Ex-pat Mums in Oz??

[yummimummy]

Is there anybody out there......?
(Apart from me)

Erm. SW? Do you have a little niche in your suitcase for essentials for desperate expats?

Like:

Several items from monsoon
Anything that Aussie Quarantine would allow in from M&S Food Hall
About 200GBP worth of baby gap stuff
All the bras in my size from M&S
and the matching knickers/camis/vests/loungewear
A job lot of interesting stuff from boots, incl Benefits' latest (can send you my boots points card, have about 60 quid to fritter)
The latest Hello/Heat/Now/Marie-Claire
Jordan and Jade's autobiographies
A hamper from Fortnum & Mason
An eccles cake
Some egg mayo sandwiches
Any size 9 shoes that Next has in stock
The 8 packages from ebay that the Royal Mail left at my house instead of forwarding
DDs birth certificate and red book from our storage in Kingston.

Ta.

hi all - Suzy yes it was fab - DTs loved it, sadly no pool for them in our back garden!

Arfishymeau - latest copy of Heat is rubbish, you arent missing anything, just pics of celebs in bikinis looking flabby.

Have any of you applied for permanent residency as the spouse of an Aussie - if so would you recommend doing it alone or through a migration agent - looking at all the info you have to provide evidence of your relationship etc - seems a bit weird. Also do you ahve to pay the same for any kids, by Xmas this year I will have three, maybe I should apply whilst still pregnant!!

oh and eidsvold - if I move to Brissy will you be my friend? I only know my sister in law and one other friend I have there!

Ah yes, HM, I think that one has arrived already (at the grand price of $7.50ish). I have duly ignored.

Oh and HM, I would be your friend, except nobody seems to come to Sydney. I've been here nearly a year and haven't once had a girls night out (or girls coffee morning/girls chat at bus stop etc).

Leave it much longer and I'll turn into a hairy trucker

I would have thought that Sydney would have been number one choice for a lot of people - must be the cost that puts them off. We only have Brissy in mind as DH's sis and Mum live there. Which bit of Sydney are you in? Do you love it?

arfyfishmeau- I will be your friend. we arrive Sydney next Jan to spend 1 year there. Kids will be in school so I will be a lady of leisure! no idea how to make friends as will not have small child as ice breaker

ooooh robinpud why are you only going for a year - I bet you wont want to leave!

Oooh. Robinp. Am delighted to be your official Sydney friend! The Aussies are lovely and friendly tho so you'll have no problem fitting in.

Great time of year to arrive too - at the moment it is monsoon-ing down with rain (have had to buy a brolly ), whereabouts in Sydney will you be?

HM - It's where I was sent - I work in telecomms and most of the industry is based in Sydney. In general the immigration process gives you more points if you are not based in Sydney though - we were lucky to get in with the extra points you get for being in telecomms.

We've just moved to Coogee Beach in the East of Sydney, which I love. It's the best we can do for working in the city - it will be full of backpackers in the summer but I'm still grateful to have a chance to live here.

Given half a chance I'd move farther north to Brisbane or Cairns, but there is no work in my field.

You know arfy, I am having delicious daydreams abouthow empty my suitcase will be on the way there and how DISGRACEFULLY FULL it will be on the way back!
WhoooooHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

what will you be buying - Marmite?

oh LAWKs, what won't I be buying?/
A lot of stuff on Arfy's list as well as the big ladies' shoes. Ginster's Pasties, oh the list is endless!

Ooooh. Sw. What are your must-haves?

AND you'll be doing luxurious child-free leisurely shopping too.

AND the flights. Oh the bliss.

HM - Hi, I applied for Perm Res last year ( in time to get the baby bonus - yeay!) and it was a bit of a pain finding all of the required info but totally do-able yourself ( and you'd still have to find all the relevant documents even if an agent did it for you) so I'd save the pounds to spend on a lovely bikini or 6!
I'll be your friend! ( I live in Brissie)

Suzy - if you're flying Singapore - beware they are sticking to the paltry 20kgs weight limit |( new policy - have they never heard of desperate ex-pats?)

I'm in the UK just now - and what lovely weather we're having.
The flight with a 1 yo was a bit of a nightmare by myself - not looking forward to the journey back one little bit.

Anyway, back to Corrie

Arfy- we will be in Revesby which is south of you and out in the 'burbs but dh will be travelling into Darlinghurst every day.

Harrogate we applied for a spousal visa for dh and he was granted permanent residency straight away even though we hadn't been married for 5 years - but we had dd1 so that meant he was able to get permanent residency. Dd1 had aussie citizenship by descent which we got for her not long after she was born - made it very easy for her as her down sydnrome and heart defect may have been grounds for not granting her a visa.

Harrogate - dh did his himself. If it is straightforward - then save your money.

There are a few of us here in brisbane - yummi and bouj ( busy with new babe) so we could have get togethers when you get here.

Have you applied for aussie citizenship for your children - they would be applicable for citizenship by descent - look into that and then it would just be you that needed the spousal visa.

We got all the stuff done - proof of relationship and letters etc - just took out time doing it to make sure it was all done properly. We did not need to rush though - we had time.

in fact - we have been here 2 years tomorrow and so dh can apply for his citizenship.

thanks all for your advice and nice to know that there will be people there so I wont feel all alone when I get there! Is citizenship by descent cheaper than applying for visas for them? Is it done through the same channels? Sorry for all the questions! I am pregnant with my 3rd due in Nov so guess I will wait until he/she is born and then start the ball rolling!

much easier for them I think - I just looked up Australia house in London and all I had to do ( from memory ) was send off my birth certificate - hers and they processed it.

Can't think that is was too expensive. Our concern though was that they could reject her/dh's visa on health grounds - dd1 has down syndrome and heart defect and they could say that she would require too much health care and so not approve the visa. It certainly made the paperwork easier from memory.

We had dd2 here in Aus - I was 18 weeks pregnant with her when we arrived. She was born in Nov 04.

NEVER MIND ALL THIS MALARKYEY!

Did you know ther are NO hamsters in Australia???

I was feeling charitable and thinking of getting the boys a small pet with a very short lifespan and the girl at the pet shop informed me there are no hamsters in Australia, at all!!
They never told me that in the brochure

Don't guinea pigs serve the same purpose?

They can live for up to 6 years, I was hoping for a quick 18 months, in and out, bish bosh, oh dear it's gone to heaven.

So have I been making a tit of myself by referring to small brown australian rodents in pet shops as "hamsters" then? WFT are they?

We also tried to bring our guinea pig along with the cats (don't ask, long story involving soft dp and cat in accident) but were told that they can only be imported for food! Poor Frank. We had to leave him with the BIL.

RobinP - looking forward to forming our own clique with SunnyD and HM.

SD & HM - apologies, I didn't see your requests for Sydney info farther down the thread. Are there any specific areas you want to avoid/be close to. School/commute/house price requirements? I've only been here a year, but I have good local contacts who are well, local, and can advise for/against areas.

guinea pigs are prolific too suzy - we had two supposed males and before you know it - babies everywhere..... ours were relatively rare albino guinea pigs. Unfortunately the neighbourhood dogs got to them one night... all gone

Arfy- book me in for a coffee on the 1 Feb when the kids have strted back to school and I am all on my own in a foreign land!