Rose-tinted glasses (did it work for everyone?)

Hello everyone, I wasn't sure where to post this so I hope it's okay here :smile:

I've tried having a look through the forums to find a post like this but I can't seem to find one so I'm sorry if this has been asked before.

A few years ago my husband and I visited his brother and family who live in Australia. We were only there for 2 weeks but we loved it and were determined to head back over. Our initial plan was to head over on a WHV for a year, see how it all went and do some travelling before making the more permanent move. We did endless amounts of research, saved a ton of money and gave up our jobs and our home and headed over there May 2016.

We absolutely hated it.

The hostels were unclean and unwelcoming (We weren't expecting 5-star but we're talking cockroaches in the kitchen, blood on the bed-linen, threatening behaviour etc). Job hunting was a nightmare and we had almost no interest from any employers (we got mixed messages on this one - we heard that there was a recession in some parts of Australia so jobs were extremely hard to come by, we then got told that job-hunting is different than the UK and you constantly have to chase employers for any progress and then we got told that jobs should be easy to come by especially as we were applying for and willing to do pretty much anything :huh:). Accommodation was expense, the cost of living was astronomical and when the weather was bad, there didn't seem to be anything to do.

Money started to run out and so did our patience. After about 5 months, we decided to throw in the towel and return to the UK. My husband's family were insistent that we were making a huge mistake returning home, that we would regret it and Australia was wonderful and we hadn't given it a fair shot. We don't regret returning home by any means, I suppose my question is - has anyone else had an experience like this? Do you think we gave up to easily?

Not sure what your reasons are for coming on here and making a first post after you've come back? You tried it, Yoo hated it, fair enough it's not for everyone.

Unless either of you have a skill, it was only ever going to be tempory anyway so nothing lost.

Move on, life's too short.

Hello everyone, I wasn't sure where to post this so I hope it's okay here :smile:

 

I've tried having a look through the forums to find a post like this but I can't seem to find one so I'm sorry if this has been asked before.

 

A few years ago my husband and I visited his brother and family who live in Australia. We were only there for 2 weeks but we loved it and were determined to head back over. Our initial plan was to head over on a WHV for a year, see how it all went and do some travelling before making the more permanent move. We did endless amounts of research, saved a ton of money and gave up our jobs and our home and headed over there May 2016.

 

We absolutely hated it.

 

The hostels were unclean and unwelcoming (We weren't expecting 5-star but we're talking cockroaches in the kitchen, blood on the bed-linen, threatening behaviour etc). Job hunting was a nightmare and we had almost no interest from any employers (we got mixed messages on this one - we heard that there was a recession in some parts of Australia so jobs were extremely hard to come by, we then got told that job-hunting is different than the UK and you constantly have to chase employers for any progress and then we got told that jobs should be easy to come by especially as we were applying for and willing to do pretty much anything :huh:). Accommodation was expense, the cost of living was astronomical and when the weather was bad, there didn't seem to be anything to do.

 

 

Money started to run out and so did our patience. After about 5 months, we decided to throw in the towel and return to the UK. My husband's family were insistent that we were making a huge mistake returning home, that we would regret it and Australia was wonderful and we hadn't given it a fair shot. We don't regret returning home by any means, I suppose my question is - has anyone else had an experience like this? Do you think we gave up to easily?

I think you're trying to see whether what you experienced is commonplace or whether what you copped was just a bad patch in the area where you were and whether others have had a different and better experience.

I'm not sure how much of a comment you'l get on here, most people are an older demographic and you tend to get the response of what did you expect or down right denial from the Australia's fantastic everywhere you go dyed in the wool brigade..

you have to remember that outside of the urban areas enforcement of regulations is pretty patchy, there was a hostel fire a few years back which highlighted that and there are sporadic cases in the newspapers about travellers running into real bother but it doesn't get much publicity as it deters people and impacts on labour for the farms.

It doesn't work for everyone and there is nothing in the rule book that says you actually have to like living in Australia. Many don't and that's why so many choose to return - often, though, after much more of an investment than you have made. Why throw good money after bad I reckon, it didn't float your boat, now you know.

I was over on a WHV and used a lot of hostels. I was lucky - other than one really manky one they were all pretty clean. I stayed the night in that one then moved, I'm not sure why anybody ever uses that one because it's not even cheap. Hostels are definitely expensive. I did experience a cockroach in another hostel but I think it was just bad luck because it was a fairly clean hostel. With job hunting I think it depends what you're looking for. At least you tried it, some people like it and some people don't. I know 2 girls that lasted 2 weeks but had decided they were leaving within the first week.

I don't know anyone that didn't enjoy their WHV in Australia so I have to presume you were just really unlucky. Not everyone wants to move there permanently but as far as backpacking goes it's a dream! Whatever you do don't travel in SE Asia if you thought Aussie hostels were bad! Best book 5 star hotels if you ever venture there!

I was over on a WHV and used a lot of hostels. I was lucky - other than one really manky one they were all pretty clean. I stayed the night in that one then moved, I'm not sure why anybody ever uses that one because it's not even cheap. Hostels are definitely expensive. I did experience a cockroach in another hostel but I think it was just bad luck because it was a fairly clean hostel. With job hunting I think it depends what you're looking for. At least you tried it, some people like it and some people don't. I know 2 girls that lasted 2 weeks but had decided they were leaving within the first week.

That's just reminded me of a holiday to Majorca I went on with a female friend. We ended up adopting a lad whose friend had bailed on him during the first week of their 2 week holiday....because he missed his girlfriend! Some people are genuinely pathetic and should never leave the insular little town they were born in!

NOT referring to OP here just in case it is misconstrued!

The people I mean came from a massive city so I was really surprised. I'm the little village girl that everyone probably thought would come back within a few weeks lol. But they spent their last week doing all the touristy stuff that they wanted so as long as they had a good time, that's the main thing. One of them had booked a really expensive east coast trip and another trip and didn't get the money back. I could have cried at the wasted money even though it wasn't me :laugh:

ive never been to Asia but I would think you were right with some of them compared to Australia. It's a shame that the OP didn't have a good experience of the hostels. I definitely couldn't have put up with the hostel in northbridge that I mentioned. One night was enough, the bathrooms and rooms were disgusting. And I had been free camping just before that! So that probably says a lot lol

It is like everywhere and anything. Some will love it, some will hate it and some wont care either way. I was probably in the last of the classes. Me and my wife spent 8 years there and found it ok, but nothing wonderful. I found some things I didn't like and some things I did like, which in fairness to Oz is pretty much the same with most places.

If things had worked out better on the job front, we would probably still be there, but at the same time, glad we aren't as we have found we are really enjoying being back

I think I would have to be dropped in a war zone to not be able find something to do/ somewhere to explore in a new country especially if I had paid big money. Maybe I'm just tight! Lol!

Coming up to 54 years in this wonderful land and never regretted a second of it. I took the land on face value and have not been disappointed. It has been a fabulous life for me.

Cheers, Bobj.

It sounds like you were thinking of 'living here' but the visa really is a holiday visa and has so many restrictions with reduced likelihood of you being able to work in your chosen professions when you can only work for an employer for 6 months. If you were thinking of living here, it may have been better to look at renting a house/room in a shared house and had more of a real life rather than holiday experience. My niece returned to the UK after 4 weeks on a WHV, I don't think she liked being on her own, my nephew completed his rural work and returned after 5 - he loved his experience of having a different holiday.

Hello everyone, I wasn't sure where to post this so I hope it's okay here :smile:

 

I've tried having a look through the forums to find a post like this but I can't seem to find one so I'm sorry if this has been asked before.

 

A few years ago my husband and I visited his brother and family who live in Australia. We were only there for 2 weeks but we loved it and were determined to head back over. Our initial plan was to head over on a WHV for a year, see how it all went and do some travelling before making the more permanent move. We did endless amounts of research, saved a ton of money and gave up our jobs and our home and headed over there May 2016.

 

We absolutely hated it.

 

The hostels were unclean and unwelcoming (We weren't expecting 5-star but we're talking cockroaches in the kitchen, blood on the bed-linen, threatening behaviour etc). Job hunting was a nightmare and we had almost no interest from any employers (we got mixed messages on this one - we heard that there was a recession in some parts of Australia so jobs were extremely hard to come by, we then got told that job-hunting is different than the UK and you constantly have to chase employers for any progress and then we got told that jobs should be easy to come by especially as we were applying for and willing to do pretty much anything :huh:). Accommodation was expense, the cost of living was astronomical and when the weather was bad, there didn't seem to be anything to do.

 

 

Money started to run out and so did our patience. After about 5 months, we decided to throw in the towel and return to the UK. My husband's family were insistent that we were making a huge mistake returning home, that we would regret it and Australia was wonderful and we hadn't given it a fair shot. We don't regret returning home by any means, I suppose my question is - has anyone else had an experience like this? Do you think we gave up to easily?

Sorry it didn't work out for you. Filthy and unfriendly hostels would have put me off a bit too I have to say.

I'm on the north coast of Tasmania and we have a large influx of backpackers during fruit picking season and at the moment it's poppy picking time - for the production of pyrethrum. The backpackers come from all over the world and usually stay in rooms above the local pubs but also a few of them lodge with locals and for the small rent of a spare room get a comfy place to stay and the use of the kitchen/bathroom/laundry etc. Seems to work well.

I don't know anyone that didn't enjoy their WHV in Australia so I have to presume you were just really unlucky. Not everyone wants to move there permanently but as far as backpacking goes it's a dream! Whatever you do don't travel in SE Asia if you thought Aussie hostels were bad! Best book 5 star hotels if you ever venture there!

Got back the other day after travelling in SE Asia for 4 weeks. Stayed with the locals in Cambodia - basic but very clean - lovely veggie food cooked for us. In Thailand stayed in very clean but cheap hotel in Bangkok then with people we knew in Chiang Mai. Also good clean cheap accommodation in Myanmar. Could easily have stayed for another 4 weeks but started to miss my husband and dog. :cool:

Not getting regular dollars and spending pounds - it would have felt like it was more expensive however I stay in Australia as I find it over all cheaper when everything is balanced out and I have much more disposable income. Anyway you went on a long holiday and don't like it, Ive felt that way about few places I have been to On holiday too despite everyone telling me it was amazing and I would love it, I just didn't go back and didn't take advice from them again lol individual thing and no big deal, if you want to do more travelling just don't go to Australia as you didn't like it, go somewhere else, end of story really

TBH sounds like you had a not great WHV experience. It can be hard to secure more than casual seasonal work on a WHV and if there is a pinch on jobs it does seem employers will give priority to locals first or to students in the school holidays. What kind of jobs were you applying for? Casual or something a bit more meaningful. Whereabouts?

Re hostels, like anywhere you'll get good and bad. I don't read that many bad reviews of the popular ones. And if you are complaining about cockroaches, keep in mind pretty much every Aussie home will have them. They are everywhere here and we are totally unfamiliar with seeing them in the UK. We have the odd one in our house and I hate them but its part and parcel of living here. So seeing them in a kitchen in a hostel isn't surprising. Not defending it but it isn't an uncommon sight. I moved a heap of cardboard out in the backyard the other day and a few ran out from under it. i saw far more when I spent time in New York, opening a cupboard in an apartment there could be well dodgy as roaches would often fall out or be running for cover :confused:

Re cost of living, I guess you if are converting what you are spending into pounds then it could seem that way but honestly, having been here a few years now we don't find it anymore expensive than the UK. Its swings and roundabouts. Fuel is a lot cheaper, no council tax of £1200 a year (although we of course pay other charges here but its nowhere near as expensive), most of our food I find no more expensive than I paid in the UK and our weekly shop isn't a struggle here thats for sure. But then we have our jobs, incomes, home and so on so it all falls into place within that.

Given you came up against it in terms of your hostels, struggling to find work and of course eating into your savings and watching those £ fly out the window I can understand why you say you hate it. But did you actually hate just those things or all the other parts also, the country itself, the people, the coastline, the way of life? (although you probably didn't experience that given hostels etc as you've said).

I've not really been bored here when the weather is bad (or when its good either for that matter), we live in South Australia, Adelaide and there is plenty to do. We've made friends, built a life and it makes a huge difference to sitting in a hostel with not much money, no jobs and no friends and not being familiar with the area or whats on and when. We go to musicals, theatre, cinema, BBQ's, see friends, sports events/activities/clubs, hiking, beaches, meals out and more. I'm not bored with my life here in the least. I also didn't expect it to be all singing all dancing as it was on a holiday as that is an unrealistic expectation as wherever you live, you have to work, keep a home, run a car, do the 9-5, school run, kids and all the things that you'd do back in the UK.

Coming up to 54 years in this wonderful land and never regretted a second of it. I took the land on face value and have not been disappointed. It has been a fabulous life for me.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

Exactly how I feel, coming up to 36 years for me.

Sorry it turned out like this for you. Living somewhere is always different to the holiday experience. You didn't do the wrong thing returning home. You just did what you had to do at the time. Australia isn't for everyone. Just because English is the language spoken here doesn't make it the same. Sometimes I think it would be easier if it was another language as you wouldn't have preconceived ideas of how things will be. Good luck. Life is full of surprises some good, some not so much. You gave it a go. A lot of the people who will tell you that you should have stayed would probably have never had the courage to go in the first place. None of their business.

How horrible to get a filthy hostel- I really hope you put in a complaint . Not a normal thing here though, most places are very clean. I wonder where you went to? Possibly north Queensland or somewhere where there is a lot of wildlife of the insect variety, just part of life in some areas. Best for you to spend your hols nearer home I think and chalk it all down to experience. Not quite sure why you posted really.

Yep just as I thought, a very suspect first post.

Just another W.P.

Thank you for everyone's responses, some have been really helpful.

It's not so much a whinge but just something I had thought about since our return to the UK and I just had to ask. You hear a lot about the wonderful, sugar-coated experiences that some have had but not so much about the experiences on the other end of the scale.

Just looked at this tonight and saw that you encountered cockroaches in Australia, don,t they have them in the Uk now I haven,t lived there for 35 years but i am sure they were then, perhaps good to know we are not killing every thing with harmful chemicals

This is a reply to snifters post Good reply , we see cockroaches in our house occasionally, but as you say its part and parcel of living here , just seen a gecko running up the out side of a window and thinking that was great, how can we judge whats acceptable ?

I think the problem here is the approach that you took - I'm guessing you are at the top end of the WHV age range and do not fit the profile of a typical WHV.

Your first visit to Australia was on holiday and you stayed with relatives in what was presumably a nice home. You gave up your own jobs and home to go and exchanged it for unemployment & hostels so I'm not surprised you weren't happy!

Most WHV go to travel and enjoy the experience picking up casual work along the way to pay for it - they are not there as a pre-curser to permanent migration, although of course some fall in love with Australia and do go on to become citizens.

You may have had bad luck with hostels but it also may have been your expectations were too high plus it is very different using it simply as a place to lie your head on holiday & another effectively living there whilst trying to get your life together.

Basically I think the odds were stacked against you settling so it's quite understandable that you are now wondering if you quit too easily.

The thing to realise is that not everyone prefers Australia, we returned after 5 years but I'm glad we stayed as long as we did because I was left without any doubt where I preferred to live. It's not uncommon for people to 'ping pong' and particularly when people don't give Australia a good couple of years those doubts can linger.

It's unclear what visa you would have applied for after the WHV if you had liked it but that option is presumably still open to you if you wanted to give it another go with a visa that would enable you to apply for permanent jobs in your professions.

Personally I would just accept you gave it a go, it didn't work out and even if it had there is nothing particularly better about living in Australia, it is just a matter of personal preference for the cultural differences and lifestyle.