Roo's first toy..

So customs don't allow used dogs toys to come into Aus which is unfortunate as Roo has absolutely loads that she loves! There's a few toys that she's had since she was 8 weeks and is very attached to, so we're slowly going to replace some of those and keep the tags on so she can have them new in Aus. We thought it might help her settle in too having something that's familiar as the flights and quarantine will knock her for six! So it's official, Roo has her first Australia toy!

Time to get to Business

Well it looks like we are going to be able to save earlier than we thought. We are hoping to be on top of things by the end of the next 2 months. Trumpet paid off and a nice new shiny visa for Jess and hopefully some saving for the move and/or ROO, The visa we are going to be applying for Jess is a permanent Residence visa straight off, and should be ready to apply for that by the beginning of June so good times. As there is a lot of hidden cost like medicals and checking whether Jess is a convict or not. Who thought that Australia, the country that was started with Convicts, don't let anyone in with a Crime history anymore. 
  Everything else will fall into place hopefully.

The Job is still up in the air and will have to see what will happen on that front.  Apart from that we saw the sun for the first time in a while a couple of days ago and it seems to stay for longer now. This has become great as Jess and I can leave for work in the light and when Jess gets home it is still light, which means Roo can have a nice walk as well.  Roo has picked up  a bad habit of chewing on the walls. So we have based them in Tabasco sauce that has seemed to slow her down even though she crazily loved the taste.  So more walks to all the parks for Roo.  Apart from that have really been wanting to get this cruise ship show together for both of us to do and i hope one day it will all happen, however i think we might need a Imac for that. And that is another thing to save for...........ahhhhhhhhhh never ending saving!
 

School fees for when/if we start popping them out.

Have seen some very mixed information regarding school fees for children. Some websites make it appear as if all children need to pay somewhere around $4000-6000 per year to go to school. However other sites make it look like it is only those only temporary/business visas that will need to pay this fee. This is definitely something to look into as it may influence where we'd want to live if we ever get to the point of having kids of school age. We're just trying to be a bit more informed than using the reasoning of "well thousands of Aussies cope with it every year, so we'd be no different". So, wow that's some forward planning! Anyone who knows us will know that Jess isn't really the most maternal girl in the world...

Thoughts on where to live...

Control Risks (Jess' work, fingers crossed for that transfer!) is nearest to Wynyard train station, so preferable to have a house on the same train line. Arncliffe could be a possibility.  The train to martin place would take approx 35 mins and then is a short walk from there, although you can change trains to get straight in to Wynyard.  http://www.cityrail.info/ reckons that I could get an 08:35 train and arrive at 08:56, although it is more likely I will get the 08:22 arriving at 08:43. The return journey says it takes the same amount of time, and there are trains approximately every 15 mins. It also only costs a bargainous $31 per week for a weekly pass! (compared with the close to £100gbp Jess is currently paying per month) This works slightly differently to an oyster in that it only covers travel between the two stations you request it for, but you can get on/off at any station along the way, so can go halfway down the route if wanted. Houses also seem to be very reasonable in this area, three bedroom houses with a garden all seem to be within our anticipated budget. There’s also Brighton beach around 2.5km away. Perfect for those 1.5milers! It is very close to the airport, although it wouldn't be forever, it's not like we would be buying the first house we move to anyway.

So Far

My questions/concerns are:

What are good areas of Sydney for us to seek accommodation, that are easy to get into the city, but allow us cheaper rent so we're not scrimping all the time.

Is there a buy to let culture? If so, are there companies that will take over the reins and guarantee rent? Our plan is to live in army quarters, whilst paying off our own house with people renting to cover the mortgage.


Do forces children get free schooling/healthcare?

What are the hidden extra costs on building your own?- Taxes/land rent etc. As eventually we'd like to build our very own.

How can we ensure that the garden is safe for Roo to rummage around in?

Are ships really going to be a viable possibility for a 3 month contract? Or will Ben be forced onto a 6 month contract, take it or leave it.

Is it possible for me to get a promotion at the same time as my transfer? Obviously will not know until closer to the time.

What are the costs of going to the doctors and for prescriptions? Eg pill/antihistimines etc?

Will update when we have some concrete answers :)

Well...

I really hope that in the last year, Ben has learnt the difference between a Sergeant Major and a full out Major! As it was a Major I'd been speaking to, but that's by the by...

So, in what may sound, to some of you, like a complete change of plans:

BEN, JESS and ROO are coming to Aus!

Now it's still in the very initial thought stages at the moment, but this is what we're working towards.

Those in England will have heard, and those in Aus may not be so aware but the British Military is suffering massive cutbacks at present. Not only does this mean that Ben may not have a job for much longer, but it also means that recruitment, particularly in the music corps is coming to a standstill. So after weighing up our options of staying in England, such as Ben not having a fulltime job full stop, Jess being stuck in a job with no chance of a career for a good long while, increased rent as we'd no longer be entitled to army accomodation, or moving to Australia and joining the military there. It almost seemed crazy that we hadn't thought of it before!

We're definitely not going to go into this with our eyes shut, blinded by the fact that we've both had a persistant cough since before christmas and the weather's crappy and we go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. We want to be as well informed over the move as we can possibly be. Everyday we're doing research, we plan to be in Aus in 2012, although who knows with the army job front being so up in the air.

We've decided that, at least to start with, we will base ourselves in Sydney. Jess' company have an office there so should be fairly straightfoward to transfer should a position be available, but it would also be the best bet for Ben (and Jess) to find music work. We will then get our applications to the Australian Army on the go as quickly as possible, and then who knows where we will end up!

We know that it's going to be a hard struggle, saving up the money to make it possible whilst still in England and then to get ourselves set up in Aus. But having weighed up the pros and cons, we feel that we don't really have much other choice. We're going to use this blog to record our research and thoughts throughout the process and to keep everyone updated of what it going on. Feel free to comment or just leave us to it, it's up to you. But if you have some words of wisdom, maybe something we need to consider then please speak up. The less surprises once we arrive in Aus the better!

So the first thing that we've looked at is the cost for a visa. We're hoping to be able to arrange a spousal visa with permanent resident status straight away based on the fact we've been together for quite a while. This will really aid joining the Army too as the minimum citizenship requirements is a permanent residence visa. This visa costs $1735aud which based on today's exchange rates works out to £1080gbp. Am very much hoping that the GBP will get stronger by the time we apply for the visa/leave as it will make our savings go a bit further. The plan is to apply for this visa as soon as possible, as we've heard the wait times can vary drastically before a visa is granted.

We have also received a quote for Roo to come over to Aus. For the "gold" service, which includes the vet work too, it will cost approx £3000-£3500gbp, plus around $900aud for her quarantine of 30 days. We are hoping that Jess' bonus will go some way towards this, although she has no idea of how much it'll be as it's her first year with the company! So Roo is most definitely going to be the most expensive member of the family to get across to Aus, and we're already telling her that there is to be no picking on spiders/snakes/toads or anything of the sort! She is worth it though, and we wouldn't be without her.

We have researched flights, and should be able to get one for around the £550-£600 mark. However Ben is looking into going on ships for three months so that they essentially pay him to make his way down to Aus, which will save a fair bit of cash.