11 Months in....loving Clarkson, Perth

[DonnaC]

Have we really been here 11 months already?? How has that happened?

 

The past 11 months have absolutely flown by....and have honestly made all of my dreams come true.

 

The Australian dream was 12 years in the making for me. Travelled to Australia as a backpacker and completely fell in love with the place, the lifestyle and the people!! During the 12 years I met my current partner, have gone back to Uni to ensure I could obtain a visa and visited Australia to show the other half why I loved Australia so much.

 

So, rewind to 1st October 2014, and we landed in Perth, and were picked up from the airport by one of Pauls school friends. We have been incredibly lucky, and stayed with them for the first few weeks. We secured jobs within a month of being here, and secured a rental a few weeks after that, and will be for some time, as we are down to one wage (not been here long enough to be entitled to maternity pay) but its a lovely 4x2 in a nice street in Clarkson, so cant complain. We have made a small circle of friends, but they have become so special to us, they are our family and friends rolled into one.

 

And more importantly, I have become a mother, something that seemed to be an impossibility for us in the UK, but something that has happened straight away for us here.

 

So, here we are, 1st September, 2015, the first day of spring, and as I write this the sun is beginning to peak through the clouds, my son is asleep and I am looking forward to an increase in the temperatures and feeling the hot sun on my skin, something that I avoided last year due to horrendous morning (all day) sickness!!

 

Has the move been easy. Yes and No. There have been so many tears (mainly mine) and I cried as the plane took off down the runway at Heathrow airport. Family (nieces and nephews esp) have grown up and other family members have got older. My baby niece is no longer a baby. Shes walking, talking, and is a funny little girl....and Ive missed all of that. My nephew thinks that every plane/boat he sees is Aunty Donna coming home from Australia, and my grandads health has continued to deteriorate.....these are the hard things, the things you can NEVER prepare for, and will guarantee to pull at your heart strings...and make you feel utterly helpless.

 

Have I missed Wales, no. Have I missed Family and Friends, more than I ever thought imaginable....I have been having a very teary few days. Have I ever considered going back to the UK to live - NO. Dont get me wrong, it would be easier in that I would have people to help with the baby, and I could have a huge part in the kids lives once again, but I know that the lifestyle here my son will have would far surpass anything we could give him in the UK, and seeing the posts on Facebook about the horrendous UK Summer when the Perth Winter was actually better does make that bitter pill alot easier to swallow.

 

Do we find Australia expensive....it can be. I think its like the UK...if you go shopping in M&S then you do expect to pay more!! We have a few good local markets and I can do a weekly shop of fruit veg and meat for under $100. I do find that we spend over $200 if we go to Coles or Woolies...but thats about the same as I used to spend in the UK in Tesco. I am looking forward to Aldis and Lidls opening here in the near future. We have found that the wages here make it all relative anyway. Rent has been the biggest shock for us, coming from a small Welsh village where you can still buy a house for £60,000...our weekly rent here is more than our mortgage was in the UK. Our other big bug bear is petrol....prices can increase so much over night...it just doesnt make sense!! but again, still cheaper than the UK. We bought a lovely Kia 4x4 for about $7500, and its been fantastic. All the cars here seem to be big. We brought a minimal amount of shipping over, basically just photos, some cookbooks and things people had bought us, a mirror, and packed our winter coats, jumpers etc, but to be honest, I wish we hadnt bothered....weve not unpacked half the boxes or worn half the winter clothes. The coats have been washed and are still hanging up in one of the wardrobes.

 

Something that was important to me when I was in the UK - Australian Wildlife.....Sorry to burst the bubble of all those scare mongers out there....but we havent seen any, which I am happy and sad about in equal measure. I would love to see some of the lizards etc that Australia has. We did see some wild Emus and have also seen some dolphins, and had a few stick insects (praying mantis), but thats about it. We did have a few redbacks outside when we moved into this house, but we had the outside sprayed ($100) and havent seen anything since. We did have a small spider in the laundry on Sunday, but it was nothing major....a bit of bug spray and it was dead.

 

I plan to take my son back to the UK in a few weeks to meet his UK family and have very mixed feelings about it all. I will be doing the flight on my own with a baby who will be about 3 months old. Am looking forward to meeting up with loved ones, but dreading saying goodbye already...will be harder this time, as I know how devastating it will be for them all saying goodbye to my son.

 

Sorry for the long, and probably quite random in places post, but I hope that this will help some people who are still in the UK and looking to make the move.

[Que Sera Sera]

What a lovely update and thanks for sharing. Not been to Clarkson but It sounds nice. Hope you continue to be very happy here and congratulations on the baby.

[barry family]

Hi Donna

 

What a great read you post is, congratulations on your baby. We have been here 10 months (Cairns) and we love it, miss family and friends like crazy but like you would never want to go back and live there. Unlike you my biggest struggle here is "making friends"!! My husband works fifo... 4 weeks away, home for 1...I have 2 teenage sons 13 & 14 they have settled in great and made friends. When they were younger taking them to school you could talk to other parents in the school yard, but with the age they are don`t get to meet other parents. They play football and though I would have met some other parents that way, but there is only a couple of parents that go to watch their children and they`re in a little "click" and don`t like to open their group up. I got a casual job at a local petrol station, but I work by myself (5 minute shift takeover) so thought I would meet people at work (did not realize when I applied for job I would work alone) But the great thing about the job is every 5th week when my husband is home I can take the week off to spend with him (so it has it`s advantages). So even though I`m unhappy that I have not met more friends I hope in time I will, but still would rather be here in Australia. Enjoy your trip back to UK it will be very emotional but so worth it. Amanda x

[Paul1Perth]

Good post Donna. Clarkson is nice and only going to get better. Wouldn't be a bad place to buy if the right one comes up. It's tough having no family with youngsters, our eldest was only 2 when we came and we had another 5 years later. It keeps you close as a family and you don't rely on other people, which can be a bonus.

 

Have a good trip back to the UK, we were here 12 years before we went back for the first trip, everyone wanted to come out here on holiday first. It's a great place for family to visit. My Sister and nieces all wanted to emigrate but, unfortunately, couldn't get in. My BIL was in the police force and there were about 500 applicants for 20 places in SA.

 

We found when the kids get a little older you meet people through day care, school, sports events. My eldest wanted to be in the surf club from being about 4 years old. He used to see the kids every week and couldn't wait. We all joined as soon as he was 7 and he still has a lot of friends he met through the surf club. Our youngest has also been a member since he was 7. He has autism but they've been like a second family to him and he knows so many people there that he always feels safe. I can recommend the Surf Clubs as a way to meet people, keep fit, give the kids a good healthy environment to mix in and most have a cheap bar with Ocean views.:cool:

[calNgary]

Good to hear you have settled in well and congratulations on the birth of your baby

 

Cal x

[jumpingjellybean]

Something that was important to me when I was in the UK - Australian Wildlife.....

 

I am not sure why everyone makes such a big drama of this. You hardly ever bump into anything in the city suburbs. Especially in Perth.

 

I lived near bushland for 20 years and in all that time only ever saw 2 snakes and they slithered off pretty quick when they saw me.

[DonnaC]

Thanks for the comments and support everyone. Yes, Im looking forward to meeting others, through various groups etc as my son gets a bit older.

I have put off going to mother and toddler groups as I wanted Harry to make sure hes vaccinated first, at least with his first set of vaccination (yes I am a neurotic first time mother)

 

Yes Clarkson is lovely, lots of nice green areas around...but I think thats true of most suburbs. At the moment, there is a vast amount of work going on behind the house with the freeway expansion well underway, so not sure that I would want to buy where we are at the moment, although the owner of this house has offered us to buy this.

 

Yes, the wildlife does seem to get the British interest spiked....and get the heart pumping. Im a paranoid pom with spiders etc, but yes weve not seen anything worthy of report.