livinginoz

Well we have now just past the 4 year mark living in Oz and can apply for citizenship. We bought our first home here a few months ago, hubby very busy at work and after many years of trying I now have a good job, kids are all really settled and happy. OH would go home in a flash but has been more settled than ever this year. I have no family back in UK and do not feel a draw to go back to UK but I suddenly feel very lonely and trapped (probably because of feeling tidied to a house that has been a money pit since day 1) and don't even know where I belong. Anyone else felt like this? I have had no feelings of homesickness and never imagined I would feel like this.

Thanks for the replies someone is going to remove it for us early next week.

Sorry forgot that bit, Flagstaff hill.

Have just purchased a property and have been left with a tree that has partially lost a large limb in the back garden. We are having trouble getting anyone to come and look at it. So far we have spoken to 6 people, only one has looked and they haven't got back to us. The rest either haven't turned up or haven't called us back when they said they would. Does anyone know anyone we are getting desperate. Thanks

To be honest this seems to be a fairly common thing, I also had an issue recently. We spent $400 dollars on cleaners to clean whole house and clean carpets, mainly because finding time to move and pack when working full-time was difficult enough. The company specialized in end of lease cleans and guaranteed work for a week. Rental agent found dust in several locations and a dirty mark on a light switch and said it would need further cleaning. They had also handed keys back to landlord. It all became quite stressful but in the end the cleaners returned and cleaned it, but neither rental agent or cleaners would talk to me as I had insisted they deal with each other. It took about two weeks for it to be resolved and full bond sent back to us. After talking to others it seems that it is quite common for money to be taken from the bond for minor cleaning issues, I always thought it was for damage to a property.

Are the big camera things over south road, o'halloran hill and down the bottom of ocean boulevard road for reading number plates for rego ? Was wondering what they were for. We do get letters sent out to remind us to pay our rego , but I find we often get them up to 6 weeks before it is due I have no intention of paying them that far in advance.

Thanks for the replies, I had looked for dog free beaches on council websites but hadn't found any it looks like there aren't any. My son is 11 and was recently bitten on a public footpath the dog was on a lead, so dogs on-leash make him just as nervous he also has younger brothers who are also nervous more so since he was bitten. I also know of a kid that was attacked by a dog on a beach a few years back. We love using the beach but to go with few dogs we have to go when it gets really hot. As I said before I have nothing against dogs or there owners but I do feel we need beaches that have a no dog policy.

Hi, everyone with the weather warming up this week and the school holidays now started I was wondering if anyone knows of any beaches where dogs are not allowed. Not that I have anything against dogs and their owners using beaches, but I have a child that has been bitten twice by dogs ( that he did not provoke, did not belong to us and one was on a lead )and we would like to visit the beach where the children can play without panicing evrytime a dog comes close.

This is a difficult one, we came out for the second time a few years back. It didn't work out the first time and we went back to the UK and set up a new life. But my partner was not happy after a few years back as we had a large mortgage couldn't afford holidays and weren't really sure where we were going with life, I was however content with life. We agreed to sell up and come back to Australia we new the costs and the hard work we would need to put in. On arrival back in Australia we believed that we had made mistake and planned to try for the4 years gain citizenship and return to UK. However about a year ago i gained employment, kids settled etc and i questioned our plan, i didn't feel we should just endure it until we returned. I actually like it and don't want to return this has caused a big problem and may well end up in the breakdown of our relationship. I don't think it is a case of choosing a country over a person it is about choosing whose happiness is more important should the adventurous stay put because their partner doesn't want to do anything. Should someone who is content with life have to move or make big changes for their partner. What if it was there idea in the first place?

Yes I will try switch I have a bit of SSO work for the next few weeks but after that it will be back to relief teaching .

Hi all, thanks for your replies. We are currently living in the southern suburbs so work in the north would be impracticable .at the moment I will try some of the catholic and other independent schools in the area and see if I have any luck with that. I agree with you adelaidenow with just handing in cvs, often the people on front desk are not to impressed that you have taken up their time and the cv probably ends up in the bin or at the bottom of a large pile. I had also tried the agency route back in term 4 last year and they told me to call back in term2 so I guessed they weren't really interested perhaps I should try again.

I am trying to find some tips on getting primary teaching work here in Australia. I have been registered as a teacher here in Adelaide since last October and have managed to get a total of 9 days teaching work. Granted I am not avaliable all week just 3 days a week but I am signed up to 3 cluster schemes and have handed CVs and Authority to teach letters around some of the local schools as well as a doing a little bit of volunteer work in a couple of schools. I have now taken a short term contract as a SSO as doing nothing doesn't pay the bills. Has anyone got any tips- I am also working my way through the list of jobs of the DECD site but am not very hopefully. I haven't yet looked at the private sector and haven't joined an agency as I have no up-to-date teaching refrences.

Thanks for the replies hopefully it won't be too bad. I hope it doesn't rain, we are not really fans of camping so not really looking forward to it.

Watch out for those cameras on cars - I have seen those parked in areas of road works before.

Has anyone out there experienced the pedal prix in Murray bridge? Just wondering if anyone can let me know what facilities are available and if this is a fun family activity or torture for everyone involved. Beginning to wish the answer to the 'can I do pedal prix?' question back at the beginning of the year had been 'NO'.

I often get up in the morning and put on vest, t-shirt, jumper coat and scarf and leave on all day inside and out espcially if it is raining as it also seems to feel colder inside when wet outside. Other days you wont need to jacket/coat at all. Often it feels just as cold inside as it does outside, but as others have said it can be warmer at times in the day so I guess it depends on what you are doing.

Ours was Gas $120 Elec $420

Would not want to spend any time at any of them at this time of year. I think Marion outdoor pool is open from October to March, we have not been yet but plan to go this summer.

We tried it one day last week, queue wasn't to bad. Fish was nice, but me and the kids didn't like the chips at all too soggy, I think we have gotten used to the crispy chips. OH liked the chips just complained there wasn't enough of them again we have got used to Aussie large chips portions.

I no longer have a heart attack everytime I do my weekly shop I no longer correct the kids pronunciation of words like pasta or correct them when they say they are going to wear thongs. Lego is lego though none of this laygo stuff in our house. I no longer check the BBC website for news or look at the UK weather forcast. I no longer worry that my kids look like tramps in their horrible green school uniform.

Wow what a lot of discussion on one primary school, like others have said you really need to look at the schools and think about what you want from a school. Choosing on others comments is not a good idea and I guess how a child settles into a school is different for every one and may well depend on what you are comparing it to.I did a days releif teaching in this school and can honestly say it was the worst class I have ever been in, a high percentage of behavioural problems, swearing and general lack of respect for others not to mention a child walking out of the classroom (This was year 1). It is the only time I have ever had to ask the office for assistance and when I called for them they told me I would have to deal with it myself because they already had to many in the office. Perhaps it was a bad day? Perhaps the fact the children had already had two other TRTs that week didn't help. Please don't take offence if your children are at this school if it suits you, your kids are doing well and making good progress then fair enough I was only there for 1 day.

There are very few teaching assitants in schooIs, some cIasses in the UK had 2 which is the same amount as some schooIs here. Kids with speciaI needs in mainstream cIasses dont have the same IeveI of support as in the UK, you may have more Iuck if you work in speciaI schooIs or cIasses.

Unfortunately this goes both ways, my OH has quoted for many jobs and often people are just wasting his time. Some have no intention of getting the work done, just want an idea of a price for a possible project that they may or may not do in the future, some don't even know what they want. Others say they have had others quote for it and there estimate is lower than you can price for so it seems pointless even bothering to put in a quote. Most people he sees give no feedback and most don't even respond with a thanks despite the fact that it may have taken many hours coming to look at a job and price for it. Then theres the ones who book in the work only to decide a day or two before he starts that they no longer want it doing. Perhaps those that are desperate for work, have no work for a reason. Choose someone by recommendation I sure many on this site can recommend someone decent that will give you a quote and then turn up when they say they will.