A thread for the blog readers

[Mark]

Now I've picked myself up off the floor, I've posted in this blog entry that over 600 people a day are reading the blog

Either they have found us due to some unknown force or they are looking to meet similar folks, in similar situations looking for the same thing. (I'm sure you're following me)

This thread is for those folks. If your one of them, don't be shy and say Hi (Hey, that Rhymes)

Mark

[Jay]

Hi Mark!

Registered ages ago on these forums as 'Atari', but thought I'd register again as I've been a little inactive on the boards.

Hope all is well, site & forums looking good!

[Mark]

Thanks mate - good to see you again

Thanks for popping by

Mark

[Gary]

Good work with the site Mark.

I tend to glance at it most lunchtimes whilst eating my sandwich sat in the office in Edgbaston, Birmingham but dont tend to participate much in the forums. But, i have gleaned a lot if useful info.

We are progressing well through the whole process - Visas granted January 07, passports have been "evidenced" and the "For Sale" board went up on Monday this week. Our plan is to be hopefully flying over July-Sept but certainly before December.

We hope to settle not that far from yourself (we have cousins in Quinns Rock). We're thinking maybe Clarkson/Joondalup area. Congratulations by the way on your recent announcement.

I have been meaning to compile a list of those silly questions that crop up to which answers are elusive. Heres a few which come to mind:
Light Bulbs - Are the fittings the same as UK over there? if not, are all our lamps useless?
TV's - someone said that UK TV's dont seem to work too good. Is there any point bringing our TVs?
We do like camping. I know that customs are really strict. As long as our gear is fairly clean will it be ok getting through or does it need to be steam cleaned or similar?
Any recommendations/advice when sourcing a shipper, and when should we first start obtaining quotes?
Property prices there seem to have stabilised and dare I say it some have even dropped - is this your perception?

Cheers and all the best.

Gary

[Mark]

Hi Gary, thanks for the comments and congratulations, glad to see that things appear to be going well

Answers to your questions:

Light Bulbs - Are the fittings the same as UK over there? if not, are all our lamps useless?

Nope, you'll still get standard light fittings over here Gary, so no probs in the lamp department (some of the bulbs they do sell here are very strange though)

TV's - someone said that UK TV's dont seem to work too good. Is there any point bringing our TVs?

Depends on how old it is, if your tv is less then 5 years old I'd say it should be 'modern enough' to be compatible with the aussie airwaves, we brought our three year old model over (although it's not here yet).

Worst case it might make a good tv for all of your DVD's which won't work on the aussie DVD players (unless you get a multi region of course).

We do like camping. I know that customs are really strict. As long as our gear is fairly clean will it be ok getting through or does it need to be steam cleaned or similar?

Probably ask me this question in about a week Gary. Our stuff is now in Freemantle and we hope to get it within the next week. It's correct that aussies do not like dirt so the suggestion is that things are squeeky clean.

The only 'borderline' thing that we brought with us was a newish (3 month old) Dyson Vac.

I gave the 'bagless' bit a good clean with hot water and washing up liquid but I recon if the aussie customs guys wanted to have a really good look it might not get through. Give me a week or so and I'll be able to give you a more educated answer. I'd like to think that camping stuff should be Ok though if there is no loose dirt or soil evident.

Any recommendations/advice when sourcing a shipper, and when should we first start obtaining quotes?

We found most reputable shippers quoted similar prices but ring around - we started looking about three months before we moved out. We went for White and Company in the end.

The UK side of the service was very good. Having said that we havn't seen the state of our stuff since it arrived here in Aus so check back in the next week or so and I should hopefully be in a position to write one of my reviews.

Property prices there seem to have stabilised and dare I say it some have even dropped - is this your perception?

In some areas yes. I've noticed a couple of the big land owners are now offering to pay folks 'stamp duty on selected plots' which must say something.

When we rented our current house we had a chat with the estate agent about this very subject.

They confirmed that in some suburbs prices are starting to drop by as much as 5% a month, on the other hand some suburbs (eg Iluka) are still increasing in value so It really depends where you want to end up living.

Keep the questions coming Gary, happy to help where I can.

If possible for future questions please start new threads if you can (it should help other members with their own search)

Regards

Mark