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Wanted Down under Series 4 and Wanted Down Under revisited have finally come to an end and like many other episodes of Wanted Down Under its caused a bit of a stir with our visitors.

As Getting Down Under sounds similar to the title of the popular BBC show I’ve found that many of our visitors get ‘website blindness’ resulting in emails being sent to Getting Down Under HQ asking how they can appear on the next series of the BBC’s Wanted Down under program.

In an effort to try and reduce the number of enquiries we receive in relation to this show, we contacted the BBC to check if Series 5 of Wanted Down Under was on the cards and at time of typing I’m please to say that it is. Continue Reading

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Phew! What a scorcher.

Yesterday saw the hottest day in Perth for nearly two years with the mercury hitting 42.9C . By 5am, the temperature at Champion Lakes near Armadale were already 30.4C – warmer than in Marble Bar, which is Australia’s hottest town and only 20.6C at that time.
At time of typing the temperatures are just shy of 41C so it looks like it’s going to be another hot one today

The hottest ever recorded temperature in Perth was 46.2 °C (115 °F) on 23 February 1991 and I can imagine, back then it must have been pretty unbearable. Continue Reading

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So before I even begin to tackle this sensitive subject, let me give you a little context behind the purpose of this article.

Today the federal government said the Indian media is unlikely to show restraint when reporting on alleged racism in Australia. India’s foreign ministry has called on its media to exercise restraint when reporting on recent attacks on Indians in Australia.

The call follows media reports that suggest the stabbing death of Nitin Garg in Melbourne on January 2 and Saturday’s attack on Jaspreet Singh, who suffered burns after being allegedly set alight, were racially motivated.

So there we have it, more attacks on Indian students but are they racially motivated? Continue Reading

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Wanted Down Under makes a return to the BBC with Series 4 Being aired this Monday at 10am on BBC 1.

I think this is the first time that Wanted Down Under has made it’s way onto BBC 1 with the last few series being relegated to obscure times of the day on BBC 2.

For those looking to Migrate to Australia, wanted down under has proved to be a very popular series to watch and I’d really love to hear your views of the latest Wanted Down Under series  if you’ve seen one of the programs which has gone to air so far? Continue Reading

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So I’ve been getting updates on email and Facebook from friends back in the UK and the general consensus of opinion seems to be that the snow was great over Christmas however everyone is kind of getting ‘over it’ now.

Looking on the BBC’s website today it looks like the severity of the bitterly cold weather is causing significant disruptions across the UK and much of Northern Europe with over 16 inches of snow being recorded in a 24 hour period in some places!

If it’s any consolation for those getting a little fed up, the weather down in Australia can cause problems to. I saw the attached poster on the train yesterday and it made me chuckle. So much so that I had to take a picture of it to share with our Getting Down Under readers. Continue Reading

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Hey all, well it’s nearly 1 am down under on the 1st of January 2010!

Much food has been eaten and much wine and beer has already been drunk

With that in mind, this is a very short post to wish you all the very best for 2010.May this year be the year that your down under dreams really do come true.

All the best and enjoy the new years break!

Regards

Mark

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G’day everyone! Well, in less that 14 hours time it’s going to be Christmas day here in Australia.

For those ‘enjoying’ the snow throughout many countries in the Northern hemisphere, you’ll be interested to know that it’s forecast to be a not so chilly 36 Celsius here in Australia tomorrow.

We’ve got the ‘outlaws’ over from Sydney this Christmas so were looking forward to what will be the largest ‘family Christmas’ we’ve had in the three years that we’ve now been here. All we need to do now is work out how to cram 60 hours of defrosting time for the turkey into 24. I’m sure we’ll be OK

I know when we were in the UK planning our move to Australia we spent many years saying ‘just imagine what it’ll be like…. Christmas in Australia’. I can concur that it is the most wonderful place to spend Christmas and the sweat, tears, frustrations and almost endless waiting really were worth it. Continue Reading

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Our mate is back - And it's all mine!

Before I even begin this entry I must take a few moments to apologise to the 1500+ folks who have decided over the last 12 months to subscribe to our free newsletter so they can benefit from receiving our ‘latest breaking immigration news’ articles as they happen!

It’s easy for me to forget that I started this site as a personal blog back in January 2006 and since this time it’s evolved into more of an online immigration magazine which makes the following blog entry (and the email our subscribers will get) seem that little bit more random.

Anyway… I’ll get to the point. Marmite!!

Back in August 2007 I wrote a blog entry titled “Marmite vs Vegemite – Buying Real Marmite in Australia”. In a nutshell I’ve been a big Marmite fan for many years and struggled to find the yeasty substance here in Australia until I found that the Marmite you get back home in the UK is rebranded here in Australia under the name “Our mate”. Continue Reading

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Hi all, well life down under has been busy and as there’s not so much news going on right now in the wonderful world of Australian Immigration I thought I’d write a quick personal update just so you all know that I’m still alive

Life down under has been pretty full on recently. On the job front, after 6 years working in financial services I decided to jump ship after being approached by one of the large mining companies here in Perth.

Similar lines of work (contracts, sourcing and procurement) but buying much bigger and more expensive stuff. Continue Reading

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It’s been a while since I’ve complained about the weather and as I’m an Englishman wishing to retain at least a small portion of my Englishness I thought today was as good a day as any.

Back in the UK, the English summer is in full swing. From what I’ve heard from the friends and family back in the UK; it’s been a pretty good one to with UK residents receiving more than two whole days of sunshine!

Season wise Australia is exactly six months in front of the UK so here in Australia, Winter is in full swing.

This will be the third winter we’ve experienced since being down under and I don’t know if it’s simply because we’re becoming acclimatised to the weather (or I may be just going soft) but this feels like some of the coldest winter weather I’ve experienced since moving to Australia. Continue Reading

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Hey all. Not much to write about in the world of Australian immigration so I thought I’d write a little entry just to say hi.

I have a number of Google news alerts set up under various Australian Immigration categories on the basis that if anything happens then I’ll get to know about it quite quickly. Having said that, there doesn’t appear to be much of interest  happening right now.  

If you’re trying to enter Australia illegally then there are plenty of stories in the news about how NOT to do it.

Boat people (i.e. Folks trying to migrate illegally to  Australia on small boats) seem to be making headlines over here in Australia on almost a daily basis.

It seems the Aussie immigration folks are paying very close attention to Australian shores after a number of high profile incidents where boat after boat full of illegal immigrants were  turning up on Aussie soil, apparently unchallenged! Continue Reading

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Australias economy is a tower of strength after two respected international reports confirmed it continued to lead the developed world.

The first from the  International Monetary Fund added its weight to mounting evidence that Australia was powering ahead of its rivals during the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

It yesterday upgraded its outlook for the Australian economy, tipping it to retreat by only 0.5 per cent this year before growing by 1.5 per cent next year. It earlier forecast a contraction of 1.4 per cent.

The report followed an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report that commended the Government’s stimulus measures. Continue Reading

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Your reasons for choosing to emigrate to Australia will be varied. For us, as adults we saw the local parks and playing fields we used to play on as kids, turned into graffiti and syringe strewn scrap heaps.

Australia presented us with the opportunity for a better life for our kids. The affordable housing, wide open spaces and beautiful weather were just the icing on the cake.

As a ‘Pom’ it was relatively easy for us to accept the ‘better life’ we now have down under. Comparitivly speaking, it wasn’t that different from the life we left behind. For families from other countries though, life in Australia is a VERY different life indeed!

One example would be good friends of ours who migrated to Australia from South Africa. The barbecues have been great, the summer evenings have been warm and yet the stories they have shared with us have at times, been quite chilling! Continue Reading

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Deadly 60 – Australia is being broadcast on BBC one tomorrow at 17:15 for anyone that’s interested.

Within the program, lucky wildlife expert Steve Backshall and his crew head for the Australian continent as he continues his Deadly 60 mission.

During the program he visits Perth (yay!) which turns our to be home to one of Australia’s deadliest snakes, the tiger snake (boo!).

For all those who choose to tune in, theres a surprise in store as it turns out that these snakes live right alongside the visitors to the city’s local park. How nice!

Happily, slightly less deadly Australian animals are also highlighted in the show including pelicans and bottlenose dolphins. I wonder if they filmed the dolphins over in Monkey Mia?

As I can’t the good old beeb from down under then I’d appreciate the views of anyone who saw the show. Were the tiger snakes that scary?

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I read a very interesting letter printed in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning

Within the letter a chap by the name of Michael Jones writes about the strong link between overseas students studying in Australia and perminant Australian residency. He also points out that the $16 billion education industry, our third largest export earner, is largely about selling visas, not education. Very strong words indeed!

Now the thing is… Does he have a point?

I think for starters it’s fair to say that there is indeed a very strong link. Afterall, anyone applying for permanent residency under the skilled migration program needs to show acceptable qualifications and 12 months’ recent, full-time, skilled employment. On the other hand, those with an ‘Australian qualification’ can, after only two years’ study in Australia, qualify for a permanent visa without any work experience, or any intention to work in their field of study. Continue Reading

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What with all the gloom and doom associated with the current economic crisis. The further cuts in the Australian Skilled Migration intake and all that other cheery news recently coming out of Australia, I thought I’d end this week with a little joke.

Some of you may or may not have heard it but as it has an Aussie reference I think it’s still a good fit for our site. No offence intended to anyone… honest  :)

The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats in Afghanistan and have raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Continue Reading

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