Nathalie Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hi all, We finally arrived down under on the 18th of April. Just a quick run through on how things went until we got here: My OH started the process for a Visa mid 2009 and he was ready to put in all the paperwork to the ACS (Australian Computer Society) in September of 2009. Due to some issues we had with the bank, the assessment took longer then usual and finally in January 2010 they came back and made him eligible for the Skilled Visa (175) with regards to skills. From there on, it went fairly quickly. Rules had changed a bit in the meanwhile meaning my OH also sat his IELTS test to be on the safe side. In April the Visa was lodged by our agent, in May we were requested to get our medicals and police checks done and on the 2nd of July we were granted our 175 Visa's (with me on a spouse visa). We are both in IT, and we feel quite lucky as from July 2010 many IT jobs have been removed from the critical skills list, including the one we used to qualify. We decided to make the move in 2011, which gave us another 10 months to save up some more money and get ready for it. We saved like crazy, we had no house or car to sell, so in October we booked the flight so we had a set date when we would go. We departed from Heathrow on the 17th of April with Quantas, my suitcase was slightly too heavy, but nothing was said and we didn't have to pay any extra. As you know, it was a long flight and we arrived on the Monday in the early evening. Took a cab to our hotel and stayed in Sydney for 3 days, so we had a chance to also relax a bit. The first thing we did on the Tuesday morning was to get a sim card for our phones. For us this was crucial, as we are heavy smartphone users and it has all the things we need for travel & being online where ever you are. We went with Telstra and I still can't believe the deal we have. We got a prepaid sim, which cost $2 and then you can put an amount onto it of your choice. In our case we went for the $60, which gives you 3GB of data, ofcourse the $60 for voice/text but also $940 worth of bonus voice/text. The best thing of this is, you can call internationally with it including to international mobiles. So, in essence, we can call home to the UK (or Holland in my case) on my mobile to my mum's mobile for free! Also, we're ablel to tether an internet connection with our laptops in emergencies, so this was right up our street On the Wednesday we picked up our bank cards (from NAB - very good service), then had a relaxing day and on Thursday morning we picked up our rental car to drive to Brisbane. We took it easy, stayed over in Port Macquarie and arrived in Bris on the Friday around 15.00. We had booked a holiday appartement for a month which is where we are staying currently. It's not too cheap, neither extremely expensive, but we have all utilities at hand, so we don't have to buy any household devices at all and we're close to the CBD (Auchenflower). The hosts are a very nice couple which made us feel very welcome and we're quite happy to stay until we find a long term rental. My OH also writes about our journey on his blog and he also has a video of the appartment, you can find it here . So far, we really like Brisbane (but can it stop raining please!!), we have spent 2 days sofar driving around, just to get an idea of the suburbs, but there are so many! The OH has started to apply for jobs last weekend, and felt initially a bit disheartened as it he didn't get a response straight away - which was logical as it was a long bank holiday weekend. From Wednesday onwards his phone has kept ringing, he's had 1 interview of which he didn't take the job, and another interview which he cancelled as he had a change of heart of that particular job. Coming week (another long weekend coming up ofcourse) he's got another 2 interviews scheduled with the prospect of some more coming, so in that sense, all seem to go well. In a way we feel a bit insecure, as not having a job prevents you from doing certain stuff, and also the money is only going out and nothing coming in, but we're fairly confident and calm about things and hope to have something soon. Once a job has been secured we'll start the househunting and can start building our live how we want to :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest desgs Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathalie Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 Just a little update: - We've done some shopping sofar, and although we can't be super efficient since we don't have a freezer, I've found that the prices were acceptable. Lots of horror stories here on the forums about how much more expensive things are, but although more expensive then the UK (largely in part in my opinion due to the awful exchange rate) it's pretty much what we expected. I expect to spend about $250 a week once we get into our long term rental and it's a matter of doing shopping sensibly as many people on here recommend. There are many things that are very expensive, but usually you can always find a cheaper alternative. That's no different from the UK. I used to just grab stuff in the supermarket back in the UK and we always had £120+ shopping a week (for 2 people). Once I started to watch what I was doing, I was also able to cut it back to £60 without many concessions. I'd learned my lesson back then and do the same here. Also, once we both have jobs we'll be on much more money then we were in the UK, so we'll be better off by then. - Traffic. I'm not sure what others experienced, but sofar I find the traffic a more positive experience then in the UK. Seems nobody is speeding, but also very little people are driving utterly slow, making the gap between speed alot less then in the UK and it seems much more relaxed. Brisbane city in general is busy, but nothing compared to London or even Leeds in my opinion. I've also not seen any incidents of roadrage or complete idiotic behaviour sofar and I've been driving every day. My OH also wrote a summary on how much it roughly cost us to actually make the move. You can find it here. We used an agent, but he also included stuff we normally would not have spent if we wouldn't have moved, things you usually don't think about. We believe all in all we spent about $16000 to get here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 We're not aiming for Brissie, but wanted to say a huge thanks, for both your posts here and the blog - they are really informative and helpful Hope everything continues to go smoothly for you both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest36187 Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Well said and welcome to Australia xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluxsta Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Just a little update: - We've done some shopping sofar, and although we can't be super efficient since we don't have a freezer, I've found that the prices were acceptable. Lots of horror stories here on the forums about how much more expensive things are, but although more expensive then the UK (largely in part in my opinion due to the awful exchange rate) it's pretty much what we expected. I expect to spend about $250 a week once we get into our long term rental and it's a matter of doing shopping sensibly as many people on here recommend. There are many things that are very expensive, but usually you can always find a cheaper alternative. That's no different from the UK. I used to just grab stuff in the supermarket back in the UK and we always had £120+ shopping a week (for 2 people). Once I started to watch what I was doing, I was also able to cut it back to £60 without many concessions. I'd learned my lesson back then and do the same here. Also, once we both have jobs we'll be on much more money then we were in the UK, so we'll be better off by then. - Traffic. I'm not sure what others experienced, but sofar I find the traffic a more positive experience then in the UK. Seems nobody is speeding, but also very little people are driving utterly slow, making the gap between speed alot less then in the UK and it seems much more relaxed. Brisbane city in general is busy, but nothing compared to London or even Leeds in my opinion. I've also not seen any incidents of roadrage or complete idiotic behaviour sofar and I've been driving every day. My OH also wrote a summary on how much it roughly cost us to actually make the move. You can find it here. We used an agent, but he also included stuff we normally would not have spent if we wouldn't have moved, things you usually don't think about. We believe all in all we spent about $16000 to get here. Very informative and we have budgeted around £12,000 sterling, so it is great to hear that you have survived. We also have 3 kids..............:biggrin: thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathalie Posted May 10, 2011 Author Share Posted May 10, 2011 Quick update After being here for 3 weeks, the OH got offered a number of jobs, he rejected the first 3 and now got offered his dream job. We should be getting the paperwork in the coming 2 days and he's going to start on Monday! I've also unexpectedly gotten an interview and am through to the 2nd round for a job I really like, so that seems to be going very fast! I'm going to start the house hunt soon, wish me luck on that! We'll be looking at the Ferny Hill/Grove area, perhaps Narangba, maybe The Gap, Jindalee, Sinnamon Park & Sandgate and surroundings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RunnerBean Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Narangba is lovely, it's where my SIL lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest36187 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Im in Sinnamon Park and can help with that area if you want to know anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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