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Settling in Melbourne


AlmostAnOzzie

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Hello Formites

We've been pretty much offline for the last 2-3 weeks as we've made the move to Melbourne, so I'm posting an update on where we are and what we've done.

We left Jhb on the 15th of Feb, we used IOM for our bookings and didn’t have any issues with our additional luggage at either Jhb or Perth airports, we were a little overweight on our hand luggage, but that was never checked. Customs at Perth was a breeze, a very nice official said we could proceed to the exit without any of our bags being inspected or checked. I organised an Optus SIM for my phone there and let the families know we had arrived safely. There was a 4 hour wait in Perth until we boarded the flight to Melbourne, so we had a snack and wandered around the shops. I was impressed with the efficiency of the boarding and friendliness of the staff organising everything, this was to become a standard as I’ve yet to experience either poor or unfriendly service in Australia.

We arrived in Melbourne on the 17th of Feb, very late 23h20, we collected our luggage and were supposed to be getting a family room in the Holiday Inn, however, they were overbooked and so we had to wait about 45 minutes longer for the room to be cleaned, this earned us a free breakfast for the family. (I should have e-mailed to confirm our booking, this might have prevented the wait) We organised a taxi to take us to our accommodation in Box Hill (http://www.australianhomeaway.com.au), a family unit accommodating 4 people that we had previously booked. It was well catered with all the amenities we needed including internet and unground parking. I went to collect our hire car from “Rent a bomb” (http://www.rentabomb.com.au/) they are really worth the expense, $48 per day for a good car, not a new one like from Hertz etc, but good and reliable and much cheaper. There were a few scratches on the car from previous drivers, but it was clean, reliable and a cheap form of transport. We went shopping for some basic’s and tried to sort ourselves out and crashed for the night.

Tuesday we went to the bank to activate our accounts, this was a short trip and we was done without any problems, then onto Forest Hill shopping center to register with Medicare & I registered for my Tax number online J. We then headed over to “CarCity” to look for a car to purchase, this was a big mistake according to a lot of people we’ve spoken to, it was late by the time we got there and we didn’t find anything suitable, so the next morning we headed back, but on the way we stopped in at a Toyota dealer and there we found a car we were more comfortable buying. I managed to get a 2009 Camery 96000km, 2.4l for $12000, there were cheaper cars available but as I wanted to keep this car for a long time it was worth the extra cash. We then went looking for schools for the kids, we weren’t impressed with the North-Eastern suburbs and were very concerned that “the” Australia we were expecting wasn’t the one we were seeing.

Wednesday night we hit our first low, don’t ever think this is an easy process, the emotional upheaval, jetlag and stress can have serious effects on you and we were starting to think we’d made the wrong decision. We got hold of some friends of my brothers who stay in Melbourne and they advised us to look further south as the north-eastern suburbs are quite built up and weren’t what we were looking for.

Thursday, we went to look at a private school friends of my parent’s in the UK had recommended, we liked the school but we didn’t like the area as much as rents were pretty high. So we heard they had another campus in Casey, which we visited and liked, we also drove the Narre Warren area and fell in love with it, wide open parks, kids playing cricket in the roads, very relaxed and quiet and cheaper rents :ilikeit: . So Friday we enrolled the kids at school and arranged a meeting with an estate agent for a house we’d seen on the internet and liked. We saw the house at about 5pm, fell in love with it and that night we drew up the forms, available on the internet to download, and filled them in. We were advised that offering to pay 3-4 months rent up front would almost guarantee a successful offer, which we did. The house was on show at about midday again for 15 minutes, so we went back to look at it for a second time as well as a few others, the agent who arrived didn’t have the correct keys so we handed him the forms. Fortunately this meant that no-one else was able to view the property that day. We put a rental offer in for another property, just in case and on Monday we got a call from BOTH agents to tell us we were successful. So we took the one we first saw, it’s reasonably big, close to parks, in a quiet area. We were able to move in on the Thursday.

Saturday we went shopping for furniture etc. at IKEA, we didn’t find much we liked there and so on Monday we headed to other centres. (Note, IKEA has a lot of things to buy, we found it espaeically useful for household and kitchen utensils, like cups, plates, knives etc, but we didn’t like the selection of furniture) Our friends had advised us to look at “The Good Guys”, “Harvey Norman” and a few other places, so we put our list together for appliances at Harvey’s and then checked out all the websites and guess what? Harvey’s came out cheaper, so we bought everything there.

Sunday we relaxed with friends who provided us with invaluable advice in terms of getting gas, electricity and internet connected, we also went hiking in the bush near their house looking for kangaroos, no luck there but we are going to be looking for them soon. The bird life here is so different to SA, they make such different sounds and the white parrots that cost R1000’s in SA fly around wild here, I love watching them.

So Monday we went to Forty Winks and they were having a 40% discount and managed to pick up good bedroom suites for us and our sons as well as nice matrasses for a good price. Then we went to buy school books. A warning here, school books and uniforms are VERY expensive, although my wife tells me it’s on a par with South Africa, just we were starting from scratch again.

Tuesday – can’t remember what we did on Tuesday, but we were busy.

Wednesday we went shopping for school clothes, again another VERY expensive adventure, clothes are very pricey here, we managed to get a lot from the schools clothing exchange and that helped a HUGE amount, well worth making use of this facility if you can. We headed into Melbourne city for the first time in the evening. I had to perform my first hook turn, which is quite an experience and we spent a long time walking along the Yarra river, it’s such a beautiful city and is a hive of activity but at no point did I feel unsafe or threatened, it was truly wonderful.

Thursday we took delivery of appliances at the new house and slept at the old place in Box Hill for the last time.

Friday we cleaned the old place so we could be guaranteed our deposit back and I assembled beds and connected appliances up. Everything here arrives in Kit form; I learnt this from my brother-n-law so I brought some tools with me in my suite case, including a battery operated drill for turning screws and other bolts. I’m so glad I did.

Saturday we settled in and bought all the 100’s of things you forget you need for a new house, like potato peelers, washing cloths, brooms etc, and it all adds up. Aldi’s is a great shop for many cheaper things as well.

So now we are settled, the internet is working, which is an expensive setup unless there is a working phone line, fridges, washing machines, tumble drier’s are all installed and working.

Now I need to find a job, fortunately, I’ve met up with some really good people, many ex-SAFA’s and they are also looking around for me.

But this is an amazing country, the people are pleasant, and everything works well, I’m far less stressed than I was in Joburg, there are no barking dog’s, no alarms going off & I sleep well, my 14 yr old son goes for a run on his own each evening. I love it that people are so friendly, there’s no issue asking for help from anyone, & everyone I’ve met is so happy to help.
The Coles shop up the road is open until midnight and then open again at 7:30am, the local gym is open 24/7 everything is well maintained and clean.
I’ve not seen a pothole and I’ve driven about 1500km so far. Generally if you need to move into another lane and you indicate your intentions, the other drivers will make space for you making driving a more pleasurable experience.
I was able to open an electricity and gas account over the phone, no deposit required. Internet was organised over the phone, no deposit required. Our kids are at a private school and I’ve only paid $180 registration fee so far. People are very trusting and I love that.

I am now convinced that moving to Australia has been the right decision for us.

Thanks to everyone who posts on this forum, we learn't so much from you before the move that was a great help. So keep posting guys.

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Well done on what you managed to get done already. Since you are staying in Narre warren( really is lovely), might I suggest you guys take a look at Dandenong market for very reasonable priced fruit and veg. Lol if you've heard any scary stories about Dandenong, don't be put off, it's not as bad as some people make it out to be. It's really good for a good bargain for all sorts of stuff.

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WOW, well done and welcome to Melbourne! You post brought back all the move memories and I must admit, it was quite a blur! We are also very happy here and have settled relatively quickly into the lifestyle. People and neighbours have been so supportive.

We also just have one more box to tick before we can say we are fully settled, and that's the job box! YIKES, I secretly expected the job search to be much smoother and quicker, but I suppose we need to take the highs with the lows too.

Once again, welcome and enjoy. :ilikeit:

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That was a great post...I recall the process vividly!!

I cant get you jobs quicker, but my advise is to use this time to explore! You will always find places/parks etc which for me felt like a little holiday and adventure and excitement all at once!

I hope the kids settle quickly and that you fall in love with your new home town!!

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thanks for that advice, I've been getting some good time alone with the Mrs, which I've been enjoying. Something we enjoy doing again is browsing the shops together and seeing new area's as we drive around.

This IS a wonderful country.

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Welcome to Melbourne, trust your enjoyment continues!

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I'm curious, which North Eastern suburbs didn't impress you?

I agree about avoiding Car City. I feel that they're mostly dodgy 2nd hand car salesmen with mostly cars that haven't been treated well.

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Boxhill, Blackburn, Ringwood, Foresthill, they just weren't what we were expecting.

Regarding cars, I've discovered it's worth spending a bit extra if necessary for a second hand car at a dealer and getting the 3 year warranty with the car, otherwise you could end up with a lemon

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Well done on everything - you guys have sorted so many things!

We went up into the mountains (Dandenongs) and there were awesome walking trails through the woodlands/forest. There's also a place you can feed cockatoos and a viewing place - Sky High? That was pretty cool. They have nice stuff there for kids - a maze (have to pay to get in though), an "English" garden, giant's chair, totem poles carved from some of the old trees.

Really loved all the huge old trees!

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We went to the Healesville Sactuary this weekend and had a marvelous time with our friends there, it's such a peaceful drive there if you avoid the highway and take the time to have a good look around. I've found that the mobile internet works so so well here. You find a location you want to go to on your phone and generally there is a directions link to get you there, put your phone into the holder and let it navigate you there, it works so much better than our GPS, I also like the fact that there is generally a number you can call right from the search link. It's just so easy.

I must say I am becoming pretty complacent since being here a month, and just so much more relaxed. I've had a few calls from employment agents so I am hoping something picks up soon.

Melbourne is a wonderful place, and I don't mean to be nasty, but I don't miss SA at all now, just the friends and family we left behind.

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Aaagh, thanks for sharing. We are heading over to Melbourne in 25 days and I cant wait to get there.

Please keep posting and sharing.

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I hope that it is ok for me to reply to this thread. (please let me know if this is the wrong place to ask this question)

My wife and I will be moving to Melbourne the 25th of May 2014 (from SA Cape Town, will start to work on the 1st of June 2014). I would like to find out if there is a place that we can stay at for about a month (we will be looking for a permanent place to stay during this time). My work is in the CBD (Queen street) so would like to be as close a possible, I will be using public transport. From what we could find most places require a contract for a minimum of 6 months, but we really would like to go see it first before we commit for such time periods.

Thanks

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  • 5 months later...

After 7 months, I finally landed that job and it was the type of job I was hoping for with the sort of company I was hoping to work for, just goes to show, never give up and give thanks to God. Last box ticked :-)

Edited by AlmostAnOzzie
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@AlmostAnOzzie

Thanks do much for the rent a bomb idea!!! :ilikeit:

Other places have been quoting $2000 for renting a car for 2w.

But a station wagon with them for 2 weeks was $430!

That is the biggest saving ever.

OK, the have issues in that you are not allowed to leave the metro area. But we are going to be busy with buying camping stuff for the rental and getting schools etc

I am happy

We are at least mobile for 2w after arrival.

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After 7 months, I finally landed that job and it was the type of job I was hoping for with the sort of company I was hoping to work for, just goes to show, never give up and give thanks to God. Last box ticked :-)

That's awesome! Well done. A great original post, I shared it with my wife as we will be 'joining' you in Melbourne.

I have the job, but now wait for our visas etc to be approved...

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After 7 months, I finally landed that job and it was the type of job I was hoping for with the sort of company I was hoping to work for, just goes to show, never give up and give thanks to God. Last box ticked :-)

Really great! Well done for holding out until the right job came along. Nerve-wracking stuff.

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Hello Formites

We've been pretty much offline for the last 2-3 weeks as we've made the move to Melbourne, so I'm posting an update on where we are and what we've done.

We left Jhb on the 15th of Feb, we used IOM for our bookings and didn’t have any issues with our additional luggage at either Jhb or Perth airports, we were a little overweight on our hand luggage, but that was never checked. Customs at Perth was a breeze, a very nice official said we could proceed to the exit without any of our bags being inspected or checked. I organised an Optus SIM for my phone there and let the families know we had arrived safely. There was a 4 hour wait in Perth until we boarded the flight to Melbourne, so we had a snack and wandered around the shops. I was impressed with the efficiency of the boarding and friendliness of the staff organising everything, this was to become a standard as I’ve yet to experience either poor or unfriendly service in Australia.

We arrived in Melbourne on the 17th of Feb, very late 23h20, we collected our luggage and were supposed to be getting a family room in the Holiday Inn, however, they were overbooked and so we had to wait about 45 minutes longer for the room to be cleaned, this earned us a free breakfast for the family. (I should have e-mailed to confirm our booking, this might have prevented the wait) We organised a taxi to take us to our accommodation in Box Hill (http://www.australianhomeaway.com.au), a family unit accommodating 4 people that we had previously booked. It was well catered with all the amenities we needed including internet and unground parking. I went to collect our hire car from “Rent a bomb” (http://www.rentabomb.com.au/) they are really worth the expense, $48 per day for a good car, not a new one like from Hertz etc, but good and reliable and much cheaper. There were a few scratches on the car from previous drivers, but it was clean, reliable and a cheap form of transport. We went shopping for some basic’s and tried to sort ourselves out and crashed for the night.

Tuesday we went to the bank to activate our accounts, this was a short trip and we was done without any problems, then onto Forest Hill shopping center to register with Medicare & I registered for my Tax number online J. We then headed over to “CarCity” to look for a car to purchase, this was a big mistake according to a lot of people we’ve spoken to, it was late by the time we got there and we didn’t find anything suitable, so the next morning we headed back, but on the way we stopped in at a Toyota dealer and there we found a car we were more comfortable buying. I managed to get a 2009 Camery 96000km, 2.4l for $12000, there were cheaper cars available but as I wanted to keep this car for a long time it was worth the extra cash. We then went looking for schools for the kids, we weren’t impressed with the North-Eastern suburbs and were very concerned that “the” Australia we were expecting wasn’t the one we were seeing.

Wednesday night we hit our first low, don’t ever think this is an easy process, the emotional upheaval, jetlag and stress can have serious effects on you and we were starting to think we’d made the wrong decision. We got hold of some friends of my brothers who stay in Melbourne and they advised us to look further south as the north-eastern suburbs are quite built up and weren’t what we were looking for.

Thursday, we went to look at a private school friends of my parent’s in the UK had recommended, we liked the school but we didn’t like the area as much as rents were pretty high. So we heard they had another campus in Casey, which we visited and liked, we also drove the Narre Warren area and fell in love with it, wide open parks, kids playing cricket in the roads, very relaxed and quiet and cheaper rents :ilikeit: . So Friday we enrolled the kids at school and arranged a meeting with an estate agent for a house we’d seen on the internet and liked. We saw the house at about 5pm, fell in love with it and that night we drew up the forms, available on the internet to download, and filled them in. We were advised that offering to pay 3-4 months rent up front would almost guarantee a successful offer, which we did. The house was on show at about midday again for 15 minutes, so we went back to look at it for a second time as well as a few others, the agent who arrived didn’t have the correct keys so we handed him the forms. Fortunately this meant that no-one else was able to view the property that day. We put a rental offer in for another property, just in case and on Monday we got a call from BOTH agents to tell us we were successful. So we took the one we first saw, it’s reasonably big, close to parks, in a quiet area. We were able to move in on the Thursday.

Saturday we went shopping for furniture etc. at IKEA, we didn’t find much we liked there and so on Monday we headed to other centres. (Note, IKEA has a lot of things to buy, we found it espaeically useful for household and kitchen utensils, like cups, plates, knives etc, but we didn’t like the selection of furniture) Our friends had advised us to look at “The Good Guys”, “Harvey Norman” and a few other places, so we put our list together for appliances at Harvey’s and then checked out all the websites and guess what? Harvey’s came out cheaper, so we bought everything there.

Sunday we relaxed with friends who provided us with invaluable advice in terms of getting gas, electricity and internet connected, we also went hiking in the bush near their house looking for kangaroos, no luck there but we are going to be looking for them soon. The bird life here is so different to SA, they make such different sounds and the white parrots that cost R1000’s in SA fly around wild here, I love watching them.

So Monday we went to Forty Winks and they were having a 40% discount and managed to pick up good bedroom suites for us and our sons as well as nice matrasses for a good price. Then we went to buy school books. A warning here, school books and uniforms are VERY expensive, although my wife tells me it’s on a par with South Africa, just we were starting from scratch again.

Tuesday – can’t remember what we did on Tuesday, but we were busy.

Wednesday we went shopping for school clothes, again another VERY expensive adventure, clothes are very pricey here, we managed to get a lot from the schools clothing exchange and that helped a HUGE amount, well worth making use of this facility if you can. We headed into Melbourne city for the first time in the evening. I had to perform my first hook turn, which is quite an experience and we spent a long time walking along the Yarra river, it’s such a beautiful city and is a hive of activity but at no point did I feel unsafe or threatened, it was truly wonderful.

Thursday we took delivery of appliances at the new house and slept at the old place in Box Hill for the last time.

Friday we cleaned the old place so we could be guaranteed our deposit back and I assembled beds and connected appliances up. Everything here arrives in Kit form; I learnt this from my brother-n-law so I brought some tools with me in my suite case, including a battery operated drill for turning screws and other bolts. I’m so glad I did.

Saturday we settled in and bought all the 100’s of things you forget you need for a new house, like potato peelers, washing cloths, brooms etc, and it all adds up. Aldi’s is a great shop for many cheaper things as well.

So now we are settled, the internet is working, which is an expensive setup unless there is a working phone line, fridges, washing machines, tumble drier’s are all installed and working.

Now I need to find a job, fortunately, I’ve met up with some really good people, many ex-SAFA’s and they are also looking around for me.

But this is an amazing country, the people are pleasant, and everything works well, I’m far less stressed than I was in Joburg, there are no barking dog’s, no alarms going off & I sleep well, my 14 yr old son goes for a run on his own each evening. I love it that people are so friendly, there’s no issue asking for help from anyone, & everyone I’ve met is so happy to help.

The Coles shop up the road is open until midnight and then open again at 7:30am, the local gym is open 24/7 everything is well maintained and clean.

I’ve not seen a pothole and I’ve driven about 1500km so far. Generally if you need to move into another lane and you indicate your intentions, the other drivers will make space for you making driving a more pleasurable experience.

I was able to open an electricity and gas account over the phone, no deposit required. Internet was organised over the phone, no deposit required. Our kids are at a private school and I’ve only paid $180 registration fee so far. People are very trusting and I love that.

I am now convinced that moving to Australia has been the right decision for us.

Thanks to everyone who posts on this forum, we learn't so much from you before the move that was a great help. So keep posting guys.

Great on succeeding with your adventure thus far. Congrats :ilikeit:

I have a Question for you? Did you take any furniture with? If not, (mind me asking) how much on average did you spend to furnish your rental? $?

We don't have a lot of things we want to take with, so we have weighing our options of what to take if we have to take? Our furniture is not worth a R75 000 container and i am NOT willing to share? :closedeyes:

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We got our family to drive around the suburbs and pick up furniture cos we didnt have money to buy new stuff. For a year we just used hand me downs. Slowly built up quality items over time. We are not pick on lots of trinkets and baubles like we were in SA. Our SA home was packed to the roof in wooden statues etc. To give you an idea I had a rhino carved out of solid ironwood and it weighed over 200kg.

I would say sell it, and buy here. But that is your call. I chose to start over in every sense of the word. (Except 2 leather couches, lol)


Oh, and I am so glad you are enjoying the Lucky Country. Well done on making the move.

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Great on succeeding with your adventure thus far. Congrats :ilikeit:

I have a Question for you? Did you take any furniture with? If not, (mind me asking) how much on average did you spend to furnish your rental? $?

We don't have a lot of things we want to take with, so we have weighing our options of what to take if we have to take? Our furniture is not worth a R75 000 container and i am NOT willing to share? :closedeyes:

Vanschoor did you look at the Movecube option? Much cheaper & you can still bring your new/special things without sharing space.

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Vanschoor did you look at the Movecube option? Much cheaper & you can still bring your new/special things without sharing space.

a Movecube is one of our options, however, transport time is about 90 days ...

I was thinking of just taking personals, valuables and irreplaceable items and also some of the kids things so they dont feel to "foreign" LOL

We are trying all of our options as I dont want to battle while waiting for our cube, IE washing, cooking etc ...

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