Things we've learnt.

[Guest Chris_J]

We have been in Aus for nearly 3 weeks now, Perth for 2 and then here in Adelaide since last Tuesday night. It was a nightmare of a time for us before the move, as we had to keep prepping the house for viewings, which we had an offer on at the 11th hour and accepted.

 

One obvious thing I will say is, plan and plan well ahead especially with house selling and the shipping container, what a mare.

 

If your house is leasehold, then buy the freehold ASAP as we were advised by the solicitor not to put the house on the market until the price was agreed and the transfer was going through. Allow 3 months for that and then assume your house may be on the market for 3 months or more. That set us back about 2 or 3 months. Also because we (and maybe foolishly) didn't want prospective buyers to know we were emigrating we couldn't start with the packing everything up etc and we needed to make the place presentable etc.

 

Our lawnmower got packed on the container and I never realised til after oops and I did ask several times for it not to go. Luckily the company will cover the cost. Couple of other things I'm nervous about but that's my own fault. Keep on top of what you are and are not taking its easy to miss something.

 

A couple of things we never read in the advice, is you need to inform HMRC that you are leaving the country. I think it was form P85 for PAYE and I think you need to inform them for NI too. Think the site was http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/reportchanges

 

You don't need 2 years on your passport when you enter the country. I called the UK passport office and the person I spoke to said not that he's aware of and to just renew my passport when there is 6 months left on it. Obviously don't travel if you only have 6 months left. Also, the magazine with the advice says under the 12 months to go section "make sure you have 2 years left on your passport" then says "contact your chosen agent". Not aware the rules have changed for new Visas and I assume this is because the 175 was taking up to 2 years to come through. I'm here with less than 2 years on my passport.

 

You don't need to do anything with your UK license or contact DVLA. Service SA will send your license back to them when you change to an SA license and inform DVLA.

 

I would recommend Singapore airlines and if you're going straight through do the transit hotel if you are n the 10 stop over, well worth it.

 

Hiring a car.....the excess reduction fee is mega expensive eecially with Europcar, but we needed a child seat and I think there aren't too many that have them. Check out Budget they seem a little cheaper, and if you aren't fussy about the car look at aussiecarrentals.com.au I think it is. The cars are pretty battered or old but ok for a short period and they will drop it off at the airport for you. It is expensive to get it out of the carpark though if it's at night though.

 

Adelaide drivers like the right hand lane, but driving isn't that bad. Not been to the notorious roundabout yet so not had fun with that otherwise driving is ok and islands are fine

 

We've found with food shopping that IGA or Foodland are cheaper than Coles or Woolworths. Not sure what others opinions are, but we find it ok on price. If you love ketchup, then Fountain is a good price and ahem nicer than Heinz too. You won't be buying much if any of your old brands... You're in a new country embrace the change :-)

 

We love Perth, but since arriving in Adelaide we are really starting to love it here too and now thinking if I can get a half decent job we may well be able to settle here and really call it home. Everything you need is so close by and the people seem nice and friendly enough plus it seems there is a great ex-pat community here too. The houses are cheaper and I am suspecting the wages aren't too far behind. Only thing that scares me is so many damn spiders and not getting a job it seems slow at the moment and that's what the agencies are saying too.

 

Last of all, I've never seen my little girl so happy. She can go to the beach and play in the sea but she also has Mum AND Dad all the time at the moment too. Taking her to the beach to see her smile is all worth it to me and that is one big bonus to me and the ultimate reason for being here....well that and Liz and I wanted to come here too as we loved Aus so much in 2009. I can honestly say the people are great so many have said welcome to Australia. You never say that to anyone in the UK. Normally it's why the hell did you come here :-)

 

Sorry for all the waffle hopefully some of this is of use and not teaching to suck eggs.

[scott&kerry]

That's brill thanks for putting all that on! We're coming out latest July,just about to put our house on the market! So fingers crossed.glad alls going well for you.

[Guest Guest75]

Good post Chris.

 

Not waffle at all, good of you to take the time and "Put back in"

 

You'll be shopping at the Foodland at Collin's Parade??

We use that one and I know quite a few others on here do as well.

 

I'm ya neighbor until next week, we live just up the way in Onakaparinga Hills.

[NicF]

Excellent post, just a few points to add though.

 

The P85 form is the one you use to inform HMRC you are leaving the country. Once they receive the form they will calculate how much tax you should have paid for a the year and if you have paid too much they will give you a refund. Unless you leave right at the end of the tax year if you are on PAYE then the chances are you will get a refund because the amount of tax you pay each month is based on the assumptiom you will be earning for the full year.

 

I've still got my UK driving licence. When I got my SA one they gave me my UK one back and have not informed the DVLA of anything.

 

You don't have to pay the excess reduction fee when hiring a car - we never have in seven holidays ovr here and fortunately we have never had any problems. If you do want additional cover rather than paying the fees from the hire car companies there are companies in the UK that will provide cover for much less. I know this applies if you are on holiday, but I'm not sure if it applies if you move over here. Worth googling to see though.

 

I've actually found that for overall shopping Coles is cheaper than Foodland, but I think a lot of this depends on the size of the store and the local competition. Where I live there is a Coles and a Woolworths in the same shopping centre and I've found prices for some things at the Coles there are cheaper than the prices at the Coles near my mother in law in Firle. Where ever you shop though it's worth keeping an eye out for things on special that you use all the time and buying while they are cheap.

[Guest Chris_J]

Thanks all and worth knowing for me too Nic. To be honest we haven't been Coles here only in Perth. At least there is plenty of choice in SA here where Perth is very spread out so not worth the drive sometimes.

 

Tyke that is the one we use Liz liked the butchers there too.

[Diane]

You don't have to pay the excess reduction fee when hiring a car - we never have in seven holidays ovr here and fortunately we have never had any problems. If you do want additional cover rather than paying the fees from the hire car companies there are companies in the UK that will provide cover for much less. I know this applies if you are on holiday, but I'm not sure if it applies if you move over here. Worth googling to see though.

 

Also some credit cards offer free excess reduction insurance - the one we have (ANZ Gold I think it is) also offers free family travel insurance - there is a fee for the card but if you are travelling overseas, or hiring a car within Australia, it still works out cheaper.

[Guest Chris_J]

I made the mistake of not getting a policy in the uk, but my car in Perth had a crack in the indicator lens on the wing mirror, not caused by me but I would have been charged because it wasn't on the system. I made it known I wasn't accepting liability but they were uninterested as I had 0 excess, pah whatever. God knows what they would have twisted my Jacobs for :-)

 

There seem to be more nutters around than in UK and seemingly a lot of alcoholics.

[zebedee]

Pleased to hear it's going well Chris! Informative post, I've tried to write something similar but then my mind goes blank - too much has happened in the last 3 months to try and explain it on a keyboard!

 

Aussie Car Rentals is who we used and they were fine (although we had to follow the guy who dropped the car off back to our first place as he was carrying our bags - and let's just say I nicknamed him "Crazy Ivan" - I really struggled to keep up with the dude). It was good for a week till we bought our own car....oh, and there's a story......had the Holden for 2 months now, warranty is getting close to running out, so I registered with the RAA and got a end of warranty check done on the car, joining plus the check was just over 300 bucks. Sure glad I did, there are quite a few things that can be claimed under the warranty so I'm taking it in tomorrow....let's see if I have a fight on my hands or not. As it's a RAA check I don't think there is much argument.

 

One other thing, we went for our first family bike ride along the linear park at the weekend....and it really grounded the whole move for us....magic.

 

Good luck with the job hunting, I'll keep an eye out for opportunities.

[Guest Chris_J]

Cheers Dave all good then. Liz joined RAA and we bought a car through Eddie Lynch at Adelaide Consignment Centre and we added on a warranty. It's only a 2004 Astra but will see us ok for a while and it ran ok, plus Eddie looked after us and I can recommend him for sure. Thank you for keeping your eye out on the job front. I met Jen and Sarah on Friday so hopefully things may improve now they have proof of residency.<br>

[Guest bubbe2005]

Cheers Dave all good then. Liz joined RAA and we bought a car through Eddie Lynch at Adelaide Consignment Centre and we added on a warranty. It's only a 2004 Astra but will see us ok for a while and it ran ok, plus Eddie looked after us and I can recommend him for sure. Thank you for keeping your eye out on the job front. I met Jen and Sarah on Friday so hopefully things may improve now they have proof of residency.<br>

 

did you get a stick shift or auto? I miss driving manual. I'm driving an auto 2007 Honda civic right now, I know they have the same model. I'm tempted to get the civic SI on finance.

[Guest Chris_J]

Auto as that seems the norm here. I guess a manual might be harder to sell on dunno. I want a 4x4 when I'm settled and earning is that si a petrol or diesel? What year?

[Guest Cornish Pasties]

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for the update & glad to hear your are enjoying Adelaide. We are due to fly out early Jan & refreshing to hear that Singapore airlines & transit hotel were good as we are doing same. Will also keep a close eye on the shippers when they pack everything up!

Enjoy your new life

 

Zoe

[zebedee]

did you get a stick shift or auto? I miss driving manual. I'm driving an auto 2007 Honda civic right now, I know they have the same model. I'm tempted to get the civic SI on finance.

 

Funny, my wife says how much she misses the manual driving. We plumped for a Commodore Wagon, auto. Very handy with all the traffic lights though.

[zebedee]

Just curious as to wherabouts in Cornwall you are coming out from? I grew up in Callington, and ended up next door in Devon. We are settling well in Adelaide, but I do miss the Cornish landscape.

[Guest Chris_J]

Another one, if you have kids join a library as I'm sure I've read before. We joined Onkaparinga library today at Aberfoyle Park, and come back with toys and loads of books for the Babba.

[Josie]

'Weekend Notes' website is great for things to do in Adelaide! A great introduction to regular and one off places to go and visit and events/ markets/ restaurants! It's become my guidebook!

[Guest Chris_J]

You are indeed right, I have had a letter letting me know I've had a nice and very welcome refund :-) thank you mr tax man.

 

Excellent post, just a few points to add though.

 

The P85 form is the one you use to inform HMRC you are leaving the country. Once they receive the form they will calculate how much tax you should have paid for a the year and if you have paid too much they will give you a refund. Unless you leave right at the end of the tax year if you are on PAYE then the chances are you will get a refund because the amount of tax you pay each month is based on the assumptiom you will be earning for the full year.

 

I've still got my UK driving licence. When I got my SA one they gave me my UK one back and have not informed the DVLA of anything.

 

You don't have to pay the excess reduction fee when hiring a car - we never have in seven holidays ovr here and fortunately we have never had any problems. If you do want additional cover rather than paying the fees from the hire car companies there are companies in the UK that will provide cover for much less. I know this applies if you are on holiday, but I'm not sure if it applies if you move over here. Worth googling to see though.

 

I've actually found that for overall shopping Coles is cheaper than Foodland, but I think a lot of this depends on the size of the store and the local competition. Where I live there is a Coles and a Woolworths in the same shopping centre and I've found prices for some things at the Coles there are cheaper than the prices at the Coles near my mother in law in Firle. Where ever you shop though it's worth keeping an eye out for things on special that you use all the time and buying while they are cheap.

[Guest Chris_J]

So..... don't leave at the end of March :-)

 

If you go to a chippy they don't seem to understand fish and chips twice, they give you 2 fish and ask how big a portion of chips you want.....go about $5 for 2 or 3 people and Aussie chips aren't as good, maybe I will lose some weight here haha not just through stress. The fish is good though but no idea what butter fish is.

 

If you want a nice milkshake, go to the Balfour cafe on the ground floor at Noarlunga shopping centre, it's a decent size shake and not too expensive yum. Also the barber there is very good too, best cut I've had in years but cost $24.

 

Got young children? Join the RAA and get the car seat fitting checked for free, great service and I'm now happy my daughter is safer in the car.

[Diane]

So..... don't leave at the end of March :-)

 

If you go to a chippy they don't seem to understand fish and chips twice, they give you 2 fish and ask how big a portion of chips you want.....go about $5 for 2 or 3 people and Aussie chips aren't as good, maybe I will lose some weight here haha not just through stress. The fish is good though but no idea what butter fish is.

 

Butter fish = usually shark but whatever they've caught lots of if not!

Chips = try Semaphore - best chips in Adelaide, bit of a wait for them but they don't use frozen ones like a lot of places and they are excellent. Be prepared to reject 'chicken salt' on your chips every time you buy them, 'Minimum Chips' is usually enough for a family (except at rip off places) and buy and bring your own malt vinegar as they don't have this in the chip shops!

[Guest Chris_J]

I've never had chicken salt, it didn't sound nice and I have no idea what it is.

[Chris&Mel]

myself and the wife swear by chicken salt.....love it!!!