Originally Posted by
Trevor Hannant
We arrived out here mid-February and are leaving towards the end of July, so just under 5 and a half months here. We have a week back home in April with flights paid for by NATS. I'm not sure how that'll work for you being in Sydney though, unless you're currently in the UK? If you're in the UK, they'll get you back to either Gatwick, Manchester or Glasgow/Edinburgh but after that, you need to get your own way home from there. How long you get home for will depend on when you come out - we get a week, others who're here over Christmas get longer, it's a luck of the draw in that sense.
It is possible to have family come out to you while you're here - we've got people whose other halves are visiting for a weekend and, depending on the size of the room, they're happy to stick another bed in for a guest staying and issue (and very minimal cost) a meal card should they want to eat on site rather than out. While I'd suggest that heading back to the UK wouldn't be a great idea given flight times, there's no reason family can't come out to you.
The big reason for me coming here was financial - I'm saving a good amount being here (while other half remains in UK) which will help when it comes to finding somewhere to stay near CTC for the second half of the course. Unless you're within commutable distance, or can afford to run your home and a shared flat etc on the college salary, I'd give serious consideration to Jerez rather than dismissing it out of hand.
The secondary reason for me picking Jerez was it's an Area course - my next alternative was Global at Gloucester which would have been Aerodrome/Approach so that really firmed it up for me given my preference to have done Area (although I'd not have complained if I'd been put on the Global course with no other option).
Hope this helps!
First off, thanks to everyone for their input so far. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed I'll be able to use this information come mid-April time!
My time is Australia is coming to an end around August so we'll be based back in UK again. With the option of my wife living with her parents for the 6 months I'd be away it is certainly an attractive option, plus I like the idea of her being able to visit now and again.
Accommodation around CTC is insanely priced IMO (500 a month for a room in a shared house...) so being able to save up enough to cover a few months once back seems like a no brainer. On top of that the Jerez training centre does look impressive on their website.
Did you get an option for area/approach/aerodrome? I got the impression it's basically whatever they need at the time, logic suggests there would be more positions for area at any one time but when I asked at CTC they seemed to say it's relatively balanced.