Guest Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Enjoy your new life in Oz. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted June 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Thanks @emmayenkanna and @RedPanda We aren't here permanently yet this is just our validation/job interview trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theshi Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 @JackoFam enjoy your trip. which airline did you use? cant wait to hear more about your family adventure. all the best for interviews that you have lined up that side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted June 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Hi @Theshi we flew with Qantas directly from Johannesburg to Sydney and then we caught a Virgin Australia flight to Brisbane. We were very fortunate as we purchased our Qantas tickets back in Feb in the HUGE Qantas valentines sale. We ended up paying under R8000 each for a return ticket. We bought our regional tickets a few weeks ago and just went with the cheapest/convenient option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted June 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 We spent the day in Brisbane today. We managed to activate bank accounts and while we were in the bank our cousin kept the kids occupied by taking them on the Whell of Brisbane and for a walk along South Bank. My husband and I loved the Brisbane CBD and could imagine living here. The whole area around the river is lovely and we enjoyed walking along Queen Str - even though it felt very busy to us and it was only a Thursday. We live in a small town so we would have to get used to big city living but we are up to the challenge. It was also almost shocking how clean the entire city was. We are staying in an area of the Sunshine coast called Pelican Waters. Also lovely and has these amazing houses right on the water in a developed marina. Definitely out of our budget though! Tomorrow we are exploring some of the coast - cant wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theshi Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 nice!!! we will be making the move in November from Harare. we are booked on Emirates the whole way with a stop over in Dubai then from there to Brisbane. when will you do the final move? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted June 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Our tentative plan is to move just after Christmas or early January but it will all depend on the outcome of the interviews - I must say being here has made the move real for us. Instead of just enjoying a holiday we are on high alert the whole time trying to take in as much information as possible. The whole day today both of us kept thinking "would we enjoy living/doing/seeing this every day." Quite daunting I must say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Good luck with the interviews, hope everything goes accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dora Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 I'm definately a bit envious at the moment. It's great to be able to visualise it when you write about Southbank, Queenstreet and Coloundra - one of our favourite beaches we visited. We really can't wait for September. Have an awesome trip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterthe1 Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 16 hours ago, JackoFam said: We are staying in an area of the Sunshine coast called Pelican Waters. Also lovely and has these amazing houses right on the water in a developed marina. You've got to go down to Golden Beach for sundowner drinks. If you have access to a kayak you can row across the passage(from Golden Beach) to Bribie Island, take a short walk across the land spit, and then you'll be on the ocean side of Bribie Island. Beautiful beach there. If you're lucky you'll see one of the ships coming past. Kings Beach and Moffat Beach some more beautiful beaches to see. Going inland to Maleny is also very nice. The shopping centre at Pelican Waters has a small SA butcher shop which makes great biltong, droewors and boerewors . They also have a few other SA goodies which you may want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Hi @Peterthe1 We know of the butcher shop - our Aunt mentioned it to us but we did get there this trip but will definitely keep it in mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 We have now been back from our Australian validation/holiday trip for a week but have had family visiting from the UK so haven't been able to update the journal with our adventures until today. Before I get down to the nitty gritty of where we went and what we did I thought I would start with some general thoughts...... Both my husband and I found this trip to be quite surreal as it wasn't just a holiday so we couldn't just sit back and enjoy ourselves - and Australia is a magnificent place to have a holiday!! The whole time we were there we were observing how things work and sub-consciously our minds kept mulling things over - why are houses layed out so differently, traffic, gardens, shopping, banking, Australian accents, TV, South Africans in Australia, teenagers, schooling. So many many things to think about. There were some things that we thought might be a bit irksome but they didn't turn out to bother us at all. Other things we never considered might rub us up the wrong way did, BUT there was nothing that we couldn't live with so all in all our trip was very positive and we have cemented in our minds that this is the right move for us. Also I expected to fall in love with the place and I didn't entirely (I think I am too practical and was consistently trying to analyse what it would be like to live in the areas we visited) BUT I really enjoyed myself and I KNOW we can make a very happy life for ourselves there. Queensland definitely came out tops for us and I really hope we will be able to settle there. The whole time we were there we could picture ourselves living there and I think that says a lot. Even though it is our first choice we will always go where the best job is for my husband. Please note that the following opinions and observations are mine entirely and as we are all different I am aware that lots of you will think differently to me. Also I was only there for 3 weeks so if I have got something please will you put me right. TIA 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Week 1 - Brisbane Area After a very long time spent travelling we arrived in Pelican waters (4 hrs drive to OR Tambo, JHB-SYD, SYD-BNE and then 1 hour drive to Sunshine coast) at my husbands aunts house that she loaned us for the 4 nights we would be on Sunshine Coast. My husbands cousins all live on the sunshine coast so they played host for us and we had a wonderful few days here - made even more special by the fact that my husband only started with his meetings the next week so he had a lovely long weekend of holiday. Our first day was just spent in Brisbane doing our banking and walking around the Brisbane CBD, one of our cousins took the kids on the Wheel of Brisbane while we were in the bank which they loved. Much better than sitting bored in the bank!! The second day we visited Caloundra, Point Cartright (including the lighthouse), had a lovely lunch at Mooloolaba Surf Club and then drove to Maroochydore and walked along the river. This are of Australia is truly beautiful and relatively undeveloped - definitely our style. That evening we were invited to a bbq in Beerwah by the cousins. They live on a lovely acerage just outside Beerwah. Even though our cousins are South African they have been in Australia for 22 years and are all married to Australians so it was great to meet some locals. It was the first time this trip we experienced the slightly "alien" feeling you get (I know we will experience it lots more in the coming years) when having a conversation with someone who has a completely different point of reference to you but everyone there was so kind and giving us all sort of info on Australia which we appreciated. I must say that during the entire trip all the people we interacted with were super friendly and we enjoyed meeting and chatting with new people. Our last day on Sunshine coast our cousins took to us to spend the day on Noosa North Shore - breathtakingly beautiful. We also had a quick drive around the town of Noosa - can see why it is such a sought after holiday destination. The next morning we left super early too meet up with our next hosts. Friends of ours who emigrated to Brisbane 7 years ago. They live in the suburb Cleveland. We just dropped our baggage and rushed out the door to catch the ferry to Stradbroke Island. We were a little late and it being a Sunday there was no parking but our host noticed everyone was parking in the boat parking spaces and he assured us it would be Ok to park there (spoiler alert - it wasn't! ) Hopped on the ferry and had a wonderful day on Straddie (we already were getting into the habit of shortening words) We saw whales, dolphins, turtles, an injured seal and many many new birds (My husband and son are dedicated twitchers). When we got back to the car of course there was a fine $85! Truly embarrassing, only 4 days in the country and we had our first fine - our hosts had never had one in 7 years. The next day we spent the day exploring Lamington National Park - another gem just on the doorstep of Brisbane. There is so much nature so close to the urban areas, something that is a big plus for us as we love being out and about. All of us love animals and our hosts were very good to show us of the local wildlife as possible. After Lamington we headed to a park in Cleveland were we would maybe see koalas in the "wild" and we were fortunate enough to see 3. We also got to see some wallabies that roam around a winery near Moreton Bay. We also popped into the local library - all I can say is WOW!!! And of course paid the fine. The next morning was another early start as we were heading North of the river to another host family. By this stage my husband was busy every day meeting with colleagues and potential employers. Our next host family have been in Australia for 17 years and have 3 kids similar ages to my two. That day was just spent catching up with my friend and she drove us around some of the suburbs close to them (they live in Ferny Grove) and we also drove past a few schools she thought might be a good fit for my kids. I must say if we were to end up in Brisbane we would love to settle in this area - we felt quite at home here. The next day we took the kids out to The Queensland Museum and QAGOMA - we paid no entry fee at either which was a relief to our wallets. Kids really enjoyed both outings and even though both places were crazy busy (school hols) there was lots of kids specific stuff for them. On our last morning in Queensland our host loaned us his ute and we had a wonderful time doing a short drive up to Mt Glorious and stopping at a few of the viewpoints in D'Aguilar National park. It was a wonderful send off for our 8 days in Queensland. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Two days in Canberra My husband had a meeting with a colleague at ANU and him and his wife very generously offered to host all 4 of us in their home for 2 nights. We really only had 1 full day in Canberra as we arrived quite late the first evening and left early on the third day but we managed to squeeze lots in. In the morning my husband had his meeting - but instead of in an office the two of them went for a hike up Black Mt to the Telstra tower and chatted on the way. The kids and I spent the morning at Questacon - a must see if you have kids!! We arrived as they were opening and had a relatively peaceful 1.5 hours before it was jam packed with kids on their holidays - it didn't help that it was a very cold day so a day indoors must've seemed like a good idea for the parents. In the afternoon we met up with the hikers and drove out to Tidbinbilla Reserve where we spent a magnificent afternoon hiking around. We were so luck with birds and managed to see many new species as well as having 4 sightings of platypus in the various ponds in the reserve. By now the platypus had become a bit of an obsession with all 4 of us so it was wonderful to see them in their natural habitat. We really enjoyed Canberra too - I personally thinks its an attractive small city and would be quite easy to settle there but my husband still preferred Brisbane by far. We can also see that although there isn't quite as much outdoor possibilities (my husband loves the beach/hiking/MTB/nature reserve combo you get near Brisbane) there is till lots to do - a big plus for me would be that it is within driving distance if the skiing! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 (edited) Four days in Melbourne: Now this is a city that I was so looking forward to seeing. We rented an Airbnb apartment in Docklands for the 4 nights we were in Melbourne as we don't know anyone who lives there. I must say I realised after 1 day there that this was a bit of a mistake as there is no way we would live in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment in the city if we moved there. I should've organised accommodation in a suburb so we could've gotten more of a feel of how it would be to live there. That being said we did sort of view this as more of a holiday part of the trip but after a few days of meetings my husband very quickly realised that Melbourne is seen as the centre of excellence for the kind of work he does so its a very good possibility we may end up living there. Our first afternoon there we visited the Queen Vic markets which we enjoyed. We ate at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the marina - which we could walk to from our apartment. There was an AFL match at Ethiad (our apartment overlooked the stadium) so it was great seeing all the fans heading to the match. The first full day my husband had no meetings so we would have a family fun day and we chose to visit the Melbourne Zoo - our original plan was to go to Healesville sanctuary but we didn't hire a car and realised it would just take too long. Our kids were very disappointed as this was something they had been looking forward too. But in the end the Zoo was a more than adequate substitute - it really is a world class zoo. We spent hours and hours there and managed to just sit and watch the platypus for a half hour. We were also curious about the Wild dogs they had there as I was unsure how they could possibly keep such an animal in an enclosure but the enclosure was massive and we were lucky enough to be there are they threw in a cow carcass and the four wild dogs fed. I must saw most people did not want to watch this. We wanted to try and tell them how privileged they were to be able to see such a rare African animal but we just enjoyed it by ourselves. They also a pride of lions in an enclosure and I must say they were magnificent specimens. They also had a speaker in the lion enclosure which broadcast the lions roaring throughout the zoo which was a clever idea - it really added to the authenticity. We did spend most of our time in the Australian animal section but as it was so cold most of them were sleeping - we never got to see the Tasmanian Devil at all! After the zoo we headed towards Federation square for a (very) late lunch but we ended up in one of the laneways and had wonderful burgers. Buy this stage it was extremely cold and rainy but we still had a look around Fed square and then made our way back to the apartment. My daughter had requested some shopping time so we headed to the Emporium for a session of window shopping. We first stopped for breakfast pastries at Adriano Zumbos (we are Masterchef fans) pop up store in the Emporium. As an aside I have to say the coffee in Melbourne is amazing!!! In the afternoon I took the kids on the Melbourne Star to keep them busy while my husband was working. On our last day we decided to explore the Melbourne Museum which I have to say was in a complete different league to the Queensland Museum. I must also say that Australian museums tend to display there treasures in slightly quirky way. There is always a general theme to a display but then there will be one or two objects that just seem slightly out of place to a non-Australian but I really liked stumbling across these. After the perusing the slightly bizarre but fascinating Phar Lap display we headed into the Melbourne Story display - we loved this it is very well done and gives a wonderful overview of the cities history. Other displays that we really enjoyed were - First peoples, Bugs Alive and the kids absolute favourite was the Wild gallery with all the Museums bird and animal stuffed specimens. So quirky and wonderful. They had these interactive screens where you could get info on the animals. My two spent almost 2 hours there. I also particularly enjoyed the Darwin display in the Evolution Gallery which also showcased some of the 5000 bird specimens the Museum bought from the estate of John and Elizabeth Gould. They travelled to Australia from the UK in 1838 to catalogue the birds of Australia and they collaborated with Darwin on On The Origin of Species all the while having 8 children - a completely fascinating couple (to me anyway) Eventually I dragged the kids away from the Wild gallery and made the decision that I wanted to see St Kilda - specifically the penguins at the end of the pier. We hopped on a tram that would take us directly there - my husband hopped on the tram in the city and continued with us to St Kilda. But of course as the tram went along the weather got worse and worse and once we were in St Kilda it was freezing and raining pretty hard so we bravely walked along the promenade for 10 minutes and then found a restaurant for an early supper - abandoning with penguin plan! Edited July 27, 2016 by JackoFam 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 6 Days in Sydney After Melbourne we headed to Sydney to stay with my sister - yay!! We also got to meet my newest nephew (he is her third boy) who was 5 weeks old. We did not do much sightseeing in Sydney as my sister and her husband liver very far from the city and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with her but we did manage to get into the city twice and see some of the sights. The first visit was to the Aquarium which my little nephews particularly enjoyed - although I suspect they were more excited at the prospect of catching a train to get to the city. We also had a walk around Darling Harbour. The next day we met some other friends at Circular Quay and after walking around the Opera House we caught the ferry to Manly and walked around after which we had a long lazy lunch overlooking the beach and caught up with our friends and got all sorts of info on the move. I must say that Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in but I don't think its the place for us to settle in despite my sister living there. The rest of our time there was spent relaxing with family but on the last day my sister took us to Featherdale Wildlife Sanctuary which was another highlight of the trip for the kids. It almost exclusively has Australian animals so suited us. Although there was no platypus the kids got to interact with an echidna which they loved and since we were there as the doors opened we didn't have to wait in a long queue for the koala photo opportunity. They let the kids gently pat the koala which they enjoyed. I must say again its a very well looked after facility and the animals and zookeepers all look happy to be there. They also have large aviaries with different bird species. But again we didn't get to see the Tasmanian devil but we did very well with all the other animals so came away very happy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Kids: This trip was so good for my kids both of them were very anxious about this move but this trip reassured them that they could and would make a great life there. Also they spent a lot of time with Australian and South African Australian kids which made them realise that they would be able to make new friends. Both of them also liked Brisbane best even though my daughter was convinced before we left that she would like Melbourne the most. As you could tell from our journal we are quite an outdoors family and we spend a huge amount of time in the bush here in South Africa (spending a weekend there at least every 6 weeks and always a 1 week trip during the year) so living somewhere where we can get out and about easily is very important to us. So even though this trip was expensive and we could've maybe done the move and validation trip all in one giving the kids (and us) the reassurance that they would like Australia was priceless. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Work Opportunities: I thought I would just do a quick summary on how my husband found the search for work on this trip. Our plan has always been to move over in January 2017 but my husband wanted to start networking and meeting with people in his field on this trip - we were both secretly hoping he could secure a job offer before we move even though we knew it was remote possibility. One of his early interviews was with a company that has links with a Dutch company my husband does lots of work with and there was an understanding that if they both liked each other there would be work for my husband in either their Brisbane or Melbourne office which was a wonderful position to be in BUT just before we arrived they lost a massive contract and instead of hiring they were having to make people redundant so that was a big blow to my husband. But he ploughed on regardless. In all he met with around 15 people not all of them job opportunities most were to build up his Australian network and to start getting a feel for the industry in Australia. Some also wanted to discuss the research he does here in South Africa as its a brand new field in Australia. In a nutshell he found out that in general the engineering industry is truly in the doldrums and there are still many redundancies. Also the feeling was that July was way to early to start looking for work in February. BUT even though there were a few people that lamented his lack of Australian Experience and that he would have to maybe get a government job because of this lack most people were very confident he would secure work quite quickly after he arrived. On one of our last days he met up with another dutch company who had already said they had no work but the week before they suddenly had an opening in their Gold Coast office and they were excited about the prospect of my husband in this position. The person in charge of the Gold Coast office just happened to be flying through Sydney on his way back from his holiday in Bali and the asked my husband to a second interview on a Saturday morning before the colleague carried on with his vacation in Newcastle. After this second meeting they gave him a verbal job offer which was very exciting but we are a bit nervous as he has heard nothing since then. The boss was still going to be on holiday for another week so my husband will try and contact them on Friday and hopefully we will get more info. Please hold thumbs for us that this job comes through. Also even though my husband said he could start in October with us following in December they are in theory happy for him to start in January. They did mention that they might need him to do some work before then but he could do it from South Africa. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theshi Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Thank you so much @JacoFam for the update. We cannot wait to make the move. All the best to your husband. When are you making the move? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 We are hoping to make the move in January. To give us time to find schools and a rental before schools start in Feb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theshi Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 How was the Customs and Immigration part of the journey? how long did that take? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 Good luck with everything @JackoFam hope everything goes according to your plans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted July 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 Hi @Theshi We were very lucky in that we went through customs at OR Tambo while they were still just testing the biometrics and we got to OR Tambo at 4pm so there was no queue. They just asked to see copies of kids unabridged birth certs and all passports and we were through. My mom flew to London the following week once biometrics were fully implemented and it was chaos. People were waiting in the queues for ages but that may be sorted out by now. On Australian side it was super quick, my husband asked if they could see our visas on the system and they said "of course and welcome to Australia" Way home was also super quick in OR Tambo and again my brother-in-law flew in from UK 2 days before and they waited for 2 hours in passport queue but that was for non-SA passport holders. Just be grateful that the Australian flight comes in at a different time to all the European ones as they cause all the chaos. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theshi Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 @JackoFam thank you for the great feedback. i am more worried about the Australian side. we fly from O.R Tambo to Harare at night so its usually not that hectic then from Harare to Dubai and then from Dubai to Brisbane. Just worried about our wedding cake, well the top tier, its never been cut and its a fruit cake. we are planning on travelling with it as hand luggage and we will definitely declare it, definitely would not want to appear on an episode of Border security for the wrong reasons whilst acting stupid and pretend me speaker no engrish kikiki, thank you for the feedback though 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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