hello all,
i was just reading the comments on albion park and the illawarra, and while skippys comments are always good, (helpful and full of info), i feel that maybe the people on this site would like to know about my wife and myself(s) move to the illawarra, as i know skippy moved here a long time ago and is retired?, possibly, so he will have a different point of view than someone like me who is relativley new to the area.
firstly regarding jobs etc. it all depends on what you were used to in the uk, i was a boilermaker/welder from the north east of england and over the years that part of uk has certainely seen bad times, worse than anything here, in my opinion. we arrived last year in june, and within 3 weeks had both secured full time jobs, my wife as a retail manager and me in a manufacturing plant. my wife is permanent and i am on a contract till june but i have been told, off the record , that i will get a permanent job in june. i am not worried in the slighest as i know i can get work even if it means going back into my trade. this part of oz is not booming as other parts are but skippy is correct in saying that there are lots of things happening here. even in our short time here there are developments happening all around us. i was used to contracting in the uk so if i had to do that again i would, you could always 'fly in , fly out', to the mines in western australia, people who live here do. here is the bit when i get controversial, both in my wife and my experience in the oz workplace we have found that we are, how shall i put it, firing on all six cylinders and at least 60% or more of aussies are not!!!. true they seem to work more overtime at the drop of a hat than say a brit would, especially in heavy industry, but as i said before our employers are really impressed with our performances at work, and i have only worked about 10% of the overtime i have been offered. i just turn up everday and get on with my job with the minimum of fuss, and the plane fact of the matter is that a lot of aussies won't/can't do that. before people start slagging me off cos they have oz relatives etc. i too have family here and all the children , who are my age 30+, are aussies born and bred, and they all agree with my above statment. one of my relatives who works in a supervisory capacity for a large company, said and i quote," one of the worst problems with australian industry is misbehaviour in the workplace ", drug use and abuse is also rife in oz.i know that not everyone will have had this experience and i hate to generalise but i would say to anyone intending to come to the illawarra or oz in general, you will have to have some skills/trade to get a visa and you DEFINETLY will have bags of get up and go or you wouldn't be applying to emigrate as it is a massive step, we are just settling now after 9 months in the country.with those things behind you i feel it would be hard not to succeed, although i know people have failed. if we were to find ourselves in dire straits , we would pack our bags and go and live in another part of oz, its such a big place and we both know there are more opportunites in oz than in uk.
we live in a lovely home in albion park right on the edge of the fields with mountains all around us, we both have jobs, which we got out of the paper!!!, our family have been great for us , but we got our own jobs and our own house and cars, this suburb is really quiet and the equivalent home in the uk would be out of our reach. we live minutes drive from the escarpment and the road up to the highlands and we are also not far from the beautiful beaches....perfect!!!.
there are rough areas here as in uk, but we don't live in one so, who cares,there is also crime but again its relative to where you come from, its a lot quieter than where we were from in the uk and albion park is really quiet, there are not as many 'new' brit migrants here but if you want that go to perth. in albion park there is only one pub and a couple of clubs, but we mainly socialise round peoples houses. the temprature here is good not to hot and not to cold, and i should know i work outside!!. house price wise you get more here for your money than else where in oz and i would thouroughly reccomend Albion Park as a suburb to live in.
also , skippy i hope you don't think that i'm having a go at your posts, its just i felt as a new migrant my opinion might be worth something......keep up your good work promoting the illawarra!!!!.
johnd.
p.s.if anyone has any other questions feel free to pm me.
[quote=johnd;216521]
skippy i hope you don't think that i'm having a go at your posts, its just i felt as a new migrant my opinion might be worth something.
johnd, why should I think that ? that is the best post I've seen on here in a while & I agree with you 100%, Your opinions can help others a lot more than mine can, you are doing it now, not in the middle ages like we did, it is a lot different these days to what it was 38 years ago when we came here, we had the hostels to fall back on and many agencies to help migrants find work, homes etc, the Park was a village back then & had the best paying mine on the coast at the top of Yellow Rock Road.
Talking about work ethics etc, my wife went to work some years ago as a casual, she finished up running the office of a multi national company because of her commitment to the job, that didn't go down well with a few of her workmates, but then again, they were lazy, took days off etc and had no ambitions, when it comes to working hours, I did the same as you, turn up each day and gave my best, I worked to live, not live to work, and got a lot of work by being reliable, I found that the majority of blokes who did all the overtime shifts, did it to feed their gambling & drinking habits rather than make life easier for their families etc, I went down that road for a short while.
It's funny to think that I refused to get on the bus at the airport to come to the Gong, just because of what people had said about this area, we were supposed to only come here for 2 days then go back and live in Sydney, when I saw the coastline from Bulli Tops I changed my mind, thank goodness, because I never would have settled there.
I'm glad to hear that things are working out for you, it's very hard to settle, even with some family here, I wouldn't want to relive my first 4 years again, but I'm so glad I stuck it out now.
RVN, you're right about the 2 vets, there is one just down the road from us, but the dog likes the one at A/P rail better, so we go there, our dog is a 10 year old Staffie bitch.
I take the dog to a beach at Port Kembla, it is in the industrial part, so not many people go there, it is on the northern side of what is called Hill 60, there is also a long beach on the southern side that runs from Port K to windang, there is access to the middle of the beach from a couple of streets at Windang.
Council's don't allow dogs on the beaches, but as long as you keep away from the surf beaches & pick up any mess, no one bothers, I even let her swim in Belmore Basin at the Gong Harbour, Shellharbour south beach & Kiama during the week when there's no one around, it's all common sense really and many people do it.
Great posts Skippy and johnd,its really refreshing to have such honest views on the area.We are maybe looking to move to that area(I have spoken to you before Skippy and you have been really helpfull)My hubby is a hard working joiner,so hopefully there will be a job for him somewhere?!!Sarah++
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Hoping to live our dream in N.S.W:smile:
Gday Sarah, it's like the old saying, you have to learn to crawl before you can walk, so you take anything for starters, then you can take your time looking for what you really want to do, I think johnd is doing that.
They don't have joiners here, they're all carpenters, haven't met a poor one yet, ha ha, all the best with everything.
RVN, these are the beaches that you won't have problems taking the dogs, I took these today.
This is just south of the Port K harbour & the worst beach in the area would you believe.
This is Fishermans beach, just below Hill 60 where all these pics were taken & seperated from the other beach by the rocky headland.
RVN, this is the main Port Kembla surf beach that goes all the way to Windang, the surf beach section is under the side of the hill & out of site in this shot, so you can have a good walk with the dogs or get on halfway by going up the side streets of Windang, in the middle of the pic, across lake Illawarra, is Albion Park covered in mist from the rain falling on top of the mountain range, the houses in this pic are worth a million dollars, a lot different to the other side of PK.
This is what Port K is all about, the steelworks, it's not smoke in the air, it's rain clouds, this is the highest chimney in the southern hemisphere and due to be demolished, as the copper smelter has been closed down for a few years now.
Hi All
We're coming out for a weeks recce & I just wanted to pick your brains please? We're definitely going to move to the Illawarra region but we're not sure exactly where yet. We've got a couple of spaniels so all the info on beaches we can walk them on is fantastic Skippy - our Springer loves water & running everywhere!
My OH is going to be working in Moss Vale & I believe several people there commute from the Gong & surrounding areas - my OH'd prefer not to use the windy, hilly road but I believe there's another route at the top of the Gong. So he doesn't mind commuting, but I'm not keen as I'd like to continue to be able to pop home at lunchtime & let the dogs out etc.
So, can anyone recommend a commutable, nice area that has rentals which allow pets & likely to have jobs locally for a bookkeeper (I work as a company accountant in the UK but never took my exams)
Many thanks
Rachel & Bernie (& Henry & Charlie - wuff!)
Ive been there!!! and I actually have sat on that bench too (3rd picture) and looked out to sea gazing out at the island just off the coast there (big island I think?)... Thanks skippy..great pictures...god I feel home sick already...Its all so gorgeous...Was not so keen on Port Kembla as a place...can't remember why...but hey for dog walking though..looks fine..hey perhaps when all of us get over we should meet up with our pooches.
Lovely pictures Skippy,I am not jealous(MUCH!!!!!!!)I might watch "The man who sued God" on T.v tonight(its set in Burmagui)Then again I might not or I may have to turn to drink.We are enjoying snow and lots of mud here in the U.K.Take care.....Sarah
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Hoping to live our dream in N.S.W:smile:
