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Hello Ladies This thread is just that - for women only. To discuss all the things which women want to discuss. I promise there will be no talking about football, Soccer vs Aussie Rules, the size of your charms, nagging, or what percentage alcohol a can of beer has. There will be no-one in this thread who slumps on the sofa with the remote in one hand (Aussie Rules on the TV) and the other hand in the waistband of their trousers. So come on ladies - feel free to debate or ask advice :hug:

Hi have been looking on this and other sites now for about 3 weeks trying to get the ball moving on a move to OZ! thing is im a painter and decorator and dont hear much said about the trade. Just wanted to get somthin started. Does anyone have some info (mainly on wages) on the demand for p&d's over there, whats the best area, how much we can earn and so forth or if anyone has any contact details for a p&d who is out there doing it. Many thanks!!

Mods who close the post not included! I guess im Winning!:twitcy:

I've noticed that there seems to be lots of us nurses on PiO , with more joining the site all the time! (everyone trying to escape the nhs?! lol!) Thought I'd start a thread for us nurses to keep in touch, and offer support to one another! We could keep up to date about where we're at in the LONG process of visa applications, and help one another out with any info. Or even if your a nurse in Oz already, please feel free to say hi. I'm sure you'll hold a wealth of info for us still in the uk. So I'll start! I'm a children's nurse, married, with two daughters, aged 13 & 10. At this point in time I've applied for my 175 skilled independent visa, and we have our meds this week! House yet to go up for sale, but will hopefully be on the market in the next 2 weeks. We're hoping to head to the Gold Coast, July/Aug, but this depends on visa & house sale. I have no job there yet, but have submitted my cv th Queensland health, plus a couple of individual hospitals in the GC. Waiting for them to get back to me! Right, your turn! Mags:wubclub: x

Just a lighthearted thread of you favourite youtube clips,whatever the subject. Could be a clip of knitting for all i care,but not music or sport,theres threads for that. So just clips you like,could be your hobby,rockclimbing,surfing whatever. Just things that amaze,annoy,infuriate,up to you. The lad in the shop is now a big hit on the net and been on various telly shows. If yer dont follow footy yer wont understand it ,but he's got them off to a t [YOUTUBE]C2QEm028lKA[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]uEN11CcTSOM[/YOUTUBE] Love watching this fellah,extremely brave or extremely nuts:goofy: [YOUTUBE]AlPqL7IUT6M[/YOUTUBE] Im amazed at anyone can do this,i only tried it once on a hired wooden board in cornwall and sank in 4ft of water:biglaugh: [YOUTUBE]VJnxYsZNzwM[/YOUTUBE] First thought this was a set up,but dont think anything else could pull him like this,nutso!

Dear All, thought I would start this thread for all Vehicle Mechanics out there. Could we all share our experiences and pass on information such as Vetassess theory and practical, wages in different states (and areas within states), if work is available and where, lingo variations whilst at work etc. I will bombard my OH tonight with questions re. Vetassess and then post, any information will be great for us all I am sure. Thanks Ley x :chatterbox::yes:

I am new to PIO and i have found it helpful but i would like specific info for doctors,cos things work quite differently in oz. I am a GP,my husband a banker, 2 children a 7year old and 3 months old.I am applying for ENS 121 hoping to move to melbourne. I will appreciate if doctors both in uk and oz can help (or from anywhere!)

Here you go Pablo, hopefully this one will wait until august before dying :wink: Talk away football fans!!

Dear all going home I have opend this thread Just for us lot going back to the Uk. Just so we can talk about our concernse of going home and regrets we have. What did not click for us in Aus? What scares you about going back, what you miss about home or what ever? I want to keep this with just us going home and maybe it'll give people a insight to coming out hear to make an educated decision on if to make the plunge or not. I really do not want to get into a slanging match with those who love Australia. After all I'm sure we would like both countrys to be happy & crime free. I like a slanging match but not this time it's just for us going home to talk about what ever. But you Aussie lot can look if you want. Even do a siimlar thread telling the other side of the coin. Just so all thos back home get an even prospective. So I'll let some one else start then. Earlswood lets hear what you have to say. and you Yellow's. John

THE ALL NEW FISHING THREAD. Ok so not for every one ,i know there are loads of sites to look on ,but may be a thread for the fishing could go down well. News. weather. photos. Any thing fishing. Could be a good thread for all the guys still in the uk to. Rules. 1. About fishing ,boating only. 2. No trolls. easy. eddie:jimlad:

Lets see how PC PIO is:cute::biggrin:,i'l start:wideeyed:male or female,im not sexist:biggrin: [YOUTUBE]vB8ItNKaCZU[/YOUTUBE]

OK, here we go! Where do I start? Firstly I need to be careful. my wife's a 'Strayan, so I don't want to be too rude. That said...... We'll have been here (Geelong) 2 years in september, so I feel that i speak with some insight. Hopefully by getting this bile out of my system I'll feel much better. 1. Making friends: why is this so bloody difficult? I regard myself as a reasonably normal person (in his late 30's) who likes a laugh. Here I feel like I'm in the land of the living dead! Many of the blokes I've met and socialised with..well, we kind of speak the same language but its like there's nothing there. Irony, what's that? To cap things of, yesterday I met someone who'd been here 43 years, and he's still having difficulty trying to make friends! Gulp. 2. AFL: I find it bizarre and baffling how everyone young and old male and female alike, seems obsessed by this sport which is let's face it, irrelevant outside of Australia. Oh, the looks you get when asked what team 'ya barrack for', and answer NONE ACTUALLY. It's like you've just spat on their mother's grave. 3. Pubs: I had the misfortune of having a beer at a typical Aussie pub the other day. It was like stepping into Hades...walls covered with TV screens, TAB counter, pokies as far as the eye could see, leery blokes (unfortunately some from my ex cricket club). Why not just call it a seedy betting shop (where you also buy ridiculous little pots of beer)? Yes I've been to other pubs less scary than this but I mention it as one of the blokes I was with described it as a 'crusty local'..I had images of a grandfather clock ticking in the corner, a labrador sleeping by the fire, and an old fella in a cloth cap singing to himself in Gaelic. 4. Australian Men: I had a pretty good idea a very long time ago that this species is probably one of the dullest in creation..but I just didn't believe it, surely I was unlucky. They can't all be strong silent (mute) types, who leave all the talking to the Sheilas. No they really are. Its OK if you are an outdoorsy surfing footy playing type, and have had brain cells knocked off progressively over the years. But try a bit of banter, a bit of humour..oh dear oh dear. I think my joining above mentioned cricket club galvanised my opinion: off-the-field conversation revolves around, er..footy, beer, bigoted racial stereotypes (I hear what you're saying about the pot calling the kettle black), eg all poms are poofters, bigoted opinions on the world, ie everywhere outside Australia is crap..blah blah blah yawn, next 5. Australian TV: I can only tolerate ABC or SBS, and that's only in short bursts, and sadly that is mostly British content. Enough said. 6. Australian Culture: Let's face it, there isn't any. It's an anti-culture, seemingly revelling in all that is crass. There is a celebration of bogun behaviour, eg wearing slippers and pyjamas at the supermarket (WTF), wearing white socks when not doing exercise (!!), its like there are so many Paul Calfs around. Even the politicians try to muscle in on the act, calling every one mate, and trying to be all working class. Grow up. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, think back to the Sydney Olympics closing ceremony, when they celebrated the Hills Hoist (something you hang your washing on)..good grief. 7. Australian Spirit: they think they are the only ones who can show a bit of grit. Everyone likes to see themselves as a 'little battler', which is ironic as they step into their massive Ford Territory to drive 500m down the road to buy milk, then head off home to watch (rubbish) telly on a 52inch plasma. Try sitting in a traffic jam on the M25 for 3 hours, trying to catch a plan out of heathrow. That takes grit. There is also an unsettling sameness about everything. Your accent is the same whether you live in Tassie or NT. you either drive a ford or a holden. The shops look the same, the streets look the same, everywhere. Everyone over a certain age raves on about crap bands that have never been heard of elsewhere..Skyhooks, Hunters and collectors, Cold Chisel. And said bands are the soundtrack to their lives. If you've been in Kuta Bali on NYE, I think you'll know what i mean. I'm not feeling better yet

Hi All If you live in the Western suburbs of Victoria, please join the thread... Please tell us who you are, where you are, and what it’s like, any tips? Remember what it was like trying to do research on an area, this thread could be a goldmine for new comers. If your thinking about the Western suburbs please join the thread, this should be the place to ask questions about the place. If you have a trade or service let us know. Lets start up a meet up for the area, I know at 1 point there was a drinks night, if it’s still going are new members welcome? We have some nice beaches and parks lets get some family days going.... PIO is a community web site lets turn the Western Suburbs into a community where new migrants feel welcome, who knows we just might make some life long friends along the way.

I have noticed other threads with jobs/careers, so i thought what about starting a hairdressing thread. I'm sure there are plenty of hairdressers hoping to go to Oz or already there, so we can be a network of support, especially with the 'credit crunch' at the moment, and help and support each other in this stressful time. My name is Tania and i have been an hairdresser since 1983, i have worked for myself for biggest part of these years. I have a state sponsorship to Victoria and have applied for a 176 visa. It would be good if there are hairdressers out in Oz to say if they work in a salon or are freelance, and what is it like working out in Oz, i'm sure any information would be highly appreciated by myself and fellow hairdressers. Thanks Tania XX:wubclub:

I thought I would bore the s*** out of you some more by sharing my love of Perth with you all. I actually went into a patients room last week..looked at the view of the Swan River and declared 'I love Perth!' I think she thought I was nuts! I hope others will add to the thread. Perth is: -Really beautiful beaches -Organised -Friendly -Has great housing -Is a cohesive society -Has great parks and open spaces -Feels like home yet kinda tropical/exotic -Everyone is in a good mood (mostly) -So sunny! fab climate -Great facilities outdoors A wonderful place to live...for a few years............ or forever, who knows:v_SPIN: love Fiona xx

Hi all Well we’ve been here 1 year already and its flown by. We emigrated from the UK to Brisbane on 8 February 2010. Our family consists of me (Sam) Martyn and 2 children Katie and Kyle who are 9 years and 4 ½ years old. We had all the usual ups and downs before moving wondering if we were doing the right thing etc, sold house car etc then started looking at houses again in UK wondering if we were doing the right thing. My hair started falling out and also started having palpitations all through stress. It was unreal the amount of stress you go through so can sympathise with anyone who is making the move now. Husband handled it differently by retreating to the bedroom playing computer games in any spare time he had just to stop thinking about everything we had to do which sometimes seemed insurmountable. We flew with Singapore airlines and they were brilliant. It is a very long flight though and we have 2 children who were kept entertained with all the films and games so didn’t need the pull along trolley that we’d stuffed with loads of toys/games to keep them occupied. We stopped over at Singapore airport for 3 hours and its an amazing airport very clean, seemed to me like 5 star hotel, free massage chairs as well which is very welcome after hours on plane. If you stop there check out the butterfly house and the koi pond (all of which are free) as well. Upon arriving in Brisbane we collected the hire car from the airport and found our short stay accommodation with the use of GPS. I would like to say this was a nice place to stay but it wasn’t really as it was an ensuite bedroom purpose built onto someone’s house. It was also February as well which was really hot with no aircon and no air flow going through. Anyone who lives in Qld will realise you need a property that has good airflow at this time of year as its extremely hot and humid. The people weren’t very helpful either and after a 24 hour journey we were met with a hello, were given the key and then was told “I’m off to bed” no help to bring in our 7 suitcases or anything with 2 extremely tired children. I wouldn’t recommend the place and found they weren’t very helpful at all but I wont mention the place on this forum. We had a hire car for 3 weeks, visited our bank (Commonwealth) to sign the paperwork after having opened this account from England. We moved our money with Moneycorp and the money was transferred in time for our move here. We sorted Medicare, Martyn found a job via Hays Accountancy and started 11 days after arriving here and its a very good company and he’s still there enjoying his work. We also registered with Medicare, organised a Qld driving licence which was just a matter of completing a form and having a picture taken – too easy as they say here. We also registered with Centrelink and because we were permanent residents found we could claim family assistance payments. We also found a rental and received rent assistance through Centrelink. During this 3 week period we also purchased a used car. In our first few weeks we made contact with Kev (itcouldbeworse) on this forum and he offered to show us around his suburb (Bracken Ridge) as doing the research on the internet is not the same as someone who had lived there for 15 years telling you what the area is like, where the local schools were, where to shop etc etc. His help and advice proved to be invaluable and helped us greatly and for that we will always be grateful. It really is difficult landing in a country and not knowing a soul. He also invited us round to a bbq to meet his lovely family and even put us all up for a week in the period before we could take up our rental accommodation as we just had to get out of that tiny room we had initially rented as we were going stir crazy in there. We are now friends with him and his family and have even spent some of christmas day with them which was lovely. They have become like our family here in oz. He still gives us advice too when we need it We decided to rent in Bracken Ridge as it seemed like a nice area to start a life. We enrolled our eldest child, Katie, in the local state school (Norris Road State School) she really did not want to go to a new school. Katie didn’t want to emigrate as well and we were really worried about what impact all this upheaval would have on her, but 1 year on she is a happy and well balanced girl with lots of friends, and though she still misses England and her family and friends she is happy. Our youngest Kyle wasn’t old enough to start school. I had initially decided to take 3 months off work to settle him in nursery but it ended up being a year. There is no free nursery as such here which I found a shock. They have a kindergarten (kindy) system here which you have to pay for and the fee for a full day is $60. They wont let you register for ½ days or anything like that as you still have to pay the full fee regardless of the hours they stay there. I enrolled Kyle in the local kindy but they only had 1 day available per week which was no good to me. I then looked at another kindy who also only had odd days so it meant I would have had to use 2 or even 3 different childcare places if I was to find a full time job. I decided I didn’t want to do that as it would have been confusing for Kyle to go to lots of different places so took time out from work to stay home with him and settle Katie into school etc. Kyle has now started prep school which is full time and I’m now looking for work. You can organise child care from England but you need to focus on which area you are going to live to them register your child. You would then need to make contact to put your child on a wait list and usually pay a holding fee, sometimes $10. I tried to do this in England but wasn’t sure what area we were going for and the kindies I did make contact where miles away from where we ended up renting. In the time we have been here we’ve experienced so much. We’ve done lots of sightseeing which is exciting. We’ve visited Mount Coot-tha lookout, picnicked at Slaughter Falls, visited lots and lots of beaches, Redcliffe and the manmade lagoon there, Mooloolaba, Bribie Island, Australia Zoo (6 times as bought a yearly pass) been to Dreamworld and Gold Coast for days out. We’ve been to various beaches along the sunshine coast including Noosa, went to Eumundi market which is a great day out, Yandina Ginger factory, we’ve been to an Ekka Day (Brisbane Festival held once a year) visited Montville a beautiful place with unusual shops and a lookout point and so much more too many things to mention. In all this time I’ve seen one lot of wild kangaroos and one wild koala. I kind of imagined Crocodile Dundee types everywhere and tumble weed blowing in the wind with kangas bouncing everywhere and koalas in all the trees but its not like that at all. It is a very clean and beautiful country with lots of local wildlife such as ants, frogs, dragonflies, bush turkeys, crazy looking spiders and the odd snake. Here its so clean and bright and its a pleasure to be here. The parks are clean and well maintained. You regularly see the grass being cut in parks and the equipment being tested by council workers. I’ve found the people to be pleasant and helpful. The aussies are quite forthright and say what they mean and sometimes I’ve found some of them rude but they were only saying what they thought and its quite refreshing really. One example would be I went to a butcher shop that I hadn’t been to before to buy some chicken and it was quite expensive $5 more expensive per kilo compared to my usual shop so when the guy came up to me I said “oh its a bit more expensive than what I normally pay” and the guy said “well you’d better go to where you usually go then hadn’t you” to which I replied “yes I think I will” and walked out the door embarrassed at how rude I thought he’d been, which he wasn’t really that’s just his price and I would have probably said the same if it was my shop. Not sure if this thread will be helpful to anyone making the move. I can answer individual questions if it will help anyone making the move such as where to look for rentals etc? I will say that its a more positive lifestyle, the air is cleaner the skies are brighter, its a lush green landscape. Our quality of life has improved because of such things like: More things are free, eg great parks and the weather is great Kids are not treated as a nuisance like they were in England We can take picnics out and just relax The beaches are beautiful so had lots of beach days out We have made friends in the time we have been here, friends that are more sociable such as inviting us round for drinks/bbq/days out to explore – our weekends are packed most of the time. I will say it does take time though so even though it is extremely lonely when you arrive it will get better. Kev lets us use his pool (a big plus in summertime) More laid back lifestyle News isn’t all doom and gloom – it has a positive vibe to it (I think) People are more accepting of you, it doesn’t seem to matter as much as to what job you do or what car you drive its about you and you as a person. Friends tend to make the effort to keep in touch. You may think this is a strange one to put but I’ve had lifelong friends in UK who haven’t really bothered to keep in touch since we moved and we find 99% of the time its us making the contact, this goes for some family members too. Financial things now: We brought £10k out with us and went through this in very little time. It worked out at $17,500 with the exchange rate at the time. It was a good job my hubby found a job so quickly. When you factor into this: Buying a car $5,000 its quite difficult to find a reliable(ish) car for less than this, rental bond $1640, 2 weeks rent up front $820, car hire, cant remember but it was hundreds of dollars for 3 weeks rental, buying a GPS, buying food and things you need such as pots pans utensils until your container arrives, bought a fridge freezer and a washer, cost of driving licences as well, petrol as you drive everywhere when you first arrive looking at areas etc. School uniform and book lists even though its a state school you still need to find this money as well think it was about $150. These are just some costs off the top of my head but it is an expensive time. We do have a friend who came out with less than this but they were helped greatly by a friend of theirs who let them rent cheaply and didn’t have to pay bond and got a bargain price on a second hand car so it can be done with less I would say. I find the cost of buying a property to be expensive. We haven’t bought yet but I do worry how we are going to be able to afford to buy. Average cost, I find, in Bracken Ridge for 4 bed property is about $450k for something nice, not too nice tho even at this cost. Rentals are expensive for us at $1640 a month when there is only one wage. I would say that its a good job we receive Centrelink and rent assistance otherwise would really struggle as husband on an average salary here. I find that when it comes to food shopping its wise to shop around. I tend to go to the butchers, to the fruit and veg markets and then maybe Aldi or Woolworths for my other shopping needs. It is more time consuming if you are busy working but I find this the best way for us to save money. Will say to end the thread that its awful when you say goodbyes and if I were to have any regrets at all its that we are so far away from family as really miss them and this feeling is still here after 1 year. Sometimes get tearful and sad and then another day comes and you perk yourself up and try to think why you did this in the first place. My mum visited in October and stayed for 3 months and really enjoyed her time here, so much so that she would like to come live here so looking into making this possible now. My mum has seen the quality of lifestyle here for us and the children and says we must be mad if we went back to the UK now but it still doesnt make it easier saying goodbye and knowing you're miles away again. We're going to have 3 more lots of visitors this year and hope to have a brilliant time with them and after will start saving like mad to go visit them. Sam

As you can guess I havn't done a thread before, and I am a new member so I hope I am doing this right!!!! I wonder if I have done my application wrong and hoping for some advise. We have got our TRA and State Nomination, new passports and sent the visa app off on 4th June. I am now worrying about our health checks and police checks. I thought we were to wait until the case officer tells us to get these done, but it looks like some of you guys have got the checks done before the visa have been acknowledged! Please help me, is this something I have misread, or a tip the forum has provided. P.S. I love this site, the info is really great. ta to you all. Roberta:wacko:

Here is your opportunity to praise, to rant, to give social commentary or whatever you like whether it's trivial, topical or just plain silly (just as long as you obey the forum rules....) Let me kick it off with: Is it me, or.... are there more butterflies around Melbourne at the moment? There were four around the outside of my daughters bedroom window this morning, I felt like I was walking through a classic Walt Disney movie! Ok, your turn.... Geoff

Just wanted to start a thread for painters and decorators. my husband runs his own painting business here in ireland. we're returning to live in brisbane in june and he wants to start subing for some builders.. i'm not sure.. any advice? he's planning on working for somebody when we first go out just to get a feel for things out there again but then wants to go out on his own again. he said subing is different to working for yourself as you are just working for a builder.. is that right? any first hand knowledge of how it works out there would be good. we both have aussie citizenship so are lucky we don't need visas or stuff.. my parents, who live in brisbane, keep telling me there is heaps of work. I'm not sure how much to budget for rent etc as at the moment i don't know how much he might earn working for somebody or even for himself. any ideas, feedback or advice would be reallly good?

The Title is self explanetary, tell us what you're currently doing.... I'm currently.... Starting this thread

Hi Folks. Several people have been mentioning the wildlife in Australia in a few threads and posts recently, so thought I would start this one off. One of the many, many reasons I find Australia fascinating is the uniqueness of it's wildlife, no matter how dangerous, strange etc, I love all aspects of the wildlife, yep, even the roaches, ants, snakes and spiders. I will very rarely kill anything, unless me or mine are in danger, (in which case it is normally my fault anyway.) I am to this day still amazed at the wildlife. When I am out in Australia you will still find me lifting stones, climbing trees, searching the ocean and rivers to see the unique wildlife. I'm like a big kid really when it comes to Australia's wildlife. A lot of people say that there is some deadly creature around every corner waiting to pounce on you, but in reality for the most part the wildlife keeps itself to itself, and really does take some finding. To date I have seen (in the wild) Death Adders, Taipan, Tiger Snakes, Sea Snakes, Tiger Sharks, Carpet Pythons, Box Jellyfish, Bull Sharks, Brown Snake and I was very, very lucky to see in the wild the Inland Taipan (Fierce Snake) which is allegedly the most deadly snake in the world. Took me five days to find one, but eventually was fortunate to find one. Lost count of the insects I have seen, thousands of species I would imagine. But I think to a certain degree the wildlife of Australia is often given a bad name, and for all intents and purposes 'feared' to some extent. When in reality they are an integral part of what makes up Australia. So come on, what are your views and experiences (good and bad) of the Australia wildlife. Cheers Tony.:wink:

Hi all, only new to this forum, was wondering if there was any specific threads for people moving to OZ from Ireland?? ive searched and searched but cant seem to find anything?? Not that i only want to speak to Irish or that, just to see what companies the Irish used and our processing times and Doctor and Garda checks?? sorry in advance if ive posted this in the wrong section.....

Wondered what people thought about this for a thread....we can keep it on going and people can add to it. Put the movie title in the title box and away we go!

This is a thread in which we can post strange bizarre & unexplained kind of stories that either come up in the news or happen within your own experiences. Not looking for answers or explanations, just a place for oddities that you think are interesting...... So bring on your Tales of the Unexplained or just Plain Oddity :shocked::goofy::shocked::goofy::shocked:

Here are some things that you might not know which may interest you.... - Should there be a crash, Prince Charles and Prince William never travel on the same airplane as a precaution! -The names of Popeye's four nephews are Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye, and Poopeye! -A lightning bolt generates temperatures five times hotter than those found at the sun's surface! -Most lipstick contains fish scales! -Over 2500 left handed people a year are killed from using products made for right handed people! -A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second! Everyone add their own if you want you can always add an 'odd' fact about yourself to make things interesting