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Hi, This is a first post, so I apologise to any moderators if I transgress any forum rules (I have also posted this on the NT board). We are dual nationals who have been in Australia since 1999 and living in the Top End since 2002. We have a rural property on 23 acres of land about 40kms south of Darwin. The property was previously a mango orchard and we bought it with the express intention of revegetating and restoring the property, and after fifteen years of hard work we have made significant achievements. Due to external circumstances we have to move back to the UK. Although the house is on the market for sale we are also exploring the possibility of renting; however, this is a unique and very special piece of land and we are seeking potential 'tenants' who will both appreciate the flora and fauna and look after both the house and the land. Sadly, the average Australian renter (in the NT at least) does not have the best reputation. Living here we can guarantee you will have incredible experiences of unique plants and animals without having to travel to a tourist haunt. Creatures we share the land with include: agile wallabies, possums, bandicoots, hopping mice, over a hundred species of birds, frogs, native toads, different snake species including pythons over 3m long. And if you want you can spy on both fresh and salt water crocodiles. The house has two airconned bedrooms, a renovated kitchen, a large bathroom, laundry and verandahs; there is solar hot water, on grid solar and a solar bore, so utilities bills are minimal. We would be happy to leave some furniture as required. We would expect you to do some mowing when required, spray weeds when needed and manage and tidy the garden. You will also need to show some initiative as occasional problems arise. More than anything you will need to love, respect and appreciate nature. Rent is negotiable but we are looking to cover our costs and would be using a property agent as a local point of contact. Available from September onwards. We would prefer a 6 to 12 month commitment. This is a great opportunity for a couple looking for a new adventure. Darwin has lots of employment possibilities and is often seen as a good place to advance one's career. You can find out more about the property at landsale.treehugger.com.au and more about the flora and fauna at treehugger.com.au If you need any further information please send a PM.

Hi everyone I am a B1 licensed aircraft engineer applying for a Northern Territory state sponsored Visa. I am 24 years old and have been working for a major airline in the UK for 7 years. I was after some advice as to how likely it is my visa application will go through and what the work opportunities are like for an AME in Northern Territory. I know they are very broad questions and any help is appreciated, many thanks.

Hi to anyone reading this, I have successfully past my Skills Assessment for a Marketing Specialist and now I'm eager to lodge my EOI for the Northern Territory. In order to do this I now need a job offer. Unfortunately my current place of work doesn't extend to the NT and I have contacted all local recruitment agencies to Darwin who have said they won't look at my CV until I reside there. I've contacted various people on LinkedIn for advice but I'm still no further forward. Is this the end of the road or can anyone offer any further advice please? Thank you in advance.

Hi, Not too sure if this thread has already been created but, has anyone received an invitation for SC 190 visa for Northern Territory? From what I have read so far, 190 invitations are rarely issued and 489 invitations are the more common. Also, 190 invitations are only given out if there are 'exceptional circumstances'. Appreciate any feedback/help!

Hi There, I have just been granted my nomination for a Skilled Worker Regional Visa by NT government. We were initially planning on moving to Perth or Adelaide as we have family/friends there but NT gave us the sponsor. We are a bit clueless on the suburbs/areas in Darwin and any help or information would be appreciated. We have two young kids, one aged 3 and a baby coming up on a year old. Where would be the best suburbs for us looking to rent a 4 bedroom property? Ideally somewhere with good schools and plenty of parks. Thanks, G

Hi, This is a first post, so I apologise to any moderators if I transgress any forum rules (I have also posted this on the NT board). We are dual nationals who have been in Australia since 1999 and living in the Top End since 2002. We have a rural property on 23 acres of land about 40kms south of Darwin. The property was previously a mango orchard and we bought it with the express intention of revegetating and restoring the property, and after fifteen years of hard work we have made significant achievements. Due to external circumstances we have to move back to the UK. Although the house is on the market for sale we are also exploring the possibility of renting; however, this is a unique and very special piece of land and we are seeking potential 'tenants' who will both appreciate the flora and fauna and look after both the house and the land. Sadly, the average Australian renter (in the NT at least) does not have the best reputation. Living here we can guarantee you will have incredible experiences of unique plants and animals without having to travel to a tourist haunt. Creatures we share the land with include: agile wallabies, possums, bandicoots, hopping mice, over a hundred species of birds, frogs, native toads, different snake species including pythons over 3m long. And if you want you can spy on both fresh and salt water crocodiles. The house has two airconned bedrooms, a renovated kitchen, a large bathroom, laundry and verandahs; there is solar hot water, on grid solar and a solar bore, so utilities bills are minimal. We would be happy to leave some furniture as required. We would expect you to do some mowing when required, spray weeds when needed and manage and tidy the garden. You will also need to show some initiative as occasional problems arise. More than anything you will need to love, respect and appreciate nature. Rent is negotiable but we are looking to cover our costs and would be using a property agent as a local point of contact. Available from September onwards. We would prefer a 6 to 12 month commitment. This is a great opportunity for a couple looking for a new adventure. Darwin has lots of employment possibilities and is often seen as a good place to advance one's career. You can find out more about the property at landsale.treehugger.com.au and more about the flora and fauna at treehugger.com.au If you need any further information please send a PM.

Are there any Soccer/Football mad people out there that would like to play indoor soccer on Thursday nights.??? Games are 4 a side and they are mixed teams. Game times are from 6.40pm to 8.40 pm. Anyone interested just give me a shout as all my team (except the wife) are all injured. Thanks Steve

hi guys I've just received a email to say my 190 visa has been rejected even though i meet all the criteria and this will not be considered again but northern territory have now offered me a 489 visa , is anyone else on this visa who can break it down into layman terms for me as I'm confused as to what this visa allows be to do , thanks for your help . laura x

Hi there, My name is Ashley, living in London, and I'm a qualified midwife. Moving out to Darwin to be with my partner, hopefully very soon! I have been offered a position in a Darwin hospital and am waiting on my visa. Once I receive my visa, apart from booking flights etc. what are the next steps? Any advice at all would be great.

Hello there, my husband just accepted a job in Darwin so looks like we will be moving, all going well with the visa applications. Just wondering if there is anybody else out there looking to make the same journey? Don't think I'll actually believe this is happening until I'm on the plane!

Hi Guys, Loving the forum. My beautiful wife has just gained her 489 Visa thanks to the NT Government. I am lucky enough to be married to her. She is a restaurant manager in the UK and is planning to do the same in Darwin when we land. I am a Construction / Project Manager and will be looking for employment when we land. Quick question: Is it possible to secure accommodation prior to arriving in Darwin? It would be easier for us to rent an apartment via the internet for the first six months in the CBD, is this acceptable to letting agents in Darwin? Second quick question: We will be flying into Perth to collect our car after a friend sorts out the Rego and collection etc. It is a 2005 BMW 650i with 250K Kms on it and a decent history. Does it have a resale value in Darwin or is it better to change it for a 4X4 in Perth? Third quick question: Is it really as easy as people say to secure employment in Darwin for hard-working people? We are both really work-orientated and throw ourselves into it. Any assistance you guys could provide would be happy received. Rob & Evvy. (Soon to be living the dream in Oz)

Hello, Can anyone recommend any names of fully furnished, self catering apartments / houses for 4 or 5 weeks in Darwin, whilst we have time to look for longer term rentals that won't cost us the earth. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Cheva

Various positions with our IT Services company in Darwin (near Kakadu), for the right person we are also offering Visa Sponsorship. - Helpdesk / Incident support officer - IT Engineer Server/Desktop Support - Marketing / Sales - Office Admin / Sales Admin - Workshop IT Technician The positions could be contract/short term, however also do offer sponsorship in for the right person. Please a/ Email me your resume & let me know your availability or interest in a position b/ Even if you don't want work now, but may come to Darwin in the future, re-email me your resume before you arrive (as I may have work at the time) Have a look at http://www.theterritory.com.au and our website http://www.ategra.com.au/contact-us/news-blog/434-ategra-now-hiring For more information and I look forward to hearing from you. If you would simply like to linkup on LinkedIn, also send me an invitation or see my profile at http://au.linkedin.com/in/territorian Its a good way to keep in touch and also if you link up your profile will be visible to thousands of employer contract I have all over Australia. Michael Michael@ategra.com.au

Hi there, I am looking to move to Darwin with my girlfriend in the next couple of months and was looking for some good advice about the city and cost of living. I will be starting with a new company and will be on a salary of approx. 80,000 AUD, do people think that this is a good enough salary for two people to live on? The plan would be for my girlfriend to pick up a admin job or something similar once we are across there so it would only be a couple of months max on the one salary (hopefully!). I have read a lot about the cost of living being very high, would anyone be able to give me a rough breakdown of outgoings likely to incur, weekly food bills, rent, electricity bills etc? Would be greatly appreciated! Would also be good to hear from people who have recently moved to Darwin from the UK and their thoughts on the city, lifestyle etc. Thanks!!

Vincent aviation- Darwin goes into receivership. According to the latest news report about 120 staff have lost their jobs. Trying times for aviation in Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-28/vincent-aviation-australia-goes-into-receivership/5484814

Hi All, I am only 18 years of age but I have experienced a lot of Australia. First thing first I moved here when I was only 5 but will always consider to be English as I love being from England. I first moved to Brisbane Qld, when I was 5 and Brisbane is beautiful, Brisbane has everything you want and need. Loads of shops, sport in Qld is crazy, and the people are very friendly. I obtained Australian citizenship in 2005 which was a great ceremony. Well anyway I moved up to Darwin NT, in 2006 as my dad got a job. I was shocked at how different it was compared to Brisbane, It is a shithole in my opinion. Most expensive place in Australia, nothing to do at all, very dangerous when it comes to animals as crocs are everywhere up here. Well my family and I have decided enough is enough and we are moving back to Beautiful Brisbane in 2.5 months, So for you who are thinking of living in Darwin think again, Don't listen to people saying Darwin is up and coming, It is if anything 20 years behind the rest of the country, It is just a terrible place. I have been to Sydney which again is lovely but much like London.

Hi, Is there any reasonable (nothing fancy, a shared apartment would be great) accommodation for singles in Darwin? I am considering coming over in dec-jan and i am looking for something short term until i find a permanent place. Thanks Citation

Hi We are looking to relocate to Darwin in August, but need to try and find some info out about broadband as it may be a deal breaker if we can't get it, it is too slow or is limited in download. I need a good speed and lots of download as I skype with my mother every single day for about an hour so she can see my 1 year old twins. When my husband was last in Darwin 9 years ago he could only have dial up!! I am assuming that broadband is now available but wondered if someone could confirm if it is widely available. I've checked sites like Telstra and can't establish coverage. I do note the max download of 500gb and then speed slows to a crawl. Does anyone have unlimited data download? Finally is it a big deal to get it installed in a rental property Thanks in advance

Hello All! I've been lurking around the forums for about a year now, so I thought it high time that I say hello. I'm originally from southeast England but I came Down Under in February, 2011 on a WHV. After touring around the country, I decided I wanted to stay! Since February of this year I've been in the process of applying for a RSMS 857 and I'm currently at the (seemingly endless) waiting stage. I live and work for a landscaping company in Darwin and, otherwise, I'm just diggin' life in the Top End. Thanks to everyone in the forums who have answered questions I've had (and some that I didn't know I had) over my time lurking around! Best wishes to everybody!

Australian cities are becoming lonelier places to live and the way we build them may be to blame, a report says. Melbourne-based public policy think tank the Grattan Institute found we place significant emphasis on creating sustainable and productive cities but pay little attention to making them "friendly". Its new report, Social Cities, found the way cities are constructed affects how citizens interact. "A lack of face-to-face contact can put our health at risk," report author Jane-Frances Kelly said in a statement. "Unfortunately, there are worrying signs that isolation and loneliness are growing in Australia." The report found evidence that Australian city-dwellers have fewer friendships now than 20 years ago and 25 per cent of households are occupied by a single person. "By no means are we saying that everyone who lives alone is lonely," Ms Kelly said. "But if more Australians live by themselves this makes connecting with others outside the home all the more important." The report found that even small changes such as more park benches or turning unused housing lots into small parks can make cities friendlier places to live. "Improving social connection is not necessarily hard or costly ... big returns can come from small outlays," Ms Kelly said. "Australian cities are expected to keep growing for the foreseeable future. "If those cities are to improve quality of life for all then they will need to meet our social as well as our material needs."

THE Property Council of Australia has released the results of its nationwide My City: The People's Verdict survey, conducted by Auspoll in December 2011. Some 5231 Australians were asked to judge their city's performance in 17 areas, including design, safety, education, housing and government. Yesterday, the Property Council used the release of the results as a backdrop to launch their Make My City Work initiative. The online campaign aims to get a range of government, business, professional and community groups working together to make our sities more liveable. Here's how our capital cities fared this year, ranked from one to 10. 1 - ADELAIDE OVERALL Australia's most liveable city for the second year running THE GOOD Almost three in four locals saw Adelaide as an affordable place to maintain a good standard of living. The city ranked highest for health services, with 67 per cent satisfaction. Four out of five believed the city had an attractive environment that encouraged a wide range of outdoor activities. THE BAD Fewer than half - 48 per cent - thought Adelaide had job opportunities, the worst result for a mainland capital city. Just 42 per cent felt Adelaide had a good public transport service and satisfaction with entertainment slipped from 75 per cent to 68 per cent. Residents were dissatisfied overall with the State Government's performance, particularly in terms of property taxes and making housing affordable. 2 - CANBERRA OVERALL Maintains its status as Australia's second most liveable city for the second year running, but housing affordability remains a concern. THE GOOD The ACT did well in several areas including: having a good road network and minimal traffic, being a safe place for people and property and being clean, well-maintained and unpolluted. THE BAD Canberra performed relatively poorly when it came to having a vibrant cultural scene and a good range of quality affordable housing. 3 - MELBOURNE OVERALL It might be one of the world's most liveable among international judges, but Melburnians are less than impressed with their own city. Residents rated Melbourne's liveability down to equal third on a nationwide basis, alongside Perth. THE GOOD Melbourne scored the highest rating of any city for its cultural scene and architecture and also ranked highly for its health care and education services. THE BAD It lost points for traffic congestion, high property prices, general cleanliness and climate. Melburnians also gave the State Government a bare pass, unhappy with its management of urban growth and the imposition of high stamp-duty charges. 3 - PERTH OVERALL It's not perfect, but Perth residents are falling deeper in love with the WA capital. Perth scored 62.1 out of 100 for liveability, up 1.5 points on last year. THE GOOD Sandgropers enjoy Perth's climate, outdoor recreation and natural environment. The city also performed above average in education and health services. And, though adequacy of public transport scored poorly everywhere, Perth topped the list with 49 per cent. THE BAD The cultural and entertainment scene was slammed, ranking equal bottom with Newcastle, Hobart and Darwin. And only half of Perth people agreed that the city had a diverse range of people who got along well, the second lowest result for the country. 5 - BRISBANE OVERALL Not good news for BrisVegas - its residents have ranked it fifth in terms of capital city liveability. THE GOOD Top marks for climate, but the floods of the past year even pushed that score down, from 83 per cent to 77 per cent. Above average for vibrant cultural entertainment, good health care, attractive city design and a lack of pollution. THE BAD Public transport rated above the national average but still only impressed less than half of residents. Fewer than half believed a good standard of living was affordable in Brisbane and just a third said there was quality affordable housing. Only 50 per cent felt Brisbane was a safe place. 8 - HOBART OVERALL A poor eighth place out of 10 cities and a lack of strategic planning has Hobart's future looking bleak. THE GOOD Hobart scored quite highly with its residents for its range of recreational outdoor activities, attractive natural environment, look and design. THE BAD Performed poorly in key areas such as education, health, employment and economic opportunities. The Property Council of Australia's state executive director Mary Massina said Hobart has also missed a chance to grab a fair share of Commonwealth Government funding to fix its future problems. She called the city's submission to the recent Council of Australian Government call for capital city strategic plans as "briefing material, minimal statistical analysis and a set of stated future intentions". 9 - SYDNEY OVERALL Sydneysiders believe their city is more beautiful, entertaining, cleaner and safer than it was 12 months ago. THE GOOD In the Auspoll study, Sydney had the greatest jump in liveability than any other city. It also recorded significant gains in transport and health services. Almost 10 per cent more people said Sydney had good public transport and fewer were dissatisfied with the service. Satisfaction with health services rose from 48 per cent to 60 per cent, while education and recreational facilities had improved. THE BAD Traffic congestion is still a problem, with two-thirds of commuters thinking Sydney's road network needs addressing and just over half saying the State Government was doing a poor or very poor job on keeping up with overall infrastructure. 10 - DARWIN OVERALL Darwin is unaffordable, unsafe and a bad place to be if you are unhealthy, according to its residents. THE GOOD Darwinites were positive about community harmony, with 70 per cent of respondents believing people of diverse cultural backgrounds got on. Residents also thought Darwin had good employment and economic opportunities (77 per cent). THE BAD Apparently the Top End is a tough place to live - Darwin's residents say their city is expensive (78 per cent), unsafe (67 per cent) and does not have good health care (62 per cent). Darwin also ranked lowest in residents' satisfaction with education, with 40 per cent of respondents saying the city does not have good schools or education facilities.

I could cry!!! The school results up there look shocking....we are due to relocate up to Darwin come January. We're in Brissie just now - have been just since Sept this year. My kids are on the Essington list - but have just had a conversation whereby my eldest will be lucky to get in there in 2 years time - nevermind in time for January!! Can anyone recommend any good schools in the Darwin area?? I know results are not 100% reflective and the be all and end all and so I would really love to hear from people already up there with kids who are in good schools! I've already done the whole myschool.com thing and it has been fairly useless - the results for almost every school up there are less than desirable! All in the red! VERY much appreciated for any advice!! Michelle

Hi, My partner and I are moving to Darwin on the 1st dec from Cambridge UK and will be bring our 2 year old little boy. I was wondering if anyone could advised me about toddler groups/ toddler activities. Many Thanks Kaylee

Hi, I am moving to Darwin on the 1st dec and am wondering if there are any meet ups. Thanks Kaylee P.s - i have a two year old toddler

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8367425/darwin-makes-lonely-planets-top-city-list I'll second that:jiggy: