Well it has been five months since I last spoke about moving to Australia, and what has happened since?

Well, lots and not much!

• Medical Application: The missus has nearly finished her medical application process, five months and one final step to go. A sequential process, requiring one step to be completed before starting another. We got a proverbial wrist slap for not providing certain documents, but when we told them it was not on the checklist they provided us, we were met with silence.
• Visa: Unfortunately, we cannot start our visa application till the medical application process is complete. However, visas are taking approximately 5 days.
• Housing:
  • The house is on the market and viewings are going well, going to a closing date very shortly.
  • We were originally looking at renting in Victoria Park, just south of Swan River, but then we watched ‘Wanted Down Under‘ and have decided on Secret Harbour. It’s about 40km south of Perth, has good road/rail links and we can get more house for our money.
• Work:
  • I’m in the process of gaining work with an Outdoor Fitness company based in Perth: looking forward to training in shorts and t-shirt instead of hat, gloves and raincoats!
  • Previously, Western Australia (WA) was the only state which allowed you to work without having to be ‘in country’ for a set period. However, two days after booking our flights, WA decided, without notice, to change this policy. Fortunately, the missus’s new employers were very understanding.
• House Movers:
  • Contacted an international movers, and found the price to be cheaper than we estimated; although 12-18 weeks without our belongings.
  • If the medical application process wasn’t labourious enough, we have more paperwork in the form of customs documents to complete (plus a lovely customs fee to pay when our belongings get to Australia).
• Travel: We have booked a 2 day stop-over in Singapore so the kids (2 and 4) can rest and recuperate. Looking forward to visiting Singapore again.
• Money:
  • Chosen an Australian bank and will open an account in April.
  • For money transfer, we are looking at a currency exchange company rather than the bank, as we can get a better exchange rate.

Most of the above was started in March. We estimate that moving to Australia will cost us approximately £12,000 (about £3,000 was medical application fees).

Here’s to the outdoor lifestyle.