Positive Emigrating To Australia True Life Stories

Ok I have been asked to start a thread by a couple of members now. This thread is for members who have moved to Australia and love it here, it's the stories of their ups and downs and successes and how living in Australia has improved their lifestyle etc.

Warning - Any negative comments on this thread will be deleted, if we miss one just hit the report button.

make it a sticky too

make it a sticky too

Yes boss lady

Me, OH and DD age 6 moved to Queensland last June 2012. We stayed at a holiday let in Noosavilee for 5 weeks whilst OH (EC&I Engineer) looked for work :err: I have to say it was very daunting on arrival having never been to Australia before. We were jet lagged and scared half to death lol. Looking for work was tricky at first, getting to know what and how to search, tweak CV abit more but hey presto after 5 weeks OH got offered a fantastic job in Central Queensland! Perfect location for us as we're not and never intended to be city dwellers. I have to say he's on a great salary and never had it so good. The amazing climate here suits us, we're always out and about, taken up camping, Kayaking, going to the beach! Apart from the odd grizzle and at times it's still hard and still getting used to the culture, these things really do take time and patience but thanks to the glorious weather and super lovely locals in our area we have made a really go start. We certainly live a good life now, doing wayyyyy more than we would of or could have afforded back in the UK. My Daughter has a truly amazing state school and is very happy there. We still take things slowly and a month at a time but for now we are as happy as we can be....and long may it continue.......

Im not one for writing much but hope this all make sense :wubclub:

Me, OH and DD age 6 moved to Queensland last June 2012. We stayed at a holiday let in Noosavilee for 5 weeks whilst OH (EC&I Engineer) looked for work :err: I have to say it was very daunting on arrival having never been to Australia before. We were jet lagged and scared half to death lol. Looking for work was tricky at first, getting to know what and how to search, tweak CV abit more but hey presto after 5 weeks OH got offered a fantastic job in Central Queensland! Perfect location for us as we're not and never intended to be city dwellers. I have to say he's on a great salary and never had it so good. The amazing climate here suits us, we're always out and about, taken up camping, Kayaking, going to the beach! Apart from the odd grizzle and at times it's still hard and still getting used to the culture, these things really do take time and patience but thanks to the glorious weather and super lovely locals in our area we have made a really go start. We certainly live a good life now, doing wayyyyy more than we would of or could have afforded back in the UK. My Daughter has a truly amazing state school and is very happy there. We still take things slowly and a month at a time but for now we are as happy as we can be....and long may it continue.......

 

Im not one for writing much but hope this all make sense :wubclub:

Sounds amazing, where do you go camping?

Only been a few places so far but Byfield State Forest, Bagara Bundy, Sunshine Coast. Our plan in the next year is a Trip to Cairns though. We would love to bush camp but were not experienced enough yet lol and need a little more equipment on our 4x4. Baby steps!

Only been a few places so far but Byfield State Forest, Bagara Bundy, Sunshine Coast. Our plan in the next year is a Trip to Cairns though. We would love to bush camp but were not experienced enough yet lol and need a little more equipment on our 4x4. Baby steps!

Sounds lovely.

Emigrated here just over 3 years ago. It took a very long time to get our visa"s ( there were various changes that DIAC made during the process that kept putting us to the back of the queue ) and selling our house was a nightmare for various reasons mainly that the value dropped by over £30,000. Anyway we managed to salvage approx £10,000 from the sale of the house after debts were paid and visa application paid. We engaged Go Matilda even though we were strapped for cash and in hindsight it was one if the best decisions we ever made. We had a very small 70's 3 bed semi with one bathroom with a tiny garden and we moved into our smaller rental to wait out the visa wait. We waited in total 18 months then finally 6 months later we hopped on the plane with a son a daughter very little money but a determination to make this work. My OH had had two tentative job offers but they were really more like " pop in when you get here " so nothing was certain. I'd chosen the area because a few friends that I'd met both on here were already there and loving it.

We secured a rental within the first two weeks in our holiday home and it was the first one we looked at and the first one we applied for . My OH went to the workplace of one of the job offers. They gave him a casual interview and told him to start work the following Monday ( it was Thursday!) he's still there 3 years later! We now have our own brand newly built home and I have two part time jobs. Life is good, we feel blessed and feel like we have a mini holiday most weekends. We've not pushed ourselves too hard financially preferring a cheaper house in a cheaper suburb with a cheaper brand new car. No debts well apart from a smallish mortgage and we've swapped from that 3 bed semi to a 4x2 with a theatre room, study just over a kilometre from a beautiful beach. We live 10 minutes from Mandurah "city" with its restaurants bars and my favourite wine bar. Looking forward to citizenship in 10 months time. We've made some lovely Aussie friends and some lovely Brits too.

I suppose our story starts quite a number of years ago. When OH and I first started dating in 1998 we realised that we both had a desire to live and work overseas, although because we were both at uni the time wasn't right. Fast forward a few years, we were married, with one daughter and a second on the way, OH phoned me from work one day to tell me that he had been approached by his company as a potential candidate to move over to Australia, because they were going to be expanding in to Australia. Took me about 10 milliseconds to decide I was game for it if he was. We were renovating the house, so we got on with that, put the house on the market and came over to Australia to meet with the Australian end of his company and have a look at potential areas for his practice. We signed up and returned back from our holiday to sort out the visa etc.

One day after our youngest daughters first birthday, in Feb 2009, we waved goodbye to our family and friends, and made the journey over to Australia, with a freshly granted 457 in our sticky mitts! We had pre-arranged a rental from the UK with the help of a relocation agent, so the morning after we arrived in Sydney we moved to our new (temporary) home. We had a few ups and downs in those first few months, I started to become depressed because I wasn't having much luck in meeting people, and was having a huge amount of pressure put on me to do that by certain family members. We didn't like the suburb that we had rented in particularly, there wasn't anything wrong with it per se, it was just a bit noisier and in the middle of things than we were used to. However, OH was getting on well at work, so we looked around and bought a beautiful house in a lovely quiet suburb.

We have been very happy in this home. We love the suburb, we have made some very good friends, the girls go to a good school and both are blossoming in to wonderful little girls. OH has been going great guns at work, and was subsequently sponsored by his company for PR. We have since gained citizenship. The girls were so little when we moved here that they consider themselves to be Australian, although of course they do know that they are also British. OH and I are happy and settled, and to be honest, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

It hasn't always been easy, you do have to be self-sufficient. We don't have that support network from family that many people depend on, but we do have some very good friends who have helped us out when things have been difficult. And of course we have returned the favour to them. OH and I have not suffered with home-sickness at all, which has probably made things a great deal easier for us. We didn't live close to our families in the UK, so it wasn't such a wrench to leave them. We are due to go back to the UK for our first visit in the four and a half years that we have been here, in 23 days time, so it will be interesting to see whether the homesickness presents itself after that, or whether we will be running back on to the plane to get home!

Advice, I suppose would be to come with a open mind and no pre-conceived ideas about living here. Australia is a very different country to the UK, probably more than most people would expect. It isn't like being in the UK, but with better weather. Living here won't transform your life, won't make you slimmer or fitter, it won't make you do more outdoors things that you wouldn't do in the UK. It won't make your kids more or less clever or confident, it won't give them a better life, just a different one. You may or may not have a better work life balance, you may have to work harder, you probably won't knock off work early every day and go to the beach. Life is just the same, bills have to be paid, the house has to be cleaned and the kids have to be run hither and thither at the weekends. You are just living your life in a different place. Same ****, different bucket as they say.

Australia is a country of extremes. It is hot and cold, dry and wet, green and lush and barren and dusty. It won't suit everyone, but I can say with certainty that I love it with all my heart, and absolutely wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

I applied for my skilled Migration Visa at the age of 44, i.e. just in time. I"m a chemical engineer by trade, so was on the list of those skills in demand, even though my experience is not oil, gas or water, which is what everyone wants. Myself, my wife and 2 kids got our visas approved, and we validated them in 2010.

At the time I was spending 1/2 my life on an aeroplane or hotel room, so the money was good, the work / life balance was shot. One of my colleagues got a job out here in WA, and I was his telephone reference. I asked the agent if there were jobs going, and after a few months one potential position came up just outside Perth here in WA. I was lucky with the telephone interview, on line testing, references etc etc and got the job. That was April 2012.

By that time the kids were in Uni in the UK, so last August we said goodbye to everyone got on a plane and arrived in Perth on a cool August evening. We had a car and accomondation for 6 weeks, but still struggled to fine somehwere to rent. We ended up in a Fibro home in Medina, and only got that on condition we adopted their pet cat which the owners couldnt take!!.

Those first few weeks were stressful, kids on their own, my wife alone, and with limited money, looking for cheap cars etc etc.

We did sell our own house in the UK 3 months later, brought a small 3x1, and are currently completely renovating it inside and out. Lynn has a good social life, and the cat has been joined by a stray, and my job is alot easier than before, so are we happy. Well yes, but its easy to foget why we came, and we take time to enjoy the weather, local haunts (Freo, Rockingham) as well as starting to go further afield.

Financially we are no where near as well off, but we are quite happy with a small house, and simple life, and so far plenty of visitors from the UK. When asked, if we are returning to the UK at any point we say no, we've been there, we'd rather pay for relatives to come out here.

Even though I had a job and support here in Aus, it was still stressful, but that should be accepted as part of the move, and not something that you can avoid.

Best part so far, Christmas day, laying under the trees on Rockingham Foreshaw. 40 deg.C, lots of families enjoing themselves, and no cooking - wonderful

Nick / Lynn

Emigrated here just over 3 years ago. It took a very long time to get our visa"s ( there were various changes that DIAC made during the process that kept putting us to the back of the queue ) and selling our house was a nightmare for various reasons mainly that the value dropped by over £30,000. Anyway we managed to salvage approx £10,000 from the sale of the house after debts were paid and visa application paid. We engaged Go Matilda even though we were strapped for cash and in hindsight it was one if the best decisions we ever made. We had a very small 70's 3 bed semi with one bathroom with a tiny garden and we moved into our smaller rental to wait out the visa wait. We waited in total 18 months then finally 6 months later we hopped on the plane with a son a daughter very little money but a determination to make this work. My OH had had two tentative job offers but they were really more like " pop in when you get here " so nothing was certain. I'd chosen the area because a few friends that I'd met both on here were already there and loving it.

We secured a rental within the first two weeks in our holiday home and it was the first one we looked at and the first one we applied for . My OH went to the workplace of one of the job offers. They gave him a casual interview and told him to start work the following Monday ( it was Thursday!) he's still there 3 years later! We now have our own brand newly built home and I have two part time jobs. Life is good, we feel blessed and feel like we have a mini holiday most weekends. We've not pushed ourselves too hard financially preferring a cheaper house in a cheaper suburb with a cheaper brand new car. No debts well apart from a smallish mortgage and we've swapped from that 3 bed semi to a 4x2 with a theatre room, study just over a kilometre from a beautiful beach. We live 10 minutes from Mandurah "city" with its restaurants bars and my favourite wine bar. Looking forward to citizenship in 10 months time. We've made some lovely Aussie friends and some lovely Brits too.

I Love this thread thank you! We are a family currently in the process a applying for our visa and have experienced all sorts of hiccups and hurdles. We hope to one day fulfill our dreams and are grateful to hear about all these real positive experiences. I will admit Ive read a lot of negativity on here lately, which I understand someone in our position needs to know too, but happy thoughts are good!! Thank you all again.

Here coming up six years next January. I've had wobbles, in the early days. We are building our second home, at our age? Lol! Financially, no better, no worse. I feel more relaxed here, can't pinpoint any particular reason why, I, we, just are. It's been a better move for us. We have made close friends that we know will be friends for life. And we look forward to our future here.

It'll be 5 years in Jan for us, came out for a chance at a brighter future, better weather..because 'we could' basically..nothing to lose and it sounded like a great opportunity. We are settled, bought a house, no pool but a million times more than we could have had in England..we like the outdoor lifestyle, the beaches and weather, opportunities to be swimming, snorkelling, walking, sunbathing!, just generally relaxing with the sun on our bones is what we like. We have both got decent jobs, the kids are happy enough...no regrets...couldn't imagine going back, there'd be too much we'd miss. We miss our family and friends but know our lives are here now. We have some good friends here but were happy before we made any too so not sure that's the be all and end all for everyone..Overall its been a very positive move and one we don't regret. It's not easy to make it work in the early days but nothing that can't be overcome.

Ok I'm going to cheat and do mine in two parts and I'm also going to pinch the text from one I prepared earlier :wink:

Our names are Robert and Kate, after considering the move to Australia for approximately 8 years on and off, in 2004 our dream came true and we received our permanent residency.

Kate had never visited Australia before and Robert had only visited 10 years earlier for a 6 week holiday. We had so many questions about everything, where do we live? Do we bring our furniture? How do we get a bank account? How can we get a rental? What are the schools like? Do we bring our elderly cat? Where do we go once we get off the plane? How much is the cost of living? Believe me the list was endless. It was a very stressful time especially for our young children who needed us to be strong for them. We didn’t know anyone in Australia and arrived with just 5 suitcases with all our worldly goods which was not bad for the last 30 years of our lives.

When we arrived we went in to a short term rental which proved a life saver, we had contacted estate agents around Melbourne from the UK and none were willing to consider us as a tenant until we were in the country. We were also advised that for each property that came up for rent there would be a minimum of 7 applications and because we had no Australian references we would be at the bottom of the list. So with this in mind we booked in to a short term rental for 5 weeks the cost was $1500 a week but I would have paid double this for the peace of mind it provided us. We even had the option of renting a car from them which cost $500 for the full stay this was great.

The first week our body clocks were totally thrown out we were waking up at lunch time but then we were wide awake until about 5am so this first week we didn’t accomplish much. We had access to the internet which was wonderful as it meant we could search for properties without driving around aimlessly. We had no idea where we wanted to live but knew that most expats fell in love with Berwick and the Mornington Peninsula, so we based our search around these areas. We had no luck at all finding properties to rent in Berwick as they were snapped up immediately, we focussed on the areas around Cranbourne (a new upcoming area), Narre Warren (home of the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre) and the surrounding suburbs we applied for a couple of rentals and got knocked back so we applied for around 10 rentals which was rather daunting as we were worried we would end up getting them all, unfortunately we didn’t get any of these. We were not going to let us stop this in our search and eventually we were lucky as one of the agents was an expat and felt sorry for us, she didn’t care about us having references, we had offered 6 months in advance but were informed agents cannot accept this. Anyway we got our first rental property in Australia yippee and it only took us 3 weeks.

The next thing was to purchase a car, we still had to wait for most of our money to come through from the UK so we purchased a small run around for $10k. That was easy and we could collect the car in 3 days.

We had been using our UK Drivers License since arriving but we needed an Australian one to help us put everything else in place i.e. banks, tax file number, Medicare. So off we went to change this over which was great as we didn’t need to sit a test.

We then needed to purchase furniture for our rental. In Australia 98% of rentals are unfurnished. Wow it was so strange starting buying things for your house again things like coat hangers that most of us have way to many of we had to go out and purchase, cutlery, plates etc. A lot of people asked why we didn’t ship our furniture but I think we decided on the best option, it takes around 12 weeks for your furniture to arrive and it would have meant buying or renting furniture, washing machine, fridge freezer until ours arrived so it really wouldn’t have been cost effective.

So with a rental and a car we now had to consider getting our life back to normal and organise schools and work, before this though we opted to drive up to the Gold Coast and have a 5 week holiday.

On our arrival back to Melbourne we got the children in to school and Kate started volunteering at a wildlife park where she soon gained employment as a Wildlife Ranger. She then moved on to work alongside 40 vets at the largest animal hospital in the Southern Hemisphere and has been employed with them ever since. Kate continues her studying in both the Veterinary world and animal psychology, behaviour and training.

Did we like Melbourne, well lets say it was totally different to what I expected, I thought it would be more baron, red sand everywhere and great weather and surf. Well when I got off the plane it was freezing and raining and looked just like Manchester lol.

I still loved it but it didn't really feel any different to the UK until I started working with the wildlife and then wow, I loved it and never looked back.

Property wise, in the UK we first started off in a 2 up, 2 down we then purchased a kennel/cattery on half an acre and were lucky to sell this to a developer to build a couple of houses. Unfortunately back then on the 136 we didn't have enough points and were 5 short, the only way to gain these extra points was to sell our house first as we needed to put a $100,000 in government bonds for a period of 12 months. This was the most scary time of my life, we had to sell the house not knowing if our visa would be granted and if it wasn't I didn't want to leave this house, it was very hard and I was very emotional and kept changing my mind and thinking "are we doing the right thing" "do I really want to go to Australia" etc, I even backed out of the house sale at one point which worked in our favour as the developer was trying to knock us down further, so when I screamed at him forget it I'm not selling he went white as a sheet.

Anyway we did sell, we moved in to a rental and 8 months later we were granted our visa. Our agent at the time was excellent but I've changed my mind on him since hearing lots of horror stories.

I am currently out so don't have photos of our first house together but it was a terrace a little like this

and the other was our house in Melbourne

We will have been here 7 years in November. We being me,hubby and 2 kids who were 3 and 8 when we migrated. Due to medical issues the visa process was a stressful nightmare,lol but we stuck at it and it was worth it in the end.

We rented for 6 months then bought a house which we are still in. Love the area and love the friendliness of the people around here, far away to feel like country living but near enough to everything that we dont feel isolated.The buying process is pretty quick here and we had the keys within a few weeks of making an offer.

Schools are different and take some adjusting to, teachers seem to interact more with parents and i have no real complaints about the education system although i have come across a few teachers who wouldnt have a clue what real life is and seem to spend their time floating around in planet cuckoo !!

There is loadssss to do for familys, i think this makes a huge difference to our lifestyle here. QLD is very family friendly and so much is free or carries a very small charge, you really can never get bored exploring.

Hubby is in the same job he secured when we moved here but now manages the place. He is self employed and although when we first came here he only worked a 3 day week, this last couple of years he has upped to a 5 day week.

Ive had a few jobs since moving here, we decided i wouldnt work full time when we migrated and when ive wanted part time work i have found it easily enough. For the past 5 years i have been coaching competitive gymnastics which is a complete change for me as i tended to work in the elderly care sector previously, i love my work and its great to be around for school things with the kids during the day.

We have seen a huge rise in the cost of living since moving here but it is swings and roundabouts. A weekly shop 6 years ago cost me around $150 - $200 now it costs me nearer to $300 every week. I think the trick here is learning 'how' to shop and to get out of the mindset of paying top dollar for Brands you are familiar with and try to buy other Brands.

Overall i think migrating here can be tough and no matter how you think you will feel, you will probably get some wobbles and miss the familiar things you had on hand every day. My best advice would be to keep jumping those hurdles for the first few years and stay focused on making a go of things. I can think of a few occasions in our first couple of years that i 'demanded' to hubby to take me back home,lol, boy am i glad now that he just humoured me.lol..

To some extent life here can be 'same sh&t, sunnier shovel' but with a handful of dreams and a gut full of determination that sunnier shovel sure makes life better. As i have said a million times, the grass will be as green as you make it, only you can decide how much effort to put in.

Cal x

I'm Alison and I'm a successful migrant lol

Gosh what to say in a nutshell - my brother lived in QLD and we visited for a holiday in 2005 - no plans/talk or any idea of anything other than a  holiday - I'd not seen him for a few years, he'd become a dad and I wanted to see my little brother. We spent a month in Aus, visiting Brisbane Cairns and Sydney and we had a great holiday. We arrived back in the August and my hubby said a few weeks later "I could live there" ... I hadn't a clue what he was on about and he said he'd been thinking about it and would like to live in Aus. Whilst I wasn't the stumbling block I'm not a risk taker either and I was 41 years old, had got myself into a senior nursing position in a team I adored, we'd had an extension built on our detached house and I was pretty settled with my lot ... and I could retire at 55 and that was only 14 years away!!

My hubby pointed out that effectively I was still half way through my working life which gave me something to ponder. We decided to apply for a skilled independent visa on my skills - as a nurse the process was easier, I got my positive skills assessment back and became registered with the nurses board here in WA and we submitted our application in the December 2005 - 4 months after returning from our holiday.

We'd decided on Perth - having never been because it seemed to suit our needs, we decided if we were going to do it we were doing it for us and wouldn't move to a place just because my brother lived there (he was talking about moving interstate with a job and I imagined a scenario of me arriving on the Monday and him leaving on the Tuesday.)

We got our visa in July 2006 and decided that we'd have one last xmas in the UK. We'd also promised our daughter that she would finish primary school as she'd been with her friends since Nursery and a few months in the UK wasn't going to make a difference. Just before our departure we lost my hubby's Gran who at 92 had vowed to be on the plane to see us at some point - she was so excited for us that we were able to bring those memories with us. We moved in Jan 2007 becoming citizens in 2009

Bitter sweet times saying goodbye to friends and a job I loved, hated working on the wards initially here and cried a couple of times ... I didn't hate Aus or regret the move - just didn't like what I was doing - 6 months later I was back in a community post after being successful in a job application (same health service) and within 2 years was back in a senior nursing position.

We have far more time together as a family, we've been frustrated at the Wait Awhile attitude of WA, but we've carved out a wonderful life for ourselves, we're happy, we're content and the children are and have done very well. My daughter is now at UWA and my son at High School. Socially, we're far more active than we ever were before and have a mixed bag of friends - Brits, aussies, Kiwi's, my childrens friendship groups are like a mini united nations meeting.

I'm glad that I took the chance and gave Aus a go - we've never been back to the UK yet and don't have any immediate plans to do so - not that we don't like the place - just that there are other things to see. It's our 'big' birthdays next year - we're celebrating one in the states and the other (hopefully) in Cable Beach (Broome). I appreciate Aus and WA in particular isn't for everyone - but we've been happy, we didn't have massive expectations other than to know it would be hard work to re-establish ourselves in a new place ... it's been worth it for us.

Brilliant posts from the mods and admin....a great example to those just setting out. Inspirational! Great to hear positive, happy stories about how most of us find life here...it's great to hear stories about less than positive moves too but to be honest these stories are what PIO is all about ( for me!) Well done guys, Cal and Kate, I particularly like your stories, QLD country sounds so awesome. I need to come and see it for myself...then work on OH to try the East;)

Deb made the conscious plan of moving here without telling any other family member not meaning she was coming here alone but wanted to see what was what before throwing it all at us over an indian meal.

Deb lodged the applications and within a few short months we had all systems at go, we did the medicals i had a heart flutter issue but after doing the extra medical requirements it came back as normal and probably a glitch in the system machinery, i still had to cough up an extra £350 for the event though.

We sold our house after lots of rebuilding/extension and personal touches over an eight year period or so, we always laugh at the day we handed over the house keys and signed off paperwork it was the day before our flights here.

We still had two cars to sell, thank god for carcraft, not the best deals but we needed rid of, the two elder daughters stayed over with the eldest who never moved here, we stayed in a holiday inn for the night, we had our last indian and chocolate fix, woke up early all washed and brushed had taxi for airport where the other two had arrived earlier.

We all cried on leaving the departure lounge to board the plane it was a real tear fest.

The flight was ok but the transfer from Dubai to hear was a nightmare for us, i never slept once and i never used the toilet either lol.

On arrival we had the bags to collect as per normal then went off to carhire section picked up pre arranged car and was given basic directions to our rental holiday let accommodation, we got lost then found and lost again but we finally arrived at the house, the owner greeted us on arrival lovely woman really nice, we had a welcome pack of her and local insight, we slept very well for about nine hours or so, our body clocks never really altered, acclimatised really easily?

While doing the touristy stuff we knew we needed to find a rental, we found one in ridgewood lovely house, typical aussie house four beds two bath etc great place, we then after 14 months new it was time to start looking to buy our own, as Deb was now working as was i, kids in school and the other two girls working in the shopping centre, all fell into place for us.

We found a house at a great price (a fixer upper) we put money into it, mainly my repairs and improvements via a council granted homeowner's permit.

Obvious big ticket jobs we left to the tradies, expensive but worth it.

We then realised it was a great house but not big enough for a family of six, so we then decided to add fresh paint do the gardens clean my ace pool (loved that pool), and sell it, we had a really good surprise via the agents valuation, we actually sold it to a couple for less than our top offer, as these had money in place and ready to go.

Looked at a few houses, new builds etc but we always wanted to move to where we are now, never dreamed it would happen it did and we are now going on with a new pool installation, and i will be going to do some new course work as i want to really stretch myself and try things i would never of dreamed of in the UK.

Being in the Uk it was a better the devil you know situation for me, really good job well paid but not really happy with it, strange i know but that was the case, now here it's great because i want to learn new things you have to in some respects and people look on you differently when you have a go, yeah life is great for us now.

Absolutely loved reading these posts and hope to read more, but was great to see the challenges you all faced and overcame, so much admiration for you all. Certainly makes me excited at the thought of getting over there and opens my eyes to the changes but actually looking forward to them to good and bad........all stories absolutely inspirational and with many of you achieving things with little behind you, well done and heres to many more good times ahead for all of you, good luck x

Really enjoyed reading all these posts, this is the reason I am on this forum, positive stories keeping me motivated during difficult times!

I am fully aware that there will be downs as well as up's however, I have always overcome challenges in my life. These posts remind me that with determination and hopefulness I can give my children the future I would like them to have.

Thankyou everyone and keep them coming!

x

I reckon it has been a pretty good life...A 22 year old let loose in the wilds of Australia in 1963

Cheers, Bobj.

I reckon it has been a pretty good life...A 22 year old let loose in the wilds of Australia in 1963

 

 

Cheers, Bobj.

Come on Bob I want more, you can't have your readers on the edge of their seats. I think your story of life here would be an absolute beaut (Nat keeps using the word Beaut as BobJ uses it lol)

Come on Bob I want more, you can't have your readers on the edge of their seats. I think your story of life here would be an absolute beaut (Nat keeps using the word Beaut as BobJ uses it lol)

You need to look up Reminiscing:yes: if that's what you mean.

Just remembered an incident which I'll add on to Reminiscing...

Cheers, Bobj.

Kate - where is the second part of your story??? Dying to hear it!

I arrived the first time with three friends in 1968 and loved it from the very first day, it was a wonderful sunny day and we came by ship. Loved living in Sydney at the time and getting the ferry to work each day absolutely marvelous. My friends and I decided to move on and we moved to Melbourne, completely different but easier on the pocket so suited us at the time. Met my oh who was at sea and we got married and I returned to the UK to live. We then returned here in 1975 and all we had to do in those days was have a chest xray and get our passports stamped. I got a job no problems as I had worked in the city of Melbourne before and knew people and oh was at sea so he was sorted.

We had it very easy as my oh was on high wages as a chief engineer at sea , just lucky I suppose that he picked the right occupation. When he cam ashore he took a wage cut but not that much so he fell on his feet and got superannuated right away which was not the norm in those days.

We took out citizenship in 1977 or thereabouts as we wanted to be citizens before we had our children as they would be Aussies. When we went to the ceremony they asked us why we were bothering as we stuck out like a sore thumb the only Brits there. Anyway we wanted to do it and we did.

We have had a wonderful life here and I have some wonderful friends. One of the friends I came here originally with lives not far away after all these years. I also have another friend who is the sister I never had and that has been wonderful.

My parents continued their nomadic life moving around here and there and eventually settled in Melbourne when they had to and Mum is still alive and kicking but going back to the UK she has been going back for fifty years or so, did go back on two occasions and stayed and then returned, as her dream of what she was returning to was nothing like reality.

Now I am a widow and so I will never return as my oh is here and we are meant to be together for ever and ever. Kids are fine and both doing very well, although they have been to the UK neither has bothered to go over and work, their friends break their neck to go but not my kids.

I have family in USA, England, New Zealand and we all visit one another when we can.

So Aus has been very very kind to us, if we had stayed in UK my oh would have stayed at sea all his working life and that would have meant separation for longish periods and he did not want that.

Aus is different to everywhere else because its Aus and I just love the diversity of the landscape, the clear clear skies in the bush, nothing like it. The animals, the people, salt of the earth.