Tootsie

Hello Personally I would not choose the CC, if I was working in Alexandria. I would choose to live in the South. Somewhere like Helensburgh or even Woolangong. But if you have your heart set on the CC, then Avoca is really nice place to live. Terrigal is a nightmare in summer for driving or parking, due to holiday makers or day trippers.

.... BUT Do NOT be put off by that assessment.... Think long term........Geelong arse end of the universe........... Soon equals the whole of Australia in a positive light ?

? Well you lost me at "Geelong"..............aka, "the arsehole of the universe" ......

? Have you ever joined one of the "Meet Ups" Groups? A lot easier to make friends (or at least connections) in these groups

? It tends to be extremely friggin hard..........but thankfully not impossible You just need to establish a good argument to any rejections. Or offer to pay more for a "pet bond" But logical arguments (discussions) normally work best to sway landlords best I have found Then again, bare faced lying works well too.........I rented for off and on for ten years with pets (in a none pet residence) and got away with it ?

? Lucky you. A lovely place. I also really like the area of Macmasters Beach....and if I ever win lotto I will move there

Sounds great. Hornsby has a very good shopping centre, excellent medical facilities, a newish public swimming pool, several good gyms, fantastic schools in the area, bush bike tracks, and bush walks in the surrounding attractive area, plus $650 a week for a nice house is really cheap. The 45 minute trip into the CBD passes in a flash once you are asleep, or engrossed in a book or video on your phone.

.......Well Kmart or Target to start off and establish yourselves cheaply, but then upgrade to David Jones or Myer as you settle and become richer ?

Lucky you ? In the snow in NSW and freezing my balls off. Certainly feels like Crimbo to me....

I am sure employers are strict. But backpackers are not in general.

Hello I personally have never regretted the move. I visited Australia twice for holidays before making the permanent move..... and I was always depressed to return to the UK in between too. I love it here. And the happiest day of my life, was the day I got my permanent resident visa (and then citizenship a few years later) I made sure I embraced everything Australian upon my arrival. I didn't seek out English friends. I didn't have packets of Oxo gravy sent out from the UK. I didn't read the International Express newspaper. I didn't constantly compare prices between the two countries. I just totally embraced my new way of life, and happily settled in very quickly as a result. Good luck to you. Hope everything works out well for you too.

Wow. That is a nice wage If I have worked it out correctly, then £200,000 is about $352,000 That is a pretty good income for many people, especially in Queensland A friend lives in Kangaroo Point in Brisbane (although won't suit you, as you said not centre) but I can only tell you about it, from first hand experience She rents a fantastic really modern unit with views for $500.00 per week. Single parent with one child. She does not need to keep a car, as she walks to her job in the CBD. There is another suburb on the outer fringes that many people rave about. Cannot remember the name presently. It is ruralish. But people commute into Brisbane CBD daily.

Wow. What is with the negatively on this forum. Everyone always looking for the worst case scenario! Sorry. I didn't realise I had to give a blow-by-blow account of high and low prices in each suburb. I am sure the OP can research these things herself. I am just putting ideas out there, speaking from my own experiences, from me and close friends renting in these areas. I have moved out of the area now, but most of my social network is still there. Obviously, the closer you are to the city CBD, the more expensive the rental (and more likely to be a unit rather than a house). Last month a good friend moved into a gorgeous brick detached house with a large garden in Turramurra, and it is $650.00 per week. She is a 10 minute walk to the train station. It is 37 minutes on the train to Town Hall station in the CBD where she works. And her kids (aged 5, 10 and 16) attend local top-notch schools. Another friend (the South African) rents in Asquith and works in the CBD, which is a 50 minute trip in by train. She lives within spitting distance of the train station. She too rents a lovely 4 bedroomed house with a garden, for $570.00 per week. Her daughters attend one of the best schools in NSW, being Hornsby Girls High School Another friend lives in Crows Nest, in a townhouse with her husband, three children and two dogs. No garden. But big park nearby. Being closer to the city, she pays $800 a week. But she walks to her job in the CBD, as so saves money on petrol or train fares that way. I cannot sit here all day suggesting suburbs to look at. Up to the OP to get a map, looks at the suburbs along the train line, and start researching rental prices. If you are prepared to research these things properly, then you can easily find some gems. We all did..........By the same token, you can easily find : "a few houses that are to the south of Hornsby don't look very nice and are obviously cheaper for a reason". As a side note, I pay $400 rent a week (all bills included) for a lovely little place, whilst living in a very expensive suburb. .

From living in these areas, I would have to disagree somewhat. Many new arrivals want to move to Melbourne or the Gold Coast - that really puts pressure on competition for jobs in those areas. Given the shortages in outback communities, most won't be too fussed if you are not a jack-of-all-trades. Honestly, they cannot afford to be so picky. They are desperate. I recently read of outback women being bullied into unwanted caesareans by doctors, as no midwives available to offer a natural birth opinion. I love outback towns, as they are the essence of real Australia.........Being in Melbourne, you could be anywhere on the planet as same-same. Anyway it was just an idea to the OP, as many people don't consider it and stick to the coast fringes

And I say that, because I have lived in a number of outback towns. And all the local newspapers and media do, is complain about the lack of qualified midwives, nurses and doctors. One place I lived and the nearest midwife was a 850km round trip.

I have yet to have met a backpacker that sticks to that silly rule.

? Yes fruit picking is a hard job for low pay. My Australian husband did it a few times in his uni holiday breaks. Said it was the hardest he had ever worked - for the least amount of money In scorching sun, in snake infested fields, for 12 hours shifts. He was picking grapes and oranges. But it can be fun if you choose the right fruit...........a good rite of passage for many backpackers (and Australian uni students) A friend of mine was backpacking in New Zealand and got a job on a Kiwi farm. Sounded great. She didn't do any picking. Worked in an air-conditioned shed, packing and sticking those little labels on fruit. Good breaks, all meals supplied, fair good pay and excellent group of local New Zealanders and backpackers working together. Bosses were great by all accounts.. Then again, I have also heard some slave labour horrific rip-off type dangerous working conditions. Just like anything in life - you get the good and the bad

Hello I am not a midwife. But some of the outback towns are literally screaming out for midwives. It would certainly be an experience (and look good on the resume), to spend 6 - 12 months in an outback town, aboriginal community or working for the Flying Doctors P.S. The book "Outback Midwife" by Beth McRea, is an interesting read

Old post I know but..... Loads of pesky carp in the Murray. As I read online recently...... "Fishermen reeled in a staggering 16,660 carp in only nine hours, at Lake Bonney in the Riverland, as pest numbers explode throughout the River Murray".

Sorry just read the other comment above where it says don't use a complex, only B1 - so must be B1 I used.

Hi how often did u take the tablets Hello You need to take them daily. Consistency is the key. I took two - once in morning and once in evening. They were high potency ones but I cannot remember the brand - it was whatever the naturopath recommended (The practitioner-only ranges are very potent usually. But loads of good brands on the market) Supplements usually take three months to build up in the body to good levels to really start working But only took about a month for me to really start noticing a difference Best to go into a health vitamin shop and ask the naturopath on duty for a high-potency brand. I suspect you have this all sorted now, as an old post.

Agreed Yes I have read that too. Even my doctor said I was talking rubbish, when I mentioned it to him.! But it worked fantastically for me. I am very thankful to that naturopath. I went from bites all over and the itchiness driving me insane.................to not being bitten at all. And the entire time I took them (one year), I was never bothered or bitten again by mozzies. I don't take much notice of things being "scientifically unproven". They say Echinacea is unproven to prevent flu - but it works for me. If it works for me; that is the only proof I need. ?

I disagree. I have rented in the area myself, and viewed many properties there. You can get some great rentals for $650.00 or less. Yes there are some very expensive areas (Wahroonga). But it is a big area that covers many suburbs, and most are very affordable. Personally I dislike the Shire, and would not recommend it to anyone. But each to our own.

Hello I had terrible problems with mozzies bites when I first arrived. I didn't want to use DEET, as I didn't want such chemicals on my skin I went into a local health food shop for more natural repellents. Found some citronella and sandalwood coils. But in the end, I brought them but only needed them for a month. After that, the supplement started working. Whilst I was there, the naturopath on duty suggested B vitamins (I think B1 - but I cannot remember) Anyway I started taking two high strength tablets a day. They took about a month to "kick-in", and then I never got bitten again whilst taking the supplements. I took them daily for about a year, whilst traveling and working in tropical Far North Queensland, outback Northern Territory and Asia I didn't get bitten by sand-flies or any other pesky insect during this time either. Not sure what the mozzie dislikes about B vitamins, but the smell of in your skin repels them As I cannot remember which B it was, maybe a B-complex would do it just as well. Would need to be fairly high strength though. You could even add some garlic capsules daily with the B vitamins too, as that helps. Otherwise you can use coils at home, or a mozzie net over your bed. The big supermarkets sell plug-in mozzie zappers that work really well too. But if you are out and about (and want to avoid DEET) then a citronella oil spray may help (I didin't need to use it - the Vitamin B worked fine) I actually remember camping in the outback with a group of Australians who where all being driven mad by mozzies and spraying EVERYTHING on themselves.........I was just sitting there and not being bothered at all. That was about six months after I started taking the daily supplement. Plus of course, the B's have other health benefits too. Hope you find something that works for you.

1) How long should we plan to "stick it out", "experience it", "settle in" before we make decision to stay or not? (expected answer is six months) I've booked flexi return flights through Singapore. Six months is a ridiculously short amount of time to make such a life impacting decision. Give it at least two years is my reply. 2) Despite the warnings about renting online I am tempted to do all the paperwork for this place before we go: anyone in Darwin got any thoughts? Well places ALWAYS look much better online than they do in person. Better to book into a caravan park cabin, or motel short term, and then look at rentals when you are there. It is hard to break a lease, so better to be sure before signing paperwork I've set up a bank account - Westpac were brilliant Yes I have always found them to be an excellent bank