Englishwifeinoz

I’m in a situation where I’m struggling to ‘fit’ too. I’ve been here over six months and have made no friends, been sacked once after thirteen days because I didn’t ‘fit’, been bullied out of my most recent job and now im jobless and getting in to debt with no one to turn to and none of my own family - only my Australian husbands who we don’t see often. All I can think is that moving here has been the biggest mistake of my life and that I want to go back home to England - a decision my mum supports but my dad does not. Thing is I didn’t leave England to get away - I left for my husband who was depressed in England and never really settled there (or tried to) - I actually loved the life I had built there after returning and I loved my job and the area I lived in. My husband has said that if I return to the UK it will be alone and we will have to seperate as he refuses to move back there so now I feel blackmailed in to staying in Australia for the sake of my marriage and trapped in this awful bogan town full of bad experiences so far. I wish we could move to another area but we have no money and no one we can stay with elsewhere whilst we get on our feet. I just hate it here. It’s mad, I adored it last time I was here on a working holiday visa - I lived in a great house share and had a life and job I loved and spoke to my family back home all the time but this time I feel like I have failed and barely contact my family as I hate bringing them down with my depressing state of affairs.And I lost friends over moving here because they didn’t agree with me leaving etc. Its just so isolating and there doesn’t really seem to be a viable solution and I find fitting in so hard here - there’s such a small town cliquey vibe here and a real dislike for immigrants. I have told myself and my lovely mum that I’m going to try to give it another six months and then seriously consider returning home to England. I’m going to really try and see if there is a life to enjoy here. Sorry if this has come across as attention seeky - I just needed to get it off my chest to people that have been in a similar situation and to get advice for settling in here and ‘fitting in’. Lucy xxx

Hi! sorry for the late reply I don’t come on here very much... 1. Transport is included in the whole quarantine cost - Quarantine liaise with Melbourne airport on a time to pick up your pet the morning he/she arrives and will provide updates to let you know this has happened - once all the paperwork is filed with Quarantine (that you do online) and the fee is paid - then the airline will discuss the time and date with quarantine for pick up behind the scenes and will just let you know the flight times and so on. 2. Nope this is a UK government approved vet. Just ring a vets and ask if you have a govt approved vet available - if not try a different vets - we genuinely struck lucky that we had two such vets at our branch of vets for pets whom of which knew more about exporting pets than you could shake a stick at. But not all vets will be like that so ring around and find one that works for you :) I tried to find a register like that online but it didn’t prob very fruitful so I think the old fashioned way of asking the question personally will be best. Oh and to Rachel above - she settled in just fine - she was bit feral when I picked her up from the airport from missing us so much (to be expected really) but she was fatter than when we sent her and seemed clean and cared for. She adapted well to Aussie weather - we just found in summer that we needed to feed her ice cubes to keep her hydrated and cooled down and keep her in the shade a lot. Hope this helps! Lucy xxx

Hi Angelpie (cute name btw!) I used Vets for Pets for all veterinary aspects as my Vet was a government appointed vet which saved a lot of agro - he was also wonderfully helpful and went over and above because he adored our dog (even giving us his personal mobile number to call him on a Sunday morning in case there were issues with the paperwork). I can’t promise all vets will be as helpful and knowledgeable but they are out there. I flew her with Emirates Sky Cargo who were also fantastic but just make sure they quote you for the full journey and not just the first part of the journey to Dubai where your dog will have to have a roughly 15-16 hour layover to run around and eat and rest. We got stung with a much larger flight cost at the last minute but it was still massively cheaper than using a shipping company. You pay for the flight the day you send your dog as they base it on total weight. Most pet transport companies use Emirates Sky Cargo as far as I know. I filled all of the documents out myself but I did ask my vet to check over some of it for me and explain some of the terminology which wasn’t too much of a hassle seeing as we were there every other week for about seven months. You will become very familiar with your vet. Make sure you have already started the rabies vaccine process because that’s incredibly important to get the timing right. Theres a few resources online to help with that. Also bear in mind that the vet will need to adhere to English export requirements as well as Australian import requirements. But it’s their job to make that tick along nicely not yours so let them do what you’re paying them to do - if you find a vet that’s well practiced in exports you will have nothing to worry about. You will always receive confirmation - like for instance when we submitted the form for Pumpkins export we received confirmation of the receipt of the paperwork and then they emailed me again to tell me when they had sent the forms directly to the vet. You will need to apply for, be approved and arrange and pay for quarantine before the flight arrangements can be fully made - you can book the trip and get the flight details but they will work behind the scenes to arrange pick up of your pet from Melbourne airport and quarantine won’t agree to this unless you have paid for the quarantine visit in full and the airline won’t fully book the flight until they know your dog is safe on the other side etc. That part can be frustrating but you won’t be sorting all that out yourself trust me. This is all listed out online though - I literally lived by the online timeframes and wrote them out and had notes added to them. Also but a good quality crate with a draining board and send your dog off with towels that smell of you that they can snuggle up in for some of the journey until they’re confiscated. I also hid a toy in the towels that wasn’t found when they checked the crate before sending her off although they are forbidden. Dont worry about the water bowl being too shallow the airline will attach a big deep one and will make sure your pet is looked after - they also attach all stickers and paperwork for you - the guy who took pumpkin from us at Manchester airport was a complete dog lover and cuddled her for a good five minutes before we said our final goodbyes to her holding in our tears so she didn’t think something was wrong. It was so heartbreaking saying goodbye to her for two weeks and worrying the whole way but you get updates as to where your fur baby is and whether they arrived safely etc. We did use Jetpets to transport pumpkin from Mickleham to Newcastle as it seemed like the least stressful journey for her rather than a very very long drive we would have had to subject her to. They were fantastic and very easy to use. And very reasonably priced too and made sure all of pumpkins travel happened without exposing her to extreme heat in the height of summer. I contacted them myself and arranged it and was happy with the quote and the lines of communication were brilliant. I personally would give Emirates skycargo a call and ask them for some info - they will tell you where to start - which will be the rabies vaccines and export cert and import cert. And will also give you a quote based on the size and weight of your dog as a starting point and you can price up quarantine and contact jetpets if you need interstate travel too in Australia. Hope this helps but ask me if you need any more info - it’s by no means easier than using a pet transport company but if you’re on a smaller budget like I was then it’s the only way and isn’t impossible or even that difficult it’s just all about timing and being on top of your organisation game lol Lucy

Mine was 26 days start to finish - we had a lady called Rosemary who I think was unbelievably on the ball!

Hi, I did quite a bit of research in to this and ended up choosing the best performing super which is Hostplus - but it depends whether you want a super with benefits added on that you will use or if your want a super that may provide more growth.

Hi, I was meant to quote Imapla but obviously chose the wrong quote Sorry, I haven’t posted on here for forever due to moving to Australia and settling in over the last three months etc. So I thought I would give an update. Despite apparent trepidation from most people on this thread over arranging shipping for a dog yourself, I can confirm that my little dog made it to Australia without a single issue. Everything worked out beautifully and there were absolutely no issues with the paperwork. I understand that most people would want to use a pet transport company for peace of mind and expertise but everything and I do mean absolutely everything you need to know is available online and also via your vet. These are exactly the same resources the shipping company use for information. Also, quarantine provide updates too so you know that your dog has been collected and assessed and further funds are requested for any further vets fees (which we didn’t have to do) and for the release and so on so you are kept in the loop. If you have a good vet like we did then you’re golden and they will keep everything ticking along as it should and fill the paperwork out perfectly. And ensure you have followed all steps. I know some people are probably scared they would miss a step or something will go wrong so I get it but I didnt trust anyone other than myself to arrange Pumpkins transport so I have no regrets over the extra few hours I spent arranging it and saving a couple of thousand pounds that I didn’t have to spend after all other costs. Everyone’s circumstances for moving to Australia are different so I do not want any judgement over having a tight reign on my budget just in case I get sanctimonious comments about owning a dog and taking it to another country.

I know, I'm aghast as to who would even think of commissioning wooden crates to be built too! They cut them down to be minutely within the guidelines so your animal only just has room to move and they up their margin as the crate weighs less and takes up less space. I am using Jetpets in Australia because they actually quoted a decent price and it worked out cheaper than us driving down to Melbourne from Newcastle and back! Also they had been so recommended and I had seen them on a show about A380 Airbus in the UK and they seemed good with the updates they provided the owners when picking the animal up from quarantine. I just feel the English pet carriers have put their margins so high that I wouldn't trust them to provide a premium service in return.

Is this the export certification for the pet leaving the airport that you are referencing? Because with the quarantine everything is done online and then the airline liaises on your behalf with Melbourne airport and Mickleham to arrange for your pet to be picked up according to the scheduled flight and the same with the handling at Dubai Airport. My experience is current as I have only just booked all of this myself without any issues and no 23 page documents - although the Export docs are roughly 5 pages long and not particularly arduous looking. Also, my vet is a government appointed vet luckily so that saved a lot of hassle too. I genuinely did not find that the Pet Transport companies did anything that I couldn't do myself. I suppose not everyone can be as officious with paperwork as I may be or in the position to sort everything out at the airport themselves.

Hi, I got numerous quotes from Pet Removal companies and found their quotes to be nothing short of exploitation. I understand that you would want your precious fur babies to be in the best hands possible but the mark up from the pet removal companies averages around £1,200. I spoke with one removal company and asked them about what their actual process is and what they do and they mentioned that they use Emirates Skycargo. So I contacted Emirates Skycargo directly (who are great btw) and they quoted me roughly £500 for the flight based on weight (from Manchester to Melbourne) and this will be no different to the flight your pet would be on if using a pet transport company and a further £100 for export fees at the airport and another £100 roughly for handling fees at Dubai airport. I asked Emirates Skycargo why people use pet transport companies instead of doing it themselves and it comes down to the fact that you would have to take your pet to the airport 5 hours before take off to fill out the exportation docs and go through the necessary checks and apparently that is not convenient for people so they pay a £1.2k premium to not do that. He also mentioned that sometimes the crate needs to be sealed by a vet when going to certain countries so that is where the pet transport companies can be handy. Breakdown of fees for my 1 year old Cockerpoo So her flight, export fee, handling fee at Dubai Airport and crate together will be roughly £800 Her Pet Passport and Rabies Blood Tests - £215 so far £1000 for the quarantine fees £280 for the import fee $424 to transport her from Mickleham to Newcastle Airport I estimate further vets fees to be roughly £200 for the next round of blood tests and final tick and flea treatments that need to be signed off by a vet. TBH if you cant be arsed sorting everything out yourself use a pet transport company but check what they actually charge for because you may have a shock when you realise that they usually only cover the flight, crate and travel to and from the airports and a bit of hand holding. I would do a lot of research before committing to a Pet Transport company and try to get the Rabies tests and Import cert sorted before anything else as it will help massively when it comes to booking the quarantine and subsequently the flights as Melbourne Airport wont confirm acceptance of your pet on the incoming flight unless they have confirmation that it is booked in at Mickleham in a confirmed and paid for booking. Also, don't be pressured to get a wooden crate made. There are a lot of IATA approved crates out there and the only reason the pet transport companies make you use the ones they make is to increase their margin. Hope this helps. There are a lot of companies that are making a huge profit from people in our situation who are emigrating and I think its always best to try to cut out the middle man if possible. Lucy