rachel31

I was sat in a lovely cafe in my little home town north of Adelaide a summer or two ago when my companions noticed chopper reid ( The real one) sat on the next table, they were quire excited but unfortunately had no idea who he was - i'm not sue he would go in the "likeable " basket however i believe he has done some good in and out of HMS - therfore I think your pic should stay

Hi Jane, I have seen a number of your posts on here and it is actually reasurrring to see other having a wobble! I havn't as yet although the kids have been back a few times and seen the uk with rose tinted glasses. I must admit the first year we were here i was prepared to move anywhere as long as they employed me, even back to the uk - I gave up a life I loved in the uk and as time went on I began to resent OH for work colleagues and even kids having school friends, I'm usually quite sociable but not knowing anyone was really hard.Saying that I have found a position which is ongoing that i really enjoy. We are a long way from Adelaide - 219 k's but during the time we have been here things have settled and I really do feel like I'm home. It hasn't been easy, when we came the kids were all old enough to make friends at school but too old for me to need to meet the parents at the school gate - also as someone pointed out the""ozzies"have friendship groups and they are settled"". This I think is very true also. In our 3.5 years here ( I can't believe it has been this long!) friendships have been made and lasted and also made and not been succesful - I have made some lovely friends here however I would be more then happy to have some "city friends "" too - Port Pirie is a bit of a treck I know! Our oldest son has his heart set on joining the army here so we will all be sitting he citizenship test this year and i hope celebrating here on Australia day 2014 here in Port Pirie. Feel free to PM me , I come to adelaide fairly regularly with and without children if you fancy a catch up - i can probably find my way to rundle mall and harbour town!!.

we were advised to get ambulance cover at the leat before coming over - if you need an ambulance be it 20 ft or 20 k's its about $870, so not cheap option! We have been here nearly 4 years and although luckily we have never required hospital stays for any of us I have found private health brilliant for most things like physios and chiropractors but not very good for major dental work like plates/ braces. I have also heard over the last 12 months or so that taxes will be increased for people who do no have private health. PM me if you have any more queries Rach

i have been surprised at the lack of insects in the house much to my relief but flies drive me mad!!!!! I couldn't survive with door and windows closed though, I just have Mortein in every room! The most annoying thing is that flies aim for your mouth and ers and it is horrid!!therefore I am a seasoanl dog walker much to OH's disgust - any hint of flies or snakes and I don't go!I have been surprised and quite pleased about the lack of wildlife in my house despite being further north of adelaide and usually 3 - 4degrees warmer so I wouldn't worry too much.

April won't be super warm, we will be in autum going into winter. For a lovely rental contact Tyke on here or Tamara ( have stayed in both Tykes properties and were very nice)no pool but Iam thinking it might be bit chilly, you never know I might be wrong Rach

Autism SA might be able to offer some advice if you were to contact them, let me now if you have trouble finding the number and I'll get it for you - I know plenty of people here who have children with differing educational needs and each person has their own thoughts about the education system. Rach

we are heading into christmas number 4 - i agree that they are hard to come by but I have seen them in Coles and woolies, both fresh and frozen. At my childrens request and to keep tradition we have had a full on uk Christmas dinner each year however this year I have caved into the heat and opted for a bbq and salads for tea!! We are a long way north of Adelaide and quite a bit hotter during the day so this is our first real ozzie Christmas. I hope you and yours have a lovely Christmas, possibly very different to ones experienced previously - it took us a while( and severe sunburn )to become to accustomed to hot christmases however now it is the norm. We have made wonderful friends who we enjoy spending christmas with - sadly their children would like me to provide an english christmas including yorkshire puddings - they are out of luck this year - maybe next year.......

we have number of very old full grown palms which we ned to dispose of. Apparently there is a company in Adelaide who will come and get them whole???? Any idea's who this is or if this info is correct? Cheers, Rach

I too am guilty of only goiing on here occasionally having been here for 3 yeras on the 29th November - what a good idea Tkye to suugest this link and how wonderful to see so many replies!! MY OH arrived in September 2009 to attend training for 3 months and we ( me and 4 kids) joined him in november. We had family in Queensland however work determined where we would live and South Australia it was - despite the heavy rain at Adelaide airport and the pilot announcing that he would be landing in Melbourne as the weather was better we landed safely in Adelaide only 1 hour late. We had secured a beautiful home for a few weeks in seaford rise ( thank you Tyke) and despite all the reassurances that there were no problems with sharks I must admit that I was slightly concenrened about the number of sightings by the shark plane that summer and the siren telling us to hesd back to the beach! We have settled well, a short 3 hour dribe form Adelaide at the bottom of the flindres ranges and I don't think that we have been happier. Every day I drive to work I am so thankful that we have had the opportunity to come and live in such a beautiful part of the world and we have no intention of moving anywhere else. We are looking forward to exploring what else australia has to offer however SA will always be home. We have made some fantastic friends since we have been here both through work ( me & OH ) amd also friends of kids parents. OH enjoys work but it is quiter that he is used to and having been on a 3 month contract for 18 months thi has just been converted to ongoing much to my relief!! I would think that OH's wages are higher than in the uk but the cost of living in sa is higher than anywhere else but as others have ppointed out, just shop around and always look in the brochures which are delivered each week - they can save you heaps! Our family Me, OH and kids came here with the intention of staying forever sold up in the uk and headed here knowing no one, what an adventure. I think that this is partly why we have settled dso well, other families we have met who have homs and jobs to return to into the uk seem to find it harder to settle. As I said, we are so luck to live is such a beautiful part of the world, it has been a fantatstic adventure and one which we have all enjoyed and benefited from ( kids are now 16,14 and 12) they enjoy going back to see grandparents however my annual leave is mine for exploring out new home country! school has been stressfree overall and kids are so busy doing activities its difficult to get them all in one place at one time! I do miss old friends but have made wonderful friends here - not an english one in sight! Good luck to all who are thinking of making the journey and if Adelaide is not for you, theres a whole lot more SA has to offer - ( perhaps not port augusta but it is the gateway to the outback and that is beautiful place Rach

not sure where in south wales you are but we travelled to bristol as there is somewhere there that is authorised to do medicals. Rach

hi, my husband came out on his own in September 2009 to start work and the I came with the kids in the november. There were no restrictions on coming sperately however all people on the visa neded to enter Australia by a certain time. congratulations on your upcoming wedding and also your new life in australia Rach

if you are looking further out, i would suggest avoiding most places around elizabeth, davoren park and possibly areas of Gawler ( theses places sre more north adelaide). apologies to anyone who lives here, just my personal opinion

we used one of these mentioned and never again!!!! things broken, went to wrong country, got lost..........................however some people have used them and reckon they are pretty good!!

it depends how far north you want to travel!! We are 3 hrs drive north of adelaide but very setled and loving it. I come to Adelaide fairly regularly with work and my kids are always happy to head "into town" for the day - we have been here 2.5 years and very happy, feel free to give me a ring if you fancy a chat, my kids are 15 (boy),13 Girl). 11 & 11( boy and girl), i'm sure they would like some city friends to catch up with, they will be more than happy to talk from a distance too Rach x

hi my name is harry (11years old) i have been in south australia for 2½ years with my brother and sisters and it is really fun. We have had loads of oppurtunities to try out different sports and we have made loads of new friends. Luckily we have skype so we can catch up with our old friends and family back in england.I am in year 6 at primary school and really enjoying it. If you have any questions you want to ask me just contact me.

SAPOL have recruted fromm the uk over the last 5+ years however I don't think they will be doing it again soon i'm afraid. From my undersatanding the last recruits are just arriving now. WA also recruit from the uk however they again would advertise on their site the same as SAPOL do. As someone else said its quite a long process, you also need to have been a serving police officer for over 5 years. If your wife couls come over on a permanent visa could you join the police here? I think that it is a 6 - 8 month course but it would mean starting again at the bottom. Hope this helps, let me know if I can offer any more advise Rach

the only thing I didn't bring was my fridge freezer although it was fairly new due to the fact that it would gobble up electricity by having to work hard in a hot climate - I brought my tumble dryer too and I am very glad that i did - winter heer is cold and damp and no handy central heating! we brought almost everything else as we wanted the kids to have familiar stuff round them plus the cost of replacing everything would have been horrendous - this depends on each person though if you can get stuff in the sales its great and there is always layby!! Rach x

we also had a fairly hideous experience a couple of years ago however as far as I can tell no one has had problems with the shipping company that we used to bring our belongings over. I can laugh now but was far from laughing at the time. The container arrived at our uk address on 24th sept, due to be shipped to oz early october, ready for us to collect late nov, unfortunately it went to antwerp, not oz and then when it finnally arrived we had similar problems to you with getting it from Adelaide to where we live. Luckily my inlaws travelled from Queensland to help us out but with 4 kids I don't know if I was relieved to se the container on 24th Dec or too worried that our first christmas would be terrible!!! As I said, everyone else has raved about the company, perhaps we were unlucky however we received no compensation for stuff that was damaged as by the time the container arrived and we unpacked it the claim time was up! Not going anywhere soon however and I do think we were just unlucky Very settled now though and staying put!! Rach x

thank you very much for your quick responses, have passed info on to those in the uk

My mum asked yesterday if it is possible to hire a vehicle in sa if over 60? I have no idea, I'm prety sure you can, both my mum and Dad have current driving licenses in the uk , I think they may be thinking of coming to visit?? If anyone knows anything about this it would be hamdy to know, apologies if this has been asked previously Rach

I did see a couple of vacancy signs in shop windows in rundle mall on friday, Diva possibly and a couple of clothes shops if that helps Rac x

thank you for replies. looking for dual fuel range cooker, found one locally but nearly $9000 can get almost identical one in the uk for £500 and this can be used with LPG when converter purchased. wanting one with seperate grill too

We have lived here very happily for the last 2 + years however I can't get the cooker i want. I can however get it in the uk for a very reasonable price, however i just need to get it here! Has anyone else shipped items accross from the uk and roughly how much am i looking at paying? Thanks Rach

not very near you but heading from Adelaide out towards Port Augusta I think there were adverts for fruit harvesting at Port Wakefield - about on hours drive from Adelaide if that helps