June 07 mummies - addicted to Mumsnet? Not us...

[riabutterflew]

thanks tallulah, have to say have not been paying much attention to mucous situation! should take temp then if i want to monitor it......or we'll just deal with whatever happens i guess!

Good for you Fury - must be hard with so much on your plate. I'm amazed by my progress if I'm dressed before lunchtime!

Tallulah, i think i saw you're off to aus shortly - any advice on cheapo flights please?
where are you off to? are you or other family australian?

i have aus dh and we were planning on new year trip when dd 6 mths, but MIL is ill so we may be going sooner now, need to find some cheap flights. was also concerned about flying and journey length - is such long trip ok for young baby?

need also to sort passports i guess....baby passport pictures anyone?

Teabag - my Dh is aussie. We are off to Adelaide Mon, tho will be Wed when arrive [yikes emoticon]. No advice on cheapo flights - ours cost a bloody fortune. DD is 4 mnths, not looking forward to journey at all but will let you know how it goes once can get to a computer.

Tallulah I can't take credit for what I do... I do get a lot of help, paid or otherwise. I still need a rant occasionally though!

good luck with the journey tal and do let us know how it goes...
do you have spouse visa? haven't got around to that yet.....bugger, I renewed my passport recently and so no longer have the business visa i had in my last one.....
so dh needs new passport, then baby passport I guess, then visas? do we need visas?!! or does dh just say "they're with me"???

Passports - ugh nightmare getting photos taken. Lay her on floor on sheet & took about 30 shots to get a couple that fit guidelines. Then used this site which worked a treat.

teabag am busy atm but can help with passport pics

my DH is aussie too! Wow 3 of us..

fury, everyone needs a rant, you rant away....have you poked spotty yet?
as i've said before on here, i admire you all for what you manage to do

i'm a lazy git by the way, in case anyone hadn't realised....

Yep u will need visas. I am Aussie citizen, Dh Aussie born & bred but DD still needed visa - crazy!

teabag check rules about your visa! You may need to get a RRV. I have heard somewhere if you get a normal tourist visa it actually overwrites your 'elevated' status! Do check.

LO will need a visa

Lay DD on a white/cream sheet and take photos - passport office page has guidelines.

I got mine printed off by photobox for 30p or something. Passport office accepted no prob.

I got some quite cheap flights to Oz last year, I'll see if I can find the website. I did have to spend the best part of 2 days shopping around for the best price. We went with Emirates in the end and I wasn't too impressed. Everyone raves about them, but I though they were pretty crap!

I am in trouble with the in laws as we are going to America this year but not going to see them in Aus

We just couldn't afford it. America is cheap as my folks are helping us out (Plus they own a house there, so cheap accomodation).

Hopefully we'll get to Aus next year. I reason that they could always come here....!

thanks tal and fury, useful stuff - i've always admired the australians for how tough they make it to get in - but not now when i have to get visas for all and sundry!

thanks holly - i thought you might be a bit of an expert on finding bargains!

what are we all doing over here if we have passport to aus??!! i reckon we'll be heading that way for good next year, particularly now we have a small one.....the thought of bringing her up in south london does not appeal at all...

RRV fury?

Return Residents Visa

Just a formality but best to get that to be on the safe side. Plus it is valid for 5 years or so.
I need to get one too, ugh.

We thought about moving to Aus permanently (as we can) but TBH we both prefer England!! (Believe it or not...)

Would prefer the US (midwest) most of all but have trouble getting work there

Yeah Fury - my inlaws don't get that planes fly in both directions!!!

that's the thing, it's such a long trip and costs so much too.......
we can't put it off as MIL diagnosed with cancer a couple of months before dd was born, she's had treatment but we don't know how much longer she's got now. my dr father strongly recommended not flying with dd before 6 mths so dh was going to go on his own, but now i reckon we should all go together...

will i have to go somewhere consulate to get all these visas? or on line and through the post? i know the spouse visa application was thick as a book and I think needed a thesis from friends in aus to say that we are a legit couple.....needless to say i printed it all off a couple of years ago and have done nothing about it since....

Sorry about your MIL teabag. I can't remember the name of the website I used to book the flights. Where are you going?

I would personally say the younger the baby the easier they are to fly with. We flew with dd when she was 15 months and although it was a little tricky it wasn't half as bad as it would be now!

There are loads of online companies that will get your visas for you and they are much cheaper than going direct to the consulate. Just stick Australian visa into google!

to hobart, via melbourne ideally
there are soooo many flight websites

i've heard that younger babies are easier to travel with - more likely to sleep through it i guess.

Teabag, baby passport photos...i took DD to a local photo lab. He laid her on the floor on a white sheet, and took a few till we got one with her eyes open and looking at the camera. He checked it against the guidelines, and it was OK first time. It was £6 but he gave a money back guarantee if it was rejected by the passport office.

Younger babies are easier as you get a bassinet for them! It means you don't have to eat with them sat on your lap and you get one of the extra legroom seats!

I think you need to go through as many of the flight website as you can as they all have so many diferent deals. Like I said I spent 2 days doing just that!

babyboo doesn't want to be put down today. i need to get on with packing