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"As many of you know, January 2003 saw Alice and I leave the safety of Johannesburg (South Africa) behind and take a big step through the looking glass into the land of Oz. One year later finds us settled in Neutral Bay, a suburb of Sydney.

Although moving was the right decision for many reasons, it has not been easy or simple. We did a fair bit of research before our move, but we still managed to make a couple of "mistakes" that could have avoided IF (the big if) we had had just a little better insight into the unknown.

Each person's experience of the great trek is different, but we believe that we have some clues to making the transition a little easier for you. That is the main reason for our website - to provide you with information "and the things we wish someone had told us" - Mark

 

So what's in this website?
We have tried to keep things simple, while covering an ever increasing field of topics. The main areas of the website are:
 
The basics: the bulk of the website, this section considers all the questions you should need to answer...
  as you leave home   getting your career back on track
  as you arrive in Oz   what things cost
  when buying property in Oz   subscribing to the basic services
  to sort out your finances    and some general but useful links
Facts on Australia: this should give you very good insight into your new domicile. We paint the Ozzie picture by discussing everything from the geography, economy, climate, entertainment, social norms, some stats, the states and much more.
About us: If you don't know us, this section helps you get perspective of who has authored the website. It helps gauge the pinch of salt measurement.
Our community: The idea behind the community section is to give regular contributors to the website the opportunity to get some exposure.

What's the catch
Sadly (from a purely economic viewpoint), there is no catch. We provide you the information gratis, asking you for your comments and welcoming you back if you find the site useful. By you telling others of the site, we hope to grow the community of information contributors (because life has proven that I don't always know better). And everyone is welcome to contribute - so just drop me an email. 

Stay abreast of developments
A totally voluntary registration of your email address on the website will enable us to keep you informed of changes to the site. We will be sending out monthly newsletters very much like this one with some highlights and indexes into the information. Register if you want to receive the newsletter again. Otherwise just pop in every now and then and see the "what's new" section.

Our contact details
Email markcc@bigpond.net.au
  		Web www.beluba.com.au/ww3/

© MAC 2004