richjop

We needed all our docs certified for the permanent Visa and we went to Burnside library on a Saturday morning to see the JP and he did it all free of charge and even had time for a chat about the UK!!!

In the UK Richard started to get interested in Triathlons but due to the fact that he worked every possible hour he had in dirty smelly London he had little time to train or participate. Today he completed a half ironman in Shepparton in just over 6 hours, a pretty amazing achievement for 1.9k swim, 91k bike ride and a half marathon all at the tender age of 42 so I say congratulations to him, I'm very proud and have now become a training widow rather than a work widow because he's already talking about the next one!! (We'll see how he feels in the morning!) See what you can achieve in Australia!!!! Joanne

We are visiting friends this afternoon who have 3 boys. The youngest goes to MCVale primary and the oldest two to Tatachilla-she is pleased with both schools but if you need to know specifics just let me know and I'll ask her

Our dream of Australia was always a boat and a seaview but due to job and school choices we actually live near the city. We are in the fortunate position of having good pensions brought over from the UK and plenty of equity in our home so one thing we would be considering is an investment property that we could use in the summer. What I need is some long termers/locals to tell me where....we have about 250/300 AUD and would be looking to use it most weekends in the summer, school holidays etc and possible rental in the Winter months. It can't be too far from Adelaide that it becomes a pain to drive down there but obviously we would like a watery feel!!!! Any ideas gratefully received. Thanks Joanne

Going to a quiz night tomorrow and was tasked with making profiteroles only oven not up to it and temp all over the place so have small soggy yorkshire pudding choux buns!!! Out all day tomorrow so any ideas for a quick, easy and impressive dessert I can take on a plate???? The theme is balck and white and I have loads of cream and chocolate in the fridge but will buy anything needed. BTW I will be the only Brit there so don't want to let the side down. Now going to clean a very messy kitchen..AAAARRRGGGHH..... Thanks Joanne

Ben gets $2, everything here is a gold coin donation after all!!!!

Thats not far from me at all, pm what you requirements are and where it is and I'll do a drive by and see whether its worth a look.

Hi Angela I did it in 58 minutes which I was fairly happy with but I started towards the back so I think I ran about 14k zig zagging past slower runners! I really enjoyed it and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone else next year. See you there next year? Richard

Richard is doing this, hoping to break the hour mark but after a day of intensive gardening he may struggle!!! There is meant to be over 20,000 people running so I expect that there will be lots of people running, walking or staggering...good luck to you and have fun, I have in a moment of weakness agreed to do a couple of triathlons this year so I expect I will be posting later in the year about my aches and pains!!!

Hi Andrew Send me a PM and your CV and I will see if I can set something up for you. I work for Santos in their Procurement & Logistics Dept and have a mate who is an Asst Director in State Govt Procurement. We are currently looking for Contract Analysts in Adelaide and advertise via our website and source from Hudsons and Hays. I worked in manufacturing supply chain management for 7 months for an mining / rail resources company. I got that whilst out on a reccie after I had got my visa - I had very little luck with agencies while still in UK, but there is plenty of work out here now. A colleague left today to go to a procurement job for the ASC - I asked him about not being a citizen and he didn't think that this was the case though it always states that on all the adverts. Richard

Don't normally post on here much anymore as we are so settled but your surname is my maiden name so your post caught my eye! I have friend who I will see next week whose husband works for Child and Youth Health, if you can give a few more details on what sort of area you would be looking at (specific qualifications etc) then I can try and get some information for you. Good luck in your quest, it takes a long time to get here but when the sun is shining its worth it!!!

I know exactly how you feel, my best friend was pregnant with twins and went into spontaneous labour at 26 weeks, one little boy died at 18 days and the other is still critical. All I wanted to do was to go back and she has begged me to be there but I know that I would have to leave her again as I have responsibilities here. Its very hard and you feel torn and wonder whether it was worth it but just hold on to why you are here and try to support people through phone calls and emails.

These threads always turn into a 'I live here' type of argument and therefore its the best. Jo summed up all the areas that are perceived as desirable by the majority of Adelaide residents, some may not be what you are looking for, some may. We wrote down a list of our requirements and the priority that they had, we had a budget of 900k so we are pretty much able to choose where we wanted to be but schools won the day for us and we now live in Burnside having rented in Malvern both, in my opinion, great areas with great schools and a 10 minute commute into work for Richard. Work out what you can spend, what is most important to you and then choose, don't get carried away on real estate because estate agents are able to take some really deceiving photos and if you haven't been, do a reccie and decide for yourself. Everyone likes different things and comes from different backgrounds and Libby, I've got some friends with gorgeous houses in Colonel Light Gardens, looks from the outside can be very deceiving!!!!!!

Just thought I would post this so that it doesn't happen to others. Mum and Dad have just emigrated and are in the process of buying their first house, settlement due 12th June 2008. As the exchange rate is so bad at the moment Dad has kept his money in sterling and for ease opened a HSBC bank account in Aus and kept the one in the UK that he has for over 40 years and they also went to see their personal banker in the UK to explain what they were doing. Went to HSBC in Adelaide last Thursday, opened a sterling account in Aus, instructed a transfer of funds from UK-Aus (same currency) and then FX will be done for the bank all ready for this Friday. Turns out that eventhough its the same currency, the UK needs a written confirmation to move money, when they call the UK Personal Banker always in meetings and all because there is no authority to take a fax instruction on their UK bank account (eventhough they were never told to set this up). So, at the moment they cannot pay for the house and we are waiting to hear whether the vendor will be charging interest for the late payment...SO if you are keeping the same bank, make sure you make it clear that money will be moving between accounts and what they need from you.....

Hi Andrew Thanks for the prompt reply. I will look into this before end of FY. Richard

Keep hearing that they are changing the Medicare rules and we are getting confused about what this means for a temp 475 holder, do we have to get private health cover in addition to the reciprocal arrangement we have for emergencies? Anybody able to help?

I'm also not going to be able to make this date, double booked now, have a great day all...

We contacted both Public and Private schools before we left and only heard back from a couple of them so were really worried but most we found like you to contact them when you get here and then we were shown around a lot there and then. If you mention the area you are interested in I'm sure there are members on here who will be in the know.

...there is one on Greenhill Road right next to Burnside Village called Bracegirdles and they won lots of prizes at the Adelaide show, we bought chocs for some Aussie friends at a dinner party and were told that they were the best they have ever tasted, can't agree or disagree because they had run out before they got to me!!!! I would agree with all the things that have been said but also try potential routes to and from work in the rush hour because particularly around the city some roads can be one way, both ways, no left hand turn etc depending on the time of day!!!!!Opens are a must just to experience the Aussie version of interior design!!!!!!

you are here and things are falling into place. Come and see us when you are free and we expect an invite to the first barbie!

This will be our first Winter in our house and was just wondering whether anyone can advise whether we need to have our chimney swept and if so, are there any recommendations out there? Thanks

I'd like to come to... Thanks Joanne

really interesting reading. My mum and dad have just been granted one of the very expensive 405 Visas, it has taken sooooo long that when they got it on 1st April they thought it was a joke!!!! Validated their Visa on Friday and booked the flights on the way home, they will be here to live permanently on April 15th and it feels like the final piece of the puzzle. Hope your parents make it here, you are all more than welcome to come up for a glass of wine when they get here!

sounds like he's just messing around for the sake of it. Having been to your house it didn't strike me as a one bedroom bungalow!!! Keep smiling and hopefully things will work out, when you get here this will be all be forgotten in a haze of Coopers Pale Ale and red wine!!!!

We are also v. near the city in Glen Osmond, sounds like you did well to secure this one as the properties this way are v. expensive!!!!