64 days... and counting

[Tiggy]

First up - a BIG thank you to everyone who assisted me with my zillion questions 4 months ago when I first was exploring this grand plan of living in Bali for a couple of years.

The time has flown by and now its about 2 months until I wave goodbye to aus for a while. Doing uni part time online atm, and will transition to full time in January. Everything is coming together now, but its getting close and a few details to sort out so I don't have to many nasty surprises. (the prep budget already has been blown out with unexpected costs... /sigh)

My biggest concern right now is getting some personal items over there. I am going on the sosbud so I know I can't really bring much. The worry is the giant stack of uni books I will need over the next 2 years. If I brought them on the flight they would likely take up most of my luggage allowance so I need to get a good plan. From what I read on here, getting items in is a real challenge, especially with no kitas. I think I might just have to suck up the excess baggage fee's ($14/kg) to ensure it gets there safely, and take the bus up to Darwin as qantas baggage charges are seriously insane.

Do you guys know if I have to get any additional books shipped over, will be a hassle at customs? I do hope to bring them all with me but ya never know.

If I send my passport in to get the social visa, is it used the first time you enter Bali or can i get a VOA and then use it the next time? This would allow me to do 2 air trips and bring more luggage hehe. I will be using the Darwin consulate mail service since I live in the middle of the middle of nowhere.

I know for one of the visa renewal cycles you can't just give all the docs to the agent, but you have to attend in person. Which one is this? I ask because I'll be over in Lombok for a couple of months.

I know people ask all the time, but are there any things you suggest I bring with me that are hard to get? I know shoes (size 42 ladies), bra's, and undies since I am not asian sized). Can you find decent body weight scales over there? I am a scale addict since I've been on this health kick.

Everything else is looking good though. Found a way to qualify for a couple months of austudy (in country language study) and a possible grant, house situation is mostly under control, internet is mostly under control, got a local visa agent lined up to save me the hassles. My sponsor friend has been a legend in sorting out everything.

The only hard stuff left to do is sell my 4wd and tell my CEO I'm outta here. Not looking forward to either of those things.

Looking forward to catching up with you guys when I finally get there!


Cheers,

Christine

 

[alphonso]

The worry is the giant stack of uni books I will need over the next 2 years. If I brought them on the flight they would likely take up most of my luggage allowance so I need to get a good plan. From what I read on here, getting items in is a real challenge, especially with no kitas. I think I might just have to suck up the excess baggage fee's ($14/kg) to ensure it gets there safely, and take the bus up to Darwin as qantas baggage charges are seriously insane.Christine

$14 per kg excess baggage is, well, excessive. Don't go with Qantas, try another airline that doesn't rip you off as much with baggage fees. Eg. Jetstar from Syd to Bali charges $33 for your standard 20kg allowance, $60 for 30kg and $70 for 40kg. From Darwin it's $28, $50 and $60.

Do you guys know if I have to get any additional books shipped over, will be a hassle at customs?

I brought in 10kgs of books in my checked luggage and no one paid any attention.

 

[spicyayam]

Text books seemed like quite a bit of a scam at university. Not only are they very expensive, but often you would never have to use them and the lecturers never even referred to them other than the first day when they said you need to go out and buy them! You would think that in this day age everything would be available electronically.

From memory, I think it was the 2nd renewal that you needed to get fingerprinted and photographed. Your agent should be able to confirm. If you get a social visa in Australia, then that is the visa you will enter the country on.

Someone on the forum has mentioned Jetta before which you might want to check out: Jetta Express. Payless for Excess Baggage

 

[Tiggy]

spicy - Ya that textbook thing is rather annoying. In the past there were very few I bought - mainly for vet science and even those I was able to skip a pile. This behavioural science thing is very different and man, I have totally had to have the books for the courses. The buggers are taking all the exam questions outta the test bank of the text book so not to have them = less than the HD average I need. So far the textbook bill is looking to be about 2K - part of those unexpected budget blowouts. If I was just being in aus I could take the chance and just pick them up as needed - being in bali makes it a whole new kettle of fish.

Thanks for the link - will have a look in depth later. Looks like no go for darwin though. Thanks for the info on the photograph stuff. Will have to send an email to my agent. This could end badly since I will be in lombok on a uni trip at that time. Ug! May need to rework things a bit.

alphonzo - hmm will check jetstar. I already have my tickets booked via air asia, which include 30kg (upgraded) for the bargain price of $120. Since it looks like once I get that darned visa in my passport, doing a double trip just isn't going to work. Oh well. I reckon 14/kg isn't to bad - works out about the same price as sending stuff via aus post actually.

 

[Tiggy]

Oh and in case anyone was interested, I found out from my new agent that they do the fingerprints / pics on the first extension. I am a very happy chicka now!!!

oh and my other visa agent is now in jail, apparently running drugs to your addict husband who was locked up is not a good plan in bali. Who woulda thought it /facepalm.

 

[ronb]

............

If I send my passport in to get the social visa, is it used the first time you enter Bali or can i get a VOA and then use it the next time? This would allow me to do 2 air trips and bring more luggage hehe. I will be using the Darwin consulate mail service since I live in the middle of the middle of nowhere. ...........

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It think the answer is yes, they will use your social visa when you first arrive.