Muswellbrook X poms!!

[Guest MarcandSarah]

Thanks for this Jenny, I found it really useful. We were looking at Singleton but didn't realise that there was such a housing shortage so i'll start ringing around now. I'm a little concerned about the whole making friends thing, i'm a very sociable person anyway but I hear that a lot of people make friends through their children (mum's get chatting at the school gates etc) and we don't have kids. Plus i'm very independant and go out without the other half on a weekly basis so I think not having my friends around will be very hard for me when Marc is driving me mad!

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

I know, i'm getting sick of worrying about everything! The steam cleaner sounds like a good idea, i'll have to put it on my very long list of things to look in to before we go. I'm just looking for a phobia curing therapist thingy at the moment because the closer we get to actually going the more freaked out I get. Saying that I did see a spider at the zoo a few weeks ago and didnt throw up which is quite an achievement for me!

 

Hope you had a nice birthday.

 

Sarah x

haha sarah you made me chuckle, seriously I understand about the whole fear of spiders, I was convinced every tree I walked past would have one lurking ready to jump out on me, but the fear is probably worse at the mo cos its the unknown but I am sure that fear will get less when you realise out there that although yes be you have a right to be cautious but there won't be spiders every which way!

I wouldn have had a nice birthday however just our luck after just 1.5 hours of being in Newquay, Keeley my nearly 5 year old fell playing catch with Mark and landed on her elbow (wearing flipflops on grass). Cut a long story short she broke and dislocated her elbow, so we spent the next 2 days in hospital, with her having pins put in under general....wasn't pleasant watching that! she has been in cast now 2 weeks by friday it will be 3 weeks and we are then booked into have anotyher op to have pins removed, so ths coming weekend will be another traumatic experience for her bless her. So I wasn't expecting a ride in an ambulance on my birthday.

Jennys post was very informative, Mark and I are now reassessing our finances and what we will have to put in place to accommodate perhaps moving further afield....we will also be contacting the estate agents direct to see whats on offer. I think Muswellbrook is a definite no no though, not too sure of the ruralness of it or the fact we get the impression perhaps crime is an issue, Mark read their local paper and crime reports seemed an issue, although ion the decrease.

Right have to go do some mummy duties, Keeley has to have help more so now with an arm in plaster and bath times and washing her long mane of hair is quite tricky. x

[Guest kennmikp]

Hey there

 

Mark has been wondering the same reference the tools, he doesn't want to have to replace all his tools what with the expense etc...tools are far more expensive over there from his investigations! Jeys Cleaning Fluid from B&Q or homebase has been recommended as a great product to use for cleaning tools caked in oil/dirt/grease. Mark is going to put his tools through an industrial cleaner that steams them and then clean the remainder with this fluid. He will probably replace the tool boxes but not the tools. Its endless this isn't it? so many things to think about....:eek:

 

Katie and Mark

 

Well i wont be taking that many (dont have many lol). Hitachi provide all tools as requiredc for the job (so im lead to believe from the interviews and talking to others). The few i am taking will be getting sprayed in Jayes Fluid then wiped down and placed in to a NEW toolbox :wink:

[Guest kennmikp]

Well ref location for settling (be it Muswellbrook, Singleton or other), i know that me and Mik are going to go with our 1st interest and stick with Muswellbrook.

 

Lots of reasons for it, but the BIG 1 is the travel time to work really. Im not loosing up to 2 hours of my day traveling to work and loosing out on QUALITY FAMILY time when if i live on the doorstep of the Workshop it will be about half an hour :wink:

 

We did our initial research in Muswellbrook so thats what we had our sights set on. Have spoken to one of the other lads who is moving there too, as its what he looked at initially. It seems to tick all of the boxes for us and what we are looking for (it wont for everyone i understand that). We have both spent time living in the more rural,quiet areas in the UK and overseas, so for us it fits nicely.

 

Another BIG factor is housing. Now we have looked all over the Hunter Valley area (within 1 hours drive from the workshop) and cannot for the life of us find anywhere that has decent, well priced properties within budget. However we have found a lot in out prefered re-settlement area.

 

Ken & Mikala.

[Guest MarcandSarah]

haha sarah you made me chuckle, seriously I understand about the whole fear of spiders, I was convinced every tree I walked past would have one lurking ready to jump out on me, but the fear is probably worse at the mo cos its the unknown but I am sure that fear will get less when you realise out there that although yes be you have a right to be cautious but there won't be spiders every which way!

I wouldn have had a nice birthday however just our luck after just 1.5 hours of being in Newquay, Keeley my nearly 5 year old fell playing catch with Mark and landed on her elbow (wearing flipflops on grass). Cut a long story short she broke and dislocated her elbow, so we spent the next 2 days in hospital, with her having pins put in under general....wasn't pleasant watching that! she has been in cast now 2 weeks by friday it will be 3 weeks and we are then booked into have anotyher op to have pins removed, so ths coming weekend will be another traumatic experience for her bless her. So I wasn't expecting a ride in an ambulance on my birthday.

Jennys post was very informative, Mark and I are now reassessing our finances and what we will have to put in place to accommodate perhaps moving further afield....we will also be contacting the estate agents direct to see whats on offer. I think Muswellbrook is a definite no no though, not too sure of the ruralness of it or the fact we get the impression perhaps crime is an issue, Mark read their local paper and crime reports seemed an issue, although ion the decrease.

Right have to go do some mummy duties, Keeley has to have help more so now with an arm in plaster and bath times and washing her long mane of hair is quite tricky. x

 

Poor little thing, hope everything goes well next weekend x

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

Hi Ken

I was told ref tools to supply everything up to 1 inch drive, I understand that the fitter wagons will be fitted out with tools but we will still need your own...we might find ourselves working on the shop floor for a bit. Damian did say they will supply tools to cover us while our own are in transit. Thats why we get a tool allowance. Best double check with Damian mate.

[Guest MarcandSarah]

Well ref location for settling (be it Muswellbrook, Singleton or other), i know that me and Mik are going to go with our 1st interest and stick with Muswellbrook.

 

Lots of reasons for it, but the BIG 1 is the travel time to work really. Im not loosing up to 2 hours of my day traveling to work and loosing out on QUALITY FAMILY time when if i live on the doorstep of the Workshop it will be about half an hour :wink:

 

We did our initial research in Muswellbrook so thats what we had our sights set on. Have spoken to one of the other lads who is moving there too, as its what he looked at initially. It seems to tick all of the boxes for us and what we are looking for (it wont for everyone i understand that). We have both spent time living in the more rural,quiet areas in the UK and overseas, so for us it fits nicely.

 

Another BIG factor is housing. Now we have looked all over the Hunter Valley area (within 1 hours drive from the workshop) and cannot for the life of us find anywhere that has decent, well priced properties within budget. However we have found a lot in out prefered re-settlement area.

 

Ken & Mikala.

 

I totally understand where your coming from, we saw some villas in Musswellbrook and they were gorgeous! So much nicer than the other properties on offer but I really need to work for my own sanity so being able to get to Newcastle or Maitland is a bit of a priority so Singleton seems like a good compromise. Saying that we are going to have a bit of a drive around when we get there to check places out properly so who know's where we'll end up!

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

Muswellbrook, Singleton, Rutherford, Muswellbrook, Singleton, Denman, back to Singleton, nah Muswellbrook...ggrrrr! my head is now like mush and we cannot decide!!!!???

 

I am online rental house hunted out!

 

Don't think we can make a decision about where we want to live till we have seen the area and whats on offer etc.....

 

Think a motorhome might be the best option at this rate :laugh:

 

Katie and Mark

[Jenny Hughes]

Really a bit confused over the feedback, especially the contradiction of information one minute being thanked for the post and then being OTT, especially as sounding like a Mills and Boon in agreement from the same person. Remember we ARE living here and have contact with many others facing similar issues.

 

The reason why I posted so much information is there are lots of issues in the areas you are relocating to. As mentioned there are massive housing shortages, high living expenses including high food costs with limited shops, as we are all used to in the UK. The supermarkets have the monopoly here, similar to home but not as valuable or as much choice as our supermarkets, no offers like we are used to save money like 3 for 2, buy one get one free, etc.

 

You will be surprised how much food does cost. In reality people actually travel 40+km from Singleton to Muswellbrook or Rutherford to shop in Aldi for cheaper food. I am afraid that you have to live up to reality, that's what you will be living when you get here!

 

In relation to sounding like a 'Mills and Boon', you will be faced with a lot of stress as a family. That's why it may have sounded like the way you interpreted it. You will have to work harder at your family life when you get here, as believe me you will be overcome with emotion not only resettling, missing friends and family from back home etc. even when you make new friends. Sometimes you have to have the information which has been offered to you to be well prepared, you only have to look at other forums and posts to read into the emotional, financial and social aspect or what you are about to face.

 

The pubs are not the same here either, there are pubs but there are more Social Clubs. Places close a lot earlier too, there are virtually no buses and limited taxis. If you are the 'going out' type you will be shocked at the price of alcohol. Alcohol here costs 24 cans for $40+ that works out to about £25 in comparison to the UK, $40+ for bottles of spirits, not £10+. There are no deals of 3 cases of 24 for £20 like supermarkets back home.

 

You also have to be careful how much food is 'out of date' here!

 

At the end of the day I took time out, which I didn't need to, to give you an insight into living in a mining area, higher wages mean higher costs of living and if you are not employed in the mines and even if you are people ARE struggling!

 

I work closely with the many situations going on here, so I am not just your 'average' migrant, I am working at the core of the problems being faced in the Hunter Valley.

 

This information was purely to give you all an insight, which you asked for, however everyone is different with different expectations and ideas, you can extract what information you want to out of it but at the end of the day the decision of where you move to is yours and yours alone.

 

Aside from the reality of living with the struggles we have faced and so many others, like I say there are huge positives of moving to Australia and we are not regretting the move. The whole experience is an education!

 

I really do wish you all the VERY best of luck and hope you do not have many more hurdles to face.

 

Jenny

[Guest MarcandSarah]

Really a bit confused over the feedback, especially the contradiction of information one minute being thanked for the post and then being OTT, especially as sounding like a Mills and Boon in agreement from the same person. Remember we ARE living here and have contact with many others facing similar issues.

 

The reason why I posted so much information is there are lots of issues in the areas you are relocating to. As mentioned there are massive housing shortages, high living expenses including high food costs with limited shops, as we are all used to in the UK. The supermarkets have the monopoly here, similar to home but not as valuable or as much choice as our supermarkets, no offers like we are used to save money like 3 for 2, buy one get one free, etc.

 

You will be surprised how much food does cost. In reality people actually travel 40+km from Singleton to Muswellbrook or Rutherford to shop in Aldi for cheaper food. I am afraid that you have to live up to reality, that's what you will be living when you get here!

 

In relation to sounding like a 'Mills and Boon', you will be faced with a lot of stress as a family. That's why it may have sounded like the way you interpreted it. You will have to work harder at your family life when you get here, as believe me you will be overcome with emotion not only resettling, missing friends and family from back home etc. even when you make new friends. Sometimes you have to have the information which has been offered to you to be well prepared, you only have to look at other forums and posts to read into the emotional, financial and social aspect or what you are about to face.

 

The pubs are not the same here either, there are pubs but there are more Social Clubs. Places close a lot earlier too, there are virtually no buses and limited taxis. If you are the 'going out' type you will be shocked at the price of alcohol. Alcohol here costs 24 cans for $40+ that works out to about £25 in comparison to the UK, $40+ for bottles of spirits, not £10+. There are no deals of 3 cases of 24 for £20 like supermarkets back home.

 

You also have to be careful how much food is 'out of date' here!

 

At the end of the day I took time out, which I didn't need to, to give you an insight into living in a mining area, higher wages mean higher costs of living and if you are not employed in the mines and even if you are people ARE struggling!

 

I work closely with the many situations going on here, so I am not just your 'average' migrant, I am working at the core of the problems being faced in the Hunter Valley.

 

This information was purely to give you all an insight, which you asked for, however everyone is different with different expectations and ideas, you can extract what information you want to out of it but at the end of the day the decision of where you move to is yours and yours alone.

 

Aside from the reality of living with the struggles we have faced and so many others, like I say there are huge positives of moving to Australia and we are not regretting the move. The whole experience is an education!

 

I really do wish you all the VERY best of luck and hope you do not have many more hurdles to face.

 

Jenny

 

Hi Jenny,

 

I think there has been a little confusion regarding the OTT and Mill and Boon comment in reply to Seamus and Andies post, if you read through the previous posts you will see that I was actually referring to a two page statement on the history of Marc and my relationship which we we asked to submit to our Visa agents to prove our commitment to each other which ended up having to be over two pages long and sounding a bit like a soppy love story as we were told we needed to go into a quite a bit of detail.

 

I apologize for any confusion and please be assured that these comments were in no way aimed at you as we all really appreciate you help.

 

Sarah

[Jenny Hughes]

Hi Jenny,

 

I think there has been a little confusion regarding the OTT and Mill and Boon comment in reply to Seamus and Andies post, if you read through the previous posts you will see that I was actually referring to a two page statement on the history of Marc and my relationship which we we asked to submit to our Visa agents to prove our commitment to each other which ended up having to be over two pages long and sounding a bit like a soppy love story as we were told we needed to go into a quite a bit of detail.

 

I apologize for any confusion and please be assured that these comments were in no way aimed at you as we all really appreciate you help.

 

Sarah

 

 

Hi Sarah

 

Thanks for that, apologies if there's also been a bit of an understanding on my behalf too. It's just Dave and I feel as we have been here quite a few months now, have faced so much and believe me we've had our ups and downs settling in especially with a young family. With a whole new life and so much to take in with work, tax laws, healthcare etc. we have had to succeed and we want to try our best to help anyone we can. Although we reasearched intensely, had friends who had emigrated a few years back, giving us ongoing advice and support, they are not based in NSW and it really is so different when you do it yourself and you are here alone until you make new friends, no matter how much help and advice people give you. You have to put a lot of effort in.

 

Although I work in Singleton I have to travel to Muswellbrook once a week, when you actually arrive and want to build a network of friends, for a bit of ongoing support drop us a line and I'll try and meet you for a coffee, that goes for anyone relocating to the Hunter Valley. We also have a good group of friends, Aussies, Brits, Kiwis, French and South Africans and have just linked up with other Brits and started our own 'Meet up' group.

 

Keep going it really is worth it, you just have to keep at it.

 

Jenny :cool:

[Guest kennmikp]

Hi

 

Think me ans ken are a little different to everyone else, we both have done the relocating thing before as we both lived in cyprus for 6 years (our daughter was born over there) even though cyprus is nothing like Australia we still both had the ups and downs in cyprus as no doubt we will as a family have in Australia, im quite fortunate that i have family in Australia, my uncle and aunt have lived in Perth for about 20 years and my sister and her family have lived in Tapping for nearly 5 years.

 

ken & Mikala

[Guest MarcandSarah]

Hi Sarah

 

Thanks for that, apologies if there's also been a bit of an understanding on my behalf too. It's just Dave and I feel as we have been here quite a few months now, have faced so much and believe me we've had our ups and downs settling in especially with a young family. With a whole new life and so much to take in with work, tax laws, healthcare etc. we have had to succeed and we want to try our best to help anyone we can. Although we reasearched intensely, had friends who had emigrated a few years back, giving us ongoing advice and support, they are not based in NSW and it really is so different when you do it yourself and you are here alone until you make new friends, no matter how much help and advice people give you. You have to put a lot of effort in.

 

Although I work in Singleton I have to travel to Muswellbrook once a week, when you actually arrive and want to build a network of friends, for a bit of ongoing support drop us a line and I'll try and meet you for a coffee, that goes for anyone relocating to the Hunter Valley. We also have a good group of friends, Aussies, Brits, Kiwis, French and South Africans and have just linked up with other Brits and started our own 'Meet up' group.

 

Keep going it really is worth it, you just have to keep at it.

 

Jenny :cool:

 

Hi Jenny,

 

A coffee would be great! I've been doing some research on food online and from what I can make out our average weekly spend will have more than doubled, we don't really eat much processed food and I enjoy cooking from scratch but the prices seem extortionate.

 

I'm hoping to get a job when I get over there, i work in Marketing & PR at the moment but there doesn't seem like there is a need for my line of work in the rural areas. Did you find it easy to find your job and are there many opportunities about?

 

It's great to be able to talk to someone who is already there and has real experience of the kind of things we will have to deal with.

 

Thanks again,

 

Sarah

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

Hey there

Your in good company Mikala, I think theres quite a few of us that have travelled and lived in various places overseas luckily, we were both in the services and were often sent to various locations and given little knowledge of an area and settled very quickly. I think even with the vast knowledge Mark and I have of living and working in Australia before, Thailand, and several years in the Carribean and Germany every move is different and brings with it many challenges, so any information given is greatly received. We too have family in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and loads of friends in Cairns and Perth so feel very lucky to have them at the end of a phone too....I look forward to the challenges we face but are under no illusion that we will face hurdles along the way. Its nice we have all had a chance to meet on here so at least although having never met in person we will know some friends before arriving wherever we decide to live. All I hope is that we are not faced with a major disaster upon arriving, having escaped a tsunami, lived through a cat 5 hurricane and floods, earthquakes and snow drifts, last thing we need is a bush fire to add to the list lol x bring it on Australia we are ready for you again!!! now wheres our visa? haha x

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

Hi Jenny,

 

A coffee would be great! I've been doing some research on food online and from what I can make out our average weekly spend will have more than doubled, we don't really eat much processed food and I enjoy cooking from scratch but the prices seem extortionate.

 

I'm hoping to get a job when I get over there, i work in Marketing & PR at the moment but there doesn't seem like there is a need for my line of work in the rural areas. Did you find it easy to find your job and are there many opportunities about?

 

It's great to be able to talk to someone who is already there and has real experience of the kind of things we will have to deal with.

 

Thanks again,

 

Sarah

Hey Jenny and Sarah I am up for coffee too, count me in!! Katie x

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

Really a bit confused over the feedback, especially the contradiction of information one minute being thanked for the post and then being OTT, especially as sounding like a Mills and Boon in agreement from the same person. Remember we ARE living here and have contact with many others facing similar issues.

 

The reason why I posted so much information is there are lots of issues in the areas you are relocating to. As mentioned there are massive housing shortages, high living expenses including high food costs with limited shops, as we are all used to in the UK. The supermarkets have the monopoly here, similar to home but not as valuable or as much choice as our supermarkets, no offers like we are used to save money like 3 for 2, buy one get one free, etc.

 

You will be surprised how much food does cost. In reality people actually travel 40+km from Singleton to Muswellbrook or Rutherford to shop in Aldi for cheaper food. I am afraid that you have to live up to reality, that's what you will be living when you get here!

 

In relation to sounding like a 'Mills and Boon', you will be faced with a lot of stress as a family. That's why it may have sounded like the way you interpreted it. You will have to work harder at your family life when you get here, as believe me you will be overcome with emotion not only resettling, missing friends and family from back home etc. even when you make new friends. Sometimes you have to have the information which has been offered to you to be well prepared, you only have to look at other forums and posts to read into the emotional, financial and social aspect or what you are about to face.

 

The pubs are not the same here either, there are pubs but there are more Social Clubs. Places close a lot earlier too, there are virtually no buses and limited taxis. If you are the 'going out' type you will be shocked at the price of alcohol. Alcohol here costs 24 cans for $40+ that works out to about £25 in comparison to the UK, $40+ for bottles of spirits, not £10+. There are no deals of 3 cases of 24 for £20 like supermarkets back home.

 

You also have to be careful how much food is 'out of date' here!

 

At the end of the day I took time out, which I didn't need to, to give you an insight into living in a mining area, higher wages mean higher costs of living and if you are not employed in the mines and even if you are people ARE struggling!

 

I work closely with the many situations going on here, so I am not just your 'average' migrant, I am working at the core of the problems being faced in the Hunter Valley.

 

This information was purely to give you all an insight, which you asked for, however everyone is different with different expectations and ideas, you can extract what information you want to out of it but at the end of the day the decision of where you move to is yours and yours alone.

 

Aside from the reality of living with the struggles we have faced and so many others, like I say there are huge positives of moving to Australia and we are not regretting the move. The whole experience is an education!

 

I really do wish you all the VERY best of luck and hope you do not have many more hurdles to face.

 

Jenny

Hi Jenny

A quickie question if thats ok? I remember from the last timewe lived in Oz, most of the rental properties that were unfurnished or part furnished had either an electric cooker or a space for one, I have a gas cooker in the UK as I prefer gas but decided not to bring it, but having looked at some of the rentals available there seems to be gas as an option....many of the rentals that are newer have built in electric oven and a gas hob?? what would you suggest is it worth us bringing our gas cooker for an unfurnished rental? if not how much does an electric cooker cost over there, considering buying a new one here if its cheaper, cheers Katie x

[Guest chris and deb k]

hi all me debs have been inthe army for 18 years and have lived all over the world, one of my sons is canadian so movin to austarlia doesnt worry us one bit. lived in alot worse places and born and bred in the liverpool area so we are not really worried about anything. spoke to mark singo today and we both just want to get out there and get on with the life we want . thanks to jenny it was good to here from someone out there but i went to greece last week and paid £5 for a guiness so bring on the cheep beer. still waiting for my visa but just booked a holiday in turkey so i wont be out there till mid october at the earliest but with the speed of these visas ill be lucky to get there then, looking forward to meeting you all out there then

cheers

[Guest kennmikp]

AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH:arghh:

 

How long is it going to take??????????

 

They ask for further info, so i get it sorted (as quickley as possible and at £145), sent it off and nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

 

I want my VISA nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!! lol.

 

Any1 else getting stressed over the timeline for Visa's????

 

Ken & Mikala.

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

Dudes had a call from damian, once our visas are stamped we will need to have a medical for hitachi.They will cover the cost of the medical. Also there seems to be a shortage of accommodation for our first month.

[Guest MarcandSarah]

Dudes had a call from damian, once our visas are stamped we will need to have a medical for hitachi.They will cover the cost of the medical. Also there seems to be a shortage of accommodation for our first month.

 

What??? Really! Oh no, I hope they are going to try and sort something out because i'm not bringing my tent!

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

Have been looking into flights and to fly mid august looking at approx £709 for adult with either Qantas or BA, we are looking at about £2200 give or take for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 baby. Whats confusing me is the baggage allowance, we will surely need more than the normal allowance, have heard we can get extra allowance for emigrating, from 23kg to 32kg more if necessary, but wondering how we go about it without having to be stung $30-$40 extra a kilo :frown:, anyone else been looking into this??

My brother works for Flight Centre and is also on the case, but just putting it out there!

Katie x

[Guest MarcandSarah]

Have been looking into flights and to fly mid august looking at approx £709 for adult with either Qantas or BA, we are looking at about £2200 give or take for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 baby. Whats confusing me is the baggage allowance, we will surely need more than the normal allowance, have heard we can get extra allowance for emigrating, from 23kg to 32kg more if necessary, but wondering how we go about it without having to be stung $30-$40 extra a kilo :frown:, anyone else been looking into this??

My brother works for Flight Centre and is also on the case, but just putting it out there!

Katie x

 

The guy from Pickfords told us if we find a flight online and then ring them saying we are 1st time migrants and buying a one way ticket we are entitled to an extra 25kg per couple but he said it depends on the airline. I guess we just have to wait and see when we actually book, if we ever get these visas! x

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

I was looking online 'opodo.co.uk' flight centre use this too aswell as last minute.com....I think I remember my brother saying something about that, they also beat the quote you have found even if by a £.

I need to know like yesterday ref the visas, I have to give my daughters school a weeks notice for her leaving and for them to get all her school docs together for them to give to us, she has a week and a half left in school.....I don't want her docs being mailed to us I want them in my possession. I don't want to say we're off for definite now cos she'll lose her place for next september, what to do eh! She's gutted she is leaving the school and her friends :sad:, I feel like a meany mummy! its just a good job she's only 4 and not 14, cos I'd probably have slammed doors and teenage tantrums at leaving her boyfriend behind lol....gonna be positive and hope we'll know sometime next week or perhaps by the end of this week, fingers crossed! x

[Guest MarcandSarah]

I was looking online 'opodo.co.uk' flight centre use this too aswell as last minute.com....I think I remember my brother saying something about that, they also beat the quote you have found even if by a £.

I need to know like yesterday ref the visas, I have to give my daughters school a weeks notice for her leaving and for them to get all her school docs together for them to give to us, she has a week and a half left in school.....I don't want her docs being mailed to us I want them in my possession. I don't want to say we're off for definite now cos she'll lose her place for next september, what to do eh! She's gutted she is leaving the school and her friends :sad:, I feel like a meany mummy! its just a good job she's only 4 and not 14, cos I'd probably have slammed doors and teenage tantrums at leaving her boyfriend behind lol....gonna be positive and hope we'll know sometime next week or perhaps by the end of this week, fingers crossed! x

 

What a horrible situation to be in, its not like anyone can give you any advice what to do either apart from the buggers that are sitting on our visa paperwork! I'm getting tired of explaining to my boss that I really don't know when i'll be leaving and its not up to me to stamp a tiny bit of paper. Luckily she wants me to carry on working for her in Oz so I haven't got to make any tough decisions about work. I'm a bit worried about what Damien told you regarding the lack of temporary accommodation, hopefully they'll get it sorted quickly because I think it would be really unfair on us if we got there and had nowhere to go, especially with so many families with children. Fingers crossed that you get so word on the visa soon x

[Guest Mark and Katie Singleton]

That's good you get to keep your job and live in oz, best of both worlds, I won't be working till maisie starts school...not sure if I will retrain over the next few years or go back into admin/ education, my last job fitted round the school holidays which was great! Who knows eh!

Right off to get some beauty sleep x