tyosho:
First picture is the games room in my office.there's the table tennis table,Xbox and that table for mini footballers(don't know what it's called).
Anyone can go there during breaks and there's presently a FIFA competition going on across our floor for football fans

Second picture is us getting ready to celebrate the Indian Diwali festival with our Indian colleagues tomorrow.We had something for Ileya too.

3rd and 4th pictures are me heading to the train station

einsteino:


wait. ur office has a games room? as in are you saying you play at work abi ayam not understanding..?

zanyzara:


That one small sef. I have been to somewhere that they have a standard gym plus the game room.

Zany.

einsteino:


see soft life. so this is standard at Australian workplaces?

kennystones:
Any form of racism in the country?
I black well o

zanyzara:

Dunno ooo. The one I talked about is in Norway sha.

Zany.

tyosho:


I'm thinking though not sure,if you grease some palms,even you sef will get immunization records

tyosho:
views from within and around my office

einsteino:


so cute .. i love it already. u sure say i no go decamp from pursuit of canny pr to aussie pr?

all we see in canny pics is craters of ice.. aswear it must have been in canada that Flavour got inspiration for the song "oyi"

where oga salford1 ? lolz

kennystones:
Any form of racism in the country?
I black well o

tobby1987:
How much will one need to travel to Australia n ow do one start cos I have been lookin for dis opportunity since..awaiting response pls

Blackpromise:
Awesome and inspiring ! pls how do I start the relocation program. Really interested in relocating with my family to Australia.
Thanks while awaiting favourable responses.

tyosho:
It will be nice if this thread is restricted to info about life in australia.Not questions on how to secure visa or gain admission.

My family and I made use of IOM to secure our travel tickets.We went with emirates and had a stopover in Dubai.Nothing special about the travel experience.We were entitled to 40kg per adult,40kg for a child and 23kg for infant.We also paid for 2 extra bags of 32kg each but i hear prices have gone up so cargoing is cheaper.You can cargo through certain airlines like saa,emirates and etihad.
All in all we had like 12 luggages.
I went with ALL kinds of food stuffs except beans(becos of weavils).With my food items,i put them individually in transparent bags and labelled them.Fish,egusi,dry pepper,garri,amala etc.
Got to melbourne,declared i had food items but was not searched and was allowed to go through.

We opened accts with NAB and commonwealth bank but didnt transfer any money from nigera.We went with some cash and left the remaining in a GT dom acct and transferred from there to our OZzy acct when we arrived.We also opened a dom acct in OZ(commonwealth bank was seamless) for ease of transfer.There might be a cheaper way to transfer funds but this is what we did.

We stayed with family in Northern suburbs initially but got our own place in the Eastern suburbs,somewhere not far from Dandenong.We settled for the East because its quite busy,more factories and industries in these areas.If i dont live in the East,I will go for the North and West in that order.West is cheapest but people say it has a history of crime.I however have friends who have lived in the West over 10years and have never had any incidents.Anyhow,wherever you decide to stay is fine.Just get somewhere close to the train station and mall.

In melbourne,you can use your naija license for 6months.My husband passed his victoria drivers test on first attempt,i havnt tried yet for my drivers license.People say though that it can be quite tough cos i know someone who failed 5times!I was able to start driving within 2months of getting here.Just remember,you drive on the left always.

No ideas on how mortgages work but when choosing a neighborhood,also consider ones with good schools if you have kids.If your kids are still of daycare age(below 5),use careforkids.com.au to compare prices,reviews etc.

Settling in was not bad for me cos i had friends and family here already.My kids settled fine as well.

Upon arrival;
Get a mobile sim(i use lebara)
Apply for TFN(tax file no)
Open a bank account or go and activate the one you opened from Nigeria
Go to centerlink and medicare for registration
Get a travel card(MYki card if in melbourne).

Update your linkedin profile and make it very appealing to recruiters.You can also search for recruiters on Linkedin.

With regards to work,there is always something to do.It might not be want you want initially but there is work.Some people start off working at factories,aged care homes,disability and support centres etc until they eventually get what they want.Some people also end up going into nursing,community welfare,policing etc.But like i said,if you dont mind chopping humble pie to start somewhere earning money with these blue collar jobs,you will be okay.I know people who have houses with money earned from these blue collar professions.
There is dignity of labour here so people dont care what job you do to earn money.

For transportation,if you can afford it,pls plan to buy a car asap(carsales.com.au,gumtreee.com.au).please buy cars with roadworthiness and valid registration(at least 6months).If no car,you can use the metro system until you can afford to get a car here.

For housing,a friend referred us to her agent who leased us an apartment even though we didnt have jobs at the time.She accepted our bank statements as proof of income.We pay just a little below 2k monthly as rent.

Then i also just found out about NRAS housing scheme from a colleague days back.Its for families who fall within a certain income threshold.IF your rent was like 350,you would pay like 260 and the govt will pay the balance.I dont have much info as i dont qualify anymore since hubby and I both work now.But im certain most freshbies would qualify.

With furnishing the house,we went across gumtree.com(for people who were selling their furniture due relocation or other reasons),kmart stores( for kitchen items),bestbuy.com(this is a company that sells new electronics at reduced prices because they have scratches or marks on them;there are plenty stores like that but this is the one i patronised) and ikea stores(for kitchen and beddings)

For people that dont mind as well,in order to save costs,you can patronise Salvos stores(its a charity shop that all kinds of household items in great condition).

To get the best energy providers,internet providers,insurance etc,you can make use of iselect.com.au

During cold weather,you wear jacket and use heater(we paid almost 200 a month for heating during this past winter)

I do most of my shopping at Dandenong Market as food stuffs there is cheaper than everyother place I know.There is also Marmara market at Dandenong(all kinds of food items including shaki,cowleg,cow tongue etc) and an African store not far from the market(cant rememeber the name).At noble park is SUR african shop where i get dry fish,palm oil,egusi and stuff like that.

With departmental stores,woolworths is most expensive and aldi is cheapest.Coles is in between.
I know of only one nigerian restaurant that recently opened in the city and i have never been there before.
There is also another popular naija shop in the West called Fatimoh"s shop

With centerlink link claims,we were paid family tax benefit part A and B,family rebate and child care assistance.This all sumed up to $621 forthnightly for the first 4months,it came down to 550 and then now sits at $89 fortnightly.It reduces with every income increase.
Childcare rates was $113 for two kids initially (5days a week) and now is $370 a week.

We also got a concession card which has now been cancelled since we both have jobs.With the concession card,we paid discounted electricity and waterbills,half price for transportation,free ambulance cover,susbsizied fees if we had done any studies at the time and my first kid who is in kinder got 15hours free of daycare weekly .

With jobs,for me,it was just God.I got a job in the Tier 1 team of an IT company with no technical knowledge whatsover.It was my 3rd video interview and i got the job two months after arrival.I commute 54mins by train to the CBD which is quite a distance by OZ standard.But i dont mind really.I got the job through indeed.com which i prefer to seek.com
There a couple of recruitment agencies i know and i will list as i remember.

Strategy one(blue collar)
Adecco
Hoban
Ozstaff(blue collar)
Randstad
Sharp &carter
Hays
Smaart



cc Bellong,vinsmuft,funkjo,oknee,hordunayo,incemay,abeg you guys should come and add o

tbsnoni:


How do I survive with a tourist visa in australia

rinzylee:
Chai.... Bellong no get chill o.


Australia was built by Criminals so they easily catch criminals o.

Teejah80:
@tyosho thank you for doing Justice to this quest,all the above information will help we coming to OZ in few weeks to know what to do.Oga bellong,I greet you.am also seizing this opportunity to beg you guys in Queensland to come and share your experience about regional areas in Queensland.I and my family would be coming with visa 489,I know we are not entitle to Medicare, how about centrelink,can we register for that and what is the cost of taking health insurance,I have a child who is just five years old,when does the new session resume and what is the cost of school fee in Queensland state and how easy to get a job in regional areas as I and hubby wouldn't mind any job for a start.cc Uchenna2017.

kennystones:
Any form of racism in the country?
I black well o

einsteino:


wait. ur office has a games room? as in are you saying you play at work abi ayam not understanding..?

suurutu:
"How easy was it to settle in, with your kids? How did you go about finding the right schools for them? What is their school system like for toddlers (age 5 and below)? Will kids already in primary school continue with their classes or get reshuffled?"

Biko, my people with experiences on the above should comment on this too to quell a mother's fear

Gracias!

kennystones:
Any form of racism in the country?
I black well o

suurutu:
"How easy was it to settle in, with your kids? How did you go about finding the right schools for them? What is their school system like for toddlers (age 5 and below)? Will kids already in primary school continue with their classes or get reshuffled?"

Biko, my people with experiences on the above should comment on this too to quell a mother's fear

Gracias!

kamotisha:
Tyosho,
Thanks for doing justice as usual I don dey pack my boxes o.

It's wonderful to have a thread like this.

Oya oga Vinsmuft, 4mula22, catchwind4rmkd....pls report to the diary room here ....come and top up

I hope to contribute my own quota soon by God's grace.

Meanwhile, these IOM people take forever to reply mails o

rinzylee:
Chai.... Bellong no get chill o.

savagery at its peak...

Well if your tourist visa expires.... leave o.. I watched border patrol today and it wasn't funny o.

oyibo no dey play o.

Australia was built by Criminals so they easily catch criminals o.

einsteino:


so cute .. i love it already. u sure say i no go decamp from pursuit of canny pr to aussie pr?

all we see in canny pics is craters of ice.. aswear it must have been in canada that Flavour got inspiration for the song "oyi"

where oga salford1 ? lolz