camcc Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Hi everyone! My partner and I are moving to Sydney in 3 weeks’ time. I am an Australian but have lived in the UK for the last 22 years. My partner, who is a British citizen, has secured a transfer with his employer, so we are ecstatic and extremely grateful at our opportunity to move back with one of us having a job waiting and CBD accommodation covered for the first month - we cannot wait! I have returned to Australia on holiday a number of times over the years and each time have left longing to return permanently. I’m really interested to experience day-to-day life in Sydney as an adult (I was 10 when I moved to the UK) and to see how much things have changed and how true my memories of the place correspond to reality! I read a lot of negative comments about the Sydney traffic, crowds, costs and even the weather (!?) and what I’d say in response is come and live in London and see what an expensive, overcrowded, congested, gloomy place it is! Granted you can’t beat England on a warm summer’s day but it’s only like that for two months of the year (if you’re lucky!) As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side, but I truly believe it is – we’ll see! Anyway, I’ve found loads of really useful information on this forum which has helped us with shipping, currency, transport etc, so I’m keen to give back and share details of our migration experience over the coming weeks and offer any tips we note which will make anyone else’s migration that little but easier. See you all down under! :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolvesaussie Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 two months a year ? try two weeks . im off back to melbourne after ten years in ok shortly, cant wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Both countries are great places to live and obviously offer different things for different people. Sydney traffic is an absolute nightmare and I have never done it at rush hour, housing is expensive and the weather can be very hot and very wet. Its a city much like any other, if it is where you want to be then you will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacaranda Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Wow 22 yrs!Hope you have a great new life and all goes well for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmoyne Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Hope it goes well for you... Australia has changed very much over the last 20 years so I hope you adjust well and like the changes.... welcome back to a wonderful country.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Hope it's everything you hope for! I don't think you'll find it expensive, traffic choked or crowded compared to London. You might find it wetter than you remember though. It's certainly wetter than it's often made out to be :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Good Luck with the move and congrats to your partner for getting a job and accommodation sorted, that sure takes a lot of pressure off.. Keep us updated Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktj01 Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Hi Camcc, Hope everything is going well now that you are freshly arrived in Oz! I felt compelled to reply to your post as you seem to be in a similar situation to myself. I too left Australia age 10 and have been living in Europe for 12 years (currently in London). My decision to return home was partly motivated by a desir to experience life in Sydney as an adult as I seem to have a better grasp of the ways of life in foreign cities than in my own home town. A bit of an identity crisis, too. Not sure what really makes me Australian given I have spent most of my life abroad. I never get pegged for Aussie either, especiecially not by fellow Australians (and I am part Indigenous!). Oddly enough I have had a few Kiwis ask me if I was from New Zealand but that the nearest I've gotten. I really see this move as no different to a move to a foreign country as I will be establishing myself from scratch. I am curious about how things have been going for you, and if you have encountered any hiccups in sorting admin (hopefully not!) or if you have had any curved balls thrown at you since getting back? Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camcc Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hi ktj01, Thanks for your reply. Nice to hear of someone in a similar situation! I arrived in Sydney last Thursday evening 18th April. Our accommodation is in Rushcutters Bay which is really handy for the city and also the eastern bays / beaches. I've been blessed with 3 days of beautiful weather and one day of heavy rain (it's got to rain some times!) which has been a seriously nice change from the weather we had during our last few months in London. I had a great first day wondering around the city; went into NAB and collected my debit card. I signed up for a free migrant bank account before I travelled. Their service was excellent and everything was ready for me when I arrived. I also picked up a drivers license application from the RTA office, completed a tax reference number application (online) and also downloaded a form to register for Medicare. You need to provide two or three original forms of identification for each such as a birth certificate / passport etc. I'll let you know whether I have any issues with any of these although they look fairly straight forward. In regards to my general feeling of being back; I'm still really excited and am enjoying exploring the city. I haven't found it too much of a culture shock to be honest and I do feel quite at home. I think this is helped by all the 'blast from the past' things I keep having or noticing from my childhood such as: - the weird noise the pedestrian crossings make - Cadburys Cherry Ripes (why don't they make these in Europe!?) - Gaytime ice creams! One thing that has been very confusing is the cost of everything compared to the UK. Basically everything is very expensive compared to the UK particularly food, clothes, rent, bills, cars. I would highly recommend not converting everything back into pounds before you buy as it just pointless and inaccurate due to the higher salaries that are available here. I have decided to live my first month fairly frugally but keep track of what I'm spending to see how things stack up. I compiled a spreadsheet of income vs. costs before I travelled to give me a rough idea and it appears that I'll have much more disposable income here than I did in the UK. I can send this to you if you PM me you email address. Other things I've noticed is that Australians drive EVERYWHERE which basically cripples what is a fairly good bus network. Due to the terrain that Sydney is built on an amazing public transport system would be impossible to build, however I don't think it's as bad as everyone makes out. The ferry is highly under-rated. The trains aren't particularly good nor frequent but if you live centrally then you can walk most places. Traffic doesn't seem to be too bad on the eastern side of the city but I have heard that out west it can be pretty horrendous. There is also a huge food culture here, so people eat out 3-4 times a week. What is nice is that the majority of restaurants are privately owned as opposed to chains like Pizza Express, Nandos, Strada etc. that you get in the UK. The variety of food available is amazing and from the few meals I've had the quality has been excellent. Are you back here already or thinking about it? Let me know if you have any other questions. I'd be happy to meet up with you for a drink when you do arrive - need to make some friends! Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Agree with most of that I too think the public transport is much better than people make out. Trains aren't that infrequent - every 15 mins on most lines. Would be better with a metro type service but choices made 60 years ago prevent that. Might change in 20 years time though. And people drive far too much, unnecessarily so. I had to stop my S-i-L driving to the local row of shops yesterday. It's less than 5 minutes walk for heaven's sake Rushcutters Bay is a great location but my, you'd need uber-deep pockets to live round there. Cherry Ripes aren't made in Europe because they're minging BTW - a slightly nastier type of Bounty bar :biggrin: PS Not sure about your weather report, I think you have the rose tinted specs on. Friday was cold (granted you've come from London so might not notice that!) with a number of showers and a pretty horrible breeze. Friday night it started hammering down and didn't let up until Saturday afternoon, again cold. Sunday was nice. Today started grey and drizzly but has now cleared up nicely. Just sayin' :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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