Emigrating to Australia advice

[mrssunshinexxx]

I know this is not possible until atleast mid 2022 but as it's a huge change we would like to get as much info as possible from people who have done it, particularly young families from the UK.
Can I ask does anyone know the cost to have all furniture etc shipped ?
We would be looking at Sydney specifically Coogee, Bronte, Manley, or Gold Coast
Any info welcome

I live in the Northern Beaches, near Manly.
Rent is crazy high, and so will Coogee and Bronte be, difference houses are bigger around Manly. Gold Coast will be way cheaper. easily half price
Compare
www.domain.com.au/rent/manly-nsw-2095/house/ with
www.domain.com.au/rent/gold-coast-qld-4211/house/

Thing about the distance with loved ones and it used to be that we were just a flight away, but what you might not know is that since March, we can't leave the country. Borders are not only closed for whoever wants to come in but also if you want to go out. Newspapers regularly have heart breaking stories of people who weren't able to say goodbyes to parent dying of cancer, go to daughter's wedding and so on.
Australians are stuck oversea and unable to come home unless they can pay first class or business as airlines have low numbers allowed.

Australia when you are just 24 hours away is one thing, when you are prisoner on an island is quite different.

Hi @LeGrandBleu thank you for your response I should of said I lived there for a year 7 years ago so familiar with Sydney prices. Also know you can't leave easily at the moment. I lost my mum in April and she was everything to me I never would of lived out this dream if I hadn't lost her so I'm making it happen x

Sorry for your loss

Another thing I miss living here - we came for my DH's work, we have lived in so many places ... - is the inability to expose my DC to the culture of the European cities. Yes we used to go back twice a year, but we felt obliged to visit and spend time with families, because we miss each other, and we would try to squeeze a capital here and a city there, but we wouldn't be able to tour Greece or spend time on the Côte d'Azur (we are French) .

Culture is very limited. Theatre and opera are extremely expensive, Museums have very limited exhibitions. We do whatever we can but can't compare it to Amsterdam or Madrid, not even mentioning Paris.

School wise, life is way easier than in the French system with far less work, so for the children life is sweet and easy.
Coffee is good as you will know, way better coffee than France!!

Australia gives a lot but takes away a lot as well.

Are you sure you can qualify points wise ( or whatever they will be using when if they open up to foreigners again.

Yes of course, there are the visa requirements .

@mrssunshinexxx there is a board where you might receive more answers www.mumsnet.com/Talk/living_overseas

@LeGrandBleu thank you we aren't personally into museums etc we want the beach , outdoor life for our children and us but I appreciate your comments and the link
@lyinginthegutterstaringatstars DH's job is on the skilled list and is very in demand and lacking actual qualified people in the uk so we are hoping it won't be taken off

I cant help with prices for shipping, but check very carefully in terms of what exactly you can take. Also use a company used to shipping to Australia. Having lived there, you are likely aware of the strict quarantine rules, but these apply to shipped goods also.

The shipping company should advise, but they might want to fumigate anything wooden- furniture, bed frames, photo frames, wooden beads etc etc. If needed, this fumigation would be an additional expense. Also, anything that might have mud/soil/sand might need cleaning- dirty wellies, trainers, sports equipment etc.

I'm sure there is more info online, but its something else to consider. Obvioulsy, I'm sure you would also compare just buying furniture there from ikea, discount shops, chairty shops or just new.

If you report yourself to the MNHQ they can move your discussion to Living oversea.
Gold Coast seems like a good fit. Winter are far more pleasant than Sydney which can be so cold and very wet

Its a mystery to me why, in a country that isnt short of land, that house prices and rentals are so high. One can only assume they are being artificially controlled, a bit like in the UK really.

I think we had a relocation budget of 10k£ Most of which went on shipping a small 2bed apartment! Shipping also takes 3 months and there aren’t a lot of furnished rentals (apart from expensive holiday homes and air bnbs).

I’d look again at prices as things have really rocketed. This may change if people can continue to work more remotely and places like Byron have gone mad price wise. Childcare and food has also gone up.

Agree that the flight home situation is a nightmare currently. It’s also expensive at Christmas normally.

The winters can be cold in the evenings as houses aren’t set up for it and it gets dark quite early even in summer.

But yeah - beautiful country! I’m sorry about your mum and I hope you find a way to get this adventure to work

Thank you @ChakaDakotaRegina

@mrssunshinexxx
We are doing that move right now! Only to Brisbane and not Sydney.
We are using White&Co to ship most of our 3-bed house to Brisbane. We are paying approx £4500 plus insurance and any quarantine charges on top.

Our main concern at the moment is whether our flights which are booked for next month will still go ahead. Fingers crossed 🤞🏼

Let me know if you'd like any more info x

Its a mystery to me why, in a country that isnt short of land, that house prices and rentals are so high.

In Western Australia they've been pushed up by emigrating Brits sadly, to the point that many young Australians can no longer afford to live within commuting distances to the city in safe suburbs. One of the reasons we left Perth in 2005.

@pottypotamus from the uk or from Sydney sorry I wasn't sure ? We are going to start applying for visas in about 5/6 months

@mrssunshinexxx
We are doing the move from UK to Brisbane.

So exciting @pottypotamus how long ago did you start the process ? Is the £4500, for all your things? What visa are you going on? Feel free to PM me (I don't know how to )

Hi @mrssunshinexxx
Sorry for super late reply! I am in Brisbane finally!! Woohoo 🙌🏼
We had flights cancelled at the start of Feb and it seemed like it would never happen.
We are in hotel quarantine right now for 2 weeks in CBD Brisbane. But we have a mahoosive balcony so it's fine.

I don't know how to pm either

Hope you don't mind my chatting on your thread.

I first started the application for the partner visa (subclass 309) back in May 2019. We submitted all the required documents and evidence. I had my medical and police check done Jan 2020 and I was granted the visa in March 2020 and had until March 2021 to enter Aus. We had some flight issues so managed to get my visa entry date extended.

Yes the £4500 was for all our belongings (3 bed house). Plus another £400ish for insurance.

I had sleepless nights when I first applied for the visa because I thought selling the house and shipping would be extremely stressful but it wasn't really. The most stress was from the airline cancelling our booking.

It's been a bit more expensive during Covid with the flights being quadruple what we'd normally pay and having to pay for quarantine. I'm definitely relieved now that we are finally here.

How is your move going? xx

Lower north shore here.
Daycares are expensive if you don't qualify for the subsidy.
School and daycares require dc to be up to date with Australian immunization programme. To do this you need to take your current record to a gp and have it verified and have any catch up shots. Then you take the Aus issued record to school/daycare.
DC start school late January of the year that they turn 5, up to about July, then they start the following year. You can hold off but they must be in school when they turn 6.
If you are not a citizen then public schools will charge per child (visa status dependent).
Health insurance is a must.
But
I love that I walk to work over the harbour bridge most days.
My dh walks to and from work also so no big commutes.
The walks, parks, green space is wonderful.
There is so much to see in Australia!

Hey @pottypotamus how's it going now ? X

Hello @mrssunshinexxx 👋🏼
We are out of quarantine and settled at my in-laws' house! My eldest has settled into school and we are now looking for daycare for my other two dc and I've started applying for jobs!! Eeek!

All becoming very real! So far just been used to coming here on holiday!

We received our shipment of all our belongings today. It has taken 13 weeks to ship from uk to Brisbane. And so far we haven't found anything damaged. We used White&Co, they've been very good.

2 weeks in Quarantine wasn't too bad. We got a 2 bed fully serviced apartment for 5 of us. And a massive balcony. So we were quite lucky.

How's your move going? xx

@pottypotamus so pleased it's all positive ! We aren't ready yet sadly my husband is tied into his work for 2/3 years but we are going to have a consultation with the duc at the end of the year to ask what time scales we are looking at etc x