KathCats

Thank you Cliffy, I did this...got some Skype credit it is 10c a minute to phone the UK. Thank you to everyone for your help!

Wondering if anyone can recommend a cheap way to phone the UK. I am on a phone contract which doesn't include International Calls, however I use WhatsApp for friends and family as this is free. We still have a property in the UK (which isn't selling and is going down in value as fast as the properties over here are increasing, but that's another story). A situation has arisen where I need to phone our mortgage provider and the Water Utility Company (I know in theory it can be done on-line, but because we've had tenants in it has got a bit messy). In order to sort things out I need to make phone calls and wondered if anyone can recommend a cheap way of doing this?

Hi Naomi, I can almost guarantee that there will be opportunities for your family, especially coming from Leeds. Adelaide is quite a unique city in that it is small, green and really really nice! You are both young enough to adapt here and well qualified in what you do, so Australia will be lucky to have you!! If anything, as your family grows, you may find it boring here, however, once you make a circle of friends it won't be boring! My partner and I are from the North of England and find problems with our accent (but don't let that put you off!!!). We have both found work.....only the very rich seem to be full-time housewives/husbands as it is expensive to live here.....it is a lovely place though and when you bump into tourists you realise how lucky we are to live here. My advice would be...if you have the opportunity to come here, then do it. Remember, you can always go back to England if it doesn't work out for you. Lastly, the building industry is booming over here so there should be plenty of carpentry work.

Hi Star 123, I can empathise with you in so many ways and understand what you are going through. Be reassured that there are more people who feel the same and it's not just you who is suffering. Not everyone settles in Australia but the ones who go back tend to do it quietly, so we don't hear about their stories so much. When are you free? We could meet for a chat a coffee and a good old moan during school hours I am free Tuesday and Wednesday.

Can anyone recommend a good place to have a hot sauna and a swim? I already know about the one at Marion but would like to try somewhere else.

I Congratulations. How exciting for you. We have a daughter who will be 13 in March 2017 and I have to say there is so much choice for schooling here it's great. We arrived two years ago and I took our daughter to visit 3 local schools where we are renting. We ended up letting her choose the school and this worked out really well as she has loved every minute of it. Now we have the choice of many High Schools and again, there is a school for every child here. The schools and kids here are really friendly and welcoming ... it takes time to find out where you fit in, so I would visit three you like the look of and go from there.

This is interesting. I took our daughter to a Dentist through the School service (it is at Marion opposite the Swimming Centre). We paid $44 and this covers her for all dentistry over the next 2 years. If we used our Extras Health cover and took her to our chosen dentist we would have to pay a lot more. When I booked her in I said yes to a Student Dentist and was overwhelmed by the high standards of care, she had 2 fissures and x-rays and was given lots of information...the dentists over here seem much more focussed on Preventative Dental Care which is great. We are still on temporary visas too.

Thank you. It's reassuring to know it's not just me then .....

Anyone else use an Adam e-mail account? I know they are now iiNet....but it has got a fault today and I can't get into my email, it is very frustrating.

This is our 3rd winter here....it's like living in a shed on the edge of a desert. It can be hot during the day and cold at night. I would advise packing for an English Summer at a Campsite....lots of layers. Oh and it's quite amusing watching how the locals react to a bit of rain, especially in the City!!!

Hey up Petal....a fellow Northerner here....we came out 18 months ago, my partner is a programmer, he def gets paid less than the locals and yes Oz experience does count for a lot (in my experience anyway). I did voluntary work which helped, esp for references. It costs a hell of a lot of money and time and effort to get over here, and it works out for some people and others hate it. Sometimes our northern accent gets in the way!!! There are loads of English people here....not many Northerners mind, so get yourselves over here and find out all the answers x

Hi Jan, You are not alone in feeling homesick. We been here 18 months and still haven't settled properly. Our daughter was 10 when we arrived and is now almost 12, she misses the cold ice and snow and has taken up ice-skating!!! She also says that she wants to go back to the UK and go to Durham Uni. Kids, they always want the opposite of their parents. We aint giving up though, it cost us so much to get here, both emotionally and financially. I recently found myself in Flinders Hosp having surgery which was dreadful, I missed being around my own people. However, when I woke up from Theatre there was a nurse singing Hello from the Other Side in a Scottish accent!! That made me smile. Its strange how, when you are feeling happy and open you meet lovely people, yet when you are feeling low and homesick there is no-one there, or that's how it feels....best to just pretend you are happy and then one day you will be X

Thanks for all this info. It's a great help. I am growing veggies in pots and bags due to being in a rented house, but even that takes work in this desert heat! Am missing my allotment back in the UK but at the same time I can grow different things here. Oh and the issue I have with pots is that most plants like to have cool roots, so the black pots absorb the heat, but can be cooled by "clustering" other plants around them...or being in the shade.

Don't forget to claim your UK tax back!!! When you leave the UK you are able to claim the tax back that you paid while employed before migrating (in your migration tax year). The UK Tax Office make you wait for this, but it's still worth filling in the paperwork.

Oh...and I forgot to say that the volunteering I did was not in the same field of work as the job I got.

Great to hear your optimism....if it comes through at interview you will definitely get a job. It took me 7 months to get a job, but during that time I was VOLUNTEERING....Do not underestimate the power of this. Australia is a fabulous place to volunteer as you can use it to Career-Jump into something else (i.e. transferable skills and all that). By the time I got an interview for a lovely job that I really really wanted, the fact that I was volunteering clinched it I reckon as I had 2 Aussie referees and the interviewers loved that. Good Luck.

Some people do react very strangely to migration...they take it personally and feel like you have "left" them. Maybe you are sensitive to the underlying message because you know it's there. One thing to remember though, Christmas is always difficult at some point, for almost everybody. That's why so many of us get stressed out about it, especially women, because we want everyone to be happy and because we care if they're not. I am always relieved when it's all over!! I have a friend who has reacted very strangely to our migration, it feels very uncomfortable and complicated. We skyped our close group of friends the other morning while they were all partying at night, and she was in the background not talking to us and left while we were on skype!!! That made me feel awful but what can you do? People can be very strange.....

Hi is the orange sofa still for sale? Is it in one piece or modular? Do you have transport to deliver it or would I need to organise a van? I would love to come and have a look at it and also the outside chairs if you still have these?

If anyone knows what these are (fresh) and knows where they can be bought please let me know. We have been searching ..... we have found other chillies and finally a hot sauce from the Asian Shop on O'Halloran Hill .... but are struggling to get these. I am now growing them .... is there a niche in the market?

We found it hard to get a decent rental per se. Furnished is difficult to get and more expensive. Having a car is more important over here and if you don't mind second-hand stuff there are a lot of garage sales at weekends and people leave "hard rubbish" at the side of the road which you can take for free. There is also an Ikea here which is cheap. When our stuff arrived from the uk we didn't even want most of it so seriously consider whether you really want to spend money on shipping over furniture. We have furnished our whole house very cheaply but did buy new beds and bedding (Ikea) and a TV. We got a fridge from Gumtree for $50 and the most amazing Hoover I have ever had for just $5 at a garage sale as it was dusty!!!

Things I like about Adelaide:- It feels like England in many ways. Fruit and vegetables taste a lot better, especially the apples and carrots. Petrol is ridiculously cheap. The meat is gorgeous. You can drive right up to the beach and parking is easy and FREE. Libraries and Public Spaces are just how you want them to be. Australians laugh a lot. Seeing koala bears and lizards and lots of parrots. Things I don't like about Adelaide: Seeing people watering lawns. Middle-aged men living on the streets and eating leftovers in food malls. Television viewing is dire and adverts cut in with no warning. Policemen have guns. My advice is to get yourselves over here and make your own lists...x

Hi there, we are on a 489 Visa and went through a Migration Agent. As long as you work full-time for 12 months and live in S.A. for 2 years then your visa will be validated. It shouldn't make any difference where you take your holidays as you will still get holiday time off work in the same way as you do in the U.K.

Don't worry...it will all be ok in the end! I can relate to what you are going through, I hardly ate or slept during the last couple of weeks in the UK, but once you get on that plane it all changes. I ate all the food I was given and slept all the way....then when you land the fun starts again. Children can be amazing, our daughter got us through the worst times, we were so disorganised that when we arrived in Adelaide we were both clueless and homeless, but Poms in Adelaide has so many wonderful people that give great advice and it really works!! Also, kids see things very differently to adults and this place is an amazing country full of fun and adventure for them to discover. Good Luck x

Wow. These are great. You are very brave going out in that storm....I closed the curtains and got all the wind up torches ready for the electricity going off!

Hi John Please can you explain to me (in simple terms) how we transfer money from Australia back to a UK Bank Account and will we be liable to pay Tax on this? We still have a house back in the UK and need to pay bills etc. Katharine