Alas, we have American passports. I suspect we’ll be in for a thorough inspection. Inside and out. You’d think that the prior inspections we’ve had for the visas and the work security clearance would have sufficed…

I appreciate your thorough answer. We’re flying Qantas both into and out of Sydney. It seems like the Qantas transfer desk will be helpful to a degree, but the big bottleneck is customs. Naturally, we’re scheduled to arrive at 0605, so right in the peak of traffic. Plus, we’re moving, so we’ll have more luggage than we normally would, and we’ll have our 6 year old with us too. I’m sure it’ll be spicy.

My wife appreciates your suggestions there. She’s all about the Thin Mints. I lean heavily towards the Samoas/Caramel deLites.

Thanks for the heads up on that. I figured it would be something of that sort. We’ll definitely miss the Girl Scouts and their damned cookies selling at the entrances here.

So far, trying to buy Australian-spec adapters in the US is like asking a fish for lasagna. I was barely able to find power cables for the few electronics we’re bringing with us. I briefly thought about getting a handful of travel adapters, but they’re silly expensive for what you get, and the others seem super sketchy.

I figured, worst case scenario, we’ll grab a couple at the airport or the local shop and order more from Amazon or something later

Thanks! We are very much looking forward to introducing our little one to the glory that is IKEA. We expect to furnish with a fair amount from there, initially.

Many thanks for all that. I was wondering how Kmart and Target translated across the water. I’m definitely looking forward to visiting Bunnings (Hammer Barn?) for a sausage and restocking the tool collection.

We’re going be calling Queensland/Brisbane home. Still sussing out which suburbs will fit our educational and proximity to work needs.

So far general consensus says look more into the credit unions. That would be an easier jump for us, since we’ve been with one for a lifetime here.

We’ve seen recommendations for Commonwealth Bank of Australia as a way to get started easily and then possibly move to a more permanent provider.

Seems to be very similar to the US system. Not quite sure why I was expecting any drastic differences. Thanks!

Appreciate the suggestions. I thought to start here since we’ll be setting up home in Brisbane. Posted now in those other communities.

It’s been a matter of priorities. A few prerequisites for even being employed in Australia and making the journey over. While I had a minute, I thought I might try to get a high level “banks bad, credit unions good” or whatever sort of overview. Thanks for the input, mate. Good on ya.

Appreciate heads up on the superannuation. I understand the company to pay 14% of base pay into super, on top of “normal” pay. I’ll verify though. All the tax stuff as an expat has me spinning. Fortunately we shouldn’t have to worry too much until next year.

Got it, smuggling in cases of Dr Pepper in our lift. Check. Do you prefer your kickback in cans or cash?

Nice, thanks for that!

I appreciate the commentary, especially about loading up on the Mexican food. I had a sneaking suspicion that we’d end up having to make our own more often than not.