wireworks

I think the reason 12c feels colder here than the UK is that it is a dry cold. I agree about the houses and the lack of insulation - we have an appartment with floor to ceiling windows along one side. Beautiful views, but freezing in winter. Saw in a house mag the other day that the latest 'discovery' for heating is water filled radiators running from the house hot water system!

We've found that the Aussie's have a very sweet tooth, and even 'familiar' brands must be made under contract for this as they are a lot sweeter than in the UK. Hellman's mayo is one example, we haven't found a good 'substitute' yet (18 months in), but I did find a japanese mayo in a tube in a Foodland once which wasn't too bad. Obviously it depends on what your 'faves' are, Mocconia coffee is Dowe Egberts, English style Heinz Baked Beans are what they say, my husband was a Yorkshire Tea person, but now loves Bushells Australian Breakfast Tea (that took a lot of trying out, and throwing away of packets of tea bags) . Try the smaller shops and the markets, go to bakeries. Supermarkets are good for basics, tinnned goods, paper products, use independent greengrocers and butchers for other stuff, or the market. Depends where you live as well. Foodland is an independent foodstore group, but each branch is different. There are some shops specialising in UK products to cater for the ex-pat market - they are expensive, but you can buy Bisto gravy powder and other 'familiar' goods there. At the end of the day, you will have to do a lot of the tryouts yourself as everyone's tastes are different. Hope this helps!

We moved here about 18 months ago. Being older (late 50's/early 60's) we weren't looking for a better life for the children (we've left them back in the UK with their own loves and lives) we were looking for a new adventure. We had planned for a long time to live in another country after selling our business, but didn't know where. We first visited Australia when our younger daughter was studying in Melbourne as part of her degree. We just came for a holiday, but felt at home and very comfortable in the country. Returning to the UK we came across a magazine about living in Australia, and the first issue we read had an article about older migrants, so we started to look into it, initially for fun, then became more serious..... We had made a list of 'requirements' for the country we would eventually move to - drive on the same side of the road and speak a form of english (we are hopeless at languages and you can't intergrate easily if you can't communicate) being the main requirements! Australia fitted the bill, so we came back for another visit to see how things were without seeing a daughter for the first time in 6 months. We loved it, we arrived in Melbourne again as that was where we had started before, drove the Great Ocean road (for the second time) to Adelaide stopping off in Port Fairy, Mount Gambier, Robe and Strathalbyn along the way, ending up in Adelaide itself for the last few days. This was to give us a view on the size/range of a small part of the country. Our research had pinpointed Adelaide area as being the most comfortable climatically for the European psyche, and we agree. After this visit we appointed an agent and started the process, 18 months later we got our visa and here we are! Obviously we miss our children, but neither of them plan to stay in the UK. One is in the process of moving to France, and the other plans to move to the US once she graduates. Skype is a wonderful way of keeping in touch, the world is shrinking and a visit to family is only a 30 hour trip.

I agree with all the others - bring stuff for an English autumn/winter, and don't bring the rose tinted glasses. You are planning to live here remember. Check out supermarkets to see the range of foods, and the type of shops you would normally use back in the UK to see what is available. Enjoy it all as well. Coffee on the Marina in Glenelg is a must -but them I'm biased as I live there! Enjoy!

I know its a bit of a long shot, but in Market Rasen in Lincolnshire there is the Lincolnshire Trust for Cats who may be able to help. We were unable to bring our two cats with us (we can't have pets in the appartment, and we felt it was cruel to inflict the journey on them). The Trust took them (for a fee) to 'retire' them at their centre, they were deemed too old to rehouse at 12 and 16. Look the Trust up on line and see if they can help you.

Hi, We have a temporary state sponsored investor visa sub class 165 and will be looking to 'upgrade' it to a permanent visa, sub class 893, by 2013. The migration agent we used for the initial application has retired, so we wondered if anyone out there can recommend an agent in Adelaide who could help us.

Hi Don't know about shipping Harleys, but we used Doree Bonner to ship a 60 year old classic car and all went very smoothly.

Hi! We have just moved over (3 weeks ago) to live in Glenelg in semi-retirement, and would like to meet up with anyone in their 50's. We have no family or friends over here, it is a complete lifestyle change for us and, although we are loving it so far, it would be nice to have some interaction with other people! Cheers Helen and Lou

may sound odd, (and possibly a bit boring for the kids) but we found it useful to look at a few houses on open inspection - gave us a view on the differences between Aussie houses and UK ones. Get the Adelaide Advertiser on a Saturday, all the opens for the weekend are listed in there. Gives you a reason to visit some of the suburbs apart from just wandering round the streets. Have a good trip. Helen and Lou - moving to Glenelg in October!!!!!

Counting the days! As soon as our daughter has got married (2 weeks today) we can really concentrate on the move. We are planning to send the container early (late august) so that we won't be without things for too long. Scaling down a 6 bedroom house to a 3 bedroom appartment is a little challenging, but definitely concentrates the mind. Look forward to meeting up with you once we finally get there! Cheers Helen and Loui

We'd love to join you for a walk anytime, once we have arrived in Glenelg in October! Cheers Helen and Loui

Hi, Over the months that I've been following PIA there has been lots of discussion about what to bring/leave behind, and what will or won't work in Australia.. Bedding is said to be more expensive, but how do you manage without it for 3 months until your container arrives? You can't fill your suitcase with duvets/sheets/pillows so you have to buy some anyway, plus a second set so you can wash the first lot, same goes for towels. This applies to a lot of other things as well, kettle, toaster, vacuum cleaner, crockery, pots and pans, utensils, white goods, TV, computer, etc etc etc. How many of these can you fit into your suitcase? (okay you can fit in a laptop, but what about a printer?) Unless you are in fully furnished accomodation for the first 3 months you will need to be buying some or all of these things anyway, so why fill a container with items you will have already replaced? We are moving over in October, and so far have thought about taking the amount of clothes we would pack for a long(ish) holiday, but filling up the rest of our baggage allowance with some useful items (my favourite kitchen knives for instance) and personal items (pictures, small ornaments etc) which will give wherever we are our own personal touch. We could buy cheap kitchen/household stuff until ours arrives, or we could buy decent stuff that will last more than a month or three. The container will have the larger items, some furniture, the rest of our personal items and clothes but not sure what else! How have other people done it? Cheers Helen

Hi, We are moving over later this year on a business investor visa and will need a good tax advisor. Can anyone recommend one? Cheers Helen and Lou

Hi Kerry Good luck with your plans. We used Jo Grist at Grist International, Wouldn't have got the visa without her help and advice. Check her out. See you in Adelaide in a year or two! Cheers, Helen Cheers

Hi, we can thoroughly agree with the emotional turmoil of the reccie visit. This is the final day of our visa-validation visit, then we are back to the UK for a year before we can move out properly. It is our 3rd visit to Oz, first was 4 years ago, purely as a holiday, but something about the country got to us. 2nd was 2 years ago to see if it still had that pull, that was when we decided to apply for a visa, and this time to validate it. We have been here for 4 weeks, trying out 3 different areas and trying, as best we could, to live a 'normal' life - staying in self-catering where we could cook or eat out as appropriate. We did the 'wanted down under' pattern of beach, country and city to see which felt the most confortable for us, our needs and our 'normal' lifestyle. The beach didn't do it for us we thought it great for a weekend, in the summer, with friends, or just for an evening if we end up close enough (not all that difficult in Adelaide). We used the opportunity of being there (Aldinga) to explore the Fleurieu Peninsular so switched to 'holiday' mode for a day or two and looked at waterfalls and suchlike. Next we went to the Hills, Aldgate/Stirling area, the one we had thought we might settle in on our 2nd trip. We liked it just as much as on our first 15 minute stop there 2 years ago, and spent the next 2 weeks exploring it fully, ease of getting into the city, facilities in and around plus what the other towns/villages in the area have to offer. We also explored all the eastern suburbs, as much as you can by driving around them and stopping at shopping centres etc. Our final week has been in Norwood to experience close-to-city living - something we haven't done since student days in the 70's. This has been fun, being able to walk into the city, eat out without the drink-driving issues and all that that entails. We have spent every weekend looking round open houses, a great way to see how the Aussie house differs from the English - we have never lived in a modern house so some of the houses semed very strange. This was great as we have looked at lots on the net, but seeing them in the flesh gave a much better picture. Emotions over the 4 weeks have been strong. Its the first time we have spent this much time solely in each others company which has had its problems, especially with not a lot of living space to escape from each other in! Lou has had to think hard about what he is going to do when we get here, the networking way of business only works if you know people to network with! I will get involved in crafts and my other hobbies once we are here, but for this trip couldn't. We missed the simple everyday contact with the familiar, not just friends and family, just that easy nodding aquaintance with all that is around without having to wonder where everthing is. I think on a short visit this is not so apparent, but 4 weeks is a long time, however it has made us more prepared for the full move. PIA has been good for us as well, we made contact with 2 couples before we came and met up with them, as well as going to the ex-pats monthly meet-up where we met up with a few other people, so when we arrive next year we will know a face or two. A break though in a way for how this whole move will work for us was finally getting Skype up and running and talking to one of our daughters. Seeing her made the distance shrink and we all felt a lot better for it. Overall, we feel the move is the right one for us, we are not coming with rose-tinted glasses thinking all will be wonderful, but we do feel we are prepared for it now having had this experience. Next year will bring a whole lot of new experiences. Cheers, Helen and Lou