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Congratulations, MandiMR2! I wish you the very best of everything for your new life in Oz! I also hope your airline has given you a 40kg extra baggage allowance for migrants to Oz on a one-way ticket. If not, get on the phone and ask for it! Check it out on google, if you're not sure, but quite a few regular Airlines offer it. I hope yours is one of them! Have fun! x Adelaide welcomes you with open arms!

Go, BillyJo! Go!! I wish you everything you wish for yourself! Life is so short so there's no time to lose if you're after an adventure, or simply something different for a while. Adelaide is a great place and many hundreds of thousands of Brits have discovered that for themselves. Make the Big Leap, my friend. However, if you and Adelaide don't get on together, well, there's plenty of other places to try in Australia. And if all of Oz turns out not to be your cup of tea, well, you can always turn around and go back home to Blighty! But I bet you'll never forget the Land Down Under! She has a habit of getting right under the skin, cobber!! x

Welcome to Adelaide, LeonDH! Good luck on your new life in Oz! If you're after a good pub quiz, a good friend of mine (also a Pom) goes every Thursday with her family to The Glynde Hotel (492 Payneham Road - not a million miles from Norwood) for the weekly pub quiz, and from the way she describes it, a good time is had by all! They get there a bit before 7pm so they can have dinner before the quiz starts, which I believe is around 7.30pm. Check it out for yourself on google. They love it! Btw: if you're renting and don't have air-conditioning and struggling with this hot weather, I recommend you do what we do and keep a spray bottle of cold water handy at all times, and keep giving yourself a douse when you feel a bit hot and sticky - especially at bedtimes, when I suggest you have a shower first (without drying off fully) and then hop into bed with just the sheet, freshly sprayed with cold water. My husband and I do it ourselves in this really hot weather and I promise it really helps a lot! In fact, my trusty spray bottle is my best mate right now!! Also, if you haven't already been advised how to keep your home cool for as long as possible, remember to keep all your doors and windows closed (internal as well as external) all day long, to keep the heat out. We always open up again in mid-evening, when the mad heat of the day subsides, and leave all doors and windows open all night long (always making sure security flyscreen doors are well and truly locked)! By morning, the house is nice and cool again, at which time we shut the doors and windows again to keep the ravaging heat of the day out for as long as we can. It usually keeps the house cool for a good three or four days of extreme hot weather, until the extreme heat seeps into the house bricks, after which it gets a bit sticky and the battle is lost and we revert to frequent showers to keep ourselves cool-ish! Thank goodness this kind of heat doesn't last for more than four or five days on the trot, after which time you can go back to normal. Of course, there's nothing like proper air-conditioning for keeping the heat out, but, hey! we're in Oz now, and I'd far rather be jumping in a shower to keep cool than forking out lord knows how much dosh for central heating back home! Happy days! xx

I love your post, AlanMcGarrah! Made me smile. A sense of humour will carry you through the tough times; inevitable along the road to Oz and beyond, in the early days, until you get properly 'dug in'. Don't give up; I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine. Congratulations on your new baby girl, btw! Well done, and good luck in your new life in the Land Down Under. xx

It's not easy, I know, when you set off down an unfamiliar road, not to feel scared: but be assured it's going to be fine! Just keep an open mind and try not to make too many negative comparisons with home (because there definitely will be some differences) and in no time at all you'll be feeling happy with the decisions you've made to start a brand new life on the other side of the planet! There's so much good stuff here and so many good people you'll meet along the new road you'll be travelling, that it'll soon feel like home. But, if it doesn't pan out that way after a while, well, you can always go home again. Good luck! Enjoy your new life!

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Happy New Year and many of them! x

Where's Ali? Here's a man who deserves to do well in his new life in Oz! Don't forget the old saying, Ali: 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again'. You'll get there in the end if you don't give up trying. Good wishes coming your way x

Play up! Play up - and Play the Game!!!! Oh dear, Sir Henry Newbolt will be turning in his grave if he knew how low 21st century standards of etiquette in international cricket would sink! "It just isn't cricket"! Such a shame.

Sounds a bit pricey to me, alert! I suggest you search online for 'Adelaide rental real estate agents' and make direct contact with one or two, explaining your situation, and see what they can come up with for you. I really think the 'Bent Street Apartments' deal is well over-priced and you're not getting much for your dollar in my opinion. For the record: my husband and I are paying $290 per week rental for a three-bed detached house with front and back gardens in a near-city suburb of Adelaide. I believe you should be able to find something much more substantial than just 'one room in a 3-bed apartment', near the Adelaide CBD, for the price these clowns are asking. Good luck!

Good Luck, Gus! You deserve to succeed! x

Beautiful!! I love it. xx

Well done, Claire! Keep going, day by day. I promise it will get easier as the weeks and months pass. It's just over two-and-a-half years since my last cig, and I truly don't even think about it any more. So many people are giving up the fags now; so just remember you're definitely not on your own. However, there are people like my sister who couldn't quite get cigs out of her system, so I got her started on e-cigs (from a UK company trading under '10-Motives'; you can easily find them online), two years ago, and she's not smoked a 'real' cig since then. Said it's the best thing she's ever done and won't go back to tobacco ever again. You can do it, too, Claire: whether it's with - or without - the help of e-cigs. I didn't use e-cigs myself, but for those not able to manage without a bit of help, at least give them a try. And remember you won't be doing yourself any harm if you do have a little 'relapse' and decide to try e-cigs. Good luck, Claire!! You'll be so proud of yourself this time next year, I know!

Lovely!!

What a shocker! You've waited so long and I'm so sorry it's come right now, when you're in England. Fingers crossed they'll give you an extension of time to provide the information they want after you return to Oz. One day you'll look back and laugh ..... I hope. Good luck, John. I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end - and what a great story to tell your grandkids about your struggle to get to Oz!

Adelaide has always been known as the 'Twenty-Minute City', because it only takes 20 minutes to get anywhere (either 20mins walk diagonally from corner to corner of the City of Adelaide, or a 20mins drive from Adelaide CBD to southern beaches, hills areas or open roads leading to the rest of Oz! In my opinion, Adelaide and surrounding suburbs have something for everyone.

I just want to say Adelaide isn't at all boring. It's a very attractive city indeed and has much to offer everyone from all walks of life. Beautiful beaches; rich historic (albeit not ancient in European terms) culture; glorious climate (Mediterranean during the Summer months, although can be pretty chilly in Winter, but that's no problem for those of us from intemperate climes); wonderful restaurants; wineries offering the best of the best; great schools for our children, and loads more besides. There's much going on in and around Adelaide and life here can be as exciting or as mundane as you make it. There are plenty of switched-on people here who choose to make Adelaide home, so please don't despair. It's all here. I wish you well in your new adventure Down Under.

Hi The Monaghans: Well, I had a very happy half-hour or so listening to my old fave BBC radio station last night (BBC Sussex) around 11.30pm-midnight. In fact, it got me feeling so homesick listening to the lovely Allison Ferns, that I shed a tear or two, which probably wasn't the best thing to do before bed, 'cos it kept me awake for a bit. Thank goodness the electric blanket was toasty warm, because it helped me go off before too long. I was right as rain again this morning (ie no longing to go back just yet), but I really enjoyed listening to Allison's warm, homely voice last night, and look forward to going online with BBC Radio Sussex again soon. I don't have TuneIn Radio on iPad (don't even have iPad), and don't even know if I've got ExpatShield installed. All I know is that I googled 'BBC Radio Sussex' and up it came. Nice.

Godfrey's have a big special offer on at the moment: Hoover or Philips vacuum cleaner PLUS Steam cleaner: Both for only $99!!!! We bought the Hoover vac and steam cleaner from the Port Road branch a few days ago and are really pleased with both. You can't go wrong at that price! $99 for both; blimmin'eck, that's peanuts!

Ali: Well done, you!!! You've taken a few knocks since you arrived in Oz and haven't let it drag you down, and for that I salute you!!! To be honest, I feel a bit choked when I think of what you've gone through and I want to say you deserve great success in all you do in life and I commend you for your hard work and self-belief since you arrived in Adelaide. Your story is bound to have a very happy ending. Keep at it, Ali. x

Hi Dave: I was going to suggest you have a look at the seek.com.au site, but Jessica Berry beat me to it. However, she's right about it often being who you know, rather than what you know etc. Still, I'm thinking because people go on holiday during the summer months, October's probably a good time to get yourself registered with a couple of employment agencies who specialize in HR placements, because there's bound to be companies who would need casual staff to fill in while their HR personnel are away. This would give you very good grounding on how it all works here, and also pave the way to possible future permanent employment once you show the agencies/companies what you're made of. It used to work for me many years ago, and all my best long-term jobs stemmed from temping in the first place. It won't hurt to give it a try, anyway. All the very best!!

I'd love to say we'll be there on the 20th, mottie, but there's no way in this world I'd be able to drag my husband away from the tv screen that night, 'cos Man United vs All Stars are playing! You might have to change the date, chook, as I'm sure a lot of older x-pats will be glued to the set on the 20th. All the very best!x

It must all seem too good to be true, stw! But stop worrying about things going wrong when clearly things are going so right. Why shouldn't it work out right for you? Life's like that sometimes, so try to keep positive thoughts and don't let negatives bring you down. It sounds like you've worked hard at returning to Oz, so you deserve it. How long were you away before you began applying to return? Sounds like it's been a roller-coaster of a ride so far and with the house sale it must all seem a bit surrealistic. But enjoy the moment; it sounds like you're meant to come back! Good luck!

Why the downer on Susan Boyle? I'm sure you'll have a fab time at her performance! She's surely a fantastic example of the best kind of Rags to Riches story, so why are you people laying such crap on her? Such negativity is so depressing; I just don't get it at all, especially from people who are about to take the risk of making a massive change in their lives -- just as she did a few years ago, after years of being bullied and tormented for being a 'bit different'. Does it make you feel better or superior for being so spiteful? Anyway, good luck in Adelaide. I wish you a happy life Down Under!

Wash your mouth out for your rotten comment, jimmyskinner!! Prince William is an honest, highly-principled, hard-working member of our wonderful Royal Family, and his beautiful wife has done no wrong in my opinion. At a time when our world is in such turmoil, our British Royals are a breath of fresh air - and hope - to me and many millions of others, I know! There's no need for such spiteful comment. The Royal Family bring more joy to the world than you do, I'm sure.

I'd ask at the place you bought your tiles. They'd have a few good tilers on their books, I imagine. Good luck!