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We've Arrived - An Update

The Flinns

By The Flinns
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The Flinns Newbie

The Flinns

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We flew from Manchester, via Heathrow and Hong Kong to Adelaide and arrived last Thursday morning. We flew with Cathay Pacific and the entire journey went very smoothly. The flight from Manchester down to Heathrow was with BA and so we took advantage of their 23kg maximum, as Cathay Pacific only offer 20kgs. We checked our luggage in with BA and the next time we saw it was when we reached Adelaide. We also filled our hand luggage with as much stuff as we could fit in it. The hand luggage was never weighed and so we managed a further 10kgs each (40kgs) :)

 

We took advantage of the meet and greet service and the on arrival accomodation and I would definately recommend it to anyone who is eligible for it. Eric and Yvonne, our meet and greet volunteers were fantastic. They arranged transport to take us to our accommodation and then took us shopping for groceries. The following day they had arranged transport to take us into Adelaide to register for Medicare, our tax file numbers and even helped us sort out our hire car.

 

We are staying in Port Adelaide and whilst the accomodation is basic, it couldn't be in a better place. We have a park outside our front door and are only two streets away from the sea. The shops, banks, post office, cafes, train station and pubs are all within walking distance and everyone is so friendly. The boys decided to take the train to Hindmarsh on Friday night, to watch Adelaide United and we were so pleased that they had the confidence to do this, as we were only in our first full day here! The reports back were that, whilst the football was rubbish, the people they met were really friendly and that they would now be suffering watching Adelaide United on a regular basis.

 

I know that we have only been here a few days, but we are all so happy and feel that Adelaide definately feels like our home. although the telly is ****!!

 

Sorry for the long post, but I hope that this helps others who are getting ready to fly over, (and I know that there are many in September) and helps redress the balance of the many negative posts.

 

Good luck everyone.:D

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Guest rachinadelaide

Guest rachinadelaide

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Welcome to Port Adelaide!! I work in the Port and love it. Be aware that there are some unpleasant/desperate types around the port though so be alert (even in the daytime).

Our office has been broken into 4 times in the last year!!

 

On the brighter side....make sure you go to Spice N Ice indian restaurant on st vincent st. Yummy food. And go on the $4 dolphin cruise from the lighthouse on a Sunday. Or grab the dolphin-watching leaflet from the Visitor Centre and go find them on foot/in the car. And climb the lighthouse for a dollar!! And go to the Birkenhead Tavern on the north bank of the river, and take the guided kayaking tour form Garden Island http://www.adventure-kayak.com.au/dolphin.html

And go and do the cellar tour in the Port Dock brewery. And go and listen to jazz on a Sunday afternoon....and when you've done all that you should start on neighbouring Semaphore....

 

Somebody stop me!

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Guest covfan71

Guest covfan71

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Hi, glad you are settling in. How basic is the accom and would you recommend it to a couple with 2 very young children.

Also, when do you intend to find your own accom and has your furniture already arrived?

I'm not sure if it is as easy as this but i am hoping to have our furniture delivered within the first week of our arrival. Anyone else done this??

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Guest Kazzarazza

Guest Kazzarazza

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Welcome to Port Adelaide!! I work in the Port and love it. Be aware that there are some unpleasant/desperate types around the port though so be alert (even in the daytime).

Our office has been broken into 4 times in the last year!!

 

On the brighter side....make sure you go to Spice N Ice indian restaurant on st vincent st. Yummy food. And go on the $4 dolphin cruise from the lighthouse on a Sunday. Or grab the dolphin-watching leaflet from the Visitor Centre and go find them on foot/in the car. And climb the lighthouse for a dollar!! And go to the Birkenhead Tavern on the north bank of the river, and take the guided kayaking tour form Garden Island http://www.adventure-kayak.com.au/dolphin.html

And go and do the cellar tour in the Port Dock brewery. And go and listen to jazz on a Sunday afternoon....and when you've done all that you should start on neighbouring Semaphore....

 

Somebody stop me!

 

First of all - a BIG welcome to The Flinns. Hopefully this week is the last blast of winter before the good stuff arrives!

 

Can vouch for all the tips given by rachinadelaide (love the name of your apartment, by the way.) The Le Fevre Peninsula, down through West Lakes, Grange and Henley, etc is a magic area. Hope you'll have lots of fun exploring.

 

Cheers, Kazza

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Guest Martin and Val

Guest Martin and Val

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Welcome Howard, Maria, Jamie & Sam,

Nice to see you have finally made it and we hope that you will be as happy as we are. Sorry about todays weather though!

Good luck with all the rest of your plans and ventures.

Martin

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Diane Newbie

Diane

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Hi and welcome also to the Port - I work there too and think there's a great atmosphere. If you haven't found it already, Farmer Joe's is one of the best and cheapest greengrocers in Adelaide, the Port Dock Brewery does great beer and good pub grub, and if you like Greek food, check out the Argo Hellenic just between the St Vincent Street and Commercial St junction, on the lighthouse side - apparently it's great on a Friday night with live music as only the Greeks can do! Glad your boys enjoyed the football - although they're right about the standards: last year there was a (faint) chance that Adelaide United would get to play Manchester United in some tournament (Champions League?) and I was really hoping it would happen - could have been the first ever three figure score in the games history! The friendliness of the people though is what makes Adelaide so special, so glad they got to experience that first hand so early on.

Good luck with the rest of the journey!

Diane

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Guest Stella and Dave

Guest Stella and Dave

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Thanks for that lovely post, so posotive,

We are going in three weeks and have on arrival accomodation with meet and greet also. we have no unrealistic expectations, its a place to crash and thats good enough. You should see some of the places we've stayed in Spain! I hope we feel like you when we arrive and it's useful to take on board the advice about unusual characters that can be mooching around the docks, you should see Newport!

Loo forward to the adventure, Stel x

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The Flinns Newbie

The Flinns

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Hi Guys

Thanks for your warm welcome and good wishes.

Pete - I wish we had brought the Manchester weather with us, as the sun has been cracking the flags oop north.

Rach - Went to the Port on Sunday and had a look around the market. We also looked at the dolphin cruises (wonderful value) although it was too windy and settled for a burger and a beer at the Port Dock Brewery. I noticed the Birkenhead Tavern over the river and will definately give it a try.

Covfan71 - Yes I would say that our OAA is ok for a young family, as it has a park with a playgroung outside and there's no road to cross to get to it. We have started looking for a more permanent rental aready and are just driving aroung the suburbs to get a feel for the areas. Our furniture should be with us in about 10-12 weeks. I think to get your furniture there within a week of your arrival, you would either have to ship it 10-11 weeks before you set off, or pray that they invent a supersonic freight carrier! I don't know if it is possible to send your furniture by air or even cost effective?

Kazza - We drove down through Semaphore through West Lakes yesterday and thought it was a beatiful area.

Diane - Yes Farmer Joes is great and so is Foodland oppposite. We will definately try Argo Hellenic as we all love Greek food. Steffados, Dolmades, yummy.

 

Once again, a hugh thanks to everyone.:)

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Guest MarkIngram

Guest MarkIngram

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it's good to hear such positive reports on arriving in Adelaide. Zoe, myself, Lexie (5yrs) and Poppy (will be 8months) arrive on 29th Oct 09. Hoping for OAA to come through as this will be something else taken care of for us. We're trying to organise it so that our furniture arrives about 4 weeks after we do....we want to get it before the Christmas shut down period for sure.

 

We're currently living at my mother-in-laws 2 bed flat as we've sold our house..so cabin fever is starting to set in....but we're just focusing on the fact that in just 9 short weeks we'll be on our way.....so excited by the adventure ahead....hopefully we leave the Scottish weather behind ;)

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Guest graandjac

Guest graandjac

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:)Great start guys....just get stuck in just like the boys did, sorry the weather is not up to much at the moment, the sunshine is just around the corner. Welcome to Adelaide:jiggy:

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