Making applications.

After several exploratory emails with no meaningful response we decided it was time to do more.

First up: an actual telephone call to an actual hospital in Melbourne. This has yielded results of a sort. We have scheduled a phone call with the HR department for Tuesday night. They sound interested in my wife (so to speak)!

Having already spent a few weeks waiting for emails we will hedge our bets. Mary has registered with 3 agencies which are currently advertising suitable positions in Melbourne. She would much rather be employed directly by a trust, but there is a real risk that this may be a mistake. We don't know whether or not the agencies have negotiated better terms than those offered by trusts. An internet search has not been fruitful in this regard, apart from allnurses.com ( a forum claiming over 250,000 members globally). The trust will still have the first opportunity to offer a contract. Then it's over to the agents.

During these periods of waiting we have had time to look into other aspects of our trip.

As Mary will be lead passenger, I will not seek work until we know where Mary will be working. There are lots of other things to consider...

First is to prepare a list of questions for any prospective employer. As well as location, we will be asking about visa assistance and sponsorship, pay, contract duration, training opportunities, skills mix of the ward or team, holidays, and the possibility of short term accommodation on arrival.

We have started to familiarise ourselves with the ins and outs of Melbourne life. Weather, districts, housing, leisure, culture, politics, costs etc.

By all accounts Melbourne weather is very changeable. You can see 4 seasons in one day. Sea fog and lots of rain, milder winters than UK, hotter summers. 41 degrees a couple of days ago - as a tradesman I'm a little worried about working in such heat. It's a small price to pay for our adventure though, and hopfully there will be air-con in the hospitals.

Both of us are fans of 'cafe culure' and 2 place names in Melbourne keep cropping up; St. Kilda and Fitzroy. It sounds like these are places where a lot of people head for bars etc, so we might aim to be within striking distance of these places while trying to avoid the slightly higher rents.

Property costs are rising in Australia (so I'm told) but there seems to be a healthy turnover of rental properties, with small but respectable city apartments costing from 70 GBP per week, double that for a 2 bed with balcony and parking in a good location. Head out of town to the burbs and a nice house can be yours for the price of a 2 bed city apartment.

Another factor to consider at this stage is flights. We are ready to book once an offer is in the bag. One potential problem here is this: it is proving very difficult to buy an open return flight (as in one which will allow us to change our return date beyond one year from departure). To buy one-way tickets is very expensive. Having a flexible return ticket will allow us to head home in an emergency, or to save the ticket for when it is needed. This topic will no doubt be mentioned in a later post.

Cars are more expensive in Australia than in UK. So much so that I am considering shipping my VW camper out there - the 1000GBP cost of doing so can be recovered by selling the van when I'm done with it. They drive on the left out there and I assume the van will need little or no modification to be fit for Aussie roads. Plus we can put some of our stuff in the van and save a couple of hundred pounds in shipping costs. If we decide to travel light (ie me with laptop and tools, Mary with clothes shoes books and more shoes) then the van might just stay in the UK. To ship the van would mean sending it a couple of months before we leave - a bit risky because anything can happen in that time.

The other big thing for us to organise is what to do with our house. We don't want to sell it and are reluctant to rent it out to someone unknown, and don't want to leave it empty. Hmmm. Hopefully we can tempt one of our mates to rent it... or maybe even a temporary house swap with a Melburnian who would like to be a Mancunian for a while.

At this stage sponsored jobs are being sought, visa and Nurses Board paperwork are being compiled, and we are saving for a holiday in Asia on the way out to Oz. So much to do and experience tells me that 6 months will pass quickly.