RachaelOs

That about how much we bought with us and it was fine. Bought a car (not that cheap) and a van, electrical appliances - fridge freezer, washing machine, dishwasher, TV etc, some furniture (we shipped most of it) and still have money left over but my husband found work quickly so we didn't really need it for everyday living. A lot does come down to how quickly you find work as once you start having to pay rent, bills, food shopping etc money can start going very quickly! Good luck with it all - having friends here already will make it a lot easier I'm sure xxx

House prices/rent varys massively and as this is usually the biggest expense it will depend where you're planning on living as to how much income you'll then have for other things! I think Gas/electric is more value for money in the UK and there's more choice in food shopping. You don't have car rego but you do have tax and yearly MOTs and have to have insurance. Childcare is expensive (everywhere!). Is there much difference in the wages here/there for a teacher? What does your husband do?

I think they're both really good. One way to decide could be if you know what school you want her to go to? I think most children who go to Karara go to Hallett Cove East whereas I think the hallett cove pre school is a bit more divided between the 3 schools. So I guess if she's going to East I'd choose Karrara as chances are the friends she's made will move on to school with her.

We used immigration2oz for our 190 VISA - they were able to answer any questions we had along the way. Not sure if they do just one hour consultation type things but worth ringing them to ask.

Not long to go - how exciting! We had police checks done for our VISA but I then had to get another one done to be allowed to volunteer in my daughters kindy and I had to do 'responding to abuse and neglect' training. Quite often it seems that certificates etc don't just transfer over so my guess would be you'll have to do another one but I'm sure there will be someone who knows for certain along soon.

Inspired by a couple of the other posts I thought I’d do an update on our 14 months in Adelaide. Overall we’re happy, have had a great first year and are looking forward to the next year and beyond. But that’s not to say Adelaide is perfect or that we don’t miss things about the UK My husband found work as a Carpenter quickly although was started on a low wage (he has had two pay rises in the year he’s been there) He’s currently doing his business licence so that he then has the option to work for himself/set up a business here. In order to work as a carpenter you just need to do your white card course but to actually run your own business you need to either do a carpentry business licence or a full business licence dependant on what you want to do. This can be frustrating especially as my husband ran his own business in the UK for 10 years and ultimately the reason we got our VISA was because of his skills so to then have to pay out more money to be able to do the work you want to do and sit in a classroom to learn about things you already know (not all but some) can seem long! We decided before coming that if possible I would take the first year out to get us settled, look after our two children etc and then I would look to go back to work. We were able to do this as we are on a 190 VISA so received some family benefits which definitely helped. I started the job searching in about April and then started work in June so overall the job market has been kind to us. I worked for a global company in London, 3 days a week (after having the children) and here I work for one of their competitors, 3 days a week doing pretty much the same job so I guess timing wise I was lucky that this came up when I started looking. We’re not as “well off” as we were in London but like I say my husband had his own business in the UK and I think it’s unlikely we’ll be in the same position financially unless he does the same here. Having said that with me working now we’ll certainly be able to start ticking some things off our to do list. I think dependent on where in England you come from, what your reasons for coming, what sort of lifestyle you enjoy will make everyone’s experience very different. Obviously coming from London makes Adelaide a very different lifestyle for us sometimes which I love sometimes I don’t! I miss black taxis/cabs and easiness of going out. My parents did 99% of our babysitting back home so my husband and me actually haven’t had a night out together without the children since we’ve moved here. We have started looking in to the possibility of a couple of the girls from the children’s childcare maybe starting to do some babysitting for us so that we maybe can have a least one date night this year! I miss things like next day delivery, shops/restaurants being open all the time. I miss takeaway currys, good chain restaurants like Pizza Express, Strada etc, M&S foodhall (can you tell I love food yet!) I miss double glazing and central heating that you can put on a timer! The houses are cold in winter – I’m not sure we can cope with another winter in the current rental we’re in. Heating is expensive and a waste of time/money because the minute you turn it off all the hot air escapes through the windows/walls. A lot of people seem to rely on wood burning fires to get them through winter but it is horrible not having a warm house to come back to in the evenings/wake up to in the morning. Summer, Spring and Autumn are fine but I think 3 months is a long time to be cold in your home no matter what anyone else says. I think the lifestyle to bring up young children is great – our children are young, love the beaches, the parks, bike riding, the nature, the outdoorsiness of it all. I’m not sure what teenagers would get up to if they were not in to sport but I don’t really know anyone with teenage children so maybe their fine! We’ve loved exploring Adelaide and still have lots to go out and explore. We’ve been really lucky that we’ve met some great people and have had a lot of fun times at their houses, at ours, up at the wineries etc We do of course miss family and friends and seeing pictures of them doing things without you always stings a bit but I’ve been really lucky that my parents have already been out twice and I met my sister and her family in Thailand at Easter. My parents and my brother and nieces are already booked to come for Christmas and New Year so I appreciate that I’m a lot luckier than others. We’re also planning on going to the UK for a holiday next year as two of our friends are getting married and we always said it would be good to check in after two years so that we can get a good comparison and then make longer term plans. We’ve always looked at this as a bit of an adventure, an experience and some days I see us spending our future here and other days I don’t but ultimately that’s because suddenly you have this choice – you can just jump on a plane and go back and I expect anyone who has that option on a bad day will think about it! We still have a lot more we want to do here, we’ve booked our first camping trip although still don’t have a tent! My husband wants to get a surfboard this spring/summer, we keep talking about buying bikes, we want to go to Kangaroo Island, Sydney, Queensland etc. I want to start checking out some of the bars & restaurants in the City. There’s still lot of wineries I haven’t sampled yet! Like I say all in all we’re good and we’ve had a good first year and I certainly don’t regret making the move – is it perfect? No. Is it living the dream? No - but I’m pretty sure no one making the move thinks it will be. xxx

Today on the radio it's been all about the unemployment figures - surely unless there's some serious investment in SA on the jobs front there's not going to be a massive housing boom - or am I missing something?

I recently started working so one of my daughters has started going to OSHC 2 days a week and is doing the holiday program this week and next - she loves it, more than once she's cried when we've picked her up 'too early' so she doesn't want to leave - nothing like feeling wanted after a day at work!

Love McLaren Vale! We had a Fathers Day meal at Woodstock last year and it was really good. Also had pizzas at Beach Road which were fab - would eat at both again. There's a Facebook page - Winey Kids in Mclaren Vale who let you know about all the Cellar Doors that are child friendly so it makes exploring the region with little ones a lot easier. They also have a mummy's wine club once a month at The Salopian Inn.

He'll prob have to do it again. Neil did his in the UK - wasn't on line, he went and sat somewhere for a day and got a card at the end but when he got here the card looked different so he was told he should do the one here. It was exactly the same course just got a different card at the end!! He did get a refund from the one in the UK though as they'd said it would be accepted here.

Carpenters seem to find work quickly - you may want to pre book his white card course so he can do it straight away. My husband did his with Master Builders but I'm sure there's others. Then he can just check out seek, gumtree etc - ring if there's a number and speak to them before sending his cv and I'm sure he'll be picked up in no time. Until he is here and he has his white card it's prob unlikely he'll secure work. As for you, it may be worth waiting till you have your rental and your daughter is settled in school before you start looking - you don't want to stress yourself out anymore. Just have your cv all ready to go and when the moment is right you can again look on seek etc. I don't have any experience of any recruitment agency's - sorry! Maybe have 2 or 3 areas that you think you might want to rent in (where you also know the schools are ok) so that you narrow your search when you get here - the process of finding a rental is quick and until you know where you're living it will be difficult to think about schools. Our to do list was something like: Open a bank account and transfer money from the UK and then have a meeting set up for when you get here so you can activate your account Get Medicare cards - in Port noarlunga Driving Licence - Christies beach buy a car and van Find a rental Apply for TFN's White card course I dont think there was much else - it is stressful, especially until you have a rental and a job in place, but you'll get there. Try to enjoy your last weeks in the UK - make the most of seeing friends and family (being away from them is definitely the hardest thing for me) and then when you get here try and take the time to enjoy your first few weeks - we did jobs in the morning then tried to have fun in the afternoons, went to parks, zoos, explored different areas. As for the flight - my advice would probably be to have a few cocktails before you fly - but cocktails are my solution to a lot of things! Xxxx

Agree with the above, will totally depend how you live as a family. We only had our air conditioning on a couple of times during the summer - we just opened the windows and there was a breeze coming through and we were fine so I think our electric was about 250. Our neighbours love the air conditioning so there bill was over 1000. Not sure how we'll do over winter - lots of houses, including our rental, don't have double glazing which means the house gets cold but then you put the heating on, warm the house up, then as soon as you turn the heating off the warm air just escapes through the windows so it feels like a waste of money to put it on although my husband disagrees! Food bills will vary massively dependant on how/what you eat - I prob spend between 250- 300 a week (me, my husband and two young children) but that does include husbands pack lunch for the week.

I recently signed up to seek to receive notices about admin jobs and on the round up email I just got it says that last week 10 new PA/EA/Secretarial jobs were added and 410 people applied for jobs in that category!

One of our neighbours is a butcher- he seems to have had a fairly tough time of it in the year we've been here, having twice had to look for a new job as he's been casual and his hours have been dropped and he just wouldn't have been earning enough. He has found work both times within a couple of weeks but again on a casual basis. He literally drove round to every butcher with his cv and spoke to the guys in the shop.

Hi, For walking part I would recommend: Belair park - lorikeet loop walk, there's a great children's playground with BBQ, picnic tables etc about 3/4 of the way round. There are also cycle paths so could be an option for that as well - bikes are still on our list of things to purchase. We've seen koalas and kangeroo's while walking there. Hallett Cove Conservation Walk - it's a beautiful walk along the coast line - you can walk as far as you want and then turn back. We have walked to Brighton and got the train back but our 2 year old was carried on my husbands back for 90% of it and we live near the train station. Morialta conservation park - waterfall walk - both my 2 year old and 4 year old can do it fairly easily -(although of course slowly) Can play pooh sticks along the way on the bridges and again look out for Koalas. have fun - hope the trip goes well x

What jobs do you do?

I just don't think I'd have the energy to move interstate and effectively do it all again - meet new people, research areas, schools, figure out what was what. If we did decide SA wasn't for us I think we'd go back to the UK, but no plans for that at the moment. Been here nearly a year now and so far, so good. Some things I prefer about Adelaide, some things I prefer about the UK. I'm just about to start looking for part time work so will be interesting to see how long it takes!!

This may be totally unhelpful but......Why do they need to be a uk certified solicitor? We had to get documents certified last week for our uk solicitor (not selling a house but another legal matter) and we just had our documents certified (also to pass the money laundering rules)by the lady at hallett cove library - she's there from 5-6 on Thursday evenings. and to be honest she may well have been uk certified - I never asked, you could ring them tomorrow if they definitely need to be x

We arrived in May and have rented in hallett cove since June. I like it here, you seem to get more for your money house wise if you do end up buying. The shopping centre is good for the weekly shop and picking up a few bits and Noarlunga or Marion shopping centres are both close by for anything else. As said the beach isn't sandy but that doesn't mean you can't go down and enjoy it, my kids love it and are just as happy exploring all the rocks, having a picnic down there, popping in to the boatshed cafe for ice cream as they are at any other beach. There's also a BBQ down there that we've used a few times for dinner and watching the sun go down. It is very hilly though and does mean you can't really walk anywhere - I lasted 3 days when my husband started work before deciding that actually there was no way we could be a one car family!! I think if you like to just take a walk and grab something to eat you'll prob best looking at some of the other places along the coast but if you're happy to jump in the car for 15 mins you can be in Brighton etc. its definitely worth a look round and when we arrived it was certainly the area that had more properties available.

We just did the coastal walk from hallett cove to Brighton. Had a drink at the seacliff hotel and pancakes, waffles and chocolate fondue at cophenhagen then caught the train back - was fab. Dropping my parents off at the airport in about an hour - I suspect they'll sleep well for the journey back to the uk.

In the last two weeks I / my family have: scuba dived at Noarlunga walked to morialta waterfall had a surf lesson at Middleton Ate fish and chips on the beach at victor harbour sailed a houseboat down the Murray river been fishing (although we didn't catch anything) ate ice cream and fresh doughnuts at Brighton beach swam in the sea taken a picnic to belair park did some wine tasting in Mclaren Vale walked along hallett cove conservation walk...... and tomorrow we're off to the museum in the city. my parents are over from the uk so obviously we're busier than normal but honestly if you're going to move somewhere why wouldn't it be here? (It's a rhetorical question please don't feel the need to let me know why!) xxx

We had to get pay as you go mobiles as we couldn't get contract ones so if you have decent mobiles in the uk it's worth getting them unlocked and bring them over so you can just buy a sim. My husband applied for a contract after a couple of months and got one, I haven't bothered to apply for one yet. We also bought our car and the work van with cash - we went with the option that we paid enough for them for them to last a few years but we asked about how long you'd have to be here working to get finance and I think they said ideally about 6 months - but different garages may have different timescales and I guess it depends how expensive a car you're thinking of. You can get a bank account set up here before you arrive, transfer money and then you just have to go in to activate the account once you arrive - which is quick and easy. We did this and so just brought a £1000 or so in cash. xxx

Hey, exciting news about the house. We spent a couple of thousand on shipping but brought all bedroom furniture, all our daughters bedroom furniture, dining table, chairs TVs, all the girls toys,books, kitchen stuff, clothes etc etc - we certainly wouldn't have been able to replace it all for the same cost. We didn't ship our fridge/freezer, washing machine, toaster, Hoover etc which worked out well as our shipping took longer than had been planned so we moved in to our rental for about 3 weeks without our stuff but were able to buy the bits we needed and then bought garden furniture to use indoors, cheap k-mart kitchen stuff, camp beds to sleep on etc etc. No idea about rentals but at least that is coming in to winter time here so hopefully something will turn up but may not necessarily be exactly where you want it to be xxxx

We looked in the same areas as you are thinking of and found it pretty easy to be honest. We went with Hallett cove as it's that bit closer to the city and was affordable - we had to find a house before we'd found my husband a job - it turned out he started work 2 days after we moved in so it all worked really well. I really like it here although you may need to consider the schools as well?? there's definitely 5 you can choose from (one of which is private) all within a 5 min drive - there may be more. Feel free to give me a shout when you arrive, you can come check out our area and the boys can have a chat about carpentry in oz!!

So.......did you get the house?