackers on their WHV who shared houses usually in the Coogee/Bondi areas. I don't know how they got away with it really as there were a LOT of them sharing the houses. Mostly of the young male variety. I think the females were a bit more fussy. Quite a few of them worked as casuals in my workplace.

Look on the bright side and treat the WHV as a bit of an adventure with some work thrown in along the way to tide you over. I do know of a few backpackers who did manage to save quite a bit of cash and get out and enjoy themselves too as well as do a fair bit of travel. When you do return to the UK (if you don't get permanent residency) try house/flat sharing with people your own age. Probably quite affordable that way.

I think New Zealand and Canada have the same age cut off (30) for a working holiday visa but check to make sure.

You will probably have to pass the Habitual Residency Test. Read this carefully. Scroll down to "Showing you're habitually resident". https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/claiming-benefits-if-youre-from-the-EU/before-you-apply/check-if-you-can-pass-the-habitual-residence-test-for-benefits/ Somebody will correct me if I'm wrong but this will apply to anybody from Australia who is returning to the UK to live.

You must be in the UK when you apply for a NIN. You will also need an actual UK address where they can send your NIN to ........ also you would have to live in the UK for 3 months before you could claim benefits.

No there's nothing bad about the information but it does state that there can be a long waiting time for housing in some areas.

One month is really good. If you are moving back to the same area, fingers crossed you won't have to wait too long for a house either. Your friend will be able to let you know more about housing there. Some areas have HUGE waiting lists.

Here is some info from Citizens Advice re state/council housing and it doesn't look very promising. You may need to stay with relatives for a while. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/social-housing/applying-for-social-housing/getting-a-council-home/

Do you mean government housing (council house)? There can be fairly long waiting lists for council houses ................. same as in Australia.

There are a lot of "travellers" here in Tasmania. Lots of younger people in vans (not campervans or caravans). Their number plates are from all over the mainland. They often park up where a sign specifies NO OVERNIGHT STAYS and NO CAMPING but they don't leave a mess and are quiet so nobody seems to bother about them. During the summer the nearby trees and hedges are draped in their newly washed clothes. I've had lot of interesting conversations with some of them. Until Covid there were also a few from Europe and the USA/Canada. They pick up casual jobs on farms etc.

The average annual courier driver salary in Australia is $52,800 or $27.06 per hour. The average annual courier owner driver salary in Australia rangers from &60,000 to $70,000.

That was my thought too. Wasn't the travel facilitation letter for Covid reasons only? No excuse now. Could be lucky though I suppose.

I don't really understand what you are asking. Are you on a visitor visa or a student visa?? Reading your last sentence it seems you don't seem to know what your are doing. If you are on a visitor visa you are suppose to do just that then leave the country.

I bought my Corolla from a 'careful lady driver' nearly 16 years ago. Never had a thing go wrong with it. My husband gives it an occasional 'service'. Brings me in mind of a very good friend of Mums. Her sight was going and she was advised to stop driving her beloved old car. She invited Mum for afternoon tea and much to Mum's amusement they sat in the beloved old car to have their sandwiches and slices of Victoria sponge cake so it was still in use. Mum's friend was always a wee bit eccentric.

Your children want you to live in Australia but what do YOU really want to do? Feeling concerned and scared about the whole thing is not good for your health. It would be a lot cheaper as Quoll suggests, to come for a long holiday each year. My Mum did that every second year. She did love her long holidays here during the UK winter but she was also perfectly happy to return to her life in Scotland with her long time friends and she had a great social life there too. Of course if would have been lovely to have had her here all the time but realistically we both worked full time and the kids were at school so she would have been on her own a lot. It's not an easy decision for you to make as you seem to be perfectly happy with your current lifestyle which would be hard to give up to move to the other side of the world ...................... even if you would be closer to your children and grandchildren.

I'm the same. I leave the "can you do this for any less" to my husband. When we moved from Sydney to Tassie we bought quite a lot of stuff from Harvey Norman ............................ fridge freezer, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, other bits and bobs and they gave us a decent discount thanks to my husband who asked.

I like Hertford. The in-laws lived in a small, very old house on the river. Some lovely pubs and places to eat in the town. When my sister lived in London, I used to bounce between her place in Putney and the in-laws in Hertford. Next visit I can go to sister in Edinburgh and the in-laws in Cheshunt.

I don't know the wage but surely the overseas nurses would be paid the same as a UK registered nurse. Hope they won't be treated the same way as some of the overseas nurses in this article. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/27/overseas-nurses-in-the-uk-forced-to-pay-out-thousands-if-they-want-to-quit-jobs

My sister-in-law and husband have just moved from Hertford to Cheshunt. There are regular trains from there into London which takes about 40 mins. In 2019 Cheshunt was named the best place for London commuters to live. It has a lovely 1000 acre park and competitive property prices.