Toots

Crazy weather here today. It was lovely and sunny but cold this morning then by noon the sky turned very dark. A gale force wind started, the temperature dropped further and then heavy rain which swirled in all directions lasted for hours. It was horrible. This evening there is no wind at all and it's a lovely calm, clear moonlit night. Who knows what tomorrow will be like. The weather here is never boring.

My brother was one of the engineers when Skytrain was built. Skytrain andn MRT map. https://travelhappy.info/bangkok-bts-and-mrt-map/ Skytrain

Yes, the traffic is horrendous in Bangkok but the Skytrain and MRT are a great way to travel around the city. Easy to negotiate and cheap. We used to stay in the Sukhumvit area and the Skytrain stations there are numerous.

I'm a foot shorter than you and I would love to have extra legroom. Did manage to a couple of times ................ one of those seats near the exit door. Made such a difference on a 24 hour flight.

I suppose it depends who you fly with. A lot of people have a stopover in Dubai. Personally, I don't like the place but Kuala Lumpur, Singapore (my favourite) and Bangkok are interesting.

Mr anti Australia strikes again. Always here with your negativity. Dunedin is not like Hobart. In fact I didn't like Dunedin. Maybe it was the time of year we were there but it just seemed very damp and had no atmosphere about it. Queenstown is more my kind of place but VERY expensive. I have a nephew who lives there and he loves it. Sure there are a lot of drawbacks with any place. I'm waiting for you to find your Utopia.

We had lunch in the Shipwrights Arms in Battery Point. I could live in that area very easily ............. when I win the lottery. One of those little houses in Arthur Circus, Battery Point would do me very nicely.

I like it because of its small size. I really don't like cities at all. I like the old sandstone buildings in the older parts - a lot character. I also like the real pubs with a bit of atmosphere. We were there a couple of weeks ago (3 hour drive from Devonport) and met friends for a pub lunch and stayed overnight in Hadley's Hotel in the town centre. Had a lovely time.

Here is a bit of info on bridging visas. Go to the one titled bridging visas.

I forgot all about workers comp. One of my co-workers had a carpal tunnel op and workers comp looked after her treatment and time off work.

6 months seems a bit over the top. Does that encourage bludging? Maybe working for the health service here is more generous than for the rest of us though.

I also rarely needed to use a sick day. Never seemed to get sick BUT like you I had plenty of sick days banked which I used when I also needed an operation and had time off to recover and I even had some left over after that.

............ or selling indigenous paintings door to door? Plenty of backpackers were doing that in Sydney.

As long as those people planning to come here realise Australia isn't the land of milk and honey. The cost of living here is just as bad and maybe even higher for some things than the UK.

A couple who live nearby are from Norway. They say that every man and his dog has a wood heater there. Norway doesn't strike me as being polluted by all the smoke.

We get all of our wood from dead trees. The farmers spend a bit of time chopping them up and selling them. They also replant new trees. I had never seen standing dead trees before. They burn well. We don't notice smoke here as the wind takes it away but I know what you mean about Launceston. We drove there yesterday and the fog in all the low lying areas was really thick. No wind there either so you could smell the smoke from wood heaters. Not too bad though. You couldn't really call it pollution.

Tasmania's electricity is produced by hydro power and wind farms and solar on houses is becoming more popular BUT many of us heat our homes with log burners which isn't exactly environmentally friendly.

That's right. Does the couple want to move to Australia? They may have other children still in the UK. My Mum came to stay every 2nd year for 4 or5 months of the summer. She did not want to move permanently to Australia. She had a happy life in Scotland with all her friends and her sister nearby. At the time my brother and sister were both working overseas for a number of years so she spent many a lovely time also visiting them. It's a big decision and I wish the OP all the best.

I think your best bet would be the parents visa. There are members on this forum who have a fair bit of knowledge about this visa including migration agents who will offer advice. I'm sure somebody will be along soon to help you with your query.

We have solar and it's worth it even here in Tassie. Not a big set-up but it certainly keeps the leccy bill down. We had one day last summer when it reached 28C and the rest of the summer hovered around 23C most days so no air-con necessary. We have a log burner for the colder months.

The NDIS is in a bit of a mess just now. Can't understand why it has been allowed to get into this state of affairs. There's always somebody somewhere ripping it off. I feel sorry for the people who really need NDIS assitance. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-15/ndis-disability-taskforce-to-target-organised-crime-fraud/101332668

That's ridiculous. The people I know who have an ID card have no problem using it at banks and wherever they have to produce ID. They had to use all sorts of other ID e.g. passport, medicare card, copies of rates, bills etc at Service Australia when they asked for the ID card so it's as good as a driving licence. Lots of people don't have a driving licence so QT need to get a grip.

I know a couple of people who have never had a driving licence - never driven a car but they have a photo ID card with dob and address on it. They have never had a problem using that as ID. They got the cards from Service Australia. Need to be renewed every 5 years. Just taken one of them up to get hers renewed. Of course that's not much use if you've just arrived but it is very handy to have once settled if you don't have a driving licence.

I've made an appointment to see the dentist next week. I go every year and usually just need a check up, scale and clean but this time I know I need a filling. Haven't needed a filling for years. A while ago I had a cracked back tooth caused by crunching on an ice cube about 20 years ago. It didn't bother me at all for a long time then it started to ache. The dentist recommended root canal at a hefty cost and as it was right at the very back I told him to pull it out. He wasn't keen on doing that at all and muttered and mumbled about not wanting to extract the tooth. I said "it's my tooth, just pull the ruddy thing out". So he did. Saved about $500 and I didn't miss the troublesome tooth at all.

I'm inclined to agree with Parley. Too many stories on this site about the other half not keen on making the move and ending up being miserable and very unhappy here. You have a house a decent job and friends where you are so you do sound like you have put roots down. Who knows though ................... maybe your wife will be happier to move in a 3-4 years. Good luck