How's life in NZ/Aus?

DamoDLK

cooper38 wrote: »

Hi DamoDLK,

Assuming you're in Sydney would you actually travel to sydney city centre to get these or would you really be bothered?

Twinnings? I thoughs Lyons/Barrys were te big ones

Nah- ur right there they're all the same really..

eimearg85 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend any specific good banks to go with, cheapest etc? Would it be worth setting up before I leave Ireland? Also, is it possible to apply for TFN or is it too much hassle before I go? Leaving in Sept. Just trying to get a bit organised.

sometimes the place that your applying through will sort out an account for you, however its fairly easy to set up an account while your here - all you need is an address and your passport..

shonny78

It's no problem to set up bank account once you get here...but do it within six weeks of your arrival, as you usually need only your passport as id. Don't know about TFN - think you have to wait until you get here

s. lacker

tfn is easy:
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/38760.htm

I'm with ANZ they're are pretty helpful and have lots of ATMS around, watch out for the $2 charge when you don't use the right ATM.

Even visas are easy to do online, visafirst/taxback are helpful but not worth the money I think. You can apply for everything online, its handy if you have an address in Australia first though!

watna

I is coming to Melbourne for a week in December. I think some beerage then is in order!

The Sweeper

ooo! beerage!

doughnut

I'm so jealous

Zambia

watna wrote: »

I is coming to Melbourne for a week in December. I think some beerage then is in order!

I can do a night ... the whole week might kill me :eek:

watna

Zambia232 wrote: »

I can do a night ... the whole week might kill me :eek:

Lightweight!

brendansmith

Uluru being 'used as a toilet'

By Iskhandar Razak

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/08/2679472.htm?section=justin

Cant believe they would name names like that :pac:

Zambia

watna wrote: »

Lightweight!

I burden I carry every day ....

jank

So Sydney.... does it deserve it's bad rep?:pac:

DamoDLK

jank wrote: »

So Sydney.... does it deserve it's bad rep?:pac:

Sydney... grand place to visit, wouldn't like to be there for a prolonged period.
Melbourne ftw!!! (although the weather is pants at the mo)

jank

DamoDLK wrote: »

Sydney... grand place to visit, wouldn't like to be there for a prolonged period.
Melbourne ftw!!! (although the weather is pants at the mo)

LOL thats what I thought! Does the heat get too much in the summer?

Zambia

Nope .... its hot but eventually it cools down.

30+ at night is a bit of a killer but that only happens for a few nights.

crimsonfire

It's great here but I swear if one more person says "Isn't Ireland owned by England?" I'll scream. People say Americans are ignorant about the outside world well Australians have their moments too :rolleyes:

pclancy

"are you from Scotland?" is asked by so many ozzies and kiwis its funny.

FreeAnd..

I got bored of correcting people that Ireland is not in the UK about 2 years ago...Aussies usually think they are right and I'm wrong (although not as bad as an Finnish guiy who tried to convince me Ireland was in England - not just owned by England, not part of the UK but actually in England...even the concepts of the two separate Islands wouldnt convince him)

pclancy

Ireland's just too small and insignificant for many populations to know much about us. They know about Guinness allright and the fact we drink a lot but lots i've met havent a clue where Ireland is

watna

Hmm, I've found kiwis to be quite good at knowing that I'm Irish from my accent (which is quite mild and getting milder by the day) and where Ireland is etc (i.e. not part of England). Maybe kiwis are a bit more wordly than aussies because they travel more?

FreeAnd..

Maybe kiwis are a bit more wordly than aussies

Hopefully so - looking forward to getting there in the coming weeks - anyone have any good reccomendations on where to live in Auckland...decided to head there for a few months at first anyway

watna

FreeAnd.. wrote: »

Hopefully so - looking forward to getting there in the coming weeks - anyone have any good reccomendations on where to live in Auckland...decided to head there for a few months at first anyway

I'm in Wellington - sorry! I've only been to Auckland for one day. Rabies lives in Auckland. He'll have some good advice

brendansmith

crimsonfire wrote: »

It's great here but I swear if one more person says "Isn't Ireland owned by England?" I'll scream. People say Americans are ignorant about the outside world well Australians have their moments too :rolleyes:

crimsonfire

I don't get it. I need an adult!

FreeAnd..

I'm in Wellington - sorry! I've only been to Auckland for one day. Rabies lives in Auckland. He'll have some good advice

You never know...could head to Wellington instead so I'll keep you in mind for the low down

watna

FreeAnd.. wrote: »

You never know...could head to Wellington instead so I'll keep you in mind for the low down

Fair enough! A lot of people in Wellington hate Auckland. Apparently Auckland is to Wellington what Sydney is to Melbourne!

I actually quite liked Auckland - in the day I was there. Wellington is pretty awesome though. Let me know if you need any advice! Pclancy is in Welly too. What kind of work will you be looking for?

FreeAnd..

watna wrote: »

Fair enough! A lot of people in Wellington hate Auckland. Apparently Auckland is to Wellington what Sydney is to Melbourne!

I actually quite liked Auckland - in the day I was there. Wellington is pretty awesome though. Let me know if you need any advice! Pclancy is in Welly too. What kind of work will you be looking for?

Sweet Thanks...I'm a Software Contractor (Java/J2EE) and might be tempted to Wellington but hopefully will get to spend a few months in both anyway. Just wondering on where to fly into and settle first but will sort all that over the next few weeks - Might come down to the toss of a coin

Crumble Froo

see which is cheaper - auckland or wellington. select cheaper flight. sorted :P

pclancy

Welly will be a bit more expensive to fly to as its a tiny airport that cant handle anything bigger then a Boeing 737. You can fly here from abroad from Auckland, Christchurch, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (i probably forgot some there) and then catch a connecting flight to Wellington.

Wellington is a far better city IMO, better scenery, nightlife, activities, culture, art music and craic, I spent a week in Auckland when I got here and didnt warm to it much, I fell in love with Wellington very quickly. The only bad thing is the weather, its not as warm and much windier then Auckland down here but you cant beat Wellington on a good day! Well worth you experience both places, i'm just sharing my opinion Auckland is a nice place by European standards, I just found it crap at night and quite sprawling with chronic traffic problems and way more crime then Wellington.

There's a good market for Java developers, I'm in IT myself, was contracting as a BA for a Novell retirement project then had a few months off before getting offered a perm hardware support role last Feb. Not sure about contracting but theres always roles on www.seek.co.nz.

Mellor

watna wrote: »

Hmm, I've found kiwis to be quite good at knowing that I'm Irish from my accent (which is quite mild and getting milder by the day) and where Ireland is etc (i.e. not part of England). Maybe kiwis are a bit more wordly than aussies because they travel more?

I've found aussies quite good when it comes to the accent. Maybe its because architecture as an industry is in general is made up of people who are quite well traveled and educated

jank

Christchurch all the way! Crumble will agree with me anyway.:pac:
This place gets less rain than Sydney! Mountains an hours drive away, plenty of beachs only minutes away. Dont think I could live anywhere else in NZ.

Then again I have yet to go to the North Island (And I am here 9 months!:o).