Davo453

At those prices I wont be doing it. I think we can manage with the single 30kg bag each will just have to buy some stuff when we land. Far more sensible really.

I'd forgotten about the 3rd party insurance in with the rego thing, guess that's what the backpackers do, our car will have a bit of value though so will try to get full insurance. I wonder if i can get my mate to draft up a rental agreement...........

I am certain this must have been covered but for the life of me I can't find it in the archive. So please forgive me for asking. We land back in Australia (WA to start with) in maybe mid November. There are many first things on the list of stuff to do and very high on that is buying a car and caravan and insuring them. We won't actually have a permanent address to begin with but an old mate of mine will let us use his in Perth. We have opened a bank account that will need the 100 point id check before we can use it. As I understand it to register a car you need a mailing/permanent address, will the bank give me a statement immediately with the address on? We will also need to re register with Medicare and that needs a permanent address too. Buying a car and insurance can't be that hard after all backpackers do it, don't they? Any advice?

We are going back to Australia from the UK so there will be quarantine kennels at the Australia end no way to avoid that that I am aware of. It really was not an easy and was an emotional decision, we actually started the process to begin with. We just can't go back and change our minds now. A few years ago he spent 2 days in a kennel due to wedding commitments, we hoped he would be ok but he wouldn't go to the toilet or eat or drink for the whole time. He came out a quite unwell dog. He was in that condition when we adopted him from the Blue cross. The people he is going to are an active retired couple that have another dog that he is friendly with. It would be hard to find a better situation for him really.

do landmark global service private customers? I can't find anything on their website

He really does panic in kennels it's not a nice thing to see at all, he was a rescue and never has recovered from the kennel experience 11 years ago. He is going to a very good friend that has known and admired him for most of his life, to be honest I think it will be me that is far more distressed than the dog. Although they don't know it yet we will be presenting the cost of the transport to them for his future expenses so it is not financial at all.

And the £120 is door to door! ?

I've found it, if you do a dummy booking it is in there, for a 25kg bag its £825 which is more than the cost of the flight! Can send via an unaccompanied bag company for £120 and i though that was a lot.... LOL You live and learn...

Has anyone booked an extra bag Qantas London to Perth 0 stops. I am trying and failing to work out how much an extra bag would cost of around 20kg, they mention it on the website but never actually give a cost. If you have a booking number i think you can find out but i'm not booking the flight until I know. I can phone them but they tent to be cagey about these things. Dave

Seems pretty good to me it's a lot more going the other way. We have reluctantly decided to rehome ours in the UK, he is 12 though and hates flies, heat and panics in kennels if only we had decided to go home 5 years ago....

Have to admit that maternity leave is so much better in the UK and basically no existent in Australia, given that the person making the original post is quite possibly of an age where they might be affected by that it is most certainly worth considering it is all about perspective. However penalty rates are still largely in place in Australia but pretty much none existent in the UK. My wife worked for an agency at the weekends when she asked for a little more for the unsociable hours she was told that "it would not be fair to those who worked in the week" but the workers in the week didn't want to work at the weekend, anyway because of that she left. Although penalty rates are now under threat particularly in the hospitality industry in Australia the unions will protect them in other industries such as nursing tooth and nail. We had anticipated moving to Spain and working there for a few years and we were well on the way to learning the language, I suppose we still could go but the doubt surrounding that move has removed all of our enthusiasm. Obviously life does go and the best will be made of a possibly bad situation but for us it will not go on in the UK, I am not of an age where I have time to wait any length of time for a recovery I have already closed my business and am preparing to move. The original poster's priorities are emotional and not financial so must they must do what makes them happy, a tricky maneuver for all of us at various times of our lives.

That's a tough one, speaking for I and my wife we had a good life in mostly rural WA but had and have family in the UK so after some marital problems, we decided to make a change and came to the UK some 10 years ago and were quite delighted by the opportunities presented here. However the decision made by this country 2 years ago ruined all of that for us and gave a jolt that made us realise that home really is in Australia and better now than later. However the point is the grass is not necessarily greener wherever you go if you have problems they will inevitably follow you, as a species we are always looking for a better horizon but often there just isn't one. I suspect that you will come here and after a settling in time when the novelty of having you around has worn off for family and friends you will realise that you were just possibly at least a bit better of in Australia. The UK really is more expensive to live in, the weather is lets face it often pretty horrible and in general as a worker your rights are better in Australia. The rich poor divide in the UK is now quite startling. Right now is the best time of year in the UK but as you would know really it's 7 months of winter 2.5 of summer and the rest is a basically a bit dodgy. Do come back and see for yourself though that is quite possibly the only way but maybe don't burn your bridges in Australia get your citizenship at least and for heavens sake don't become a ping ponger.... All the very best Dave

I have sent you a PM

It breaks my heart but I think we will now leave him in the UK the home on offer is with a very good friend and his wife (a couple of very active retirees) meaning they can give him the love and attention he needs in the last few years of his life. He also knows them very well so thinking of the dog rather than us it just makes sense really. That and the seeming issues renting with a dog in QLD...... Actually doing it is going to be very hard, we did leave 2 dogs in Australia when we left 10+ years ago but they were farm dogs more than anything and were too active (and occasionally antisocial) for the UK burbs. That was hard enough but this will very probably devastate this hardened old farmer...

We owned a farm in the South of WA and our dogs always slept outside, they preferred it especially on a warm night but they always spent the evenings in with us. We were unusual though most farm dogs never go indoors.

Golden arrow have quoted and it's competative, we will/would most likely go with them. The reassuring advice they offer is the best so far and has cleared up a lot of questions. However a good friend has offered to adopt the dog, a very generous offer but emotionally it's not going to be easy to do. Love this dog but he is 11 now and i fear he will not cope well with the hot weather....

We lived in WA for many years and always had cats and basically never really saw a cockroach in or around the house. I do however remember lifting a soakwell lid and discovering literary hundreds in there feeding on the leaf litter, they are everywhere the chemicals used to kill them worry me more than the problem. Now ants there's a different story....

Thanks Lara I'll check that one out as well, there are far more companies doing it than you might imagine.

We are in the south midlands, Golden arrow are doing a quote for us now but they are i believe slowing things down after many years in the business.

I've no idea if it is a new service or not and this is not as part of a larger shipping package....... I'll keep looking. As much as we love the dog I have to find a cost effective method. £6500 all in seems an awful lot to me.

I I understand what you are saying re Vets running the business but our experience of vets in the UK in general has not been a particularly happy one. Integrity has been rather lacking but that's just our experience.

We are getting quotes for pet transport; a dog final destination Brisbane. We have just had a quote from Pickfords and it seems pretty competitive compared to the favourite on this forum, wondering if anyone has tried them ? Pickfords are generally not cheap though so I'm a bit suspicious that there maybe hidden costs. Dave

PM sent ?

Thanks for that i had read that page but it doesn't cover my exact situation ie Australian Citizen with an overseas licence but i guess the 3 months will apply anyway.

Thanks for that, when I moved from QLD to WA about 30 years ago I had to do a multiple guess test to get a WA licence. questions about the speed limit in Kings Park etc... They love to keep the whole thing mysterious don't they ?