Hello frnds,

I am back on the forum after a small gap, but from a different place ;-), You guessed it right. Posting this from Melbourne.

The d-day finally came, 28th July 2012 - the date of our travel. As usual, the packing went on till last moment.

Our baggage came around 100kg (including laptop bag). It was 8 kgs more. The Thai guy has given a concession upto 4kg. We had to pay for the extra 4kg. They have charged around 1500/kg. We paid 6300 (including taxes).

The flight was good. We reached Melbourne airport around 8:00PM (Mel time), 29th July. The immigration took us 1 hour. Since we didn't carry any of the food items, we had to declare only the wood items and the shoes that we are carrying. We reached our residence at 9:30pm. Currently residing at Coburg. Melbourne is very cold currently. Thermals & wool wear is a must. I am feeling severe cold even inside our house. Though I have got a heater, feeling cold in the rest of the rooms. Have to get used to the cold I suppose ;-)

Today:
1. We got our bank account opened in NAB
2. Took pre-paid SIM cards. We went with Lebara card. Heard Lyca is also good, but Lebara is offering better packages than Lyca.
3. Completed the Medicare formalities
4. Got the travel card (Myki card)
5. Applied for TFN

Hmm.. now the ultimate task to be completed - Job Search. Have updated our resumes with the new address & phone number. Will start applying for the posts from tomorrow.

That' all from my side. Will keep updating.

Have a good evening & good day.

Cheers

Great.. Wish you luck

__________________
ACS assessment : May 2008. Visa Application VE 175 : September 2008. State Sponsorship : September 2009. CO Allocated : 17th November 2010. Medicals and PCC submitted : 13th December 2010. Medicals for my Daughter : 22nd December 2010. All Documents Met : 31st December 2010 (except for meds for my daughter)

VISA GRANT 27th January 2011

Reached MELBOURNE on 16th June

I had to laugh when I read your comment about the cold. I'm in Perth and I am forever complaining that I feel cold and one of my colleagues told me that I should avoid moving to Melbourne if I feel this cold all the time, since he reckons that Perth is quite warm compared to the Eastern states.

It's always good to read these happy posts and it reminds me of the excitement I felt when I was moving here nearly a year ago.

Hope you settle in quickly and best of luck with your job search.

Thank you Anj.

Thanks for sharing the info.

Why did you choose Melbourne over Sydney - I am about to take the decision so asking .
Do you have the link to customs site which says what one cannot bring and what one has to declare?
For declaring wooden items etc, do they give a card when you are on the flight or before boarding it - please excuse me for asking too many questions .

-Melbourne

__________________
175: 13-Feb-12 | CO: 30-May-12 | PCC: 13-Jun-12 | Medicals: 13-Jun-12 | Grant: 13-Jun-12 | Landing in Sydney on 1-Feb-13

Thank you very much Maz25 .

Cheers.

Hi melbourne,

Our visa was sponsored by Victoria state. So, we had to move to Melbourne. Even if it was not the case, I was considering Melbourne as the 1st option to Sydney. Heard Sydney is very crowded , even though the options are also high. Melbourne have quite a lot of opportunities and the life style is kind of cool when compared to Sydney. When are you travelling? I will provide more information as the time pass by

There is a passenger card that is provided in the flight. We have to provide our details - name, passport number, etc on the card. There are questions to be answered on what items we are bringing into the country. We have informed that we had to bring wooden item - rolling pin & base. We got some shoes which had to be declared. We did not carry any of the food items. Hence we got off easily. There is a sniffer dog which is made to smell all the luggage. If any of the food items are found, if you declare, they will ask you for explanation. If they are satisfied, they will let go of us or else we have to throw them away at the designated counters.

There is a link on the official site on what to bring & what not. Please refer to the below link:

What can't I take into Australia? - Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Cheers

Congratz mate... i'm really happy for you. I'm now in the first step, applied for victoria state sponsorship. Awaiting positive response. Besides, i submitted EOI recently. I've only 65 points, fingers crossed!

@Aspireaus....So the day has come for u to live the dream :-)

All the best mate in ur job search....pls keep us posted about ur xperiences.

Cheers,
Krishi

__________________
IELTS: 23/03/12 (8,8,7,7) | ACS +ve : 26/04/12 | 175 (online): 29/04/12 | CO allocated: 06/06/12 | PCC: 17/06/12 | Medicals : 20/06/12 | 175 Grant : 27/06/2012

Thanks for your response!
I will be travelling in Jan/Feb 2013. But not able to decide on Melbourne vs Sydney

One question out of curiosity - Why one has to declare shoes as well, of course one will bring some extra shoes?

-Melbourne

__________________
175: 13-Feb-12 | CO: 30-May-12 | PCC: 13-Jun-12 | Medicals: 13-Jun-12 | Grant: 13-Jun-12 | Landing in Sydney on 1-Feb-13