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Pretty simple, 1 persons says a word and next person carry's it on to make a story OK here goes. Suddenly -

So, here we are in sunny Brisbane! We (OH and daughter) landed on 29th June and to be honest I've not had time to itch since we arrived (so glad it's not mosquito season!)..... It all started when, after a fleeting visit to Oz last year, I was offered a job in February with Guide Dogs Queensland. Visa arrived in April and GDQ wanted me to start 1st July, so we spent some hectic months sorting out our house to rent, selling two cars and gleening lots of helpful information from this website. We opend a bank account with NAB who have been fab, before we came, and used John Mason for our shipping. It's yet to arrive, but the UK side of things were faultless so I would highly recommend them. The weekend before we left was my Mum's 80th birthday. It was a fantastic family affair and so good to be able to say goodbye to everyone without all the attention on us (as it had been at a fair few farewells!) We had a driver to Heathrow (present from my Mum) which was great, he knew all the back roads when there was a traffic jam and we arrived in plenty of time, calm and rested. A little hicup at heathrow when they seemed to think that my daughter's visa was not valid..:arghh: I went a whiter shade of pale, so when the lady came back she just asked how many bags we had (8) and said "just keep them coming", not weighing them at all (and they were over the 30 kgs each - ooops!). Then we were through security and on our way with the wonderful Singapore airlines who were SO helpful (we had flown with Etihad last year, and although ok, SA were MUCH better). We arrived in Brisbane in the evening and joined the long queue for passport control (note to self and others - next time go to the loo before landing so you can just go straight to queue). All bags arrived safely, we declared our Marmite which they laughed about (but thanked us for declaring it) and waved us through the quick line, and out to our friends who scooped us up and took us to their home in Ashgrove. The following day we sorted our bank cards out and did some shopping and then recovered before I started work full time with Guide Dogs at Bald Hills 3 days later! Since then we have changed our licences (apparently our birth cirtificates did not count to our points as they are not australian??????:wacko:). We needed two bank cards (signed), we had one aus card and one uk card, drivers licence, and our friends signed a form to say that we were resident at their address. TFN (tax file number) can be applied for on line and takes about 10 days to come through. Medicare, just take passports, proof of residence and visa to Medicare shop and they give you temp cards and then send others through post. Schools were on holiday when we arrived, but having been in touch with a couple of schools in UK, we went to visit them the day they opened. The one that we really liked was Bardon Primary, so when the Pricipal asked my daughter when she would like to start, she said "Now?". So they opend up the uniform shop for her there and then, she got changed and off she went without a backward glance - :biggrin: It's a small school and she has really settled well. She is the youngest in her class, being a June baby, but is doing fine and has made lots of freinds - phew! We have spent many hours looking for a house to rent; this area is expensive and some of the houses are quite grotty (bit frustrating when we think of all the sweat and tears we put in to getting our house up to scratch in UK). Anyway, we have found one in The Gap, been accepted and move in next weekend - sadly our shipping wont have arrived but friends are lending us beds etc - thank Goodness for friends! Ours have lent us their home while they are in UK, and their car (cars are very expensive here!); I really don't know how we would have managed without them. So, we still have quite a 'to do' list left.... buy a car, OH to get a job etc but I am loving my job, my daughter is happy and the sun is shining (well it was when I started this epic account). Last weekend we met some friends at a beach, lit one of the many bar-b-qs available and enjoyed a lovely afternoon - and this is winter :wink: I hope this may have been useful to one or two of you about to embark on this journey - good luck to you all, and to those of you already ensconsed in the Sunshine State, a date for your diary for any dog lovers - October 2nd Strathpine Park - October Fetch with GDQ. Be lovely to see you there. Best wishes, Nikki

Hi guys, firstly I'm not sure if this is the right section to be posting this but I'm sure Kate or a mod will reassign if necessary. To be honest I'm not much of a writer--especially of the fiction variety. I blog. I started blogging after numerous attempts at trying to start a book and ending up with the first page or two. This time I hope its going to be different. I've been blogging about our migrant journey for several months. I'm enjoying writing and different aspects and dimensions of the whole migration process is rearing its head begging to be written. Its not going to be entirely about migrating to OZ, but much much more. I hope to be able to give a voice to the trials and tribulations migrants face--unique challenges that only we know about. Here I would like your help. I have prepared a questionnaire kind of thing --mainly to do with one aspect the book plans to address. If you would like to tell me your story, or if you would like to check out the questionnaire and fill it in for me I would be very grateful. I don't intend to spam anyone with the questionnaire (its kind of very short so don't get put off with the term questionnaire ) so please indicate on here if you would like to contribute. Any other suggestions and ideas are also welcome. I take confidentiality very seriously and will only publish any personal details with express permission

Ten years ago we moved down to Hastings from South London as we fell in love with it, and at the time it was the right thing to do for our kids but recently it has changed so much and the last year has been the final straw in us deciding to head for OZ!!!! I feel it's time to move on again. Just a few things that have happened this year in Hastings............ Drugs raids and stabbings galore Several Rapes Burglaries & car crimes go through the roof All cars up our road windows smashed in, scratched and damaged more than once Our car radio nicked from our car parked out the front Man beaten up & mugged outside our house My son been set about by some older blokes My daughter & her mates with a little sister in tow, being acosted by a peodophile whilst down town on a Sat. morning and a friend was followed home from school A colleague at work murdered by her drug addict boyfriend Local skate ramps set alight by chavs Swing park vandalised and needles found on beach/park etc My friend being injected with date rape drug in a local club Younger kids had football nicked from them & then threatened with a knife Phone box set alight, post box set alight, bus stop smashed regularly Visiting students continually being mugged and beaten up My two eldest sons were jumped & beaten up on the school bus Eldest son's friend became a Dad at 14 Stuff stolen from my garden A local man attacked with a machette My dear old neightour who is 91 got her handbag nicked, TWICE My son's mate has a brain heomorrage coz he was beaten up by Chavs ( because he's a skater boy) Another elderly neighbour, run over on the crossing at the bottom of our road and left for dead I could go on , and on , and on........... And yet today after all that, because the weather was so lovely I took the younger kids to the beach after school, (yes were lucky enough to live near a beach) I was sitting there enjoying the surroundings, the cliffs behind me, the castle, the seagulls, the fishing boats etc.,............. Just for a moment there I thought "Are we doing the right thing? I still love Hastings" .... When out of the blue, a smashed up wreck of a car screeched and skidded up in the car park behind me, six yobs piled out of it and legged it in front of me n the kids along the beach followed by loads of police cars, and coppers chasing after them, tackling them and then arresting them!!!!! I think that has definately answered my question now....... YES YES YES !!!!!! :arghh: When I think about it, I will be sad to leave this country, but bloody hell, I cant wait to get away from the people............. (except from the PIO gang of course!!!!!) Sorry to bore you all with such a long post..... But i feel better now ive got it off my chest!! SO THE MORALE OF THE STORY IS, TO ALL THINKING ABOUT IT AND TO ALL THOSE GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS......... DONT HESITATE, JUST DO IT...LIFE IS TOO SHORT!! HERE'S TO OZ !!!!!

Hello, Have you moved from Australia back to the UK? Or are you thinking or doing so? If so, I would be so grateful to anyone who would share their story. For my final year university project I'm reaearching "Ping Pong Poms" and would love to hear from people who have yo-yoed between the two countries. If you can help please get in touch by replying to this, messaging or e-mailing. Contact via PM. Thank you for reading and I hope to hear from you soon.

Hi all, Well as of Tuesday this week my other half Daniel and I had our 176 visa granted!:jiggy: We are heading to WA! We plan to live in easy access to Perth. We are so very happy. I have always had a dream to move to Oz, ever since I can remember. I don't really know why but the country had some sort of pull over me....perhaps it was from watching Neighbours or Home & Away!!:laugh: I had planned to do a working holiday visa, but life and ususally boyfriends got in the way!! Anyway Dan and I got together the end of 2007, I told him from there that I plan to go to oz with or without him!:biglaugh: He wasn't sure, he never really thought about it. We took a holiday to oz down the East side December 2009, this was a chance for us both to see it and more to see if Dan would be willing to make the move. Well it took less then 24 hours for him to say, 'yes, I would move here'. :laugh: Our first stay was in Port Douglas in North Qld. We fell in love with oz and their way of life. I stood on the beach one day and breathed in the air, I knew the love affair and fantasy I have had with oz over my life time was right for me, I had to get there, this was where I felt I belonged. We started looking into the visa process when we got back in January 2010. Daniel is a welder/fabricator so his trade is in demand. I started doing some research first, mainly on this site, I then contacted Go Matilda as they were highly recommended on here. I am glad we did as there are some bad agents out there, but these aren't one of them. First we waited for the July 2010 changes to ensure first class welder was still on the list, GM thought we would be and they were right. We then proceeded with the process. We didn't really rush it and took our time with the forms. Daniel had to fill in all his work experience from every job, everything he had done and the tools he had used. He had to then undertake a skills assessment. It was going to be with TRA, but the process changed (after we filled in their forms!!) and we had to go through vetassess. Daniel had to go down to London to have a technical interview once he passed the paper stage with vetassess. He met with a guy from Melbourne who was very nice, and told Dan that employers in Oz will be biting his hand off to give him work with his skills and knowledge base:cute: Vetassess were a pain thought, they seem to take forever to process stage one the paper based bit. It then took forever to get a date for the technical interview. We were getting worried as we knew of new changes again for July 2011, I was ringng vetassess in Melbourne what felt like every night to try and get them to hurry up. GM also emailed them. We were told by them in March that the next round wasn't till end of May or June for Dan's trade as welder was new to them they weren't ready for the practical tests. Douglas from GM's Scotland office said he would contact Alan Collett the MD of GM to see if anything could be pushed along. I am not sure if Alan did anything, or if it was our persistance in ringing vetassess up, but the next minute vetassess were saying Dan could undertake a technical interview at the next round of practicals which were 8 days away!! Phewwwww! Anyway time went by and we passed for state sponsorship to WA quite quickly, and our visa was lodged by GM on 15th June, just in time before any changes!! My name was still not on the visa as Daniel and I didn't officially move in together until September 2010, so we waited to take meds until Beginning of September so my name could be added straight after. 3 Weeks later and here we are...approved!! We haven't confirmed moving date yet, we plan to go from May onwards next year, there's no rush we want everything to be sorted here and plan ahead for when we arrive. I am very excited for the adventures that lay ahead. I would like to thank our agent Go Matilda for all their help and support. They must have thought I was insane with my contant emails but they always got back to me promptly and never made me feel crazy. My main contact with them was Marina from their Southampton office, Maree from their Scotland office & Douglas for the skills assessment part. Alan they are a credit to you all and I would also like to thank you for running such a great company where you are all experts in what you do. Thank you Alan and team at GM! :notworthy: I would also like to thank....well you guys!!!!! Poms in oz is an amazing website for those of us wanting the same thing. We offer support, help and just general gossip, it's a great place for those who are planning the move & the expats already there. I will not be disappearing and dumping you all, I will use my experience and knowledge from the process to help, guide and just chat with others. :hug: I would also like to thank member Kevin JC!! :wink::wink: (yes mate I have got you in here...hope you got a speech ready!) We have chatted on here for what seems like forever, giving one another support and advice...and just general chatting. Kevin too had his visa granted this week, :jiggy:so we can't believe we have both finished at the goal line the same time when we were at such different stages when we first started chatting. I beat u in the end mate by a couple of days :biggrin: but that's down to you and claire getting jiggy and having a beautiful baby boy to add to your gorgeous family. Well done Kev! Well that's my story so far........so it will be the actual move next which I will add to this thread sometime next year. So what was Lucy's dream....is becoming Lucy's reality. Take care all & remember,...never ever give up, good things do happen to good people. Lucy:wubclub:

Hi all, Just a quick question for all those that have completed a Partner Visa Application :- For the letter about your Relationship did you do it in letter/story format or just list all the events in your relationship e.g. first met, engaged, married, children born etc.? Cheers

Hi, Looking for some advice. My wife and I have both been offered Jobs in Brisbane with a combined salary of $142500 on a 457 temp visa with the option of perm res after 2 years. The companies have not offered relocation expenses, short term accommodation or LAFHA (i think part of this is to test our commitment to the move). After taxes, medicare, flood levy etc we would have around $2000 per week (sounds great!). At first I was really exicted about the move; however I then started doing a lot of research. We are both 30 with our own flat and two cars, we have abour £20000-25000 equity in our flat and a small amount of savings aound £5000. We currently earn around £60000 between us at the mo and have no kids. My wife teaches fitness classes at night and earns around £200-250 extra per week. After all our costs we would have $200 each per week disposble income in Aus and I heard things like cosmetics, clothes etc are much more expensive. This sounds materialistic but items such as shampoo, toothpaste, work clothes, suncream are essential. We then looked into the cost of living in Australia and discovered that Australias main cities are now some of the most expensive places to live in the world more expensive than London, Oslo and Stockholm (minus the social benefits of some of these countries). I have listed some costs below: Rental Accomodation - $450 - 650 PW (if in city very small apartment) Private Health Care - $50 - 100 PW dep on level of cover Phone/Broadband - $100 PW Utilites - $25 PW Food - $260 PW Train Travel to Milton & Cleveland from Wynnum for example - $160 If you have 1 car: Cars are extermely expensive in Oz even for second hand cars - Approx $10000 - 13000 for a really basic car or better old car with lots of mileage. I could easily have dealt with this though as the reason for considering moving to Australia is not for material items. Fuel is cheaper than UK though. Our back home costs would be around £150 per month. We would also need to sell our cars for a loss. In the UK we have a good family, a circle of friends and pretty secure jobs. However the lure of the outdoor living and better weather are appealing. Although Scotland/UK has some excellent scenary and great outdoor persuits also. We also go on great holidays to Europe etc and we went to Cuba last year. I am not sure this would be possible in Aus. I currently get 27 days annual leave in UK, in Oz would be 20, although perhaps wkns would feel like hols. I started thinking we have a good life here with more disposable income. Ok the weather is crap most of the time in UK but you do get the seasons, apart from summer :biggrin:. In a nutshell I dont think the grass is always greener and maybe I have over analysed things just a bit. LOL I think 10 years ago when the UK economy and the pound were strong, some people gained the benefit of rising UK house prices and sold to buy their dream Aussie home with pool etc. This dream is now some much harder to achieve. OK money isnt everything but it does make life a little easier. We also plan to have a family in 2 or more years, when supportive grandparents, maternity leave, flexible working etc are so important. My advice is go on holiday to OZ, sample the barrier reef, great beaches, exotic nature etc. Hols are much different to living and working in a place. If you have been made redundant and cant find a job in UK or have strong UK savings to fall back on then go for it. In my case I felt 'if it aint broken dont fix it'. However each to their own. Every country has its pros and cons. Australia is a country of much beauty, I have seen it for myself in 2008; however standing a the top of Ben Lomond looking onto Loch Lomond in Scotland is alos of stunning beauty. I look forward to hearing from people. These are only my views, feelings, and personal circumstances. I hope for some it has been informative. Best Regards

Well guys, About a month and a half ago I posted in this forum my reasons for wanting to go to Oz and my aspirations for when I got there! I just wanted to check in with ya all to let you know how well it is going! Firstly I managed to get in the country which was the first step! Next I managed to get myself a really good job started asap and will be doing that from this coming Tuesday in the CBD. I also updated my blog in the signature below with a more detailed account of my first three weeks down under for anyone that is interested (http://www.livinginsydneyandnsw.com/http://www.livinginsydneyandnsw.com/my-first-three-weeks-in-sydney-australia) Please let me know what you think! Kev

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/wpix-man-robs-bank-health-care,0,4161298.story

Morning/Evening All. Just wondering how many of you out there are prepared for your retirement, in a financial way. In these ever belt tightening times do you 'think' you will have enough to retire with, I'm not talking of millions, but enough to see you through till until your number is up,:no:. A lot of talk lately about pension funds and the like in the media lately, and I must admit that though I worry very rarely about money, (never had enough to worry about, :embarrassed::biglaugh:) I am coming to a point in my life where the thought of retiring and having enough money to care for myself and good lady does concern in a miniscule way. But, as I have always said, a tiny cabin in Palm Cove won't set us back a fortune. Some may view the way I have lived my life rather unresponsible, though always provided for my family what ever came about I did at one time live a fairly nomadic life and spent my money on travel and in as much have never really had a career where a pension would be paid at a later dat, my fault completely, but by god did I have some good times along the way. But I may 'pay' for this by being what some would see as fairly 'poor' in my latter years,:cry:, no problem, I will muddle through anyway. But are you looking forward to your latter years knowing that you will have enough money or are you dreading the later years? Have you got any plans that will facilitate a 'better' standard of living in the future, new careers, and the like where you 'may' have enough to settle down comfortably with. Just in case you find yourself in a rather difficult possession in the future I am taking names now for those of you who want to join 'PIO 2', a very select club where those of us who haven't enough money will set up a 'Refuge' in the outback and live off the land, hence, 'PIO 2' (Poms In Outback,:idea::jiggy:), joining fees are five bucks but you have to supply your own tent,:wubclub:. Cheers Tony.:wink:

Firstly i would like to say that this post is in some part for the viewing of OzSceptic, i am aware of his problems as i have read his previous posts and i can fully relate to his issues of depression. I move here with my wife in 2004, the reasons why i in particular, were wrong. I was escaping from a messy divorce and thought escaping to Australia would in some way start the healing process. This i know now was absolutely the wrong thing to do in my case. My wife loves Australia and as such i have stayed here for 7 years because of this, putting my own unhappyness aside for her, this too hasn't been the right thing to do either but circumstances of late have changed all this and i will explain why. For the past 12 years i have been in the IT industry after graduation from University and this vocation has always been dear to me and i have found that my job here has been somewhat an escape from my unhappyness. My job is in IT management for a large company here in Sydney and has been for the last 5 years. Last year i was subjected to severe workplace bullying by my manager (CFO) and the HR manager. As a result of these habitual incidents i made these incidents known to senior management and requested that they be formally investigated in accordance with the health and safely act.* In October of last year i had to go on Workcover leave due to clinical depression over the matter. The incidents were never investigated and in April i was dismissed unlawfully, i believe that this was due to my employer not wanting 2 senior managers investigated over this matter. The process for me now is to take this matter to arbitration in court (Fair Work Australia) for which my union is helping me on the matter. This will take some months so my life really is on hold, but i and my medical treatment from professionals find that this is important to have closure and to allow others in the workplace to come forward as my case is not an isolated case. The upshot of the legal action i am taking i have been told is that when it all hits the media ( The Sydney Morning Herald are running the whole story) will be that i will be virtually unemployable as employers dont like litigation being taken against them, whether the employee is right or wrong. Having done lots of research into workplace bullying, it is becoming more and more common in Australia as i'm sure it is elsewhere in the world with more people coming forward. Whilst my depression has been really bad at times it has been very difficult for my wife to understand the concequences of bullying and its effects, she is a Doctor here and it has been very difficult all round as i'm a "bottle it up" sort of person. My personal depression is intense at times and comes and goes in waves of dispair. This whole episode has made everything come to a head and is now the momentum for our return the the UK. Now she can see how unhappy i really am here and is fully supportive in regards to our return home. This incident has made me realise how important family is and how dearly i have missed their support through all of this. In the 7 years here i personally have never adjusted to life here and it is not the place in the world that i belong, i have never had the feeling of belonging here, my heart isn't here. My medical condition i now have while very debilitating at time is also positive in a way, it is giving me huge motivation to change my life for the better. I would like to take this chance to say sorry to any members that i have been rude or bullish to but when i see members bagging the UK is makes me mad. Yes the UK has faults and lots of problems but it is where i belong and where my heart is, i can put my hand on my heart and say i gave it my best shot here but to me its been and felt like an extended long holiday. For OzSceptic Mate i know what you are going through and if you ever need to talk, just send me a message and i will give you my mobile number. Sorry for the long story but any conduit of emotions is good IMO even to invisible friends on the internet

Hi everyone, My husband and I are trying to find the best way of contacting DIAC to get an update on our visa application. The short story is: We are using a visa agency who, unfortunately haven't been very professional or reliable, and we just want to check with DIAC that the agency has sent all our docs/paperwork that they SAY they have! (We chose this agency as we HAD previously used them for holiday visas, and they had been fine) We got our State Spons to WA in 2010, had a case officer allocated in Feb 2011, did medicals and UK police certs in March 2011 and sent all this off to the agent. Because we had to get police certs from South Africa as well, these took a bit longer and only arrived on 15 April 2011. I duly scanned and sent off the final certs to our agent on the same day. So....DIAC now have everything they need (as far as we know) but we have yet to hear anything regarding the visa!! Assuming our final paperwork was sent to DIAC on 15/04 or possibly 18/04 (a Monday) it has now been over a month that we've been waiting. I know some people have had to wait about 10 weeks, but from what I've read in these forums, that is quite unusual. Am I being unrealistic - moaning about waiting for a month, or should we have heard by now?:confused: We have the TRN number for our application, but don't know whether to ring up DIAC or email them to basically "check up" on our visa agent!! We don't want to rub anyone up the wrong way and get pushed to the bottom of the pile either. Another thing our agent told , is DIAC does not update their online document checklist. Is that correct? Because every time we've looked at the online progress of an application, nothing has been updated, except the dates that our medicals were finalised. It's still showing that our birth certificates, passport copies, evidence of qualifications etc etc is still outstanding. Any advice will be most appreciated. Thanks for reading all of this - it feels like I've typed a novel. :cute: Catherine

Hi all.. We are Jules and Paul from the South of England and we thought it was about time that we told our story as it was always helpful to read other peoples adventures... get ready for a long read Our story begins back in July 2010, we had the leaving parties, the tears and most importantly that much sort after PR visa. We headed to Brisbane without having ever visited the city before and without jobs. We had been to Australia on 2 previous occasions both times to Sydney but we discarded Sydney as too expensive and just plumped for Brisbane because it looked and sounded nice. We stayed in the city for 4 nights and nothing could have prepared us for the shock and emotional turmoil we would go through. My OH did not sleep the whole time, the shock of arriving in a new city and leaving behind your old life and close family was a bit much for him to take. We had booked a holiday rental on the Gold Coast for a month and decided to go there, take it easy and see how things went. On arrival on the GC we instantly cheered up as the rental place was amazing and was on the beach. We instantly went into holiday mode and visited all the touristy places. During that month we decided we wanted to go back to the UK, this was due to various things one being pressure from parents (they were skyping us every day to discuss what they’d had for dinner and telling us to come home!!). We didn’t want to go back immediately so decided to take a holiday to New Zealand. We had been to the South Island before and so wanted to explore the North Island this time. We had a fabulous time skydiving, white water rafting and staying with old friends. We still didn’t want to go back home so my OH started looking for jobs back in Oz and after a few applications managed to secure an interview with a company back in Brissie. So after 3 weeks in NZ we headed back to Oz, back to the apartment we stayed in when we first arrived. OH went for the interview and was offered the job on the spot. We then managed to secure a rental on a week by week basis in Bulimba but after 3 weeks we decided Oz wasn’t right for us, I found it hard to get a job and OH’s wasn’t what he’d expected and the pay just about covered our rent. My sister was also really ill, and so in October 2010 we decided to cut our dream short and head back to the UK. After 4 months back in the UK, we knew we hadn’t given Oz long enough. It took us 1.5 years to get our PR visas and we felt that after all the effort we went to we should give it another go. Our biggest regret was that we’d shipped our furniture to Brissie and then had to send it back, we should’ve just kept it in storage in the UK. I was offered a job in the UK but it fell through at the last minute and my OH hadn’t found anything, it was also a really cold harsh winter and we missed the sunshine and to top it all we were living with parents! So after Christmas OH started looking for jobs back in Oz. He managed to secure 2 telephone interviews, 1 in Brissie and the other in Adelaide (OH is an IT Project Manager). After 3 telephone interviews (1 failed Skype attempt) over 10 days he secured the job in Adelaide! We were both really shocked how quickly everything was progressing but were sure that we were doing the right thing and our families seemed a bit happier this time as they realised we were struggling in the UK, and so in March 2011, with no sad goodbyes and no leaving dos, we landed in Adelaide and were raring to go. OH’s new company put us up in a hotel for our first week and then somehow we managed to find a fully furnished rental and moved straight in. We were lucky that friends of friends lived in Adelaide and invited us out immediately; they even helped us move into our new place. We have been here 11 days now and have already been to the Fringe Festival and Soundwave; we are heading for the vineyards this weekend and planning to join the local tennis club in a bid to make friends. I haven’t found a job yet and so am busy doing all the admin stuff. I have started to register with a few agencies so hopefully it won’t be too long. We are happy living in Glenelg and if there are any other like minded people out there who would like to meet up, please let us know. We’ll keep you posted...... Jules (and Paul)

anyone read this story i mean what does this say about the british justice system or how britain wants to be seen by australia? Father-to-be who attacked two men in a drunken brawl spared jail so he can emigrate to Australia | Mail Online

Hi folks, I have eventually moved to Canberra with OH and 2 kids on a State sponsored 176 visa. I often checked the PIO website for info, so thought I give some info back. We are staying in short term accomadation at the moment in Griffith, very expensive. It is tough to get a long term let, even though this is the 'best' time to look for rentals. You will find that a lot of the houses have been rental houses for years, and have just been a revolving door of tenants, you'll be suprised by the state of the kitchens. There is a lot of new houses for let in Gungahlin, they are mostly semi detached, terraced, or single units with very small back or front gardens. Woden Valley and Weston Creek are good, very central, but very sought after. Unless you have plenty of money, forget about the good spots in the areas directly north and south of the city. On the bright side the are plenty of fantastic properties, its a slog, but you will get one eventually. You have to network and make contact with the locals quickly, we joined the Irish club, it helps, a lot of breaks you will get are because you know someone, Canberra is a small town. About 75% of the work force work directly or indirectly for the goverment. The rest work in retail or service industries, (they are crying out for chefs, waiters etc.). You have to hit the ground running, get your tax number, medicare car etc. Its a beautiful city, and cant wait to get settled, and get the six year old in school making friends. Everyone is very friendly and extremely helpful and am looking forward to living here.

Hi to you all at Poms in Oz:smile::smile::smile: I came across the site a few days ago and have found it very helpful. It has been really interesting reading about people's experiences of moving to and living in oz. I have decided to write about our experience as hopefully it may be of some help and interest to others. We went on holiday earlier this year to Perth, it was the forth time my partner has been and my first. We both came home knowing its where we wanted to be as we loved the country and the lifestyle there. After looking over all the information we could get our hands on regarding the country, visas etc. My partner put her CV on a online job website out of curiosity and didn't expect much to come of it. We had a email about a week later from an Australian company who were recruiting from overseas and had position that they would like to talk to her about. After several interviews and online psychometric/personality tests, then more interviews they offered her the job in November this year. They have agreed to sponsor her on a 457 visa as her occupation is on the approved occupations list. We then sent our paper work over to their appointed immigration agent for the 457 four year temporary work visa. He advised she needed to send references showing she had been employed for the last three years in the occupation she has applied for on official company letter headed paper and a copy of her degree certificate. I will be going over on a de facto partner visa the paper work I needed for this was bills in joint names, car insurance with both names and Xmas cards addressed to us both to prove we are in a relationship for at least the last six months. We have sent in all the paper work requested and the visa application got submitted last week. The immigration agent said he was confident that there would be no problems and it should take about three weeks to be granted. Which doesn't leave us very much time in planning the move as my partner is due to start work in Australia on the 10the Jan . The whole process seems to be moving at a million miles an hour and things get very stressful at times but hopefully everything will go through fine and we will be over there and settled soon. I hope this will be of interest to people and feel free to ask me any questions. Thanks for reading!

Hi, For various reasons we will not be able to make the move until my son has finished GCSE's and we intend to move immediately after the last exam. We know this is not ideal. My son has already decided that Uni is not for him. He wants to train in construction or mechanics and will have city guilds in both at time of move. If you moved at this point in your childs life please share you story with us. What did your child do on arrival in Oz - return to school, if so in which year or go to TAFE? Did it restrict your childs future options? Did your child go on to have the career they wanted? In hindsight would you have done it differently? Good and bad experiences all welcome!! Thanks Vanessa

This came my way recently: "The hit television show 'Relocation: Phil Down Under' is looking for British Ex-Pats who are now living and successfully working in Australia. Phil Spencer of Location Location Location is heading to Australia for the new series of his hit television show 'Relocation: Phil Down Under.' Not only will Phil be helping Brits with their property search but he will also be exploring Australia's job market. If you have your own success story or you work in an interesting job please get in touch with: Elli Metcalfe on elli.metcalfe@iwcmedia.co.uk or Helen Clucas on helen.clucas@iwcmedia.co.uk " Don't know about success story but I reckon there are plenty of nightmare stories from people here. Perhaps if enough of us get in touch it might embarass the Government enough and get some of the media in the UK on the case.

After carefull consideration we decided on using a local firm, a small and hopefully a more personal service. So we used a company in birmingham. Got a v reasonable quote and signed up. The guys who packed us were very helpfull and got the job done in good time so we bought several crates of beer as a thank you. WE had our stuff shipped before we flew out, as we were staying with relatives we could, so only a couple of weeks after we landed our stuff was ready, so 2 weeks in a holiday rental, signed up on a house and the furniture delivered the same week. They decided to use a third party removal company to deliver to our brisbane rental, but we were left to unpack the boxes ourselves, not what we had paid for, never mind we are here. Our furniture was damaged but we got quotes and the insurance paid, rather have undamaged furniture as it was made in belgium and v expensive. We tried to ask why we were left to unpack and dispose of boxes and packing, but after all parties blaming each other and us out of pocket we disposed of the waste our selves. tried e mails and phone calls but some one was always in a meeting , e mails in the trash bin, not looking for money back just a sorry, Guess the moral of this rambling post is choose VERY carefully as the promises you get when handing over your uk cash are long forgotten on the other side of the world.

I've been reading that QLD does not have daylight savings. And that in summer it gets dark at around 6:45pm. Also that SE queenslanders want daylight savings while the rest don't! So what's the story behind Queensland Dayling Saving??? Cheers B!K3R

Or was it just me? So, so funny and poignant all at the same time. A stunning use of an animated tortilla too...absolute genius :v_SPIN: valleylass

John, Mary and little Janey were eagerly anticipating there arrival into Perth, it only seemed like yesterday that they applied for their visa and now the waiting was over. The 23 hour flight had taken its toll on everybody, not in least with little Janey, from the very minute she stepped onto the flight her constant, 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? had driven everyone to the point of distraction, however a sour faced bad tempered (yes it was a British Airways flight) stewardess had slipped Janey a miniature Johnny Walker Black Label into her bottle and now Janey was in the land of nod. This enables the rest of the cabin crew to hide behind their curtain of secrecy and ignore all the pleas for help from the 'I NEED ATTENTION LIGHTS' situated in the passengers arm rests. After all the crew on the BA flight have far better things to do than to attend to their customers. And there below them was Perth, a wonder to behold. However the only thing on Johns mind was when he would have his next ciggy, he was becoming a little tetchy with everybody. The flight finally lands, Australia at last everyone thought. However, Mary was a little peeved, she turns to John and says, 'If you EVER drag me to the other side of the world again I will cut your knackers off, after all, this was YOUR dream, not mine'. John however seemed oblivious to this attack as all he was craving was the taste of nicotine and the veins standing out on his forehead bared this out. The captain then comes on the tannoy system, ' Would all passengers please remain in their seats until we have fully stopped, and the seat belt sign has been extinguished'. But out of the 450 passengers that day, 449 heard the captain say, 'Right ho, up you get and go for it'. As the not so formal queue is amassed Mary, John and little Janey wonder what has hit them. As they edge toward the cabin doors Mary says 'Jesus, it's like an oven out there, didn't know it was going to be this hot', as she glances toward John with a look that would kill. The immigration hall is packed to the rafters as normal, as they approach the immigration officer little Janey pipes up with, 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Obviously the Johnny Walker effect has worn off and Janey is once again one tired little urchin. Passports are handed over, and the immigration officer does her best to welcome the family to Australia, but Mary's face is telling a different picture, one look at her and the immigration officer bodes them farewell and turns to his colleague and says, 'They won't last long, another bunch of whinging poms'. Baggage claim is fairly easily negotiated and through all that is on Johns mind is a CIGARETTE. He looks around him, however all he can see are signs saying NO SMOKING, then out of the corner of his eye he spies daylight, and a heavenly body saying Smoking Area. More of a jog than a walk John finally makes it out into fresh air. He is surrounded by several other people, all with joyous expressions on their faces, without a care in the world. The fumes and ash are like nectar to John, ahhh, heaven on earth he thinks to himself. As he takes his first drag of the fag he realises how lucky he is to be alive and as the dizziness and slightly nauseating feeling gets stronger from having his first fag for 8 hours he come to realise that he is the luckiest man alive. He gently sways in the wind, with an expression of utter pleasure on his face. After yet another ciggy John decides that he can face his family, all is well with the world once again. The rental car is picked up. As they set out of the car park Mary realises that the midday sun is blazing through the window and hitting Janey smack in the face, 'She'll burn', Mary says, and insists that John stop the car immediately to find some sort of shade for the little one. Out come the suitcases, all fifteen of them. After an hour a dirty, stinking, crusty old bath towel is found and this is placed stragedegly on Janeys side of the car. Mary screams at John to wind down, wind up, wind down, wind up the bloody window as the towel needs to stay in place for the 30 kilometers journey to their new home. So off they go, towel flapping in the breeze, making a whipping sound that draws attention to the car by onlookers and says, 'Hi were the Blake family, and yes, we are POMS'. On arrival at their home the family proceed to clamper out of the car and pile into their new home. John had already rented the property from a website called, 'Idiot Pom International'. Nice enough he thinks, but Mary once again complains, 'Bit new isn't it, not like home'. Meanwhile John is puffing on yet another fag and really has gone past the point of caring anymore. It is now the second day in OZ, after a fretful sleep the family decode to go to the local beach to experience the real Australia. John is wearing his Jesus creepers, white socks, (pulled up to his knees) a t-shirt emblazoned with Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, a dark pair of sunnies, and safari shorts that would shame David Attenborough. Mary has decided that she wants a tan and is wearing the skimpiest bikini imaginable and a baseball cap that barely fits. Janey is covered head to foot in zinc cream and she now looks like something resembling Marseu Marseu the famous mime artist on a good day. They arrive at the beach, resplendent in sunshine and blue sky. By this time they have slipped their shoes off and proceed to make their way onto the beach. After a few small steps the whole family now resemble a troupe of Irish Dancers as they receive third degree burns to their feet. Eventually they make it to their chosen spot. Sweat dripping from every orifice John decides to take Janey for a paddle, Mary looks at him rather suspiciously as he and Janey make their way toward the lapping ocean. Ahhh, they think, Australia at last, brilliant. Then out of nowhere they here cries of 'SHHHHAAAARRRRKKKKKKKKKK', 'SHHHHAAARRRRRRRKKKKKKK'. And there from her vantage point Mary has spotted a lump of seaweed that she has mistakingly thought was a shark, she is trembling uncontrollably, screaming for all she is worth. The lifeguards on hearing the shouts immediately try to clear the surf as quickly as possible. People are mown down by perfectly normally rational people, little children are trodden underfoot. The life guards do their best to calm the situation but this is futile as Mary is still screaming SHHHHAAAAARRRRRKKKKKKKK. After initial confusion the 'guilty' seaweed is hauled from the surf and shown to Mary just what it was. Mary replies, 'You can never be too careful you know'. The life guards here the accent and wryly smile to themselves. That evening at their new home, the family except for Janey are near to death. They look like lobsters who have been boiled for five or more hours, John tries to light a ciggy but the heat from the lighter on his face sends him screaming and shouting in pain toward the medicine cupboard that contains the 50 litres of After Sun which they bough from the pharmacy. As they crawl into bed as the sheets touch their skin cries of pain resound around the house, their bodies are on fire. Three am, all of a sudden little Janey wonders into her parents bedroom clutching a brown rather furry object. Upon reaching her mums bedside the little innocent says, 'Mummy, what's this'. Through swollen sun burnt, puffy eyes Mary looks inquisitively at the 'thing' in Janeys hand. As she peers more and more and trying to focus on the 'thing' she realises that it is moving and one by one eight legs appear from Janey grasp. SPPPIIIDDDDEEERRRRRRRR, SPIIDDDDDEEEERRRRRRRRRR, screams Mary, John vaults out of bed, leaving several layers of sun burnt skin on the sheets, JJJEEEESSSSUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS CHHHHRRRIIIISSSSTTTTT he screams, 'That's no spider, it's a bloody Bear with eight legs. Cups, beakers, paper, magazines, shoes are all fired toward the creature from hell, unfortunately most of them miss there target and hit Janey smack in the face. However these are just glancing blows, as the missiles easily deflect of her little face as the zinc cream has refused to be removed even after fifteen showers. The spider plops to the tiled floor making an impact sounding like a bomb, as it tries in vain to crawl away on its last two remaining legs John eventfully finds the tin of extra strength 'POMMY MORTEIN' and sprays the poor arachnid for all he is worth. Squirming and kicking the said spider is picked up rather gingerly with a tea cloth and hoisted out doors. John returns to the bedroom to see Mary clutching little Janey, squeezing the life out of her as she does so. White, pasty and trembling uncontrollably Mary says, I, I ,I wa wa want to g g g go HOME, NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. John does his best to comfort his family but in truth he is now looking at every shadow, movement expecting to see yet another creepy just waiting to attack them...............To be continued.......:laugh: The next installment of the families escapades will be next week, keep tuned folks. Thought this may make some people laugh, hope so, enough doom and gloom on here at times. Cheers Tony:wink:

We moved back to the UK last Aug ,family of three , with car, dog etc but have decided to move back to OZ . I really dont want to put anyone off and mine is just another story and I read plenty of others before embarking on this decision so if it helps at all here goes: We left Australia after 20yrs , with one son 12 we were mostly happy there but over the years often felt like would like to live again in the UK mostly because of family there but also missing the usual stuff , like the culture and history , being close to Europe, lovely countryside etc. Its such a hard decision but finally timing seemed right with a good exchange rate and son about to go to HS it seemed a good time to finally make the move. We moved to a lovely house in a very pretty village but we all so miss Australia, our friends and the lifestyle we had there. I personally feel that it is really hard to start over after 20yrs , we do have friends here and family who have been fantastic and really tried so hard and we tried too , went to social events in the village and joined local cricket and football clubs , it just hasnt worked out . The main reason overall though is the job situation it is so bad here and without regular employment too hard and that soon overtakes everything else Maybe it would have been different if we had moved back a few years ago when things were not so bad here and our son was still in Primary as he has struggled here - I thought 12 was okay but I really underestimated how established he was at school with friends and activities here he is spending lots of time on his own . I am glad we came as I especially always wanted too and I have really enjoyed spending lots of family time but in the end its not enough to keep living here , at least we tried so it has answered that feeling once and for all Have sold our house and now starting the whole process again - but I will always come back as lots to like about the Uk but a visit will do in future:arghh:

I was sooo bored so i decided to create a little game.. this is how you play: Ok i will start off by saying a word and you have to add a word to create a story EG i put once , you put upon , someone else puts a time ect..:cute: So i say: one day.... your turn!! xx