Lee Ladek Dixon

Hi NickyNook, Not trying to drum up anything - just offering our experience after moving from Cheshire and our main fear was work arrangements as we had been employed in larger Blue Chip companies with a salary to match. However, to stay true to our reasons for moving, we had to look at whether we wanted to jump in to the CBD areas and earn the big $$$ again or actually Make and Be the change we wished for. We obviously chose the later and we have not looked back since. If we had our time again, I would have done more research into the Port Macquarie area/economy etc - looked at our transferrable skills and started working on them in the UK (whilst building a business base on the side). We would have hit the ground running in Oz with something that we would have known was in short supply in a regional area. We found that gap only when we moved here and have maximised it ever since. We get to live the lifestyle we dreamed of and would never go back. No sales pitch here :smile: Lee and Anya

Thank you - we just wanted to give other like minded Pommies an idea from what we had experienced, as alot of them (like us) wanted to move and Make the Change (not live in a city)

We now live just outside Port Macquarie in a little village called Bonny Hills after our move 5 years ago. Love it

We moved 3 teenagers to Oz 5 years ago and they LOVE it here. Its such a different lifestyle to the UK. Is the schooling any better in the UK - maybe, but it's all part of a bigger picture for us with work, lifestyle balance, weather etc etc. All I can say to anyone is You don't know until you try !!! Lee & Anya (Happy in Port Macquarie NSW)

Hello All, Having emigrated to Port Macquarie (between Sydney & Brisbane) over 5 years ago now, we wanted to live the lifestyle out here in Oz and not have the continued CRAZYNESS of the city, but more the beach / bbq we desired so much. Like alot of us coming over, work was a huge factor - so getting the right job at the right wage etc, but the reality is, it can be difficult to get big $$$ unless you live in the cities, so the more chilled out lifestyle seemed unreachable :dull: Hindsight being a wonderful thing - Had we known then what we know now (didn't have the opportunity then), we would have set up our business in the UK whilst waiting for our visa and simply brought it over with us and continued to build whilst in Oz. The flexibility offers the opportunity to live and work anywhere in Oz and has offered both my wife and myself more time with our family and certainly more time to enjoy the beautiful lifestyle we moved here for.:cute: We now run 2 successful businesses in our stunning Regional town of Port Macquarie and we would never go back to our old UK corporate lifestyle. Happy to tell you more about what we experienced if it helps. Lee & Anya

Hey - We moved to Port Macquarie over 5 years ago and found work pretty quickly, but I know it can be tough. We found that we had to sit down and work out what transferable and usable skills we had - this was the best thing we did. Once set up and linked in with the locals - we actually set up our own business Hope your search is going well Lee & Anya