Essentials for moving

Faith

Hi all,

My brother is moving to Australia early in the New Year. This is making buying Christmas presents for him very difficult, as he'll have to leave all the usual stuff behind (books, DVDs, etc). Can you suggest anything that you found to be really useful/essential during your move that I might be able to get him? I have a limited budget though. He's moving there with his wife for a few years and will be working and studying there.

All suggestions appreciated!

Zambia

We moved here last year Faith give me a wee bit too think about it and I will get back to you.

mel.b

What about a lonely planet guide of OZ (or even the state they are moving too) if they don't already have one. Then they can plan things to do on the weekend? I still use and refer to my Ireland lonely planet guide 2 years after moving if I'm looking for something to do.

or a gift voucher for flights with virgin blue or qantas so they can do and do some exploring? You can purchase these online.

If they have a GPS you could get the australian version of the maps or whatever it is GPS's use ( I don't have one, but would have come in handy when I first moved to Ireland)

or a gift voucher for somewhere like Myers/Grace Bros/Target (all sell homewares etc) I think they were some of my biggest expenses when setting up here in Ireland.

HTH,
Mel.b

Zambia

Yes a sat nav is really handy.

Dick Smiths may do vouchers or online sales. If you come across a model I can price it for you here as ones brought here have all the maps of australia.

They are Pricey.

Second Optinon is a Melways(Victoria) its like a street guide but they are released every year and everyone has one. They cost about $50 but are well worth it as. If he is in another state post on here and someone will tell you.

Another good start is a prepaid vodafone sim card and a $49 dollar cap (top up). This will give him $320 in credit which he can use to ring anywhere. Here in Australia you have to register all pre-paid sims to yourself before use so just buy the sim and the top up and let him off.

As its into summer consider insect repellent and Sunscreen. If you are near Boots they have a product called Once. Its an all day sunscreen you cant get here. It feels like tiling grout going on but for blokes its brillant as once its on you can just forget about it.

Thongs (flip flops) we live in Thongs here.

Diamondmaker

A nice pair of sunnies :cool:

brendansmith

Diamondmaker wrote: »

A nice pair of sunnies :cool:

They are essential here. +1

sonners

A travel size first aid kit, should be able to pick one up for 30 euro or so in most chemists. Its somehing that people rarely buy themselves but if u need it its a god send

Faith

Zambia232 wrote: »

Second Optinon is a Melways(Victoria) its like a street guide but they are released every year and everyone has one. They cost about $50 but are well worth it as. If he is in another state post on here and someone will tell you.

Another good start is a prepaid vodafone sim card and a $49 dollar cap (top up). This will give him $320 in credit which he can use to ring anywhere. Here in Australia you have to register all pre-paid sims to yourself before use so just buy the sim and the top up and let him off.

As its into summer consider insect repellent and Sunscreen. If you are near Boots they have a product called Once. Its an all day sunscreen you cant get here. It feels like tiling grout going on but for blokes its brillant as once its on you can just forget about it.

All great ideas, thanks. He's going to Brisbane, so what's the guide for there?

A sat nav is WAY out of my budget! It's a recession, and I'm a student!

diamondmaker wrote: »

A nice pair of sunnies :cool:

That's way too personal a choice. He's probably hate whatever I chose from him. I have to spend hours trying out sunglasses to find a suitable pair!

Thanks for all the suggestions, keep them coming!

Zambia

Hmm ok

If he buys himself a Sat nav you can purchase a safety camera Subscription for him. About 50 bucks

Brisway is the Brisbane version(I think) you could possibly buy it online and have it delivered to him on arrival. Can any of the brisbane heads Mahatma? confirm this.

Another thing could be a RACQ gift card they can then decide what to use it towards when they get there.

http://www.racq.com.au/

If they have a car over there.

Daithio

Try to subtely find out if he has a decent guide book yet. He'll defo need one if he doesn't, and it won't set you back more than 15 or 20 squids.

Doc

Irish to Australian plug adapters would be good.

603304529

Doc wrote: »

Irish to Australian plug adapters would be good.

Those things are a pain in the neck. Instead, as I saw someone else suggest on these boards, get a power board here, and get an Aussie plug put on it over there - much less painful!

samhail

bottle of jack daniels costs 20 quid !
give it to him the day before and he will sleep like a baby on the 20hour flight over