Move to Aus?

[English Craig]

Hi All

I know some people dont like posts this vague but after searching the forum I couldnt find an answer.

Following a month or so travelling round Aus (not seeing all i wanted to!!) I am looking at emigrating, I loved Perth but am concerned its a bit isolated, my employment chances look best in melbourne - whats the kiting scene like?

Guess basically Im looking for something london doesnt satisfy - i.e. the realistic possibility of hitting the water after work and a healthier more outdoors life.

Literally any pointers advice etc greatly appreciated!!!!!!!

[.Joel]

Hi Craig,

Quite a number of us here live in Melbourne and for kiting in summer it's awsome as we have so many places to go, and everything from waves to flat water. However in winter it's about an hours drive out to use the Northerly winds we get, and the water is, well damn cold to put it mildly and kiting in an offshore here on the bay just doesn't work and is dangerous and super gusty so you need to make that drive in winter.

There's a heap of good spots around Melbourne that a lot of people frequent straight after work, the city being a whole 5 minutes from the closest kiteboarding location also helps however it does get crowded so pick a suburb that has a good route to the beach and you can find your own little spot.

http://www.extremekites.com.au/locations/victoria.html

Regards,

.Joel

[sinbad]

Hi Craig

After emigrating here from London, I live in Adelaide. its central for travel for the type of work i do.

It has metro beaches 15 mins from the city and sea breezes in the summer, Water can be rated as shorts and tshirt in the summer, 3mm wetsuit in the winter.

Melbourne is a good metro city to live in as well, good night life and a lot busier then Adelaide but traveling in the traffic is a real pain. used to live there for 3 years.

Perth is a great city to live in but your right it is isolated but does have a lot going for it regards wind and weather.

i will leave others to talk about Sydney and Brisbane.

Good luck with the move to down under, what type of work do you do ?

[maigais]

Been in adl now for 4 years. Kiting is not crowded at all, no traffic etc. It is like big country town, and I like it. Maybe it's not big in night life, tho for first year I managed to party 4 nights per week, so ...

In my eyes melb is way too crowded. I'd choose something around brisbane or WA.

Is pert isolated, maybe but so is every town in au, have to fly everywhere, so better to pick spot you like as you gonna spend 95% of your time anyway.

this is a great country, and you will like it wherever you go

[koma]

Hi Craig,

As another Melbournite i'm on the water usually atleast twice a week during summer, sometimes up to 4 days of 7 if my work is quiet and i'm able to do the early start - early finish. The seabreeze's usually kick in between 2-3:30pm so if your job allows you to finish at about 3:30-4pm then you'll have a great time.

What line of work are you in?

[English Craig]

Hi All

Thanks for the advice, I currently work in (ironically for someone who has never worked overseas) International Mobility for a large accountancy firm.

I picked out Perth as I fell for the place when I was travelling im just aware its an extreme change and I do at least know of a few people in Melbourne, having never been to adelaide or melbourne I was interested to know what the scene is actually like - i do like the fact that google earth pic for stkilda is covered in kites! Again any further comments / suggestions greatly appreciated im pretty flexible and looking for a change and adventure!

would be particularly interested to hear the stories of and pointers from any brits that made the move!

[English Craig]

hI

Thanks for all the responses greatly appreciate it - guess the myriad of options australia poses is a bit daunting in itself - i currently work for a large international accountancy firm and do sometimes get opportunities overseas, the main concern would be whether the work ethic is london-esque which would make after work sessions difficult.

if anyone has anything to add, other locations of further comments about those mentioned so far its greatly appreciated. Timescale wise im looking at the start of next year - should qualify for high skilled visa even if i dont manage to get a transfer with current employer.

Thanks !

[maigais]

high skilled visa takes about year mate

[Trant]

hI

Thanks for all the responses greatly appreciate it - guess the myriad of options australia poses is a bit daunting in itself - i currently work for a large international accountancy firm and do sometimes get opportunities overseas, the main concern would be whether the work ethic is london-esque which would make after work sessions difficult.

if anyone has anything to add, other locations of further comments about those mentioned so far its greatly appreciated. Timescale wise im looking at the start of next year - should qualify for high skilled visa even if i dont manage to get a transfer with current employer.

Thanks !

I'm a Brit who moved to Sydney from London for 6 years, then back to London for a year and then back to Oz. I'm now in south NSW near Jerivs Bay. I'm a software developer.

In my experience, I've found the work ethic is quite different, people are happier to arrive earlier in order to leave early, and more people are involved in sports than London so it's not uncommon for people to work around sport. Don't get me wrong, people still work hard, there's just less faffing around and so more actually gets done in less time. I may simply been lucky with the companies I worked for though.

I don't know about the nature of your work, but recently I've managed to get work from my London contacts so I can work remotely from home. It means I can kite during the day and catch up with the UK via Skype in the evenings, might be worth talking to your boss about the possibilities?

Kitesurfing wise, in London I had a 2 hour car trip to get to my favourite beach (Hayling), which was occasionally a wasted trip. When it was windy and sunny, I was often sharing it with 40+ kiters.

Now I have a 10 minute drive to my favourite beach and a busy day is 5 other kiters. Quite often I'm alone.

Would I have met you at the Londoner's kiting drinks? I can't remember a Craig, but do you know Bri, Adam, Wookster, Alan, Fred etc?

[BGKD]

I moved from UK to Brisbane last year and haven't looked back.

It really depends on what you are looking for, as you say Perth is a little isolated, and if your looking for something warmer than UK then be warned, it does get cold in Aus over the winter, no, not as cold as UK, but Aus house builders don't really understand things like central heating and insulation, so depending on where you go you will feel the cold.... earlier this year I took a day trip to Melbourne, left Brissy in my work shirt and when I got off the plane in Melbourne it felt like I had just stepped into the bloody Artic!!!

For us when we took all factors into consideration Brisbane was the best choice, work opportunities would have probably been better in Melbourn, Adelaide or even Sydney, Perth is too isolated, and as you go north of Brisbane it just gets hotter and more humid.

As said earlier, the Visa Process takes about a year, which may be a good thing as it gives the £ a chance to recover against the AUD.... it also gives it a chance to get worst....cest la vie!!!

[SoutherlyBuster]

VIC is a bit colder, took me a year to get used to it coming originally from NSW.

Good things in Melbourne:

Top kiting spots, big play ground at Port Phillip Bay and then the beaches on the ocean either side of it.

Close to good lanboarding spots when the wind is too low.

Good work oppertunities, that is why we left NSW.

Norman.

[viob]

Perhaps I can add a few more questions to this thread...

I'm in the process of moving to Melbourne as well. Jobwise contracts are signed and now I wait for the visa paperwork... So if everything goes to plan we should fly out from London beginning of November. Just in time for the summer

It looks like a few of you moved from UK to AUS as well. Perhaps you can give me some tipps how to get the kitesurf stuff down there. So far I looked into international shipping companies as Seven Seas or similar. Takes min 14 days but the price for a golf bag is ok. Any other ideas? As I saw airlines don't offer 'sports equipment' fares as we have on short distance flights across Europe. The airlines I found so far charge per kg which adds up to quite a high price.

Thanks for your help.

Peter

[BGKD]

you will probably find that most of us who moved down here used bulk shipping, ie a 40 foot container which has a 3 month lead time.

Dependant on what visa you get, and Im speaking from knowing only the permanent resident visa (subclass 175), which is different from your sponsored visa, the major airlines (ie Quantas, Singapore etc) will give you a 40Kg per person baggage allowance

[Trant]

Re : shipping.

Ditto, I used "half a container" the first time I moved over but that was paid for by the company.

The last time I moved to Aus I simply shipped 4 boxes of essential stuff and sold my furniture etc. It's amazing how much stuff you realise you don't need!

If you fly via the USA/Canada (and take a nice holiday on the way), you're baggage allowance bumps up to 40kg over two bags. Most airlines will accept one of these bags in "sports" dimensions. This is what I did on my way over last time, stopped off in Vancouver to visit family and then onto Sydney via LA. It means I got my kite gear and the missus got two bags to fill with shoes/handbags etc.

[maigais]

I came with back pack and 1/2 full suit case.

[English Craig]

Hi Apologies for disappearing off having asked a load of questions!

Have decided to book a holiday in Melbourne to have a look around and speak to Aus entity of my company, I am trying to fly my gear out with me, kites are fine as can get in suitcase but board is proving problematic.

Im going to be coming out late feb - has anyone got or know of somewhere i could get a half decent second hand board / rent?

Thanks for all the advice I hope to be puting some of it into practice!

[viob]

I just made the move and arrived here in mid Nov

The bad news is that DHL lost my entire kite equipment on the way to Melbourne... the only thing that survived was the board which I took with me on the plane. I took off the fins and straps to save weight so I needed them new as well now. I think the board - as long it is not a surfboard type - is no problem on the plane. I used Qantas btw. The board is just 3kg and comes out of your lagguage allowance. So if you want to take your kites with you on the plane as well the board is not adding much to the overall weight.

Perhaps this helps.

Enjoy

Peter

[.Joel]

Qantas were great with our luggage, I have a Dakine Air Wagon that splits in 2, one half had all my clothes and gear in it. The other half had 2 boards, 4 kites, 2 harnesses and a few other bits in there. They took it happily, as did Virgin.

Tiger, never again.

[plummet]

flag Aus there's far to many vending machines trying to kill you. let alone all that other silly wild life.

NZ is the place to be for a kiters. on any day of the year will will find wind if your prepaired to drive 4 hours.

[viob]

@.Joel

What's the weight of this bag!!!! 4 kites! 2 boards! And all your other stuff... My problem was that I had only 30kg in total. And moving to a new country required more than just 2 T-shirts and a board short

P

[.Joel]

@.Joel

What's the weight of this bag!!!! 4 kites! 2 boards! And all your other stuff... My problem was that I had only 30kg in total. And moving to a new country required more than just 2 T-shirts and a board short

P

One the way up I took about 46kg. The bag splits in 2, so as long as neither bag is over 30kg or 32kg they're quite friendly and let you on. Same deal with Virgin, standard baggage is $10, sporting baggage is $20. So I pay the $20 for up to 25kg I think it is, but they just let me go with more.

Tiger on the other hand are that anal they even want to weigh your hand luggage. So the trick here is simple, take one half to them, they weigh it then point you to take it yourself over to Oversize baggage. However, their version of "Oversize" is an old school table with a guy standing behind it. They don't actually weigh it. So on your way over clip on the 2nd half, the handles on each end velcro together to look like 1 handle 1 bag, and check it in.

The best effort I have ever seen was Matt from Peter Lynn in New Zealand. I thought "hell i'm picking him up from the airport he won't have that much" so I took the Mrs car instead of the Van. He was sitting there waiting, he had with him 2x buggies, 1 with barrows, the other one with bigfoots (the HUGE wheels), 16 to 20 fixed bridle kites, a couple of Peter Lynn Charger kites plus his own stuff. In NZ he got to the checkout and weighed in with over 100kg of gear, and they let him on without it costing him a cent extra!!!