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The Final Countdown


runslikeafish

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...and first of many blog posts from Tassie below...

 

 

 

Welcome to Hobart! :wubclub:

I read your first blog from this antipodean outpost...am so glad the locals were so friendly and helpful.

It's always interesting to read the experiences of newcomers as there is so much we take for granted in our own stomping ground.

 

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions - either on the forum or via a pm.

 

Vivien

Hobart

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Much appreciated Skani! I'm sure we'll think of a million questions...

 

Actually there is one I can think of straight away. Today we went to Eastlands (amongst many other places!) and I was unsure about the parking. There was a sign that said something like 4P parking. I couldn't see any meters/machines to pay and I couldn't see anyone pay so we took a chance and just went in. How can I tell though if I should pay? What does 4P mean (I also saw 2P somewhere else). 4 hours free parking?

 

Many thanks!

 

...and another blog update below :)

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Yes, 4P means 4 hours (free) parking. It's free at Eastlands, also other shopping centres such as Kingston and Cambridge Park. Glenorchy too, I think.

 

In a paid parking area you will see signs about voucher or meter parking.

 

The Hobart City Council has information about parking at -

 

http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Transport/Parking_in_Hobart/Motor_Vehicle_Parking

 

The Hobart City Council carparks in the Hobart CBD offer free parking for the first 1 and a half hours.

There is a map on the above site which shows where the Council car parks are.

 

Also worth remembering - there is a carpark behind Salamanca Square ( "F" on the Council's carpark plan) which has voucher parking Monday to Saturday, but is free on Sunday...handy to know about if you want a leisurely coffee or meal on a Sunday!

You enter from Montpelier Retreat (on the LH side as you drive uphill away from the wharf) and go down to the bottom level.

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Yes, 4P means 4 hours (free) parking. It's free at Eastlands, also other shopping centres such as Kingston and Cambridge Park. Glenorchy too, I think.

 

In a paid parking area you will see signs about voucher or meter parking.

 

The Hobart City Council has information about parking at -

 

http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Transport/Parking_in_Hobart/Motor_Vehicle_Parking

 

The Hobart City Council carparks in the Hobart CBD offer free parking for the first 1 and a half hours.

There is a map on the above site which shows where the Council car parks are.

 

Also worth remembering - there is a carpark behind Salamanca Square ( "F" on the Council's carpark plan) which has voucher parking Monday to Saturday, but is free on Sunday...handy to know about if you want a leisurely coffee or meal on a Sunday!

You enter from Montpelier Retreat (on the LH side as you drive uphill away from the wharf) and go down to the bottom level.

 

That's absolutely fantastic, thanks a lot. Very much appreciated indeed. :notworthy:

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Have just read today's blog.

Yes, unit = flat. Flat used to be the general word here too and it is still used. But "unit" started to appear several decades ago - probably around the '70s or '80s.

And yes, the sun can burn surprisingly quickly at this time of year - in as little as 10 minutes for people with fair complexions. Between October and March the weather forecasts include a daily UV index.

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The parking signs confused me at first! I can confirm the parking in Glenorchy is free, we live in Rosetta so its my local shopping area, and I love thats there is tons of free parking available. If you pass by this way, I highly recommend Rosetta Bakery for their wonderful pies! If you like sausages, check out Hill Street Butchers in West Hobart! Too many good food options here!!

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Just caught up on your recent blog entries! Ok, so I was somewhat concerned (thats a manly way of saying terrified) of all the deadly spiders and snakes that would be crawling around my feet everywhere I went. The reality ... I've seen 2 (count em, thats right, 2) spiders in just over 3 months here in Tassie, and they were both tiny little things. Whilst out walking in the bush I've anticipated encountering deadly snakes behind every rock, but to date haven't seen a single one. I've seen one Kangeroo outside of zoo environments, and it almost got flattened as it was sat in the middle of a dark road at night. One lucky kangeroo ... I've seen many others that weren't so lucky, sad but thats just a part of living here.

 

The views everywhere are stunning. If you get chance for a full days outing the drive to Port Arthur has some amazing views. I found it interesting when you described how much better things looked after you got your first good nights sleep upon arrival. We felt exactly the same way! Arriving in that dinky little ol' airport and sat in the taxi driving through what is basically an uninhabited wilderness, its quite an overwhelming feeling, but after a good rest you feel so much better.

 

Like you I'm sure there is a honeymoon period after which things don't look quite so rosy, but over 3 months in and haven't reached the end of it yet. Still glad every day that we moved here, and that view of Mount Wellington never grows old!

 

Best of luck finding a suitable nest to rent, there are some real horrors out there ... lol ... the first we looked at wanted around 450pw for a place I didn't want to step inside it was that horrible. we ended up getting a brand new 3 bed house with double garage (electric garage doors are awesome) for 340pw, which I think based on everything we saw was a fair price. We are in Rosetta, which is around a 15 min drive to Hobart outside of peak hours, and a 13 min drive to Lenah Valley where Sam works (anytime of day, no traffic on that route at all)! We did have a brief look around Kingston and Blackmans Bay, but decided for us the priority was a short commute for Sam.

 

All the best and keep posting!

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Thanks for that BearRules. We've looked at a few properties and have a few more to look at before deciding. The process is actually quite fun and is helping us find our way around too.

 

We've noticed that so many places have really steep drives. Kind of scary to walk down steep. I dread to think what they'd be like in frost/ice. Do you get much frost/ice around? A couple of the worst culprits for steep drives were in Howrah, does that get particularly icy do you know?

 

Have a great day all

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We had 5 days of snow, sleet and ice in the first week of July but we're at 300 metre altitude (on the road to the mountain). Generally the higher suburbs are the areas with an occasional ice problem. On the eastern shore the one place where it can be a problem is Tunnel Hill - where the highway climbs on the way to the airport (BearRules' uninhabited wilderness :laugh:)

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Guest Guest 47403
Thanks both for your helpful posts. We've got a shortlist of 3 houses now, all with lots of positives. We just need to agree on which one we want now!! ;)

 

More blog nonsense below...

 

What sort of jobs have you applied for Tim?

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I've applied for a couple of IT ones (Service Desk Manager and Integration Analyst, both of which I've done before) and a couple of finance-type roles as I fancy maybe a bit of a change of career.

 

Places like Logica have their own careers page so it's worth regularly checking there. Also big companies like Hydro Tasmania regularly have IT jobs listed so ditto for them. It's also very worth looking at the university and government sites, as well as CareerOne and similar obviously.

 

There are more IT jobs than where I was from in the UK (admittedly that was Cornwall!), depending on what your specialism is you should find something. I went from Oracle analysis/programming to project/support management and I see something I could apply for most weeks.

 

Good luck!

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Guest Guest 47403
I've applied for a couple of IT ones (Service Desk Manager and Integration Analyst, both of which I've done before) and a couple of finance-type roles as I fancy maybe a bit of a change of career.

 

Places like Logica have their own careers page so it's worth regularly checking there. Also big companies like Hydro Tasmania regularly have IT jobs listed so ditto for them. It's also very worth looking at the university and government sites, as well as CareerOne and similar obviously.

 

There are more IT jobs than where I was from in the UK (admittedly that was Cornwall!), depending on what your specialism is you should find something. I went from Oracle analysis/programming to project/support management and I see something I could apply for most weeks.

 

Good luck!

 

Best of luck mate hope the interviews go well.

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How's the job hunting going Tim?

I'm just waiting to hear back on a couple. For one of them, the man who decides is on a course and not back until tomorrow so I hope to hear about that one maybe early next week.

 

I'm told that the Hobart IT industry is a bit like "it's not what you know it's who you know" but the employment agent that told me that obviously has a vested interest in my going via them - so I'm not taking that as 100% true. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case at least slightly so speaking to an employment agent is very likely a good idea.

 

If you were thinking of a recce trip then I'd thoroughly recommend speaking in person to the Buisness and Skilled Migration department whilst you're here as well as an employment agent in person if you can. That way the immigration people will be happier to sponsor your application (if applicable) and an employment agent will be happier to recommend you to employers.

 

In summary, I don't really have any worries about getting employment to be honest. Whether that's just blind optimism on my part or not, I'll let you know in a couple of weeks!

 

Tim

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest Guest 47403
Hi Baz, I've just been offerred (and accepted!) a job. I start 3rd Jan. :)

 

Great news Tim well done, what type of role did you take in the end.

 

Really pleased for you mate :wubclub:

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