Moving To Adelaide

[Paul1Perth]

On 11/05/2021 at 18:42, BeauVinyl said:

Hi Lavers,

 

Thanks for the feedback, I had a feeling you would say that you should have moved there sooner, we are feeling the same at the moment.

 

Regarding schools, we are looking at the government schools around flagstaff, we have looked at Hallet and, to be honest, we want to move to Australia to live within a more diverse environment so moving somewhere where there are lots of English kind of defeats the object of our move, so we’ll still keep looking.

 

Thanks for your replay and all the best.

 

I will have more updates when I get them.

 

Beau

 

 

I don't think I've met anyone that emigrated from the UK that didn't wish they'd done it sooner.

[Paul1Perth]

19 hours ago, BeauVinyl said:

Hi Curly, Thanks for the info.

 

We are in the UK still but have the flight booked for the 10th of August from London to Singapore, 2-hour layover, then Singapore to Adelaide.

 

We are nervous about the flight, not the actual flying but if we can actually get on the flight as Australia have halved the people arriving in the country again and I can only assume this will have a knock-on affect for us but currently we haven’t heard anything, so we are still aiming for the 10^th.

 

Regarding places to stay, thanks for your recommendation in looking about and getting a feel for the place, it’s something we plan to do straight away when we get there, and we hope to get a place asap after we finish staying at the Airbnb.

 

Beau

 

If you end up getting stuck in Singapore for longer than you think there's a swimming pool and nice bar area on the roof. Ask someone and they'll tell you where it is.

We flew back with Singapore a few years ago and they cancelled a joining flight. We should have had a 2 hour wait and it turned out we had 10 hours in the airport. We got in touch with the airline and they put us up in a room in the hotel for a few hours free. They sent us a map of the airport which showed the pool. As we had a room we were able to change into bathers and leave our stuff in the room. When we got up there, there were people off the same flight who'd got delayed but didn't know they could have got a free room. They'd found the rooftop pool area OK but were trying to get a few z's layed around with their travelling  clothes on. 

Only difference was we'd booked directly with Singapore airlines and the others had booked through travel agencies. Some hadn't found about the cancelled flight till they got to Singapore.

Good luck with your trip, strange times.

[Nemesis]

6 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

If you end up getting stuck in Singapore for longer than you think there's a swimming pool and nice bar area on the roof. Ask someone and they'll tell you where it is.

We flew back with Singapore a few years ago and they cancelled a joining flight. We should have had a 2 hour wait and it turned out we had 10 hours in the airport. We got in touch with the airline and they put us up in a room in the hotel for a few hours free. They sent us a map of the airport which showed the pool. As we had a room we were able to change into bathers and leave our stuff in the room. When we got up there, there were people off the same flight who'd got delayed but didn't know they could have got a free room. They'd found the rooftop pool area OK but were trying to get a few z's layed around with their travelling  clothes on. 

Only difference was we'd booked directly with Singapore airlines and the others had booked through travel agencies. Some hadn't found about the cancelled flight till they got to Singapore.

Good luck with your trip, strange times.

The rooftop pool is great but I'm not sure its open at the moment. Most of the shops at Changi are closed, as are some of the lounges.

[BeauVinyl]

I'm not too sure it's open either. We hopefully transit through Singapore for two and a half hours and then onto Adelaide. Constantly checking if the flights are all ok and currently they are, but we fly four weeks tomorrow and thats a long time to go.

[BeauVinyl]

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening everyone.

In these troubling times of Covid 19 I hope all are well.

I thought I would update anyone who was interested on how it is going with me and the family and our move to Australia. We moved out of our house of 11 years 3 weeks ago. This was an emotional occasion and one that upset me more than I ever thought it would. It was not the bricks and mortar they upset me, but the memories made with my two children (12 and 9) growing up in that house. The small things that I missed, the wonky door handle, the noisy boiler, and the roast dinners every Sunday without fail, those little memories of the house (and the great memories of the kids growing up) is what I will miss about that house.

So, with the house sold, my wife and I and the two children have now moved in with my parents, roughly 25 mins from where we used to live. Although it has only been 3 weeks since we left the house, time has healed the sadness and we are now all over the emotion of leaving (the hardest thing was seeing the kids cry when we left, that was difficult) but we now live with Grandma and Grandpa which, as I write this, is going well. The kids get to spend time with my parents, and my parents love having vibrant youth about the place, I think it makes them feel younger but also tires them out, there is a fine line in what we let my daughter do with grandma as with usual 9-year-olds, she is nonstop.

My wife gave up her job as a theatre nurse 6 weeks ago and has just started working bank shifts for the next two weeks as our flight date to Australia on the 11^{th of} August looms on the horizon. The date changed 3 weeks ago when Singapore Airlines moved our second leg of the flight (Singapore to Adelaide) to the same time our first leg of the flight (London to Singapore) took off, overlapping the flights. After 4 days of phone calls, we were placed on the 11^th of August flight (it was the 10^th August) and felt pretty safe, that was until one week ago when the Australian intake was then halved again. We’ve been waiting to hear of horror stories about peoples seats being moved, flights cancelled or people having their seats ‘gazumped’, increasing our anxiety on the fact that our seats will have been moved / cancelled etc… but again, as I sit here and type this, and after receiving an email from the Flight Centre just an hour ago, our seats are still there, they are ours, they (Singapore Airlines) haven’t cancelled or moved anyone as yet and we are still on for the flight.

As apprehensive I am about asking this question, has anyone heard of any horror stories of people losing seats etc…?

Like I said, with Singapore Airlines they have not cancelled/moved any seats so I can only assume that the flights to Australia from Singapore were never to full capacity which I find incredibly odd.

So, once we fly to Australia (Adelaide) and we quarantine for two weeks we move into our AirBnB in Blackwood, our two children will then be going to Hawthorndene primary, and my wife will start her employment as a nurse in Adelaide around the end of September. We are looking to stay around the Blackwood area of Adelaide and thanks to people on this site, I have been told of other affordable areas around Blackwood that would suit us as a family.

I will update again in a few weeks’ time with an update but if anyone has any questions about what I’ve written or anything that they think I can help with regarding the move to Australia then please do not hesitate to ask, the community on here seems wonderful and the people who I have spoken with have helped a lot.

Regards,

Beau Vinyl

 

 

[BeauVinyl]

Good evening, good morning and good afternoon one and all,

 

I write to inform you all of my current situation as I said I would a month-or-so-ago, so here goes. To cut a long story short we are in……………………………..Adelaide, we actually made it and after hearing the news just now from the South Australian government it sounds like we made it by the skin of our teeth.

 

So, in the past 2 months I’ve sold my house which was more upsetting that my wife and I thought it would be. The thing that broke us was on the last day of owning the house, as it was empty and quiet the postman delivered 3 letters, one to us (final gas bill) and two addressed to the house address but to the new owners and that was what made us cry, like really cry. It was that knowledge that the house we had of 11 years, where my two children grew up in and spent Christmases and birthdays in the safety of those four walls had gone and we were homeless (we still are), it was a very sad day. We then moved in with my parents for 7 weeks which, at the start, was great. Mum and dad have a routine that elderly parents have and for us it was ok at first but got tricky the longer we were there but that is to be understood, they have bee on their own for 21 years so then having a family of four for 7 weeks would be disruptive, and I think it was, but we managed to cope.

The farewell to mum and dad was always going to be hard and it was, incredibly hard. The knowledge of us not seeing them again, ever was difficult and still is as my dad, the day before we left, was diagnosed with mild dementia, honestly I thought to myself what an incredibly selfish idea this was of me taking my family to Australia and them not seeing my parents again, and also if something did happen to dad or mum no one would be there to help, that’s the only time I’ve nearly quit the whole trip, that Tuesday evening of the 10^th of August will live with me forever. The taxi to Heathrow was a blur of tears and worry, the night at Heathrow was also fraught with anxiety, tension and sadness as I knew that once on that plane to Singapore that we it, there was no going back. It even got to the point when I almost hoped, in an strange way that we would get stopped at customs and told we couldn’t go as our visa was wrong, or the flight had been cancelled or Singapore Airlines had ceased business but we left Heathrow on a flight that had 25 people on a Airbus A380 (capacity of 471) and then onto Adelaide where the capacity reduce to 21 on another A380. TI’s an incredibly odd feeling to be on an almost empty flight but the spacing for us all to sleep on empty rows is something a 6ft 5 gentleman like me will never forget.

 

From Adelaide Airport we were all placed on a big bus and escorted by police to a CBD quarantine hotel from where I write to you all from presently. We are 10 days into a 14 days quarantine period and have not killed one another, which is a miracle. The hotel and staff here have been incredible, honestly, they have been so, so, good. The food is fantastic, the issue is being served way too much and it’s all really good but rich food, I’m dying for beans on toast or a ham sandwich.

 

We leave here on the 27^th and head straight t our AirBnB where we stay for 10 weeks and hope that COVID doesn’t enter the state. As a secure measure we intend to get to the AirBnB and isolate for a further 3-4 days. My wife is a nurse and is incredibly cautious about this and I can only agree with her, there would be nothing worse that bringing a new Hereford strain into Australia and knowing it was you that started it.

 

As a sign off I have just read that South Australia have now closed it borders to returning South Australian residents (basically me) and that an exemption now needs to be made to enter here. This news has shocked me as we, as a family, made it by 9 days. If we had had this news and we were still in the UK we would have knocked the ‘dream’ on the head and can only feel for people that this will affect. Not only do I feel incredibly lucky to be here with my family, but I also feel a great sense of guilt that we have made it and others probably cannot. I only hope that the Australian public heed this action by the Australian government and get vaccinated. The news from here is that once 70 – 80% of the adult population of Australia are vaccinated then things will go back to normal and in the time I’ve been here the percentage of vaccinated has risen from 19% to 29% and now a lot is being made of getting vaccinated.

 

So after the above I’ll sign off with a cheerful farewell and a hope that the above ‘wall of text’ will interest some people. If anyone has questions to ask then please do, I’m in quarantine, I’ve played Uno and scrabble SO much that I am not thinking of taking up origami, so I need a positive distraction from it all here.

 

I do hope you are all well and I look forward to hearing from you all soon,

 

Regards,

 

Beau Vinyl

[BeauVinyl]

6 hours ago, BeauVinyl said:

As a sign off I have just read that South Australia have now closed it borders to returning South Australian residents (basically me) and that an exemption now needs to be made to enter here. This news has shocked me as we, as a family, made it by 9 days. If we had had this news and we were still in the UK we would have knocked the ‘dream’ on the head and can only feel for people that this will affect. Not only do I feel incredibly lucky to be here with my family, but I also feel a great sense of guilt that we have made it and others probably cannot. I only hope that the Australian public heed this action by the Australian government and get vaccinated. The news from here is that once 70 – 80% of the adult population of Australia are vaccinated then things will go back to normal and in the time I’ve been here the percentage of vaccinated has risen from 19% to 29% and now a lot is being made of getting vaccinated.

Apologies to all but I believe the above to be incorrect, SA have closed their borders to Victoria, not to the world. In my haste I had read this incorrectly and do not want to worry people, my apologies.

 

Beau Vinyl

[Lavers]

22 hours ago, BeauVinyl said:

Good evening, good morning and good afternoon one and all,

 

I write to inform you all of my current situation as I said I would a month-or-so-ago, so here goes. To cut a long story short we are in……………………………..Adelaide, we actually made it and after hearing the news just now from the South Australian government it sounds like we made it by the skin of our teeth.

 

So, in the past 2 months I’ve sold my house which was more upsetting that my wife and I thought it would be. The thing that broke us was on the last day of owning the house, as it was empty and quiet the postman delivered 3 letters, one to us (final gas bill) and two addressed to the house address but to the new owners and that was what made us cry, like really cry. It was that knowledge that the house we had of 11 years, where my two children grew up in and spent Christmases and birthdays in the safety of those four walls had gone and we were homeless (we still are), it was a very sad day. We then moved in with my parents for 7 weeks which, at the start, was great. Mum and dad have a routine that elderly parents have and for us it was ok at first but got tricky the longer we were there but that is to be understood, they have bee on their own for 21 years so then having a family of four for 7 weeks would be disruptive, and I think it was, but we managed to cope.

The farewell to mum and dad was always going to be hard and it was, incredibly hard. The knowledge of us not seeing them again, ever was difficult and still is as my dad, the day before we left, was diagnosed with mild dementia, honestly I thought to myself what an incredibly selfish idea this was of me taking my family to Australia and them not seeing my parents again, and also if something did happen to dad or mum no one would be there to help, that’s the only time I’ve nearly quit the whole trip, that Tuesday evening of the 10^th of August will live with me forever. The taxi to Heathrow was a blur of tears and worry, the night at Heathrow was also fraught with anxiety, tension and sadness as I knew that once on that plane to Singapore that we it, there was no going back. It even got to the point when I almost hoped, in an strange way that we would get stopped at customs and told we couldn’t go as our visa was wrong, or the flight had been cancelled or Singapore Airlines had ceased business but we left Heathrow on a flight that had 25 people on a Airbus A380 (capacity of 471) and then onto Adelaide where the capacity reduce to 21 on another A380. TI’s an incredibly odd feeling to be on an almost empty flight but the spacing for us all to sleep on empty rows is something a 6ft 5 gentleman like me will never forget.

 

From Adelaide Airport we were all placed on a big bus and escorted by police to a CBD quarantine hotel from where I write to you all from presently. We are 10 days into a 14 days quarantine period and have not killed one another, which is a miracle. The hotel and staff here have been incredible, honestly, they have been so, so, good. The food is fantastic, the issue is being served way too much and it’s all really good but rich food, I’m dying for beans on toast or a ham sandwich.

 

We leave here on the 27^th and head straight t our AirBnB where we stay for 10 weeks and hope that COVID doesn’t enter the state. As a secure measure we intend to get to the AirBnB and isolate for a further 3-4 days. My wife is a nurse and is incredibly cautious about this and I can only agree with her, there would be nothing worse that bringing a new Hereford strain into Australia and knowing it was you that started it.

 

As a sign off I have just read that South Australia have now closed it borders to returning South Australian residents (basically me) and that an exemption now needs to be made to enter here. This news has shocked me as we, as a family, made it by 9 days. If we had had this news and we were still in the UK we would have knocked the ‘dream’ on the head and can only feel for people that this will affect. Not only do I feel incredibly lucky to be here with my family, but I also feel a great sense of guilt that we have made it and others probably cannot. I only hope that the Australian public heed this action by the Australian government and get vaccinated. The news from here is that once 70 – 80% of the adult population of Australia are vaccinated then things will go back to normal and in the time I’ve been here the percentage of vaccinated has risen from 19% to 29% and now a lot is being made of getting vaccinated.

 

So after the above I’ll sign off with a cheerful farewell and a hope that the above ‘wall of text’ will interest some people. If anyone has questions to ask then please do, I’m in quarantine, I’ve played Uno and scrabble SO much that I am not thinking of taking up origami, so I need a positive distraction from it all here.

 

I do hope you are all well and I look forward to hearing from you all soon,

 

Regards,

 

Beau Vinyl

Welcome to Adelaide I am sure you will all love it.

Only bad thing at the minute is that you have to wear face masks when going into crowded areas, but it's only what you would have been doing the other month in the UK.

I know what you mean about hoping in a way that flights where cancelled and then you could use that as your get out clause for not coming I was the same.

Always second guessing ourselves and wondering if we where making the correct decision in coming to Australia, but the only way you will know is by coming to Australia.

 

[JetBlast]

Welcome to SA! The weather has slowly being getting better, so you picked a good time to come.

On 21/08/2021 at 22:39, BeauVinyl said:

but we left Heathrow on a flight that had 25 people on a Airbus A380 (capacity of 471) and then onto Adelaide where the capacity reduce to 21 on another A380.

Singapore Airlines isn't currently using any of their A380's - they are all parked up in the desert somewhere Northern Territory. Even in the peak of travel they didn't fly the A380 in Adelaide. You was most probably on a A350. A much better aircraft anyway (in my opinion) - the seats and in flight entertainment are superior.

[Jon the Hat]

Congratulations @BeauVinyl so glad you made it ok!  Sounds a little traumatic but I'm sure you will be fine.  My dad is also unwell just as we are about to leave (although he lives in France so i cannot see him) and it certainly adds to the stress.

[BeauVinyl]

4 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Congratulations @BeauVinyl so glad you made it ok!  Sounds a little traumatic but I'm sure you will be fine.  My dad is also unwell just as we are about to leave (although he lives in France so i cannot see him) and it certainly adds to the stress.

Hi Jon, I do understand. It's been hard but have been in touch a lot with the parents and they have both have given their blessing for me to do what I am doing, which helps. 

As traumatic as it was once here it feels good. Quarantine have been a bit of a pain due to that 'groundhog day' feeling but we have two nights lift and then onto our AirBnB. 

What are your plan when you get out here?

[Pompey gt]

Morning BeauVinyl and everyone 

 

Hopefully your move into Air b n b accommodation has gone smoothly .

 

Having read you posts your experience has almost been a mirror image of ours!
 

After much stress and worry we finally arrived in Adelaide on 24 August and we are currently half way through our medi hotel stay .

 

Our biggest stresses living up to the move were the flights and also the PCR tests. We were actually due to arrive in Adelaide in December 2020 but China Airlines cancelled our flights ( and are not currently flying to Oz). As soon as these flights were cancelled we then booked direct with Singapore Airlines for August 2021 and to be fair SA have been pretty good with us . When the flight cap reduction was announced in July we feared the worst on our flights being cancelled but as we got closer to our departure date we felt more confident ( even though I know some families are having their flights cancelled 2 weeks before departure date!).

 

As for the PCR tests these were super stressful.The day before departure we went up to London Heathrow to have rapid pcr tests . The results were supposed to take 3 hours  but ended up closer to 6 hours!  Whilst we were waiting for the results the reality dawned that we did not have a Plan B if any of us had a positive test result  after having sold our house and given up 2 good jobs ……….it was with immense relief and a few tears that we finally got our negative results.

 

The flights themselves were fine although we were glad we had done our research on all the forms that had needed to be completed before our departure ( Australian Travel Declaration etc )  6.5 hours transit at Singapore was not that much fun with 2 boys with very little usable facilities in the airport ……but a small sacrifice to get into Oz.

 

Arriving at Adelaide we had briefed the kids on all the staff being in hazmat clothing and loads of police …..and a police escort to the medi hotel ! But to be fair everyone we have experienced so far has been super friendly as part of the process.

 

7 days through  the medi hotel process and it has been OK so far . Whilst there are no choices on the food it has generally been fine and the hotel puts in some treats occasionally to lift the spirits.We have also got the boys playing indoor cricket!

 

Assuming our Covid tests remain negative then we are due to be in a couple of Air b n bs for the next 4 weeks . Looking at the rental market there is not a great choice at present but we are hoping that we will get lucky once we leave the medi hotel . Our boys ( aged 7 and 12 ) are due to start school in the Hills area and Stirling /Aldgate would be our preferred place to live but very little rental stock at present .

We feel blessed and very lucky to have arrived in Adelaide in the current pandemic with the flight caps and will try our hardest to make this a positive experience . We know no one in Adelaide but with 2 kids we are hoping to make the effort to integrate . Both our boys are into their sport ( any recommendations for junior soccer teams will be welcome!) and we will try to fathom out the rules for AFL …..

 We are not regular forum posters but we have found reassurance and comfort from other posts ! Indeed we are very happy to help others who are going through the same emigration process.

 

Take care all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BeauVinyl]

12 minutes ago, Pompey gt said:

Morning BeauVinyl and everyone 

 

Hopefully your move into Air b n b accommodation has gone smoothly .

 

Having read you posts your experience has almost been a mirror image of ours!
 

After much stress and worry we finally arrived in Adelaide on 24 August and we are currently half way through our medi hotel stay .

 

Our biggest stresses living up to the move were the flights and also the PCR tests. We were actually due to arrive in Adelaide in December 2020 but China Airlines cancelled our flights ( and are not currently flying to Oz). As soon as these flights were cancelled we then booked direct with Singapore Airlines for August 2021 and to be fair SA have been pretty good with us . When the flight cap reduction was announced in July we feared the worst on our flights being cancelled but as we got closer to our departure date we felt more confident ( even though I know some families are having their flights cancelled 2 weeks before departure date!).

 

As for the PCR tests these were super stressful.The day before departure we went up to London Heathrow to have rapid pcr tests . The results were supposed to take 3 hours  but ended up closer to 6 hours!  Whilst we were waiting for the results the reality dawned that we did not have a Plan B if any of us had a positive test result  after having sold our house and given up 2 good jobs ……….it was with immense relief and a few tears that we finally got our negative results.

 

The flights themselves were fine although we were glad we had done our research on all the forms that had needed to be completed before our departure ( Australian Travel Declaration etc )  6.5 hours transit at Singapore was not that much fun with 2 boys with very little usable facilities in the airport ……but a small sacrifice to get into Oz.

 

Arriving at Adelaide we had briefed the kids on all the staff being in hazmat clothing and loads of police …..and a police escort to the medi hotel ! But to be fair everyone we have experienced so far has been super friendly as part of the process.

 

7 days through  the medi hotel process and it has been OK so far . Whilst there are no choices on the food it has generally been fine and the hotel puts in some treats occasionally to lift the spirits.We have also got the boys playing indoor cricket!

 

Assuming our Covid tests remain negative then we are due to be in a couple of Air b n bs for the next 4 weeks . Looking at the rental market there is not a great choice at present but we are hoping that we will get lucky once we leave the medi hotel . Our boys ( aged 7 and 12 ) are due to start school in the Hills area and Stirling /Aldgate would be our preferred place to live but very little rental stock at present .

We feel blessed and very lucky to have arrived in Adelaide in the current pandemic with the flight caps and will try our hardest to make this a positive experience . We know no one in Adelaide but with 2 kids we are hoping to make the effort to integrate . Both our boys are into their sport ( any recommendations for junior soccer teams will be welcome!) and we will try to fathom out the rules for AFL …..

 We are not regular forum posters but we have found reassurance and comfort from other posts ! Indeed we are very happy to help others who are going through the same emigration process.

 

Take care all

 

 

Hi @Pompey gt and welcome to the Medicare hotel experience, which hotel are you in? We were in the Playford and it was great, the only issue was we ate far too much and I'm now on a crash diet  

You're travel experience sounds a lot like ours but thankfully you've done that now and can look forward to the future here. We have an AirBnB in Blackwood but are looking to get out of here in the next few weeks. Regarding the rental market, there isn't much about but we have found that the cheaper rents ($450 - $55 a week) go quickly the more expensive rents ($650 - $750) don't go at all, for example, we are looking at a decent rental today and if I'm honest we really want it as it'll be a great location for us all but it's a cheap one. 2-3 months ago I was told that there were 50-60 people looking at one premises but because the borders to Victoria and NSW are closed the rental market has fallen flat so we feel a little more confident we can rent. I've been in Aus for a little under 3 weeks and have seen 5-6 places for rent that we'd like. The most frustrating thing was when we were in the Medihotel we couldn't go and see the rental, so we were stuck. We were offered rentals but couldn't physically see them, it was SO frustrating. 

What are your plans once you are out, have you jobs etc.... My wife is a nurse and will commence employment on the 20th September, having an income is a BIG boost for rentals as all the landlords want is money and proof of it (income) once you have this you'll have a decent chance of getting something.

We've not been to Stirling / Aldgate but do plan to visit. We've been told Mount Barker is ace and Hahndorf is also a beautiful place to visit and live (friends relatives have just moved there, they love it). One thing we've noticed here is how close everything is and how easy it is to get places. We've decided to make Blackwood and Hawthorndene our 'patch' and want to spend as much time here making friends in the community so we are in the hills but the beach (Brighton), where my kids LOVE, is only 15 mins away in the car and that, to me, is bananas. NEVER would I be able to live 15 mins from a beach, in the hills in the UK. The lifestyle here is incredible and I've noticed that from being 4 days out of quarantine.

If you fancy meeting up when you are 'released' then let me know and I'll help you out with what we've found out anyway we can. We don't know anyone here but I've joined the Hawthorndene parents facebook page and told them all our situation and I've received a lot of welcoming feedback, I feel we'll 'make friends' at the primary school gate so look forward to that.

Any other questions then let me know and I'll try and answer them for you.

Regards,

Beau

 

 

[Marisawright]

On 13/07/2021 at 14:54, Paul1Perth said:

I don't think I've met anyone that emigrated from the UK that didn't wish they'd done it sooner.

You may not have met anyone in person, but you can't deny you've met many people on these forums who wish they'd never come.  

Don't get me wrong, I love living in Australia but it's definitely not the right choice for everyone.  

[rammygirl]

The Hills are a great place.  Do however check bushfire ratings where you are considering as it can vary street to street and affects insurance as well as safety. With summer on the way you should make a bushfire plan, there is plenty of info on the web and sometimes local meetings. As new residents to the hills you need to be aware.

I am in Hahndorf township in a medium bushfire zone, we keep an eye on alerts and have a go bag packed with important documents and essentials just in case we have to evacuate. Last season some of our neighbours with children moved to a hotel in the city for a couple of nights when a big fire got close.

Having said all that I am watching a koala this morning in the big gum at the front of our house.

[BeauVinyl]

8 minutes ago, rammygirl said:

The Hills are a great place.  Do however check bushfire ratings where you are considering as it can vary street to street and affects insurance as well as safety. With summer on the way you should make a bushfire plan, there is plenty of info on the web and sometimes local meetings. As new residents to the hills you need to be aware.

I am in Hahndorf township in a medium bushfire zone, we keep an eye on alerts and have a go bag packed with important documents and essentials just in case we have to evacuate. Last season some of our neighbours with children moved to a hotel in the city for a couple of nights when a big fire got close.

Having said all that I am watching a koala this morning in the big gum at the front of our house.

Thanks for this @rammygirl, we are aware of the insurance and the bush fire protocol around here. Regarding your Koala, I'm watching a Cookaborough chirping/screaming at a cat. Beautiful.

[Lavers]

4 hours ago, BeauVinyl said:

Thanks for this @rammygirl, we are aware of the insurance and the bush fire protocol around here. Regarding your Koala, I'm watching a Cookaborough chirping/screaming at a cat. Beautiful.

That cookaborough noise will soon start pissing you off haha

[Marisawright]

19 minutes ago, Lavers said:

That cookaborough noise will soon start pissing you off haha

Now all you both have to do is learn how to spell kookaburra.

[Lavers]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Now all you both have to do is learn how to spell kookaburra.

I just copied miss

[Paul1Perth]

On 31/08/2021 at 07:06, Marisawright said:

You may not have met anyone in person, but you can't deny you've met many people on these forums who wish they'd never come.  

Don't get me wrong, I love living in Australia but it's definitely not the right choice for everyone.  

I've not met anyone from these forums. Chatting to someone online isn't meeting to me, I'm still old school.

You find a lot of people join forums to have a moan too. The ones who like it don't bother a lot of the time.

[BeauVinyl]

2 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

I've not met anyone from these forums. Chatting to someone online isn't meeting to me, I'm still old school.

You find a lot of people join forums to have a moan too. The ones who like it don't bother a lot of the time.

yeah, true about meeting up with people. Thanks.

[Marisawright]

15 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

I've not met anyone from these forums. Chatting to someone online isn't meeting to me, I'm still old school.

Now that's not fair and you know it.  Your statement implies that everyone who comes to Australia loves it, when you know for a fact that's a blatant untruth.  The fact that you've never met any of those PomsinOz members face-to-face doesn't matter, you've read what they've written and in many cases, it's deeply felt, not just a "moan".  

IMO I think it's a disservice to pretend to a newbie that everyone who comes to Australia loves it.  If by some chance they don't love it, then they'll be left feeling there's something wrong with them.  Whereas the fact is that lots of migrants arrive and realise they prefer their home country after all (and end up going home and appreciating home more than they ever did!).  But equally, lots of migrants discover that they love Australia and I'm sure @BeauVinyl will be one of them.  Thething is to keep an open mind and not let people brow-beat you either way.  Everyone is entitled to their own preferences.

[Paul1Perth]

1 minute ago, Marisawright said:

Now that's not fair and you know it.  Your statement implies that everyone who comes to Australia loves it, when you know for a fact that's a blatant untruth.  The fact that you've never met any of those PomsinOz members face-to-face doesn't matter, you've read what they've written and in many cases, it's deeply felt, not just a "moan".  

IMO I think it's a disservice to pretend to a newbie that everyone who comes to Australia loves it.  If by some chance they don't love it, then they'll be left feeling there's something wrong with them.  Whereas the fact is that lots of migrants arrive and realise they prefer their home country after all (and end up going home and appreciating home more than they ever did!).  But equally, lots of migrants discover that they love Australia and I'm sure @BeauVinyl will be one of them.  Thething is to keep an open mind and not let people brow-beat you either way.  Everyone is entitled to their own preferences.

I've never implied everyone loves it. I'm sure there are plenty that don't and go back.

Some ping pong, we all know that expression.

[Pompey gt]

Thank you for everyone’s feedback which is helpful. We are under no misconception that Australia is not all good ( TV and lack of roundabouts for a start !) but on balance we feel it will be better for our family than the UK .The best advice I have had is that do not keep trying to compare your lives in the UK and Oz otherwise you will always conflict yourself and never enjoy the “ now “ in Oz.

 

@Rammygirl - thank you for your advice on The Hills . Yes bush fire awareness is something that we will need to get to grips on , especially having seen some of the tv scenes of the bushfires last summer. Also the idea of a “ go to “ bag makes a lot of sense - just in case.

 

@BeauVinyl - yes we are now at Day 9 of the medi hotel experience . It is starting to drag a bit now , although seeing that NSW are now reducing their flight caps again to 750 per week , we do not underestimate how lucky we have been to actually arrive in Adelaide.

We are in the Peppers hotel which has been comfortable enough . I agree about the food  which tends to be a lot of comfort food from the hotel which is not a great combination without a great amount of exercise ……we are craving for some simple food like toast and beans on toast!
 

Yes I agree with the frustration on rentals whilst  in the medi hotel but we will simply need to be patient until we hopefully get out next week. We agree that some of the more expensive properties seem to hand around a little longer. Ultimately I think we may need to compromise on area and probably be closer to the CBD  (or otherwise in Mount Barker )rather than the Hills ………but we have always said that getting a decent rental property is quite important to help our kids settle in. From what we can see Mount Barker has a lot of new build properties with small gardens which would not be our preferred choice .

 

Employment wise I have been lucky that my employer has allowed me to work remotely from 1 October which has taken the pressure off a little ( subject to getting a decent broadband connection !)   My wife will be settling the kids in school  up until Xmas  and then will look for work in the New Year once the summer hols have finished. It sounds as though your wife has been lucky getting employment so quickly ……….but I guess nursing is very much in demand  which no doubt helps that process.

 

yes it would be good to meet up once we have been released . Equally it would be good for our kids to swap stories with yours ( who are similar ages)  since no doubt they will be going through similar nervousness about starting new schools ,making friends etc . Our  first Air b n b is near Brighton and we love the beach and general vibe round that area .

 

Take care all ……and enjoy a 30 degrees day!

[rammygirl]

A lot of the new builds in Mt Barker are not that close to the centre. Littlehampton is nearer than many of the new estates. Do be aware that public transport isn’t the best up here either. I like Brighton and Marion council in general has a lot going for it.