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This is a long shot.... .I'm a Brit living close to the Northern Beaches. I've sponsored my mother to come and live in Aus. Rather than sell her property in London, she's been thinking that a long term house swap might be the way to go. Is there any one out there that might be interested in a swap for a 12 - 24 month period? She has nice 3 bed house outskirts of London/ Essex which is a 30 minute commute on the Central Line to City. She would like to swap for a house / appartment around the northern beaches, would be travelling alone and happy to look after any pets :biggrin:

Hiya, just hoping for a bit of advice. We're currently in the process of applying for a Spouse Visa for my OH and estimate it will be processed mid Oct to mid Nov. I am also pregnant and this wait for the visa means that I will probably have to give birth here in December (as we would need to put notice in at work, arrange shipping etc.), then travel over when the baby is about three months old. Has anyone flown with a baby this young? I know they are all different but I'm hoping that he/she will sleep through, leaving both myself and my OH free to handle the temper tantrums of our toddler! Has anyone had any experience of this? (I won't even go into the migraine I get when I think about looking for a rental/jobs/sorting out all the red tape with two young ones...) Any advice very welcome!!

Hi Peeps Funny...when i was in the Uk i was on this site daily, since iv been in Oz its got less and less...till i cant remember the last time. Think this is prob the last post ill make...think its a kinda goodbye. We have had hell of a rollercoaster setting up life here...(please see old posts) but its settled down now. its not wow wow awesome like the start and its not rubbish im coming back to blighty......its just home now and where i feel we all belong. The four best tips i can give anyone are: 1 - Expect setting up here to cost AT LEAST double what you budget. 2 - YOU will need to make an effort to make friends, they wont come to you....But its worth it when you get there. 3 - You WILL get homesick at some point, dont pack up and leave after 6 months, It takes real time to settle, If you give it anything under a year your a fool....!!! And i dont care what backlash i get its a FACT...it takes time. 4 - Ship everything and i mean everything...It costs the earth to replace all your pegs photo frames plant pots casserole dishes etc etc .....bring the lot. We love our life here but it does comes with some set backs...The Night life is really pretty poo...think bad 80's wedding, food costs a fortune and its dark year round by 7pm latest. They are the ONLY floors to living here in my opinion the rest is all good and outweighs the UK by just silly huge amounts, id NEVER go back. Good luck to you all and im happy to help anyone ....send us a PM Colette

Hi everyone! I am part of the recruitment team at Bankwest in Perth and we have an immediate vacancy for a Project Accountant on a 9 month fixed term contract to cover some maternity leave. Some of the key responsibilities of the role include: - Preparation of project business cases - Assist with preparation of quarterly forecasts and annual project budgets - Providing accounting support on projects as and when required We're looking for candidates who have the following: - Relevant tertiary qualifications in accounting, business or finance - Professional qualification (CA/CPA) or progressing towards this - Sound understanding of core accounting principles - Experience in preparing and reviewing financial and analytical models If you are new to Perth and looking for an immediate start then please feel free to contact me

Well we left the UK around a month ago and so far so good. Myself, my OH, and two girls ages 4 and 6. Our journey was so much easier than I expected, mainly due to the fact that my OH's company had paid for us to come across business class. We would never have stretched to that so it was a fantastic start. I have a real fear of flying so in the last days before we left I was a little 'out of it'! so it took me a couple of days at the other end to recover! We stopped in Perth for a couple of days as my OH's company is in Perth, although they've relocated us to Melbourne temporarily. Was a great idea anyway as the jouurney was 7.5hrs to Dubai then 10 to Perth but would have been 16hrs to Melbourne-kids would have hated that! Western Australia is where we love and it was lovely to be back there even for a couple of days...life there is so chilled out and the people are just so happy! Our children lapped up the sun, sea and sand which confirmed to me that Australia was a great move. Can't wait to get back there. We managed to get a rental car fairly easily, although I would recommend buying a GPS at the airport as I've read some POI's peeps have done. It took us a few days to just FIND somewhere to rent a car, and it was literally round the corner. In an ideal world (and if you're brave enough to drive after THAT flight!) rent a car from the airport, even for a day or two. We're staying in South Bank, right in the city. The apartment was pre-arranged for us and I would def NOT recommend a city stay if you have young ones. The trams etc are pretty scary whooshing past and it was a big culture shock from laid back WA for our girls :eek:-maybe try a short term in the inner suburbs, such as Williamstown or even St Kilda. Also our apartment didn't have internet for 10 days which was hell trying to get set up here. We had hoped to rent in the Bayside area but it is so different to how I had imagined it. We wanted to be near the beach but I've never lived in a city (or suburbs) before and I think that time of my life has passed me by!!! I know it is a lovely area as the people who live here speak so highly of it which is always a good sign, but for me I find the hustle and bustle too much. We did begin looking for places in Bayside but the homes we viewed, well I woudn't let my dog live there, honestly, and they are bloody expensive! The Real Estate agents haven't even responded to the application we did put in, even after we called them to hurry them along so we've given up and we've decided to buy in Wantirna(!!!!) and just rent it or sell it on in 6 months-ish when we leave. Houses are so much cheaper there, on 850m blocks, old and fairly far out from the CBD and beach but great links to the city and a lovely atmosphere. It also means we can try to get our dog across here :biggrin: as we're really missing her but knew a rental in Melbourne would probably not allow pets. Everything is going on in Melbourne! If you're young, single or couple without kids it is the place to be! Since arriving there's been the Melbourne Cup, the Queen popped to the end of our road and there's celebs galore! It is a fab city with great shops. We've really had our ups and downs this month. Seeing the Queen, popping to the beach every weekend, finding out new things about the place, it's been great. And a couple ofbad moments have included someone running into the back of our rental car (brand new) on the way to view one of the few decent rentals which we missed. Kids won't be in school 'til February after just surviving the UK hols (and my 4 year old will be at home as Vic start their children later than WA) so they're a bit lonely. Homesickness is just kicking in especially with Christmas on the way-can;t quite get my head around a hot Christmas!!! Our stuff is due to arrive here in December and hopefully we'll have someplace for it to go by then! Can't wait to get the girls things back...We have seen a lot of decent priced and lovely furniture here so anyone thinking of dumping their stuff and bringing a few boxes by air freight that'd be no problem. We'd heard cars were a lot more expensive here and to a certain extent we've found that to be true. Before leaving we'd considered an AUDI Q5 for the snow where we lived in the UK...it cost around £30k at home-nothing NEAR that price here, luxury car prices are through the roof, but we did find other cars very reasonable and we're collecting a Mazda CX7 from Mornington this week. We got a great price and didn't feel pressured as we have at home in the past when buying a car. I really miss shops like Home Bargains and Wilkos where I could stock up all my cleaning things etc for bargain prices! Generally shopping has been a bit dearer here although love the fact that there's markets everywhere and Australia has so much unique, handmade or just great quality stuff! The last thing I'd like to say is that for all those people struggling because Australia is not what they expected or can't settle, try a different area/state. WA is so different to Melbourne and if I'd never been to WA I'd have been on a flight home by now (no offence to Melbourne-it's not got the things we wanted but for so many other people it is great and I'm loving my short time here). Good luck to all those POIs who are just about to begin their exciting new adventure :wink:

Hi Everyone, So with the visa finally approved we are flying into Sydney next week!! But reading these posts I'm now getting worried about whether we are going to be accepted for a 12 month lease by any agents. We have a couple weeks short term accommodation arranged to tie us through over Xmas until the New Year but basically I'm worried the sticking point will be that we don't yet have jobs or any job offers confirmed. We have the money that we could pay a couple of months rent up front in advance but does anyone have any experience with a similar situation? Is there any point trying to get a 12 month lease through an agent until we both have found jobs or should we just invest our time in a holiday rental that hopefully won't suck up ALL our savings? Thanks!

Hi guys, Me and partner have been granted and validated 175 visas. Our child was born after we validated our 175 visas . we were advised yesterday by CO that her child visa won't be processed before March. Problem is that we are emigrating in 4 weeks! Does anyone know if we can get a 6 month temp visa whilst waiting for the child visa to arrive? I know we can get a 3 month visa but this could be risky if the perm visa is issued later than March. I am told by CO that she will also be required to leave the country to enable them to grant her perm visa! She's only 1 bless so I think we might go with her!!

My partner and I are already in pocession of permanent residency visas (Subclass B137), and while waiting for our adopted daughter to receive her Permanent Residency we are advised to get her a 6 month Tourist Visa to allow us all to go to Oz and her to go to school. Form 48R Tourist Visa Form does not seem to cater for childrens applications and has no relevant questions. Has anyone applied for a tourist visa on behalf of a minor? Pls Help. :mad:

Just as the Freo Festival ends the World Sailing Championships begin and with that a whole programme of stuff. Bound to be something that takes your fancy....kids stuff, live music, cooking demo's, comedy.... oh and a little sailing too :wink: Check out this link for the full programme http://www.perth2011.com/worlds-festival-programme

Hello again everyone! Well things have moved on since we last posted, last time we had not long arrived and staying in short term accommodation. That was in August- now in mid November we are living in a nice 2 bedroom rental apartment in East Perth. We had some trouble at first with trying to get an apartment as we didn't want to just throw money away by putting bonds down on too many places at once, but in the end we were third time lucky and we have a apartment in the location we were after, paying a reasonable amount. One thing we a]have found though is living in the city can be a bit noisy! This is something we are now considering as our lease will be up at the end of February, then we will have the dilemma of either staying within the city or maybe moving out to the suburbs. Job-wise, I (Lucy) have been working as a medical scientist looking after point of care testing in the remote areas of WA, very interesting, and very different to lab-based work! It was very handy that I was able to secure the role before we came as having an income straight away removes a lot of the stresses that would have on us if we only had savings to rely on. Alan managed to get a nicely paid job working for the Department of Environment and Conservation as an IT manager, it was the really the first thing he properly went for. As I was working full time Alan spent the first few weeks securing us our apartment, and then once we had somewhere to live he could then start looking around for work. He sent his details to an agency on the Wednesday, the rang him asking him did he want to go for an IT Manager role, and was employed by the following Friday! Things have become more routine for us now. We are waiting for our new car to be delivered so we can explore where the buses and trains don't reach. We have decided to go for a Toyota Rav4 though it will only be ever used as a street car! Handy though as its space should keep us happy for a fair while. We have so far managed to visit the Zoo, Cottesloe Beach, Fremantle and Hilary's but with us finally getting some transport we will now be able to go much further away from home and see all the different places around us. Some quick thoughts: Food is certainly not as expensive as some people seem to think with the posts on here, you don't need to be a millionaire just to have dinner. The flies are very annoying. Public transport around Perth is very good, its clean and quite reasonably priced. If you have the skills finding work is not that bad. You won't get tired of seeing all the multi-coloured birds flying around - like the Rainbow Lorikeets - but the Crows are just annoying with their cawing. That's all we can think of for now but there is probably loads of things we could add, any questions just ask and we will answer them if we can. We will also update our blog with similar though will be adding some piccies once we process them off the camera. Lucy + Al

Hello, We are now one week into our adventure in Melbourne, still looking for places to live and everything is crazy, it's certainly an experience but we're enjoying it all so far! Anyway, here is my question. I am the main 457 visa holder, but my partner needs to come back to the UK in February for 2 months. Are there any issues with this from a visa perspective? Appreciate your responses in advance. Steve

Not sure if this has been covered on another thread but here goes how much would it cost to run a 3bed house in melbourne eg rent, electric, gas, food bill for family of 3 or 4 peeps, internet, house phone, car, insurance and so on.

hi i moved to wa as a state sponsor in feb and it is now november and i still have not got a questionaire/survey from them i registered with them . i have got the federal government survey but not the six monthly wa one . has anyone else had this survey as i thought it was a requirement for wa. Thanks

How much cash would i need to show in my bank account when going on a 6 month HV? Also could I show just one lodgement of the required amount or would i have to show frequent lodgements?

hi i entered australia on the 25th august 2011, i am gettin married here next friday and i plan to lodge my partner visa onshore thereafter. i got an eta which allows me to stay in oz for 3 months at a time over the course of 1 yr. whats the latest date i can lodge my visa, would it be the 25th november or the 24th or should i really do it earlier to avoid any issues.

Well ben a whirlwind month, arrived and within 10 days sorted transport schools rental etc, furnished the place now and more or less settled, love the package deals for furniture, bedrooms suites complete with mattress tallboy bedside cabinets etc for around 1k,bought a lot of electrical eqpt at 'the good guys and had a 400 dollar discount for cash, unbeatable after i check around. son now settled into school, lotsa work about and i have a choice of jobs, be aware that just applying for anything here at the moment could bite yer on the backside as some called me about work and more or less offered job on phone yet i couldnt remember even applying . cost of living is expensive, especially when you arrive with english pounds converted to dollars on the poor exchange rate, at first you cannot help converted prices to punds, however, once earning dollars here its all proportionate so dont worry too much. weather is deffo uk at mo, sun storms hail and wind and rain, but we know that when summer comes we will have a decent summer, my son booked us in for the city to surf walk, 12km !!! caught me offguard when i had jetlag still i think. my passion for cars will be sated here, hotrod show end of august, cat arrives same time along with oh, so all in all very well. oh forgot, had a punt on lotto, and won 22dols first time . must admit, stress from my trade work in uk seems to have faded and confidence in getting work was already high, i want away from the gas plumbing here and may even do bus driving to experience something different until i can figure out what i would like to do , :cool:

Our agent has told us today that we are due to be allocated a case officer next month (October). On the strength of that I have booked medicals for the end of October and sent off for our penal clearance as advised. Can anyone tell us how long it should take from then on? We are on a subclass 165 visa (Investor visa) which means we also have to lodge a significant designated investment with the Govt which should (we hope ) be straight forward. We are trying to get over by the end of January for the kids school year. thanks Glenn

Well after 18 months from initial idea of moving we are now one month in and things are slowly settling down. We flew into Perth on 1st August and with the low cloud cover and drizzle we could have been in Manchester! Our temporary rental is on the beach which is great for our 2 kids but the house felt damp and cold and we felt quite depressed for a few days. The rental set up is a nightmare in that every half ways decent place we see 10 other people want it too. You can't just go in and ask to look round you have to wait for an open home which they will only schedule once enough people are interested! Things, especially bananas are more expensive but lots of places do specials. I'm happy about never ending wine choices. It's been hard to get my son into a nice looking nursery so I've not started work yet although hubby has been working for a few weeks now so starting to meet people. All in all I'm happy to be here. Weather certainly improving. Feeling quite positive about coming adventures. V

Hi, having been here for a month now, I thought it might be useful for those of you getting ready to come over if I noted down a few tips/observations which might be helpful for you in the first few weeks. These are obviously all my own opinion, and others may disagree, but hopefully it might help a bit...here goes! Accommodation: Compared to the UK, renting and buying here is expensive. Most people seem to get a short term furnished let for a month or so and then try and secure a longer term unfurnished. That was what we did: got a furnished let in Ainslie which is inner North (about 10 mins walk from the city centre). Staying in the city was handy for banks, shops etc, especially if you don't have a car organised. However, most of the suburbs have pretty good shops and nowhere is really that far from a supermarket - so don't feel you have to stay in the city if you don't want - Canberra is not really that big a place, so if you have a car, you are 20 mins at most from anywhere unless you are right on the outskirts. Word of warning -it is cold here at the moment at night and if possible try and get somewhere with ducted heating or at least plug in radiators - you will need them. I have already posted re longer term lets - try and get on to this as soon as you get here - viewings are generally very quick (15 mins) and you will not be the only people looking. Again, I would warn you that there are some shockers out there - we saw quite a few properties with original (1950-1970s) kitchens!! At least 2 we viewed were bascially uninhabitable. Depends on what you want and what you are prepared to pay - we have ended up in Weston Creek which is about 10k west of city - nice area and nice house too - not ultramodern but good roomms and good size yard for our dog. A lot of people say that the newer developments up North (Forde, Gungahlin) are better equipped and modern as they are new builds - but they are on smaller plots and tend not to have large grassy gardens - depends on what suits you I guess. Now is a good time to rent - competition is not so fierce - we put in for this house we are in and got it, maybe lucky. If you are not working, make sure you provide agent with a bank statement with plenty cash in it if possible - they are ultimately interested in who can pay the rent! Shopping Ive read quite a lot about prices here - a lot of which isn't true. Some things are a bit more expensive whereas others are definately cheaper. For example, microwaves are for some strange reason more expensive than in the UK - bring yours if you can; whereas TVs and laptops are cheaper - I bought a pretty high spec laptop for about 400 quid - would have been more in UK. If you are buying electricals, barter with them - and try and buy as much as you can at one time as you will get a better deal if you are buying 2 or 3 items at once - the Good Guys in Belconnen or Fyshwick were very good and were prepared to do a deal. Supermarket shopping is different from UK - the two main supermarkets, Woolies and Coles tend just to sell food, not everything like Tesco or Asda. Also, the alcohol is sold in adjoining liquor stores - dont spend ages looking for the wine aisle like I did!! If you are going in to buy Heinz beans and other UK brands you will pay more, but shop around and buy bulk when you can as you get a better deal. Meat prices here are really good - steaks and chicken are very well priced - especially if you buy a lot. A kg of chicken breast cost us about 10 dollars - thats maybe 6 quid - pretty good. There is a Costco opened out at the airport - some of our new pals here have joined it and say that it has great savings on household products etc. again, if you buy in bulk - I think its about 60 dollars to join. Veggies and fruit can be bought cheaper outwith the supermarkets - most shopping centres have vegetable/fruit markets - plus there is a farmers market just north of the city at the Canberra Exhibition park every Saturday morning from 8ish - we got good prices on great frsh vegetables and meat there. For kitchen, bedding etc. i can't see past K Mart, Target and Big W: especially when you first get here because they are cheap and if you are waiting for your shipping, there is no point in spending a fortune. They are basically all like Matalan in the UK. There are also quite a lot of "pound shops" which are great for dish cloths, kitchen basics etc. - they also sell some brand toiletries and cleaning products cheaper than the supermarkets. We got a set of plates, cups, mugs and cutlery from K Mart for 19 dollars which was great. They also sell microwaves, irons etc and have pretty good prices. For furniture, Fantastic Furniture in Fyshwick was great - modern stuff but reasonably priced and really quick delivery. Cars OK - basically second hand cars are more expensive (by a lot) than in UK, but new cars are reasonably priced - I bought a second hand toyota and actually wished Id paid another 4 or 5 thousand dollars and bought a new one! Buying the car was the same as UK - haggle with them and if they don't budge - walk away - they will chase you!! The system here is that a car has to be registered in the State you live in - each state has its own numberplates! If possible, try and buy a car registered in ACT as then you don't have to change the registration and the plates (if you buy one not registered in ACT bring a screwdriver - or get one from K Mart as i did!) You have to go to 'Canberra Connect' to register a car - there is one in Dickson, inner North. You need proof of residency to register - they basically needed a passport, bank card with your name embossed on it, a medicare card (or the temporary receipt if you don't have it yet) and a lease agreement. The lease agreement has caused some people problems, particularly if it is a short term arrangement and not a formal lease - if possible try and ensure you get a formal lease if you are intending to register a car. The folks at Connect told me they will take a short term lease as long as it is for occupancy of an entire unit - e.g. a standalone house. I could go on forever about cars and drivers licences - so if anyone has any specific questions please let me know - I've just been through it all and happy to help! Misc Medicare - go into Medicare centre in city asap after you have filled out the form, which you can print off from internet - just search for 'Medicare'. They give you a temporary receipt - you can then use as a proof of ID. Medicare cards arrived a few weeks later. Insurance: get home insurance asap - renters insurance is pretty cheap here. Tax number: go online asap and apply for this - it took about 4 weeks for ours to come through. Banks - make sure you get a visa debit card asap - NAB seem to give you a basic card if you organised an account from the UK, but you can go on to their internet banking and request a visa debit - took about 10 days to come through. We are so far enjoying Canberra - its a really nice location and the folks are all friendly. Great wildlife on your doorstep and good weather to see it. The first 4 weeks or so will be hectic - ours have been, but just try and sort one thing out at once and remember that some things take time to organise. Oh, and i would recommend the PIO meet ups - we went along to the last one and met some nice people who we are now friends with. Good luck and enjoy the experience!! :wacko:

Well guys, hard to believe but we have been back in Canada 9 months now. We are finally getting settled, it has taken 9 months, but we are getting there. We just moved into our own home last Friday.... feels great to be a homeowner again !!. We moved back to Kitchener to an area about a 5 min drive from where we used to live before we moved to Australia, so everything is so familiar to us !!... girls are in their last year of high school, and are back in a high school with all their old friends from grade school, this means so much to me and them.... maybe they will attend school this year. We arrived last December to a cold winter wonderland, ended up living with my brother for about 2 months, then moved into a rental. Both myself and OH ended up with our old jobs back with the same companies we worked for before we left for Australia. Living in Ingersoll meant an hour drive both ways for us. The twins hated the high school in Ingersoll and as a result did not attend very much. It was hard to seem them deflated, as they were not settled in Australia, and did not settle in Ingersoll. It has been a whirlwind 9 months, just like it was a whirlwind 2 years in Australia. We came back with just suitcases and nothing else. Had to start from scratch again !! But in 9 months we have managed to outfit a whole house again (thank you Kijiji (Gumtree). Now that we are settled, everyone seems relaxed and happy !!.... the twins are enjoying being back in Kitchener amongst their old friends. OH is working still and looks like he will be working through this winter as well. I don't regret my tiime in Australia, and will be ever thankful for the opportunity to live there. I have some great memories and friendships that grew out of our tiime in Oz. We didn't move back to Canada due to not liking Australia, it was just a set of circumstances. I could easily live in both countries. However, since moving back I have seen my home country in a completely different light. I never noticed how green it was, forgot about the convenience of 7 day a week shopping and stores opening late every night !!... forgot about how much choice we have here in Canada. Forgot how much Canada is truly concerned about the envirionment (realized that when we went shopping and was charged 5 cents a bag... everyone brings their own bags shopping). I throughly have enjoyed long nights in the summer.... being light until past 9:30, can get so much more done outside. I have enjoyed the changing seasons. Fall is upon us now, and it is great, beautiful blue skies, cool nights and looking forward to seeing the leaves change. Looking forward to Halloween and the little ones trick and treating, and most of all looking forward to a White Christmas in my own home. So all in all we are glad to be back !!.... miss some things about Australia and have never regreted our decision to go or come back !!. Will post pics later on of the changing seasons. Best of luck to those moving back, and hope that everyone that has moved back is enjoying their time back home !! Cheers Karen

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/09/04/2011-09-04_ohio_baby_13_months_suffocates_in_car_after_being_left_behind_by_babysitter.html What I don't understand is how they can say she hasn't been charged with any crime, she left this little one in a car and forgot About her:no:

After a long wait we finally arrived home to the Uk 1 month ago, after 6yrs in Queensland, a little different here than I remembered but all good. Myself and hubby both have got full-time work after 2 weeks of being home, are 4 yr old starts school next Monday, she can't wait. We miss the warm weather and are friends from over there, but nothing much else enjoying our time with family and are daughter getting to know her aunts cousins grandparents etc. All good so far, good luck to anyone in the process of moving back. Elle

This is a long shot.... .I'm a Brit living close to the Northern Beaches. I've sponsored my mother to come and live in Aus. Rather than sell her property in London, she's been thinking that a long term house swap might be the way to go. Is there any one out there that might be interested in a swap for a 12 - 24 month period? She has nice 3 bed house outskirts of London/ Essex which is a 30 minute commute on the Central Line to City. She would like to swap for a house / appartment around the northern beaches, would be travelling alone and happy to look after any pets :biggrin:

hi, Thought I´d give a bit of feedback on starting new life in Oz. We got our visa´s back in April, state sponsored by ACT. After trying to find work from offshore for a couple of months with no success, I took the plunge and came down leaving family back in Europe saying goodbye to friends and family. Our first choice was ACT, then maybe Adelaide, but within 24hrs of arriving I had a good good offer in Sydney. Through gritted teeth I turned it down thinking I´d hold out for ACT, etc. Two weeks later not even an interview elsewhere and I´m starting to worry.....then Sydney came back with better offer and what could I do? By the way DIAC don´t care that ACT sponsored me, I´ll explain later...! So moved to Sydney, found a cracking short term flat right on Bondi beach front for six weeks while I looked for something permanent. House hunting was not as bad as some of the stories I had heard. I only saw one house on an open day and it wasn´t great so didn´t stay long. I looked at ten other properties, all empty, view at any time, no competition. Demand isn´t great at the moment if you pick the right areas. Should explain house hunting....for me I had a limit of 500 a week, but on arrival and seeing some in this range, it went to 750....500 gets you crap in commutable areas. My method was to do a search on Domain for any house anywhere for budget with right beds, etc. then overlay the train map and narrow down the choice to those houses within 10 mins of stations. That gave me 20 or so houses in about 6 areas and they were the one I focused on. As I said, demand is low....I had nothing ready, but gave all details, refs, etc., but I know they rang my work and left message but never followed it up, so in the end I got a lease without any refs or backup. Really odd. Then I started work......to set the scene, I am a Partner level project director in the property industry. Sydney is a long hours culture....be under no illusions what so ever that you will be breakfasting on the patio and strolling to work then hitting the beach on the way home......never going to happen. Couple of my collegues swim on bondi before work...at 5.30 til 6 am....in a couple of weeks it might be daylight. For me the day starts at 5.30 and I get home at 7.30-8.00. Base hours are 8 til 6..... and you work them all, and some.. Culture is different as well, it is quite a macho environment and that includes the women ( about 40% of office are female) so the quiet english reserve needs some work. On the good side, this company supplies breakfast and I get a fruit basket (!!) daily plus papers, coffee shop and other stuff..... and on Friday afternoon, they open the beer fridge.. and you get free drinks for a few hours. Very social, the whole office stays and it is a great way to unwind and build office spirit. Works better then different groups hitting the pubs on a friday. Other stuff....credit cards and car loans were straightforward. Only big hassle so far has been driving licence. NSW RTA will not give you a licence without a sticker in your passport. DIAC hate them for it but RTA will not use the electronic system and will not accept your grant letter...sticker or nothing. And you have to do it as the driving licence is almost the most important piece of ID you will own. So had to get sticker.... went to immigration office by central station, and it took 15 mins. Chatted with officer about moving to NSW, even changed address to Sydney and they were happy. Said that the 176 visa had no restrictions therefore they were not interested. Happy I had found a job. All in Oz so far is pretty good. It is expensive, and when you understand the long hours you understand why some things are as they are. Just waiting for the family now.

Hi Guys, will be popping over for a 12month reccie on a holiday visa next june. What are the chances of gaining a sponsorship? I am a brickie, which i know is on the skills shortage list.