Loving this thread! It's great to read about other people's experiences (some have brought a tear to my eye!)
Our journey to Australia was not an easy one and unfortunately there were more bad days than good. Thankfully, the visa process was straightforward due to my husband being sponsored by his company for his job in Sydney; it was my family who made the whole thing difficult for us. I'll try not to make this war and peace...............
Hubby and I have wanted to move to Australia for a number of years and after having our 2 children, we decided that we would like to provide them with a better quality of life as I was working 6 shifts in a row as a Detective Constable and hubby was a contractor - we ended up being like ships that pass in the night.
We advised our families of our decision and knew that "taking the grandkids away" from our parents would be upsetting but it was my parents reaction came as a shock to everyone. My Dad didn't speak to me for 3 months or so and my mum informed me that I'd ruined her life; things were completely unbearable as various family members felt the need to have a go at me and, in turn, I felt as if I had to justify our decision.
My husband started his new job on 31st March so I was at home in Scotland with my 5 year old and 3 year old and was incredibly lonely. Many people took great pleasure in telling me that I wasn't strong enough to cope with a move to Australia and made reference to the fact that I suffered from severe post natal depression after having my daughter, however, feeling as isolated as I did at home, their comments just made me more determined to make the move.
That being said, I didn't want to leave for Australia without building bridges with my parents so I made them a peace offering which they accepted and we admitted that there were probably faults on both sides with differing attitudes, not listening to one another etc, etc but I will never be able to forget the way they treated me or what they said about me and the kids. It was just horrendous :sad:
Preparing to leave was extremely difficult and I felt as if I was breaking up with my family and friends, although we managed to make light of it and decided to say it was "see you later", rather than "goodbye" and that seemed to get us through.
We've been here almost 3 weeks now and the kids are loving it. I am still extremely apprehensive as I've said goodbye to my family, my friends and a career that I loved, however, I rarely saw my husband and children and now I get to be with them all of the time which is absolutely fantastic. The parts of Australia that I have seen so far have been amazing and I know that I'm so fortunate to have this opportunity. I'm just hopeful that once my daughter is enrolled in school that I will start to meet people and I can build friendships that way - I'm not the most confident person in the world but have such a strong desire to make this move work and I know that I need to just pull my socks up and put myself out there, so to speak :wink:
Good luck to everyone who is about to make the move and thank you to all those who post on PIO as the info/advice on here has been invaluable.
Kay x
P.S. Oops! I said I wouldn't make this war and peace...........:chatterbox::biglaugh: