NicciG Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi AllMy husband and I have recently decided to take the plunge, and I must admit that I am extremely excited about the prospect of moving to Oz. My husband, who still has parents, is not as excited, but I think that he has realised that we will have to try and ensure that our little girl (4) has a safe upbringing and "real" equal opportunities in life.I do realise that crime is everywhere, but I honestly believe that we will be much safer in Oz - I actually feel uncomfortable having my little girl play outside at the moment. En ons bly nie eens in Gauteng nie!!We are having our skills assessed as we speak and are hoping to have the results by mid-April this year. Can't wait. Then the long wait for a Visa - not even to mention securing a date for our IELTS exams!Heaving read through a couple of posts on this site, I see that it will be very expensive relocating to Oz, but oi, we will just have to bite the bullet!I know I am probably getting ahead of things, but I am concerned about what furniture we can take over to Oz. When they say "untreated wooden products" can't go over, does that include Blackwood Furniture as well (skuus, dis seker 'n dom vraag)? We have mostly wooden furniture!! Oops!I also heard that you cannot take feather duvets over?Oh well, hopefully by end of 2009 we will be in Oz. RegardsNicci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battiss Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 My husband and I have recently decided to take the plunge, and I must admit that I am extremely excited about the prospect of moving to Oz. My husband, who still has parents, is not as excited, but I think that he has realised that we will have to try and ensure that our little girl (4) has a safe upbringing and "real" equal opportunities in life.Hi Nicci!Welcome to the forum! Sorry, have no answers to your questions, but you'll get loads of wisdom here.Regards.Battiss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Nicci, furniture that you normally find in homes are finished products, not raw wood. In my days in SA, it was quite popular to have garden furniture made of old sleepers, now that may be a problem. Generally, if you have untreated timber all sorts of strange creepy crawlies could be lurking in there, so they would frown about that, but finished furniture is not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5vannemerwea Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi NicciGWelcome and good luck with the prosses. Stay on the forum and you'll find anything you need to know - believe me.Feather duvets is fine to take over. We had the same worry, but don't worry. You can take them over without a problem.Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiedjieB Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Wow! The best site ever!I've discovered it in January and can not believe how much I've learnt from you all in such a short space of time!Up to date we have:applied for passports, unabridged birth certificates, marriage certificates - hopefulle receive last lot in 2 weeks time!applied for IELTS test - soonest date 3 September! but it has not been confirmed - not even after 20 e-mails and a couple of phone calls and faxes!in the process of converting (or trying to! ) qualifications from Afr - Eng for TRAMy husband, Dirk is an electrician and I'm a qualified pre and foundation phase teacher. We have 2 daughters - Monique 11 and Darielle 4.Thank you for all the great information I have read on this site - I feel much more in control!We first wanted to apply for jobs but this does not seem to be the route as we see that we must first have the right to work before we can apply. What other routes can we try?Should I also have my qualifications assessed now or can it be done once there?Ai! Die papierwerk en wag maak ons moeg maar ons bly gefokus!Liedjie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicki G Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi ThereWelcome form the other NickiGNickiG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus457 Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Nico has a date in PE for the English TEst = 10 May I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi Nicci - welcome and good luck with the ride - your furniture is ok. If any of it has riempies that can be a problem - unless it is over 50 years old! New rawhide is unacceptable and they will chrge you to treat it. I agree any outdoor stuff made from wood is likely to cause a problem and best sold in SA before you pack. I have a friend who had a garden bench with wrought iron ends - cost here in AUD about $50 - it cost her 150 to have it fumigated by quarantine! Just not worth it.Feather duvets are fine - we had no hassles with that or with feather pillows. Good luck and hang in therePat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajay Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Welcome to the Forum - and also to LiedjieB! As already mentioned, if your wood is sealed and treated, you'll be fine. I've never heard of feather duvets being a problem either, but would recommend that you buy those here anyway (by the way, a duvet is called a doona here....) as the sizes are slightly different to those in SA.Looking forward to seeing you around!Ajay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicciG Posted March 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Many thanks for all your input!! Much appreciated.RegardsNicciG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 (edited) I know I am probably getting ahead of things, but I am concerned about what furniture we can take over to Oz. When they say "untreated wooden products" can't go over, does that include Blackwood Furniture as well (skuus, dis seker 'n dom vraag)? We have mostly wooden furniture!! Oops!We brought our sleeperwood table and benches, which we had bought off a friend, who had bought it from a friend, etc, etc. So no paperwork/invoice and it was definitely the type of table/bench set that you would find in any SA back garden. We had no problems getting it over here in the container . Come to think of it, when we unpacked I was horrified to see what had been packed into the container. There were leaves and dirt/soil in the kids toy boxes, cobwebs and leaves stuck under our garden furniture, open bottles of alcohol/wine, a dirty bucket and mop, etc . I obviously wasn't very observant when the container was packed and the packers obviously couldn't care less about any rules. Perhaps we were lucky not to have been rapped over the knuckles ......... Edited March 18, 2008 by Andrea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilren Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hi AllMy husband and I have recently decided to take the plunge, and I must admit that I am extremely excited about the prospect of moving to Oz. My husband, who still has parents, is not as excited, but I think that he has realised that we will have to try and ensure that our little girl (4) has a safe upbringing and "real" equal opportunities in life.I do realise that crime is everywhere, but I honestly believe that we will be much safer in Oz - I actually feel uncomfortable having my little girl play outside at the moment. En ons bly nie eens in Gauteng nie!!We are having our skills assessed as we speak and are hoping to have the results by mid-April this year. Can't wait. Then the long wait for a Visa - not even to mention securing a date for our IELTS exams!Heaving read through a couple of posts on this site, I see that it will be very expensive relocating to Oz, but oi, we will just have to bite the bullet!I know I am probably getting ahead of things, but I am concerned about what furniture we can take over to Oz. When they say "untreated wooden products" can't go over, does that include Blackwood Furniture as well (skuus, dis seker 'n dom vraag)? We have mostly wooden furniture!! Oops!I also heard that you cannot take feather duvets over?Oh well, hopefully by end of 2009 we will be in Oz. RegardsNicciHi NicciMy wife and I are also from PE. I am an attorney and she is a teacher. I have sent my stuff away for assessment. I know I will have to requalify, but worth the slog for the kids. We understand that the IELTS may be done in PE and I have enquired from Frans du Tot at NMMU. we will write the next available slot, even if at another centre. Then the collating of docs and sending away the visa. Are you using an agent?RegardsWilliam and Rene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicciG Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hi NicciMy wife and I are also from PE. I am an attorney and she is a teacher. I have sent my stuff away for assessment. I know I will have to requalify, but worth the slog for the kids. We understand that the IELTS may be done in PE and I have enquired from Frans du Tot at NMMU. we will write the next available slot, even if at another centre. Then the collating of docs and sending away the visa. Are you using an agent?RegardsWilliam and ReneHi there William and ReneSorry for the delay in replying - I was away for a bit. Yes, we signed up with BillabongImmigration end of Feb and will be writing our IELTS on 10 May (ek is nogal senuweeagtig met die dat Engels nie ons huistaal is nie, maar nou ja). They say hindsight is always 20/20, but I get the feeling that we should also have tried it on our own: working through an agent isn't as rosy as initially expected. Is my assumption correct that you are handling the process on your own?I agree 100% about doing it for the kids!! We are also mostly doing it for our little girl - I just want her to have the same (or at least similar) safe childhood that we had not too long ago. Not to mention equal opportunities in life!Best of luck with your application process and keep in touch.RegardsNicci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilren Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 Hi there William and ReneSorry for the delay in replying - I was away for a bit. Yes, we signed up with BillabongImmigration end of Feb and will be writing our IELTS on 10 May (ek is nogal senuweeagtig met die dat Engels nie ons huistaal is nie, maar nou ja). They say hindsight is always 20/20, but I get the feeling that we should also have tried it on our own: working through an agent isn't as rosy as initially expected. Is my assumption correct that you are handling the process on your own?I agree 100% about doing it for the kids!! We are also mostly doing it for our little girl - I just want her to have the same (or at least similar) safe childhood that we had not too long ago. Not to mention equal opportunities in life!Best of luck with your application process and keep in touch.RegardsNicciHI NicciWe are chatting to ASA but have not given them a mandate yet. I have booked to see Billabong soon in April. I am sure that we could do it on our own and with the help of the forum, but as you have said previously "ek is n bietjie senuweeagtig". You don't seem to be too happy with Billabong? What are your concerns?I have heard from Pippa on the forum that het husband, also a legal eagle, did hisrequalification in 1 year. I have now been accepted to study with thw University of New England (like our UNISA) and I start my first subject in July and write in November! No worries! I better start studying soon!Nice to chat to you. Perhaps our families can get together for a braai and a chin-wag. My daughter turns 4 in July and my son is 9.Kind regards, Wilren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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