Back from two weeks in Melbourne with small children - my report (looooong post!)

[jennlx]

Just to explain, I am expat Aussie (in UK 12 years, am now 33) and my husband British. We keep toying with the idea of living in Oz, and thought we'd have a 2 week holiday to get his partner visa validated and either decide to emigrate, or put the matter to bed and concentrate on life in the UK.

 

So off we went: myself, hubby, 2 year old boy and 4 month old baby. NEVER AGAIN. No, just joking, but travelling with two so small is not for the faint-hearted. All this codswallop about young kids being oh-so-adaptable, pffffft. My son is still very traumatised by the whole trip! He was never very affectionate and now he clings to us continually. The actual flights were bearable - both kids were quiet and played quite happily (on the way back, many people commented on our "well behaved children" ). The airline staff were hit and miss - some lovely, some not so lovely. We were given the same four toys on all legs of the journey: a Shrek stuffed toy for the baby and a game of Cluedo (suitable for ages 7+) for the toddler so I would ensure you come prepared! Actually, the only thing which was of any use whatsoever was the portable DVD player, an absolute MUST for everyone with small children. Anyone flying with babies, be prepared for them to feed more - I stuck to what she normally drinks, but she got a bit dehydrated on the way over.

 

On arrival, my son was very emotional and upset - every time we asked him a question, he burst into tears. During the trip, he was very unsettled and frustrated - and started hitting us, which he now still does (albeit a lot less). Day one Hubby bought pie from large chain in Melbourne - cue food poisoning. Wasn't the best start.

 

We bought a 'pre paid' (i.e. pay as you go) SIM for our trip - beware, you have to register the SIM online or over the phone in order to use, top up etc. I didn't do this and had to end up buying another SIM. We bought a cheap Nokia for $19 from Virgin shop in the CBD.

 

We spent the majority of our trip in Hampton. I really don't understand about people saying that Australians are rude and unfriendly, as we were completely bowled over (and slightly suspicious!) of how nice everyone was. Although maybe Australians just love small children? Everyone chatted to us - even people who just happened to be coming down the street at the same time as us. It's a really lovely area, so family friendly. Lots and kids and teenagers on their way to play sports, more than I see here. On Saturday, everyone picks up their kids from their various sporting activities, then go to the high street and has a coffee and a chat, buys fresh bread and goes home for lunch (as I used to do as a child), lovely. Teenagers encountered on the street were HUGELY more polite than I have ever experienced here and did not appear to be "hanging around" like they do here. I HATE it here how the teenagers hang out in playgrounds, drinking and swearing - none of that there.

 

Sadly, massively outside of our affordability (as is all of Bayside), but if you have the money, you can't do better in my opinion. The coffee shops were amazing! Delicious cakes and fresh fresh FRESH sandwiches! It really made me disgusted at some of the slop which is served up to me in cafes here in the UK. The coffee in cafes is a MILLION times better than UK - I actually cannot drink the coffee in my local chain anymore, it's like Thames Scum in comparison. I wasn't massively shocked by the price of food - seems fairly reasonable to me, but I am a food snob and shop in Waitrose mostly. I must admit, I wasn't too pleased with the taste of some food - all a bit odd. I know the sausage weakness of Australia is well documented in these forums, but the smell of a sausage sizzle on a high street on Saturdays actually made my stomach flip, it was that bad. Also, bacon, cheese and ham were yuck (why do they keep the rind on ham?!). I LOVED the bread, but then again, I was paying $6 a loaf . Raw chicken breast actually was formed of flesh and was not as rubbery as the chicken breast here (I really don't want to know what they do here to the poor chickens here). The red meat was ok - my husband was delighted at the price of T-bone, but it just tasted the same to me. Chocolate unedible, crisps horrible (obviously not too important).

 

Playgrounds for the kids were brilliant - I highly recommend Artplay behind Fed Square. It seems that here in SW London, everyone buys their playground equipment from the same French manufacturer and so they're much of a muchness, whereas in Australia they are all formed from scratch with different designs and themes. My son loved them.

 

Also, just as an aside, my family are Catholic and I'm a bit scared of the Catholic Church over here. Very conservative and strict and all that. While in Oz, we had my daughter baptised in my old primary school - I am so impressed by their attitude, really liberal and up-to-date. Even the fact that we could arrange it so easily from the UK, whereas here you have to jump through numerous hurdles, to prove you are Catholic enough to be allowed into the church. My husband, who attended a strict Catholic boys school in London, was very impressed by their attitude.

 

Bit of doom and gloom: we turned on the Australian news one morning (didn't watch much TV at all, if any - my Aussie family only watch UK TV). News article one: an Aussie company in administration. News article two: an Aussie company threatened with administration. My sister works in travel sales in Syd and she was bragging like nobody's business about it all booming, even suggesting my husband go down that route. While she was staying with us, 40 staff in her team were made redundant. Also, in terms of jobs, my family did report that in their fields the working day is much longer than in the UK. My aunt and uncle (from different sides of the family) both start work at 7.30am (my uncle works in sales, my aunt is a legal secretary) - they both did not think this unusual. They don't finish any earlier either - my uncle finishes after 6pm, my aunt at around 7pm.

 

In a nutshell, I was really bracing myself for a trip down 1970s England (not that I was even here then!) but was generally pleased. Certain things made me very homesick for the UK (including a cringey bank visit where the staff were yelling from the teller to the help desk about a customer's $100k cheque, while he was standing there) but I could see us living there. Whether we will take the plunge is another matter .

[Guest GoldCoastMag]

Interesting post. It is always a challenge to change from where you are in your comfort zone, but as a repat expat everything quickly became normal for me despite a small amount of culture shock.

 

Unfortunately I overcame my initial distaste for the chocolate!