Popular Post Theshi Posted November 18, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 Hi forumites!!! been a while since i logged in, just been recieving email alerts. congrats @Deezo, @ChrisH i am sure you are ecstatic. So we arrived in Brisbane on Saturday 12 November and all i can say is what a journey. Jetleg has been the worst but am sure we will recover. we applied for our medicare card and we should get it in the post in a few weeks. we could not change our licences coz we need the original medicare card. we did our TFN online super easy and we got cellphone lines, using Optus, Telstar does not call outside Australia to Africa. Calling Africa is so expensive. isnt there another option. there is a sense of familiarity about this place. it felt like coming home. Brisbane is hot!! however everything is so organised and clean, very impressed.... busy job hunting. will update soon once we have settled.... i am glad we made the decision to move over though at times we wish we had done it as soon as the grant letter came out... Are there any support groups for newbies in Brisbane? we are in Kallangur and library in Northlakes says they do not have any... 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 Awesome news @Theshi All the best exploring your new home and all the best with the job hunting!! There is a link on this forum for Brisbane so try that for starters 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurferMan Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 Wooho @Deezo Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisH Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 Awesome! I can't wait to see Brisbane! Keep the updates coming @Theshi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theshi Posted November 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 @ChrisH which part of Brisbane are you headed to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisH Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 I have a very good friend that lives in Petrie, we'll stay with him until we get a place of our own. I've been looking at places in Mango Hill, so to answer your question probably North of the CBD. You guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneAndMel Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 Well done @Theshi! We'll be following your steps in 2 months time. Just two questions. By TFN do you mean a Tax File Number, and in respect of the licence do you mean one requires the physical medicare card to convert your driving licence as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 3 hours ago, Theshi said: Hi forumites!!! been a while since i logged in, just been recieving email alerts. congrats @Deezo, @ChrisH i am sure you are ecstatic. So we arrived in Brisbane on Saturday 12 November and all i can say is what a journey. Jetleg has been the worst but am sure we will recover. we applied for our medicare card and we should get it in the post in a few weeks. we could not change our licences coz we need the original medicare card. we did our TFN online super easy and we got cellphone lines, using Optus, Telstar does not call outside Australia to Africa. Calling Africa is so expensive. isnt there another option. there is a sense of familiarity about this place. it felt like coming home. Brisbane is hot!! however everything is so organised and clean, very impressed.... busy job hunting. will update soon once we have settled.... i am glad we made the decision to move over though at times we wish we had done it as soon as the grant letter came out... Are there any support groups for newbies in Brisbane? we are in Kallangur and library in Northlakes says they do not have any... Theshi check this out for mobile to SA calls http://www.lebara.com.au/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D&M Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 Hi, we use Amaysim prepaid cellphone (Pay as you go) to phone South Africa @ 8 cents per minute to a landline. https://www.amaysim.com.au/plans/mobile-plans/international/rates 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 19, 2016 Report Share Posted November 19, 2016 Well done! Welcome to Australia. I hope you settle in quickly. We've been in Melbourne for 6 months now, and it's starting to feel like home. A very relaxed, friendly home, without the angry buzz we felt in Gauteng. We are also with Amaysim, and have had zero issues so far. We use the pre-paid data option and then top-up for calls and sms. But we don't use it for international calls, since our landline (which we needed for internet at home) gives us 100 min free each month, usable for South Africa. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dora Posted November 21, 2016 Report Share Posted November 21, 2016 Hi Theshi, There is a group in the southside/Bayside that meets monthly at Rivers coffeeshop at Citipointe Church. Not sure if you would be interested. If you want to you can PM with your mobile number then I will ask them to add you to the whatsapp group... Also, check out the Meetup notification that I have attached for a RSA/Zim meetup happening this weekend... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted November 21, 2016 Report Share Posted November 21, 2016 @RedPanda What service provider do you use for your landline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 22, 2016 Report Share Posted November 22, 2016 11 hours ago, JackoFam said: @RedPanda What service provider do you use for your landline? We're with TPG. You'd be better off asking @GenDemo about the details, that was his department to setup. 18 hours ago, Dora said: I will ask them to add you to the whatsapp group... Had to laugh...that is such a South African solution! We are finding that very few Aussies actually use WhatsApp on a daily basis, and we're still aggregating our data to find out why... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted November 22, 2016 Report Share Posted November 22, 2016 @RedPanda strange that, must be an East Melbourne thing here in the North West we must be badly educated, as lots of us use Whatsapp! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 18 hours ago, Mara said: @RedPanda strange that, must be an East Melbourne thing here in the North West we must be badly educated, as lots of us use Whatsapp! Ehrm..."us" being people with South African friends and family, or born Aussies? Don't get me wrong, we love WhatsApp, we just noticed that the Aussies we met don't use it, we're not quite sure what they use instead, but we find it odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromDurbs Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Americans don't use whatsapp either. it seems to be an SA thing. It also only works when everyone is on it. So it makes sense that it would be big in one place and non existent in another. https://androidcommunity.com/whatsapp-most-popular-messaging-app-in-109-countries-20160527/. The alternative in US and Australia seems to be facebook's messenger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYLC Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Aussies just use plain old txt messaging. My understanding is that Saffas use Whatsapp rather than texting because of the cost of txt. My sister in RSA asked me to get WhatsApp so that it would be cheaper for her to contact me. Since phon plans in Oz include a very generous number of texts/data each month, there has been no need to look fo a cheaper messaging service. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) @RedPanda, yes obviously the South Africans, but also many of my Aussie friends, NZ work colleagues, American friends, UK and Swiss friends. We all love it for the cheap phone calls! Also, a lot of plans in Australia, do not include overseas text messages, unless you pay a lot of bucks! Edited November 23, 2016 by Mara 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dora Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Also, if you recently updated you Whatsapp app, you will now see that it works just like skype so you can now see the other person....not that I'm here for that long, but yes...here on the east coast mostly Saffer friends communicate via whatsapp, my Aussie friends communicate via fb messenger - interesting haven't thought about it like that... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobSA Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Hi @Theshi Good luck on the job hunt in Brisbane and all the best on your new home. I took out an Optus contract for my wife and it comes with 300 mins to international destinations including SA. Their website has the list of countries you can make calls to using the mins. They had a range of 120, 150 or 300 mins worth of international mins depending on the package but I looked at contracts both for 'sim-only' and ones with a new device. The disadvantage is the contract period I guess vs prepaid. Plus Optus has data-free streaming for things like Spotify and Netflix which is also great along with free access to their English Premier League soccer and local cricket coverage. I find the network coverage to be better on Optus compared to Vodafone whose signal issues are extensive in Melbourne in my experience. Alternatively uncapped adsl internet for like $70pm and using FB messenger (voice and video), Skype and Whatsapp calls are much cheaper than using the phone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Have a look at this woolworths $45 plan: https://mobile.woolworths.com.au/prepaid.html Unlimited calls to SA for $45. I have not tried it, but it looks good. Otherwise if I am out of contract on my phone I use a $20 TPG plan. https://www.tpg.com.au/mobile This is very good value, but the data allowance 1.5Gb can be a bit tight. The international calling can be used anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenDemo Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 On 18/11/2016 at 8:10 PM, WayneAndMel said: Just two questions. By TFN do you mean a Tax File Number, and in respect of the licence do you mean one requires the physical medicare card to convert your driving licence as well? Ola It might be different from state to state. But you don't expressly need a medicare card. You just need something to identify you - bank card, passport, medicare card etc. The Aussies work on a points based identification system, and it works rather well. Its basically the "new FICA", except not nearly half as irritating. For example, for a rental application, they'll say you need to provide 100 points of identification - drivers or medicare usually gives 50 point, bank card 20 points, passport 20 points and so on. Then just general...we're with Amaysim (and no one knows how to pronounce it), we are on a PAYG data plan and only but airtime as we need it. We use the landline to phone around. Hence this means our monthly mobile bill is around $12 per person per month. People complain a lot online about Amaysim...we've had absolutely no problem with them. They have a really awesome billing system where, if you have airtime left at the end of the month, say $2.40. Then they take this towards your contract renewal next month. Yeah the signal is not great...but it's not really bothered us. On WhatsApp and texting (also referred to as sms, as in RSA), most mobile plans here come with unlimited texts...hence (as someone stated above), there is little need for something like WhatsApp. If they do use something similar, its either FaceBook Messager, or SnapChat. Now....whatever floats your boat...but there are various reasons the I prefer WhatsApp. The Aussies (that we've met) don't really know it. However, MOST of the imigrants use it. I asked at work the one day about this thing that "Aussies don't seem to use WhatsApp...do you guys use it?" and I was greeted by a chorus of "Wow, how can we live without it!" (from the indians), "It's my main communication with friends & family." (from the germans), "how else do you organise get togethers and parties?!" (form the Israeli) and so on.... I just smiled.... Then, we're with TPG internet and with their landline for $10pm, you can choose between a number of packages...so I took the one that gives us 100minutes international call time to any country (incl mobile numbers). Then our internet is $59.99pm for a, so called 20mbps line - we usually get 11.4mbps out (except for the last week, we've been having issues). But this 11.4mbps ADSL line, is more stable and as a result, faster than my 100mbps fibre Telkom line was. ...well come to Aus! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 Thanks for the information, @GenDemo. I looked up the TPG Internet option that you are on. Its the 100GB + BigTalk bundle, I think. Can you explain what they mean by a minimum charge of $179.94? Given that it costs $49.99+$10.00, I am having difficulty understanding the minimum charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenDemo Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 On 25/11/2016 at 8:42 PM, Kevin said: Thanks for the information, @GenDemo. I looked up the TPG Internet option that you are on. Its the 100GB + BigTalk bundle, I think. Can you explain what they mean by a minimum charge of $179.94? Given that it costs $49.99+$10.00, I am having difficulty understanding the minimum charge. Hi Kevin no, we've got uncapped ADSL... I can't remember what the phone plan was called. The minimum charge is the minimum they are going to charge you in the first billing period. So it'll probably be the $49.99 + $10 + $(connection fee) + $(admin) fee and cound include the optional installation fee. If you are tech savvy, you can usually opt for a self installation option. Also check what the deal costs with and w/o a router in the deal, bearing in mind that they usually give you the crappest router. So I took an option w/o a router and self-installation. This meant I saved on the installation, and got the router I wanted - so this means we have such good wi-fi signal, that we can show the garden to the family over Skype. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Thanks, @GenDemo. That cleared things up for me. If anyone else is confused by the terminology, minimum charge refers to the cumulative cost of the service over the shortest term under the agreement, excluding any additional usage charges that may apply. Under a no lock-in agreement, it is the cost of initiation plus the first month charge. Under an 18 month contract, it is the cost of initiation plus the cumulative cost of 18 months of monthly fees. I think the minimum charge is intended to serve as a single figure for comparing the value of different offers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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