Australia Help

My wife and I have been looking to emigrate the USA for a while now, but after having no luck with the insanley tight immigration laws in the USA (unlike the lax UK laws), we are thinking of Australia now. We both have skills in the required areas and don't have any ties like kids or specific jobs we enjoy so we really want to get out of the UK.

We are most likely going to take a holiday to Oz next year to check out the different areas but before then does anyone have any opinions on places in Oz?

Whats it like where you have been? Who did you fly with? etc etc

Thanks!

Hi Andy

We went to Australia in 2005, we flew with VS to Sydney. We stayed in Sydney for the first 5 days. Fantastic city, I would love to live and work in Sydney - very modern and vibrant city, but can be expensive.

Next we went to Canberra - was ok for a few days to visit, wouldn't want to work in Canberra, I would probably get bored there.

Melbourne was the next stop, FANTASTIC city, I really could see myself living and working around Melbourne. There is so much to do, good shops and nice beaches too. More of a laid back city than Sydney was, but the all the same a really modern city, with good transport. Lots of good history too.

We are off to Australia again in March (flying with VS of course ), this time we are going to Tasmania, Brisbane and then driving all the way down to Sydney.

If you want anymore info, then drop me a PM, I would be more than happy to pass on any info I can.

Mark

Australia is one of my absolute favourite countries. IÕve only lived in Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bun) and Sydney so I can only comment on those two cities. In 2004 I decided to spend 12 months working in Australia. I spent a few months living in Melbourne when I first arrived, before moving on to Sydney where I worked in the hotel industry.

For me, I just love the Aussie way of life and their relaxing attitude to both work and social life. For many people, living in the major cities, the beach is never far away. That, coupled with the outdoor lifestyle, means one thing. YouÕll get a golden tan in no time. ;)

Both Melbourne and Sydney offer a lot of cultural diversity. Each has its own unique charm and you will find many different ethnic communities dotted all around the city and suburbs. The cuisine is varied and can be wonderful and often cheaper for the comparable here in the UK. I have yet to find dim sum - yum cha as they call it down under Ð anywhere in the UK of the quality I found in Melbourne.

Melbourne has a temperate climate which is more unpredictable than Sydney, and the winter there can be slightly cooler although it does get quite a few scorching days in Summer. I was back in Sydney on New YearÕs Day of last year and the thermometer hit 45¡C! Obviously, the further north you go the more tropical the climate becomes (another factor in deciding where to live).

I've also visited Tasmania, which I found incredibly beautiful but very sparsely populated and a bit isolated from the rest of the mainland. There are no international flights from Tasmania. If you want good international links then Sydney offers the most choice, followed by Melbourne, then Brisbane and Perth.

I suggest visiting both Melbourne and Sydney on your holiday as these are the two largest cities with a temperate climate. But donÕt just stay in the city. Venture out to places further afield, to get a real taste of what Australia has to offer.

Thanks for all the info so far. Melbourne does look like quite an attractive place so far. I had seen a lot of nice comments about Brisbane so might have to look at that as well.

We would like to see the most we can while we are there so that would mean FlyDrive. Even though we have done this in the USA, I didn't really appreciate how large the distance were between places on just the east cost of Oz.

How was the flight over to Oz? We would probably go Virgin but would have to be cattle, I mean Economy due to cost. 22hrs in that seat, shudder at the thought! Any other airlines with slightly larger econ seats that are decent?

Thx again.

Originally posted by AndyR
How was the flight over to Oz? We would probably go Virgin but would have to be cattle, I mean Economy due to cost. 22hrs in that seat, shudder at the thought! Any other airlines with slightly larger econ seats that are decent?

All my flights to Oz have been on SQ. Decent enough airline and a good Economy product. Seat pitch is 32" (33" on some variations of the B777). Most SQ fares to Oz will earn Flying Club miles. BA/QF have same seat pitch as VS. TG offers 34" but no individual IFE screen on older B747s. All these airlines offer one-stop flights to OZ via their respective hubs (BA via SIN/BKK to SYD only, QF via SIN/BKK and HKG). SQ offers most choice for me.

Originally posted by AndyR
We would like to see the most we can while we are there so that would mean FlyDrive. Even though we have done this in the USA, I didn't really appreciate how large the distance were between places on just the east cost of Oz.

This was what I'd planned for our forthcoming trip until my colleague (who's just back from travelling around Australia)enlightened me.Yes it doesn't look far on the map...We've decided to fly to the various cities and explore the surrounding areas as we just don't have time to drive up from Sydney to Cairns.
A lot of people I know are considering making the move too - my brother-in law emigrated in the 1980s and has never regretted it.Go for it![y]

Originally posted by DragonLady
This was what I'd planned for our forthcoming trip until my colleague (who's just back from travelling around Australia)enlightened me.Yes it doesn't look far on the map...We've decided to fly to the various cities and explore the surrounding areas as we just don't have time to drive up from Sydney to Cairns.
A lot of people I know are considering making the move too - my brother-in law emigrated in the 1980s and has never regretted it.Go for it![y]

Thanks, it certainly looks better than the UK I'll give it that. I really would like to move to the USA but its so hard to get the visa and your very limited once you do get it. Plus the USA has a lot of problems at the minute so I think it may be Oz for us.

Andy, good luck with your plans to emigrate[y] We left the UK last year and haven't really missed it, apart from family and friends of course! Our move isn't a permanent one as we are unable to claim Bermudian citizenship, so we are looking at possibly moving to the USA in the future.

My sister and her husband have just received their visa for New Zealand. My brother-in-law managed to secure himself a job before they applied to move. Have you thought about getting to the USA or Australia via a job offer?

I have to give a big thumbs up for Melbourne[y] I have visited Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane but Melbourne is still my favourite. If you like good restaurants, theatre and art galleries then it's the place to live. There is also the Yarra valley if you're interested in wine. The climate there reminds me of England sometimes, it can get quite cold.

We were last there in 2002 and flew with BA WT+ to Melbourne. That was before VS started their Sydney route, so next time we visit, it will definitely be with VS

Good luck

Amanda

Originally posted by MrsG
Andy, good luck with your plans to emigrate[y] We left the UK last year and haven't really missed it, apart from family and friends of course! Our move isn't a permanent one as we are unable to claim Bermudian citizenship, so we are looking at possibly moving to the USA in the future.

My sister and her husband have just received their visa for New Zealand. My brother-in-law managed to secure himself a job before they applied to move. Have you thought about getting to the USA or Australia via a job offer?

I have to give a big thumbs up for Melbourne[y] I have visited Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane but Melbourne is still my favourite. If you like good restaurants, theatre and art galleries then it's the place to live. There is also the Yarra valley if you're interested in wine. The climate there reminds me of England sometimes, it can get quite cold.

We were last there in 2002 and flew with BA WT+ to Melbourne. That was before VS started their Sydney route, so next time we visit, it will definitely be with VS

Thanks for the nice comments. Yes the only way we can get to the USA or Oz is via a job offer. US is harder as there is a 65,000 limit to H1B visa's each year and they usually get used in under a couple of months and are like rocking horse **** to get hold of!

Oz has the skilled migrant visa and thankfully both me and misses fall into the required skills categories so we shouldn't have to much a problem as I beleive you can pretty much apply for any job.

Ideally we would like somewhere thats year round warm weather as we both like that. Melbourne does look really nice but heard a few people now say it gets cold in the winter (not at moment where is 40c!). Saw a program on Perth last night which looked nice, plus the houses were much cheaper!

Perth is cheaper because it's so far away from any other major city! I think they say it's the most isolated city in the world.

Melbourne has an ideal climate. Yes, it can get uncomfortably hot in the summer but the winter is never harsh. August is typically 12-14¡C (daytime) and although the evenings can get chilly because of the breeze coming in off Port Phillip Bay it's nothing like Tasmania! Spring and Autumn in Melbourne is very pleasant indeed. Temperatures range through the low to high 20s.

If I had to choose between living in Sydney or Melbourne I would probably choose Melbourne. It's got a good train and tram system, good access to other parts of Victoria by road and rail and good domestic and international air links.

I spent 3 months there late last year and would recommend Cairns (like being in the tropics) Brisbane (under rated city) or Byron bay (hippy town). Sydney was good but I couldnt wait to get out of it... Oh and whetever you do stay away from perth, the winters there are almost as bad as here!!

Hi

Good luck with whatever you decide do.

My partner and I moved to Melbourne last June - I got offered a job from the UK and the company sponsored our visas and paid flights etc.
We had been to Oz on hols in 2003 and thought we would like to live here. Did nothing about it and then out of the blue got an opportunity and three months later moved half way round the world.
I had never been to Melbourne before arriving for work only having been to Sydney and Cairns.

Melbourne is cited as the cultural centre and definitely has the best restaurants. Weather wise I arrived in winter June last year and never put a coat on - to me it was like the UK spring/autumn. We live in the city and at night the temp never went below freezing. I think the coldest day we had was 8 deg. I went to Sydney in July on work and it was the same there. I hear Brisbane while generally warmer still gets cold at night in winter.

Sydney is reckoned to be the most expensive city to live - in fact they find it hard to get people to move there because of it. Brisbane is constantly expanding along the coast and the price of property in Perth has been going through the roof I am informed.

The lifestyle is what sells the country though. IMO it is a weird cross of Britain/USA with a bit of every other country thrown in. Eg fish and chips are big here but so is coffee - although thankfully predominantly independents don't see many Starbucks etc. and as previously mentioned a superb array of asian food. In fact my parents who visited at Christmas, first time here, have suggested my sister and family look into moving to give the kids a better lifestyle.

Transport within the Melbourne is quite good but don't underestimate distances Mel to Perth is a 4 hour flight or 3 day drive, Mel to Syd is 1.25 hour flight or 11 hour drive - with not a great deal in between.

If you have any specifics please feel free to pm me.

Hi there,

We just emigrated to NZ (AKL) a couple of months ago [8D] but hubby's just been to Melbourne and he said it's a fantastic place. I have actually been, but it was years ago, so I can't really remember much. I think if it's year round sun your after, you may have to look further north. It was 36 degrees last week in Melbourne when hubby was there, which is far too hot for my liking, but if you get used to that kind of heat in the summer, when winter comes and it drops to 12/14 degrees, you really feel it. Sounds daft, I know

I love Oz, but couldn't live there.... too many things that can
a) bite you
b) sting you
c) kill you

[:0][:p]

Milliemoo

Hi

We moved to perth this year, we think its great.

I'd like to say :

Its not really cheaper any more than melbourne and sydney
the median house price is predicted to overtake sydney
in the first quarter of 2007.

It may be isolated, but there are these things called planes.

Winters are not as bad as UK, no where near in fact. Frankly
we could do with some rain. (Belfastflyer honestly how could
you say that)

Summers are hot, its gonna be in the 40's here for australia day.

Public transport is good here too.

Western Australia is undergoing an unprecedented economic boom.

On the travelling to Oz.

We've flown here with SQ and VS, if you want anymore information on that or on our visa application/experiences feel free to PM.

Singapore is close by in case you need to go there, and singapore's budget carrier Tiger airways have just started a service to perth.

Robert

Originally posted by robandgill

Singapore is close by in case you need to go there

Robert

Just the odd 6-7 hours away....[:0]

You have quickly adjusted to living in WA I see....[oo][:p]

Just the odd 6-7 hours away....[:0]

more like 5 on a good day. Still seems short once you are getting use to flying to Oz from the UK [:p]

robert