Had job offer, expected to be moving to Darwin in January..

[yvonnetaccagni]

Hello,

Any young families ex-pat or other willing to help me find stuff?? cost of living, accommodation, schools etc.

Theres only so much you can do from the net without insider inffo?? I've never even been to Australia!

My husband has just been offered a job in Darwin we have a week to decide if we want to take it!!! Move date is 4th of Jan. They will provide accommodation for the 1st 4 weeks and relocation but I still need to be on the ball in adbvance. I've been lookiing at some apartments that look spacious for us called One30 Esplanade ( I have no idea if this is the block name or road name).

Our children are 3 and 5. I have been told they will have a great life out there....is this really true from experience???

I'm used to making friends as we have moved to various locations in Cheshire, but I'm worried it will be harder when I don't know the area or anything.

Any help would be very appreciated.x

[depotman]

Hi there,

Me and my family moved here a couple of months ago, and we're more than happy to give any advice & guidance.

Probably best if you ask specific questions and I'll do my best to give you good advice.

Regarding your last point - we have kids aged 13,11,4,4 and they all love it!

Cheers
Paul

[yvonnetaccagni]

Hello!!!

Oh thank you...I was begining to think there were no ex pat's out there!!!

I've scared myself to be honest...reading about crocodile attacks and giant spiders that come in the house and hide in your car...but hey ho.

I've found some stores like coles and woolworths to get an idea on food costs. seem's pretty much the same as UK. I've tried to find out about utility bills but no joy. is it about the same as UK???

We are looking at renting an apartment (i may not get the name right as I have not got it to hand but something like) onethirty espanlade??? have you heard oof it??? I want to be central as I am not bringing my car and need to be in walking distance to everything...I do worry though that it may be a bit central for the kids...noise at night etc.

Any idea on good schools??? I was looking at a catholic one city centre...st marys I think it was??

Thank you....I'm so glad somebody replied.

Also is the wave pool and artificial beach as good as it looks???? looks a great place to go at weekend!

sorry, one last thing...how's your wife settling??? does she work?? I will be at home and worry I will just be sat in the apartment all day on my own!!!

[depotman]

Hi again.

Wildlife: we get small lizards in the house in the evening (it's not as scary as it sounds, they are VERY small and stick to the walls - the kids think they're funny!). We've only seen crocs in the wildlife park and the only spiders we've seen are the same or smaller than in the UK.

Coles & Woolworths are the 2 supermarkets here and they've got the market. Some items are ridiculously cheap, other things are more expensive. If you shop carefully you'll spend the same or less.

Utility Bills: If you rent the only bills you'll get are electricity and phone. Landlords pay the water & rates (council tax). We've got a gas cylinder for gas and the landlord filled it up when we moved in and said to fill it up when we move out.

I have heard of the apartments you mention but I dont know what they're like. They are a lot of places to rent but all of them quite pricey - that's the downside of living here.

We live in Palmerston, about 20km south of Darwin so the schools will be different. We've put ours into the local state school which we were very impressed with.

My wife doesnt work, she looks after the twins until they start transition class in January (same as UK reception class) - they call it the tranny class - had me in giggles!

The wavepool does look great but we havn't tried it yet. We've driven out to Litchfield National Park for swimming - very good!

Paul

[yvonnetaccagni]

Hello!

Thanks for that, you've answered all my biggest questions. It's a relief coming from UK to have found someone that has moved and is enjoying it.

My hubby is still waiting for HR to sort themselves out so we are not signed and sealed yet, but given the way things are over here it's a 99% cert we are going. Nothing seems to be a rush from their end!!!

It's my idea to opt for an apartment, on the thinking that I don't want to take my car over so I need to be central and the higher we go the less chance of spiders!!! Plus the added bonus of gym and pool.

Thank's for all the help.

[depotman]

No problem, glad to be of help! Any other questions, please ask.

I hope it's cold and dreary in the UK - it hasn't fell below 30 degrees here during the day, and only dips to 25 degrees at night. It's the build-up season right now, before the wet comes. Lots of cloud cover here and very warm.

[yvonnetaccagni]

Hello,

Another few random questions...???

Did you take tv's with you??? have 2 huge ones and couple of portables all under 18 months old and plasma or LCD...will they work??? Ive read that they probably will but may need sound adjusting???

And we have a big american fridge freezer thing????? not sure to take it or not??? I know most rentals dont have them in....

And any guides on this medical insurance??? family of 4?? Am I right in thinking $60 ish a week????

Sorry to be a bother....so much conflicting info on the web!!!!

Yvonne

[depotman]

Hi again,

We didn't bring any TV's with us as we only had an old crappy one in the UK. They are expensive here but we're renting one a large one.

I have heard that the TV's should work but might need an Aussie set-top box each - best to ask on other forums, as it's not a NT-specific question so hopefully other folk frm the UK who have taken TV's over can give you a better answer.

Fridge - you're right that most rentals dont have massive ones, but they can be bought/rented if that's what you want. We came over travelling light, as we had sold most of our stuff in the UK and didn't want to pay for the shipping, and also didn't want to wait weeks for the stuff to arrive.

Medical Insurance - we're paying $120 a month for a family of 6 to be covered for the main medical stuff. I can give you contact details should you need them, it's with Aussie Bupa. For emergencies and visits to the doc we registered with Medicare.

No problem in giving advice, hope it helps!

Paul

[yvonnetaccagni]

Hello again,

Today was decision day and my husband turned down the job. We were very worried about the climate and the wet season so we have opted to sit it out in the UK.

Thanks for your help, just though I should let you know after all your advise. I think had it been anywhere except Darwin we would have been there in January.

Thank you.

so why do I feel like we just made a big mistake????? who knows. Take care.

[depotman]

Hi again,

No problem, and good luck with carrying on in the UK. I know how much of a difficult choice it is, and all families are different, but I know that had it been anywhere else in Australia we wouldn't have been as keen as we were - odd isn't it! What we've also found is that an awful lot of people move here from other parts of Australia specifically for the weather (a lot from Adelaide strangely). When I look back on the house we had in the UK, and how much we were paying for it, and the size of the house here and how much it's costing us, it's a no-brainer to be here!

Anyway, best wishes with whatever you choose!

Regards
Paul