Guest MarcandSarah Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I meant to add don't sign up for a Mobile Contract they're minimum 24 months here, you're better on Prepaid £30 or more a month at least until you're well established. Cheapest plan is about £49 month. Telstra has the best coverage. Also we don't have a home phone. If you buy an online no. on Skype for about $40 if on half price offer, $80 full price, it's cheaper and it only costs you $8 mth for unlimited landline calls to UK and you can buy extra credit for mobiles. You really need to budget when you get here, it's more expensive than home! Will update you if I think of anything else. Hi Jenny, Thanks for the info. You you know of any good broadband providers? I need to be able to get online as soon as I arrive for my job so any advice on how to go about getting connected would be great. Thanks! p.s - How's the weather? I'm getting a bit excited about nice hot weather! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Hughes Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Hi Jenny, Thanks for the info. You you know of any good broadband providers? I need to be able to get online as soon as I arrive for my job so any advice on how to go about getting connected would be great. Thanks! p.s - How's the weather? I'm getting a bit excited about nice hot weather! You're better getting the Telstra WiFi costs about $129 and you can run up to 5 compters/phones etc. off it plus it's portable, so you can take it on holiday, weekends away etc. Like I say contracts are 24 months here then you have to go through all the hassle if you move etc. Just changed my mood, sorry to disappoint you but it's freezing! We've climatised now for this year. Spring is nice but Summer really does get hot, it's sometimes too hot you can't go out in it! We arrived May last year in shorts and people were wrapped up but not as much as we have to be back home. Good luck with your move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hendersons Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Hi to all the contributers to the Hitatchi post.. We have been following it for weeks now and its been both informative and helpful. OH has been offered job with Liebherr at mt Thorley so we are looking at where to live schools etc too. So all your posts have been great. He's heading out this sunday for a week long reccie.. cant afford for us all to go (gutted)..Is there anyone already there who would be up for meeting up with him and pointing him the right direction to what he should be looking for/at? Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Hughes Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Permanent Residency finally granted for us yesterday. Yippee - no more Visa paperwork. Four years to wait for Citizenship now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Permanent Residency finally granted for us yesterday. Yippee - no more Visa paperwork. Four years to wait for Citizenship now! Congrats :notworthy: PR is at the top of the list of things to do for us when we get out there too :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MarcandSarah Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Permanent Residency finally granted for us yesterday. Yippee - no more Visa paperwork. Four years to wait for Citizenship now! Well done Jenny, it must be such a huge relief after all the red tape. I've just received a nice big invoice from Pickfords - god know's how we are going to pay for all that plus everything else! Better get my vital organs on eBay. :err: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Question........Do we need to get this vetasses(trade test) done if we go from a 457 to pr visa, or is the NSW Trade assement thingy enough, and does anybody know if that trade paperwork has gone through. Anyway its has been flippen epic but everything will be completed tomorrow, main pain has been getting the house sorted for renting, lucky our neighbours are renting off us. We fly Monday at 2210 and wont get to Sydney until 0500 ish on Wednesday morning. We will chill out near Newcastle until Saturday. laters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 On route to Heathrow, so goodbye for now, see you on the other side, hope all your removals/journeys go smoothly, take care The Singos xx AUSTRALIA HERE WE COME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 All is good, Singapore Airlines were very good. Due to the amount of bags we had, 4 large bags and about 25 carry on bags..felt loads as I was bagman...we found that we were 15 kgs over our weight, due to the fact they weighed our hand luggage.It was lucky the lady booking us in was cooing over our 6 month old, because they charge 40 quid a kg over. We were able to have 25 kg a bag instead of 20, its bollocks about 40kg on a 457 visa, people might get this if they are very jammy but is not the norm. So after 20 hours of flying we picked up our 4x4 and headed up to Newcastle where we are in a nice b&b overlooking the beaches. Part from chilling we have been sorting some admin out such as digging my old tax no. from the system and sorting stuff out with Hitachi....they are bending over backwards with what they have for us.....oh and look forward to another medical. So we make our way up to Muswellbrook tomorrow and we will check out Rutherford today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris and deb k Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 All is good, Singapore Airlines were very good. Due to the amount of bags we had, 4 large bags and about 25 carry on bags..felt loads as I was bagman...we found that we were 15 kgs over our weight, due to the fact they weighed our hand luggage.It was lucky the lady booking us in was cooing over our 6 month old, because they charge 40 quid a kg over. We were able to have 25 kg a bag instead of 20, its bollocks about 40kg on a 457 visa, people might get this if they are very jammy but is not the norm. So after 20 hours of flying we picked up our 4x4 and headed up to Newcastle where we are in a nice b&b overlooking the beaches. Part from chilling we have been sorting some admin out such as digging my old tax no. from the system and sorting stuff out with Hitachi....they are bending over backwards with what they have for us.....oh and look forward to another medical. So we make our way up to Muswellbrook tomorrow and we will check out Rutherford today. glad you got out there ok we are flying 18th oct just had the flights confirmed look forward to getting some usefull info from you mate laters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris and deb k Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 mark singo what address did you give when setting up your bank account from england and did you go with ANZ or some other bank cheers mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Went with NAB and I dont think I needed to give an address, you do all that when you first sign your paperwork in the local bank. When you apply over the net you get all your bank details but you are unable to withdraw any money at first. Went with NAB as there are no monthly charges. Laters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MarcandSarah Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Went with NAB and I dont think I needed to give an address, you do all that when you first sign your paperwork in the local bank. When you apply over the net you get all your bank details but you are unable to withdraw any money at first. Went with NAB as there are no monthly charges. Laters Glad to hear you all got there ok and didn't have to pay a small fortune for excess baggage thanks to your little girl- I'll be sure to check my luggage weight before I fly on the 27th knowing we dont get any extra. I'm getting a bit wobbly now our date is coming up - one minute i'm excited and the next a big teary mess! I just hope the local area is nice and the weather is lovely, that way I won't feel so bad about going.:wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Been to Maitland and Rutherford today to get an idea of housing, we both thought Maitland was nice with more to offer in regards to shops etc. To be honest if it was closer we would like to live in Newcastle as the coastline and area ticked all our boxes...mind you down on the beach with Keeley today I quickly noticed and infestation of blue bottle jelly fish (portuguese man of war) in the water and all over the beach....nice. Once we get our accomodation in Muzzy tomorrow we will spend time scouting around Singleton. We have shopped in a couple of the large supermarkets Coles(like co'op) and woolworths (like tesco etc), and yeah stuff is slightly more expensive but over all the same as the Uk. At the moment we are picking up wifi from an unsuspecting neighbour, so unless we have internet at our Hitachi home we will get ourselves set up next week. I am meeting up with the two other guys who flew out last week as we are off to Singleton for a medical, I think they are both sharing a house together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MarcandSarah Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Woooo another medical, Marc will be pleased! Least its not too far from where you are this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Glad all is going well so far :wink: And i look forward to regular updates please. Its good to hear Hitachi are bending over backwards to do all they can (will keep the OH happy). I will be doing a bit more digging on the baggage allowance thing (not sure why there are so many ppl saying you get 40kg if thats not the case). Tut tut for stealing wifi connection (but i like your style). All of our stuff was packed on thursday, so now have an empty house for the next few weeks :wideeyed:. Looking at time lines for ppl who are flying over etc, it would seem that me and my crew will probably be one of the the last out there :err: but hey ho, we will be out there. Laters, Ken n Mik. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris and deb k Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 alright mate when are your lot going over we are going on the 18th oct and our movers are booked for the 3/4 oct so we will have an empty house over there for xmas catch you all later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Well......arrived at our house in Muswellbrook to meet Desree who is there to help us out, we wernt in the house very long as it was minging inside, the last owners dinner was still in the microwave dirt and grime everywhere. Not a good start especially when most of us had a dicky tummy..must stop licking toilet bowls. So I said we are not staying here,long story short we are now in the John Hunter Motel for the next week, atleast its clean. Work wise....dont get any ideas of getting stuck in for a while. At the mo we just turn up to work show our faces and have a couple of weeks grace atleast to find accom and transport.(using a company lease at the moment.) The other reason we are not working is because the paperwork we completed for the NSW trade assesment will not be sent off until you arrive at Hitachi..a goverment thing apparently.So your hours will 7-330 on basic wage....and know one knows how long it will take to get our certs recognised. There are 3 other guys out here now and I seem to be the only one who has comitted to moving here, the rest are giving it 3-6 months before bringing their families out..each to there own. We have been to NAB today and our bank cards and pin numbers were waiting for us, Hitachi should be paying 2 weeks wages into the account soon...mind you the others are still waiting for their payments. Anyway apart from that, the workshop and people seem nice enough and the sun is out. Sorry its a bit ugh but but its gonna take a while with work and housing before we are settled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MarcandSarah Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Hiya Mark, Oh no! Not the best of starts - I would have tracked the dirty sods down and made them come back and clean it! Ergh! Least your somewhere better now. Will have to ring Marc in a min and fill him in on the work situation. So do you just mooch around from 7am or are they doing a bit of training in the workshop at first? What do you reckon to the area itself? We're still a bit unsure anout Musswellbrook so fingers crossed Singleton will be a bit nicer! Sorry about all the questions, we're flying over three weeks tomorrow and the nerves are starting to fray! Well......arrived at our house in Muswellbrook to meet Desree who is there to help us out, we wernt in the house very long as it was minging inside, the last owners dinner was still in the microwave dirt and grime everywhere. Not a good start especially when most of us had a dicky tummy..must stop licking toilet bowls. So I said we are not staying here,long story short we are now in the John Hunter Motel for the next week, atleast its clean. Work wise....dont get any ideas of getting stuck in for a while. At the mo we just turn up to work show our faces and have a couple of weeks grace atleast to find accom and transport.(using a company lease at the moment.) The other reason we are not working is because the paperwork we completed for the NSW trade assesment will not be sent off until you arrive at Hitachi..a goverment thing apparently.So your hours will 7-330 on basic wage....and know one knows how long it will take to get our certs recognised. There are 3 other guys out here now and I seem to be the only one who has comitted to moving here, the rest are giving it 3-6 months before bringing their families out..each to there own. We have been to NAB today and our bank cards and pin numbers were waiting for us, Hitachi should be paying 2 weeks wages into the account soon...mind you the others are still waiting for their payments. Anyway apart from that, the workshop and people seem nice enough and the sun is out. Sorry its a bit ugh but but its gonna take a while with work and housing before we are settled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 alright mate when are your lot going over we are going on the 18th oct and our movers are booked for the 3/4 oct so we will have an empty house over there for xmascatch you all later how do guys. Erm me and my crowd wont be flying over till early Nov. I cand leave until the very earliest 10th Oct anyhow (current contract etc et ce tc), plus we need to go and visit Mik's parents in Cyprus before we move. We are in our house until the 5th Oct ish with bugger all :eek: (shorty i feel sorry foe, she has no toys). But at least having shipped our stuff now, it should get to us before Xmas :wink: (we hope). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Well......arrived at our house in Muswellbrook to meet Desree who is there to help us out, we wernt in the house very long as it was minging inside, the last owners dinner was still in the microwave dirt and grime everywhere. Not a good start especially when most of us had a dicky tummy..must stop licking toilet bowls. So I said we are not staying here,long story short we are now in the John Hunter Motel for the next week, atleast its clean. Work wise....dont get any ideas of getting stuck in for a while. At the mo we just turn up to work show our faces and have a couple of weeks grace atleast to find accom and transport.(using a company lease at the moment.) The other reason we are not working is because the paperwork we completed for the NSW trade assesment will not be sent off until you arrive at Hitachi..a goverment thing apparently.So your hours will 7-330 on basic wage....and know one knows how long it will take to get our certs recognised. There are 3 other guys out here now and I seem to be the only one who has comitted to moving here, the rest are giving it 3-6 months before bringing their families out..each to there own. We have been to NAB today and our bank cards and pin numbers were waiting for us, Hitachi should be paying 2 weeks wages into the account soon...mind you the others are still waiting for their payments. Anyway apart from that, the workshop and people seem nice enough and the sun is out. Sorry its a bit ugh but but its gonna take a while with work and housing before we are settled. :eek::eek::eek: WTF????? I can only assume that the accommodation was not handed over prior to you arriving in Muzzy (Mik will flip her lid if that happens to us :mad::mad::mad:). However at least they moved you in to a hotel straight away, instead of looking for another house. So its slow, slow, slow on the work front then??? Happy with that :wink: Have all of you got your own company cars or are you sharing??? At least its time in hand to sort personnel stuff out, which is good news. Mind you not sure im happy starting at 7 :eek::eek::eek:lol. Its good to hear that all your banking stuff was there waiting for you, at least the OH's can get to spending straight away :wacko::wacko: Looking forward to your regular updates :wink::wink::wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 That will be a brand new 5 bed double garage house that we will now call home from next week, and its in the best part of Muzzy.....just the long wait for the container to turn up.Its 6 miles from work so no need to have two cars..thank god. Got a herd of Kangaroos in the back yard though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 That will be a brand new 5 bed double garage house that we will now call home from next week, and its in the best part of Muzzy.....just the long wait for the container to turn up.Its 6 miles from work so no need to have two cars..thank god.Got a herd of Kangaroos in the back yard though. Mate thats sweet news :wink: is the house your Hitachi rental or is it your own rental??? If its your own, spill the beans on the costs n stuff. Where abouts in Muzzy is it pal??? 6 miles to work, nice 1, can run that in 45mins to an hour :wink::wink::wink: ooooooooooooooooo kangaroos in the back yard eh!!! Are they BIG?????? Ken n Mik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Bit of a work update...as It stands we will be workshop bound for several months to come. We will not be on a roster for a while which means working 5 days a week with weekends off. Not a bad thing as its ok in the workshop as we strip and rebuild final drives..which are huge....but be prepared to be treated like a bit of an apprentice as no one is bothered about your past history (especially as the size of this equipment is probably new to most of us). At the moment there are no tool boxes for us to use so we are borrowing tools from who ever we team up with, there ok and understand our situation. When you turn up you can put down 0700-1530 on your time sheet regardless if you just turn up and say im house hunting and leave. When you do start working you can work later if you wish to make the money up. Some of the lads have had problems with real estate agents, they say come and look at a property and when they turn up its already gone...LJ Hooker are pretty ****, but we went with Proffesionals who were very helpfull and wanted our business. We were very lucky as we signed on the very first house we saw..its not just if you want it, but if they want to lease it to you. Alot of people here spend ages trying to find property so be prepared. If you want a nice place you will probably pay more than you originaly thought. Apart from that work is relaxed and my new house is flippin huge.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris and deb k Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 alright mate glad you have your house sorted but whats the score with the workshop ****. i take it while we are in the workshop we will be on crap money and why will we be there for a few months. have you been paid yet? i thought we would be on the ground and earning a bit of cash how did you find getting a car is the process the same as the uk. what happened with hitachi puttin up the bond finishing here at the end of the month and quite a few have been let go already. so it looks like we have left at the right time catch you later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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