Guest MarcandSarah Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Yep you know straight away Sarah, Mark had his Tuesday and passed. We have been in touch with John Crouch, we have booked our shipping for the 18th and 19th August and looking at flights for the 29th August....he had asked if we might consider 22nd August, but thats leaving us very little time to tie up all the loose ends here, the 29th is just fine for us! He did mention they have a corporate account for flights with some companies and was goingto look in to seeing if he can beat our flight costs (my brother works for Flight centre and has got us a good flight and slightly discounted price anyway). We did mention in our email that we were considering renting asap and hoped Hitachi would find the rent and bond for us, if they were not going to be putting us up, but from what i gather from John he is arranging accom for usknowing when we are likely to arrive, he should reply by tomorrow to us ref the flight, still to hear about the shipping account, again I have asked John for this. Can't quite believe we will be gone from the end of August, with tenants in our house! Seems its all go now. We aim to be there by the 31st August and Mark to start work 5th if agreed by John... We want a few days together before he has to get to work. We have transport to find etc and find our bearings first. Hope Marcs medical goes ok Sarah and hope you find out about your early release Ken soon. Katie and Mark Wow, the end of August! That is soon. Fingers crossed we'll be over there around the 22nd of September all being well - i'm getting a bit excited now! Thanks for all the useful info xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Wow things seem to be movin on quick for a few of us now then :-) Looks like yous lots will b out well before me and mik. Earliest for us will be last week in Oct or first week Nov. Should find out about work tomorro fingers crossed. Will have to email John when I get home ref the removals and the flight thing. We are gonna travel business class (bout £1500 each), so any savings we can make the better!!! Iv already met up with a couple of the other lads who are going over. Was nice to put faces to names and have a natter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris and deb k Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Hi all looks like me and ken are on the last plane out there still havnt heard about my visa though but not to worry what will be will be. anybody got any conformation on the pickfords account yet. looks like i will have to use them with the discount offered i can get there for the $10k offered especially if we can get discounted flights through hitachi. dont understand the uniform name section on the form is that our name embrioded on the shirt? later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Chris I'm not to bothered when I get there as long as it's before Xmas ;-) I emailed John today ref the removals thing and from what I can gather it's being left upto individuals to make their own arrangements!!! I will forward the email to you ok. Iv not looked at the uniform form as I'm away from my pc, but will have a look tomorro. Hoping John gets back to me soon about using Hitachi's corporate account for the flights. I want too see what I can get for a better price ;-) lol. Still can't believe your waiting for your visa answer :-0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Well flights are booked for the 29th August and arrive in Sydney on the 31st. We are flying with Singapore airlines. We have a 12 hour flight to Singapore, 2 ish hours stop over and 7.5 hour flight to Oz. The flight times are good due to the fact we leave the Uk in the evening....good if you have kids. We are gonna spend 3 days in Newcastle to chill..then spend 2 days in Muswellbrook before starting work on the 5th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Well flights are booked for the 29th August and arrive in Sydney on the 31st. We are flying with Singapore airlines. We have a 12 hour flight to Singapore, 2 ish hours stop over and 7.5 hour flight to Oz. The flight times are good due to the fact we leave the Uk in the evening....good if you have kids.We are gonna spend 3 days in Newcastle to chill..then spend 2 days in Muswellbrook before starting work on the 5th. Sweet baby Jesus ;-) nice 1 guys, that's good plannin and quick movin!! Bet your all like jumpin beans now :-0 lol. How much were your flights?? Have we got to make our own way to Muswellbrook from Sydney?? When will you get notice for where your temporary accommodation is??? Mmmmm couple of days in Newcastle!! I like your thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Hey tell us about it, we have 1000 things to sort, its manic! But glad the ball is most certainly moving for us......The flights were £1770 for all four of us, we didn't get the corporate thing that John mentioned to us as he didn't get back to us in time and we needed to move quick to secure the price and deal we had for the flights. We are making our own way to Newcastle from Sydney, we are booking 3 nights there and using a hire care from the airport, we still have enough in our relocation budget after shipping and flights to pay for the hirecars. Reference the accomodaton we are still waiting to hear what Hitachi have planned for us, we are going to scout around the area as soon as we get there anyway to see about rental properties and see whether that would be better for us, but until we know what they are offering us, who knows. We'll soon find out won't we!!! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 That's a good price for your flights :-) well done there. Did you get extra baggage allowance??? Ah so your using some of your allowance for hire car. I like that idea. How long you getting the car for and what was the price?? What about car seats for the kids??? We are doing the same thing ref looking formour own place. We are gonna stay in the temp accommodation for as long as possible, this gives us plenty time to find the right rental property. Have you looked at schools yet?? Iv emailed both the Kindergardens, one is more receptive than the other at this time. Can't wait to get all the top tips and info from you guys (you being 1st out and all that lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Singapore airlines give the extra baggage of 40kilos, my brother is confirming this on monday, but he has recently booked another person on an aussie flight and it was with singapore airlines and she got the 40 kilos, with it being one way. We haven't booked the rental cars yet but will online nearer the time, we looked the other night and for a saloon car big enough for all of us and our luggage, it cost approx £200 from Sydney to Newcastle for a 3 day hire, that was with Europcar, that was one way so you pay more for that obviously. Haven't looked at the carseat thing yet but I espect it might cost alittle bit more with the rental of a carseat for littleun. Schools we haven't done anymore since the original emails, I will take keeley along to the Muswellbrook school for a meet and greet and a look around, but i have already decided I am going to not have her start till january now, think the transition to Oz and everything she could do with some mummy time...I am happy to keep her up to scratch with her schooling in the mean time. My head is full of 'stuff' and thats just the 'stuff' we need to do before we even leave....its gonna be a crazy month! Katie Mark has just said that for a holden cruze sedan, its £185 pick up from Sydney airport to Newcastle Airport, 3 days hire...carseat is £6.68 a day on top and you can also have sat nav if required for an extra £9. 49 a day....not bad eh! $270 approx Also emailed John again tonight and said we need to have the shipping account details by thursday 11th at the very latest as we have to pay 7 days before the shipping guys arrive to start packing...so fingers crossed with our urgency in this matter we will get the account details sharpish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seamusandie Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Is anybody else hearing about the cost of living being dearer than what we think? we have spoke to a few who have told us this, but I just went for a nosy and done a grocery shop there on coles on-line. it was technically a big shop toiletries, laundry stuff and cleaning supplies, and i got a total of $400, which i don't think is too bad i could live with that, for our first shop after that it was coming in at around $100/$150 which is totally normal for us. Dont know what their going on about ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I think it has been so much cheaper in the past, much like the UK, but as like most other countries it has become more expensive...I like you went online and compared with Coles and Woolworths and despite a few items being a bit more expensive other stuff was pretty much the same. I think it will be fine especially if you perhaps shop at local shops for meats etc, local markets do give you better value for money. For example due to the recent cyclone wiping out the banana crops, bananas went from being relatively cheap to up to $12 to $15 a kilo... so we will just have to buy one for the four of us to share haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Is anybody else hearing about the cost of living being dearer than what we think? we have spoke to a few who have told us this, but I just went for a nosy and done a grocery shop there on coles on-line. it was technically a big shop toiletries, laundry stuff and cleaning supplies, and i got a total of $400, which i don't think is too bad i could live with that, for our first shop after that it was coming in at around $100/$150 which is totally normal for us. Dont know what their going on about ??? I hear what your saying there. Plenty of ppl going on about how the cost of living is more expensive than over here :confused: erm well not when you factor in what you have to pay from your basic wage before you get money into the bank (not forgetting we are on a better wage to :wink:). I think that if you do a spot of shopping around, find the bargains and buy fresh (gotta love fresh), then it should be a very comfortable cost of living, plus a better life style on the whole :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Its a definite guys hitachi have not set up an account with pickfords for shipping, and won't be as Pickfords have told them as we are all going out at separate times and have different shipping needs its a no go so back to the creditcard we go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Its a definite guys hitachi have not set up an account with pickfords for shipping, and won't be as Pickfords have told them as we are all going out at separate times and have different shipping needs its a no go so back to the creditcard we go! Well that's just not bloody good enough!!! Setting up an account can't b bloody rocket science. Well if no account then they best front the cost of my shipping. I can't get my hands on cash to pay for it. If they want me out there ASAP then they pay for my shipping, simple!!! I'm guessing you spoke to either Pickfords or John!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seamusandie Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Its a definite guys hitachi have not set up an account with pickfords for shipping, and won't be as Pickfords have told them as we are all going out at separate times and have different shipping needs its a no go so back to the creditcard we go! we are on the same boat. we do not have the money to pay for this stuff up front !! they will need to get something sorted and soon. i was saying to seamus yesterday how hard was it for them that whenever they knew they were recruiting from the uk to go and approach companies regarding accounts and discounts for shipping and flights. then that way it helps get everyone sorted. whenever seamus went for his interview he was not told that we would have to pay for our relocation upfront- infact it was said (and many times) that hitachi would be paying for relocation costs. now i know that this is true we somehow didnt think that we would have to be reimbursed after that fact of us paying for it. it is just not feasible for us to do this.:nah: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Totally agree with all of what you have said. At no point was i told, or lead to believe that i would have to pay, then claim back. Im bloody :mad: at the whole removals situation at the moment. It showing that Hitachi are very inept at sorting out their future employers when they recruite from overseas. Im off to do some ironing (take my mind off stuff), then i will be emailinig Damian (he is on the same time line as us) to find out what is bloody going on :arghh::arghh: O on another matter, have you guys set up bank accounts yet???? Iv just opened an account with Moneycorp for all my cash transfers, very nice people to deal with. Will be back in a bit, laters :goofy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 spoke to John, Ken! still trying to sort alternative options, will let you know if come up trumps we opened a bank account with NAB who seem very efficient and helpful. Katie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 spoke to John, Ken! still trying to sort alternative options, will let you know if come up trumps we opened a bank account with NAB who seem very efficient and helpful. Katie Just emailed Damian (even though he is in Africa). Hoping to get some clarity from him. Mmmmm i mailed John lastnight and aint had a reply (guess he dont like me lol). Best they pull their finger out!!! (you guys need answers sooner than i do) I want to get my removals booked and sorted so its 1 less thing on the never ending list. Yeah am looking to go with NAB for banking too. Waiting for a call back this week ref setting up an account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Hi just double checked our baggage allowance and we on a 457 visa are not entitled to get 40kg,due to the fact we don't have a permanent visa.so they gave us 5 kg extra. .total per bag 25kg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MarcandSarah Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Hi just double checked our baggage allowance and we on a 457 visa are not entitled to get 40kg,due to the fact we don't have a permanent visa.so they gave us 5 kg extra. .total per bag 25kg Oh well, 5kg is better than nothing, least I can take some more shoes now! We are not impressed with the removals situation either, we simply wont have the money once we have paid of overdrafts, outstanding utility bills etc so we really need them to pay for it out of our allowance. Are you excited about the big move yet? Not long to go for you, at this rate we won't be there til the end of Sept as John still hasn't received Marc's medical report and even though he passed he can't hand his notice in. So here we are waiting again..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark and Katie Singleton Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Oh dear Sarah, perhaps you could ring the place he had the medical done and ask them to re send the results or something? All the waiting for various stuff is so frustrating. We are still up to our eyeballs sorting all the house stuff out, utilities, even though we have booked the flight and can relax about that we need this shipping dilema sorted, hopefully we might have some answers by tomorrow. We are not happy about maxing out our credit cards in the slightest. Haven't a chance to get excited about it yet even with booking a leaving do for the 21st to look forward to...3 weeks today we will be in departures waiting for our flight eek! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Hi just double checked our baggage allowance and we on a 457 visa are not entitled to get 40kg,due to the fact we don't have a permanent visa.so they gave us 5 kg extra. .total per bag 25kg MMMMMMMMMMMMMM dont understand that 1????? A search on here shows that 457 visa applicants can get 40kg baggage allowance. Proof of PR is not required from what i have read!!!! On a 457 visa and the fact that it is a 1 way flight it would seem that 40kg is allowed on all flights :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 OK peeps Shipping Costs! We sent a couple of options to John reference this, and this is the agreed option... We suggested that we will pay the shipping on our creditcards as an account is now not an option, provided that we are reinbursed the full costs direct to our UK bank account, so that we can pay the creditcards off straight away, before we get charged interest....also if we had waited till we arrived in Oz, a payment would have already been required where interest would have been charged and we'd have also had to pay a wire transfer fee. So they've agreed to pay the shipping within 48 hours to our account, we just have to forward payment receipt and account details to them. Hope this option helps you guys out, if you choose to do it that way. What I might suggest is hang fire a few days until our shipping has been reinbursed fully and safely, before quizzing John about the possibility of doing the same thing, just incase it all goes **** up. If all goes well, at least you guys can confidently ask John for the same option. We are also waiting to hear about accomodation over there from John, so will let you guys know when we do! Katie and Mark Some good work done there guys :wink: Just being nosey..............but what was the other options you gave to John???? The option you have agreed with him wont work for me (and others im guessing), so im interested to know what else he is happy to work with!!! Ken & Mik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MarcandSarah Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 How is everyone getting on with the move? Marc has handed his notice in but we are still waiting for a start date from Hitachi. It feels like the calm before the storm in a way because there is so much to do, I havent even been able to book the removals yet and I'm starting to get a bit nervous!:twitcy: How is everyone else doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennmikp Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 How is everyone getting on with the move? Marc has handed his notice in but we are still waiting for a start date from Hitachi. It feels like the calm before the storm in a way because there is so much to do, I havent even been able to book the removals yet and I'm starting to get a bit nervous!:twitcy: How is everyone else doing? Hello there (it went really quiet in here for a while :chatterbox:). Erm, well, erm, not too bad, but not so good (after a phone call i had this morning). Iv already put in my request for early release (Oct 9th) and it is now sat with my CO (in Germany) who is on leave until 29th Aug :arghh::arghh::arghh: (working on getting it sorted of course :wink:). I did email John the other day (i take it you ALL got the blanket email he sent out about things the other day????) ref my situation and removals. Aint heard back from him since (maybe he is sorting it out :confused:). Will mail him later today to get more info. I really want to move on the removals thing, as its one less big issue to think about, but with no info from John its pretty impossible. Me and Mik have already started stripping stuff in the house :huh::huh::huh::huh::huh:. There are a million and 1 things left to do, but we are just taking them 1 step at a time. Im guessing Mark & Katie will be on here soon telling us about removals and other stuff (19th for them i think.) So thats where me and Mik are at the moment!!!!! :wink::wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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