Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Original poster

Shall we do an Aus/NZ round up?

191 replies

ClaudiaSchiffer · 05/12/2008 02:50

Hi all

Where is everybody? It seems that all the old familiar Oz/NZ mners have wondered orf . . . shall we have some hellos?

I'll kick off

Hi there, I'm ClaudiaShiffer, I have two daughers and live in Adelaide, I am a Pom and have been here for 2 yrs. Mostly loving it. DH is an Aussie and is beyond delighted to be back in Oz after 10yrs in the UK.

Now your turn

OP posts:
flummery · 05/01/2009 13:34

Oh, thanks guys. I didn't think you were being flippant. I wasn't sure whether or not to post it, but the funeral was today and it's just very front of brain I guess. We were close, though dementia had very much ravaged her ability to recognise or relate over the past couple of years. It was sudden, though, and mum was in Sydney with me for Christmas, so there was her grief at not being there and then the flurry of organisational stuff getting her and dad back here quickly. Still, it's all done now and I'm home tomorrow. DS1, who's ten in February, had a little weep on the phone this evening and told me I'd been gone too long. It'll be good to get back.

Ninedragons, your DD sounds spectacular. They're all such tech-savvy babies these days. When we first got broadband and needed to set up the Airport, DS1 was too impatient to wait for us to do it (we were just going to make a cup of tea first) so did it himself, then announced we were now online. He was 7.

Arfishy, it's interesting to hear your feedback on Ascham. DD is down to go to SCEGGS Darlinghurst, largely because her cousins also go there. One of her friends starts at Ascham this year. It looks like an interesting school.

ninedragons · 05/01/2009 21:34

Ah, BG, you'll be in full swing by now but if anything goes pear-shaped with your childcare today (and you can log on to freak out about it) DD and I are at a loose end and can pick your DD up to take to the park.

arfishy · 06/01/2009 09:48

Hope all goes well with the move BG. What a nightmare about short notice to move out and having to get a place you're not so keen on afterwards. We're packed to the rafters here too, with 2/3 extra people in a place we only expected the 3 of us to be in for 6 months. We will have to take you out for a relaxing drink after you've settled in.

Flumm - I've heard very good things about SCEGGS too. Ascham IS a very interesting school. Their Dalton Plan and Spalding methods are very unusual. Having said that, if they keep on with the 15% fee increases I will be having a long think about if they are worth it. I suspect a number of parents go for the cachet, which I had no idea about as an expat. I just chose it for being non-denominational.

lulalullabye · 06/01/2009 20:05

Hey, where are all you Melbourne peeps ? Is there anybody still there ? Should I still move out there next week ?????

echt · 08/01/2009 01:34

Yeah, go on.

The weather's improved no end, so why I'm inside tidying my DD's room (she's in Sydney having a high old time) I don't know.

Have a safe journey, Lulalullabye, and happy landings. Oh, and happy new year year.

ninedragons · 08/01/2009 01:43

My tip for getting your stuff through customs quickly is leave a beeping alarm clock in the middle of one of your boxes.

Our stuff was cleared in four weeks but it drove us nuts until we found the source of the beeping. It obviously drove them nuts too and they couldn't get it out of the warehouse fast enough.

thumbwitch · 08/01/2009 02:12

lol at ninedragons! have to remember that for when we move out in May(-ish)!

just popped in briefly - going to bed now. Night!

suzywong · 08/01/2009 02:27

I heard from OliveOil yesterday
she is within grasp of modern technology now and settled in a house in deepest darkest Perth suburbia, as are we all....

she is well and should be online in a week or so

DCsnatch · 08/01/2009 05:13

I'm here Lula. I met you down in a seaside, Mornington cafe. Let us all now when you get here

DCsnatch · 08/01/2009 05:14

KNOW - boy, my spelling is really rather shite at the moment. Am typing too fast...

arfishy · 08/01/2009 06:20

My top tip for getting into the country is to declare something dodgy, like wood or food. If you're standing in the queue forlornly with a small child (make sure there's no DH in sight) you will be swooped on by a customs officer, grilled about your contraband "a charlie and lola wooden balancing game officer" and green stamped and sent straight through.

Has worked for me every time.

ninedragons · 08/01/2009 07:29

Oh yeah, definitely. In fact I have a fur-trimmed pashmina that I use pretty much for that specific purpose.

Our upstairs neighbour tried to give us a vacuum-packed raw duck as a farewell gift when we left Shanghai. She was aghast when we told her we'd be fined if we tried to bring it in. Being Chinese, she regards access to freshly slaughtered duck as a birthright.

arfishy · 08/01/2009 11:41

at slaughtered duck. I think we see quite a lot of those being discovered and then confiscated by humourless customs officers in "Border Security". Not quite sure what is more difficult to get in - some dried meat or 200kg of heroin.

thumbwitch · 08/01/2009 21:49

talking of food, arfishy, do you know what I can get away with bringing over? I am mostly thinking about the contents of my food cupboards at the mo - am I going to have to make like there's a famine and use it all up, throw it out, or box it and hide it in a packing case? Mostly condiment stuff, like herbs and spices, that it just seems an awful waste to lob it all out only to have to buy it all again when I get there.

Oh, and Bisto. Can't be doing with Gravox, despite the numerous variations of it - I like me Bisto powder!

Boursin could be a bit more tricky - am going to have to find an outlet for that in Oz, or start an import business myself.

TIA for any help.

ninedragons · 08/01/2009 22:26

Don't bring anything at all - it will all be confiscated and if they're feeling arsey they'll fine you. They are very full-on; you even have to declare infant formula at the airport. Anything with leaves such as containers of dried herbs or pot pourri is a definite no.

You can buy Boursin here. I'm not sure about Bisto - I don't use it myself so I've never looked out for it. If you want to find out what you can get, go to woolworths.com.au (one of the main supermarket chains, unrelated to the British chain that's just gone tits-up) and do a theoretical online shop.

thumbwitch · 08/01/2009 22:43

oh pants, really? That's very annoying.

I was quite surprised that they let my Ella's kitchen organic fruit and veg sachets through without quibble, tbh - the only thing the customs woman said was "oh, do they think it's ok to give strawberries to a 4 mo in the UK then?" (it was a strawberry and apple combo, supposedly usable from 4mo if you choose/have to wean that early, despite recommendations being for 6mo)

Thanks ninedragons - will have to eat lots of herby stuff then before we leave here, or give it all to my Dad!

ninedragons · 08/01/2009 23:13

Yeah, afraid so.

I think they're concerned that something like a pot of herbs might have either seeds, tiny insects or fungi that could be introduced. Something heavily processed like baby food wouldn't be a risk for that.

thumbwitch · 08/01/2009 23:26

poo. we have a nice collection of pre-mixed herbs that I bought for DH in the summer - he'll be sad to leave that behind.

I do see the point, I suppose...

ninedragons · 08/01/2009 23:57

You can buy better ones here! Honestly, when I moved to the UK I couldn't believe how crap the range of food and condiments was. The delis sell rock salt & herb mixtures or ones with just herbs (like those Dean & Delucca ones you get in the US). I currently have on the go a tin of native spice, a tin of Mediterranean herbs and a tin of Thai spices.

Where are you moving to?

thumbwitch · 09/01/2009 00:13

Morisset in NSW. it's a bit country, like.
I know what you mean - this wasn't any old shop bought thingy though, it was a collection from a stall at a country fair, very nice. Anyway, he'll just have to get on and use it all up.

ninedragons · 09/01/2009 00:42

Lovely. Bet you'll get all sorts of farmers' markets up there that would make Jamie Oliver wet his knickers.

thumbwitch · 09/01/2009 00:44

pmsl at JO wetting his knickers - more likely to drop even more slobber down his front than usual, surely?

ninedragons · 09/01/2009 00:57

Urgh! Jools should get him one of those plastic bibs with a pocket at the bottom. His slobber does give him that Golden Retriever quality, though, so it's made him a rich man.

When do you move? I will be hitting you for holiday recommendations. Now we have DD, our days of swanning off for 10 days in Rangoon or Luang Prabang are over, and we will have to find somewhere less exotic to go.

thumbwitch · 09/01/2009 01:06

we're due to move out sometime in May, I think. I keep trying to get some kind of schedule out of DH but he's not good at planning. Trouble is, if he doesn't, I'm just going to drift along and not push it too hard as the move is all for his benefit really - it's not that I hate the idea, it's just an awful upheaval for me.

savoycabbage · 10/01/2009 02:55

We got fined $375 because I had accidently packed a chocolate brownie in the shipping! I don't imagine that it was all that good after 12 weeks on the ocean. 's not worth the risk. I really wanted to bring all mf my herbs and stuff too but iI did smuggle in some vanilla essence with my shampoo though...

I brought some biscuits and chocolate in though. They were left over from the flight over and I declared them and it was fine. I threw away all of the fruit and raisins though.

Swipe left for the next trending thread