Melbourne - Made it !

[weemster]

Hi All,

 

Just thought I would write this post so that others may benefit as I have done from the great posts I have read.

 

Me and my Fiancee finally arrived in Melbourne on the 20th. We flew via Singapore to Brisbane then onto Melbourne (should have been direct from Singi to Melbourne but Quantas cancelled some flights due to bad weather at Heathrow). The lead up to the move was manic (and we did a lot of planning) i.e renting the house, clearing the house, Anglo coming to ship the things that we decided to take (thumbs up to Anglo) and Pet Air (Steve who came to collect our two boys was a great bloke and went that bit extra to ease our concerns). All the goodbyes were very hard but, these alone were not reason enough not to try out this adventure.

 

We are lucky enough to be staying at my Dads place, so this is a great help as we are currently looking at places to rent in Albert Park or Middle Park. We brought our two cats with us (got to see them yesterday in Quarantine, I think they are sort of still talking to us).

 

We activated our bank accounts and the cards arrived within a couple of days which was great. We also went to the Medicare center which was really easy and now have our numbers. We decided to get a couple of prepaid sims from Optus just to tye us over till our iphones arrive (bit of a waiting list, but Vodafone accepted our passports and medicare numbers along with a proof of address from the bank so now just a case of waiting) - Optus call charges on their prepaid are a total mystery and the credit goes in a flash.

 

The weather (although not perfect) has been lovely most of the time and Melbourne is lovely. The thing we enjoy the most (and yes its early days) is the sense of real community thats exists here, in the main people are friendly and they all seem to have a sense of trying to help the country succeed as a whole. There are many cultures but it seems to be work well here - I hope we feel the same in a few months.

 

My advice to anyone thinking of making the move is give it a go.....nothing lasts forever and if the chance arises to live or work in Australia, then why not - if things shouldn't work then its only a case of returning home safe in the knowledge you gave it crack.

 

We are doing our driving licences next week (purely because an Aussie piece of photo Id seems to carry more weight than a Pommie Passport)

 

As a sideline we were concerned about rental places that would accept our cats but in the areas we have looked in there are a quite a few houses so we need'nt have been worred, that said be prepared for the odd idiot agent asking for references for your cat :biglaugh:

 

We have tickets for all of the Ashes days at the MCG for the 4th test and I will be there as a very proud Englishmen who made the right decision in spending a year or two in another great proud country.

 

Merry Christmas all, and a big thank you to PIO - it really helped us.

 

xx

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Merry Christmas and welcome to Melbourne, it sounds like you are very well organised:)

Have fun and enjoy the match tomorrow.

Kate

[cornish78]

Great post - Happy Christmas, can't wait to be there next year...enjoy the Ashes

[Guest TheArmChairDetective]

Good luck to you, I have my fingers crossed that your new life is all that you hope it to be.

[olly]

Welcome to Melbourne, the home of sport in Oz, hope you enjoy your stay whether permanent or not. Best wishes for your adventure.

[weemster]

Just returned from day one at the test which in truth a bit sad it was a little to one sided.

 

Thank you all. You wonderful people.

 

All the best for the new year.

[Guest Toorak Trev]

A test?

 

I thought it was a one dayer:biggrin:

[weemster]

A test?

 

I thought it was a one dayer:biggrin:

 

Thats a terrible thing to say!!!!!....!???.............................. :biglaugh:

[Rhian1]

Great post!

Me and my husband moved to Melbourne in October and we are really enjoying it. Feeling more settled and even though Xmas and New Yea was a bit odd being away from all our family - we are looking forward to what this year will bring - lots of trips and family visiting!!

We are here for 2 or so years so want to pack everything in - how long are you here for?

 

X

[weemster]

Great post!

Me and my husband moved to Melbourne in October and we are really enjoying it. Feeling more settled and even though Xmas and New Yea was a bit odd being away from all our family - we are looking forward to what this year will bring - lots of trips and family visiting!!

We are here for 2 or so years so want to pack everything in - how long are you here for?

 

X

 

Hi Rhian1,

 

We are here for two years aswell and hoping for lots of trips and family visits to. Glad you are both more settled, we have felt the same over the past few days (that time of year).

 

Happy New Year to you both and if you ever fancy a night out just shout !

 

David X

[Rhian1]

Thanks David,

 

We are thinking of going to one of the meet ups held by ex pats in melbourne - just to see what like - so if you fancy that - i'll point you right direction!!

Have a lovely time,

 

x

[weemster]

We thought the same.

 

Cheers and have fun the both of you.

 

David and Michelle xx

(both 40 going on 18, two cats in quarantine)

[Guest TheArmChairDetective]

Excuse the dumb question, but what happens after two years please?

[weemster]

Excuse the dumb question, but what happens after two years please?

 

Personally for us we will take a view as to how the things have gone and then decide if Aus is for us or move on.

[Guest Reed dog]

Hi Weemster.

Help. I have just quit my job to concentrate on getting our lives sorted to try and get out to Melbourne in March if possible. Has the exchange rate given you any headaches.

Reed dog

[Guest Bobby]

Nice one mate, have a good time.

[Guest Toorak Trev]

To answer this as an open response based on discussions with others recently arriving at my office.

 

They decided to bring more things over in a container including cars that they would otherwise not have brought. In some ways the exchange rate change has made or more worthwhile.

 

Focus on earning Australian dollar and only spending from that earning. The balance should only be things like initial rental deposits/bonds first few weeks of costs of living. I would not be bringing across large amounts of cash.

[weemster]

Hi Weemster.

Help. I have just quit my job to concentrate on getting our lives sorted to try and get out to Melbourne in March if possible. Has the exchange rate given you any headaches.

Reed dog

 

Yes the currency issue didn't help. We decided only to bring over a minimal amount of money just to help us get started (£20k) and over the last 6 months transferred it in chunks of £2-3k when the rate was above 1.64 (which wasn't often). Our large savings are still in Blighty until we know what we intend to do 2 years down the line.

 

Congratulations on your decision to come to Melbourne. I am a freelance software developer and quit my current contract when the time was right for me and my partner (we put a marker down, which was the Ashes test and worked around that). I think you can deliberate to much in life regarding things that you have no control over.

 

I don't know your specific situation but Australia (although from our very limited experience is lovely) isn't the place to be should you fall on hard times financially. Ensure you have a good plan that will take you through the next 6 months or so without an income (there are two of us and my partner has just had a job offer from her uk company here in Melbourne which is great) but we didn't get on the plane with that information as life is also about risks and sometimes being prepared to "wing" it a little bit but bear in mind we are able to do this as we still have our house being rented in the Uk and savngs.

 

I hope this helps :biggrin:

[Guest Reed dog]

Hi David

Today has been a very long day of making decisions. Before you posted, we had decided to rent our home out as we already rent our other two property's out and have done for quite a few years. We have just sold a property in Yorkshire and we were hoping to use the money from that to come out, but the tax man is not playing ball as it was an inheritance. At 47 years old, with a wife and 2 young kids, it is a big move, but I have always gone for my goals. I have just quit my job in Formula 1 and it is a lot of money to walk away from, but I have been to Australia so many times over the last 17 years that I feel at home the most when I am there. You have really calmed me down with your post Weemster and Toorak Trev has set me on another course of research also, so thank you both very much. Quick question, has your 20K been enough to get started again. We have permanent residency with a V175 visa and see this as a move for good.

Thanks again and best regards.

Andy and Maria

[Guest Reed dog]

BY the way. Not stressed any more. A kind of calm is descending over me. Could it be the wine my wife keeps bringing me while I am on the keyboard under the stairs.

[weemster]

Hi David

Today has been a very long day of making decisions. Before you posted, we had decided to rent our home out as we already rent our other two property's out and have done for quite a few years. We have just sold a property in Yorkshire and we were hoping to use the money from that to come out, but the tax man is not playing ball as it was an inheritance. At 47 years old, with a wife and 2 young kids, it is a big move, but I have always gone for my goals. I have just quit my job in Formula 1 and it is a lot of money to walk away from, but I have been to Australia so many times over the last 17 years that I feel at home the most when I am there. You have really calmed me down with your post Weemster and Toorak Trev has set me on another course of research also, so thank you both very much. Quick question, has your 20K been enough to get started again. We have permanent residency with a V175 visa and see this as a move for good.

Thanks again and best regards.

Andy and Maria

 

Hi Andy and Maria,

 

It has been enough for us yes - but there an again we don't have children and my father (lives over here) has kindly agreed to put us up until we find a rental.

 

The £20k is only for the rental bond, appliances and the odd meal for my dad :wink:

 

Happy to answer other questions just drop us a pm.

 

All the very best to the both of you and well done. The fact you say you feel most of at home in Aus means you will suceed imo.

 

David

[Guest Bobbles77]

your posts sound really positive and goof to see others have just moved and settled quickly. we are due to move in 4 weeks, decided to have xmas here with the family. really looking forward to the move now and excited to start looking for a suitable place to live. we have serviced apartments in the docklands for a month and hope to find somewhere in the south/east melbourne area to live. any advice or tips you have from your own experiences looking for a rental property please let me know!:biggrin: