6 months Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast

[THORPES]

Hi

 

I thought I would give an update of our 6 month anniversary. Very long sorry.

 

Some of you may know, we originally sold everything in UK and made the move to Gold Coast in Jan 09. Well we only lasted 6 weeks as hubby hated it. The main reasons were, he never researched anything about Queensland. He did have a look on internet at Adelaide as his mum had visited there and he listened to some of her stories. He thought he was oing on holiday and also his boss from UK was phonin him every couple of days telling him to come back cos they all missed him.

Well in the 6 weeks we also flew to Adelaide and stayed a few days. Sorry but i really didnt like it there. Far too quiet.

Well 6 weeks later we returned back to UK and stayed with my mum & dad. Got our boys enrolled in new schools in the area. Had a real struggle getting a place for our eldest. I had to go an see an MP and have an appeal. Well he got in.

A few months later, hubby decided he would like to give Oz another go. He went on his own and stayed 10 weeks. Loved it this time but really struggled for work and with christmas approaching he came back.

Well we saved and saved and finally made the move on 27th november 2010.

We flew with Singapore airlines and they were good.

We arrived on Sunday evening and stayed at Ashmore Palms.

We bought a car on Tuesday. We had medicare sorted, bank account, driving licence already so no need for us to stress about them.

We planned to stay at Ashmore Palms until after christmas and booked for 8 weeks.

Our boys met the friends they had made previously who live permantly at Ashmore.

Hubby got a job and started on 21st December.

Well we were set on Pacific Pines so looked at a few rentals. Everytime we went there, it didnt feel right. Also lads at hubby's work put him off saying how rough it is. Friends of ours who lived there told us that high school is rubbish and that primary school is full of bogan kids. Locals on Ashmore Palms also didnt have anything positive to say about the place and I think it really put us off.

We visited Sunshine Coast a few times and everytime we loved it. Loved Mountain Creek. Hubby had applied for a job in Caloundra the last time he was over. Well, just before christmas he got an email off them asking if he wanted a job there. We felt it was fate and that we belonged on Sunshine Coast.

We secured a lovely rental in Mooloolaba, it was a waterfront house with pool for $430 per week. The house was a little tatty but the location was amazing. We moved in on 21st January and our boys started Mountain Creek high and state schools in years 10 & 4.

Our youngest loved school in UK and here he was really struggling. It was a big school with 1200 pupils. Most days he would have an headache or tummy ache and didnt want to go. Eldest never into school in UK or here. He was same. He would go in school and then they would telephone me to say he is ill and send him home.

In the meantime hubby was commuting daily to his job on Gold Coast as the Caloundra job still hadnt happened. It was a 4-5 hour round trip every day setting off at 4:30am and not getting home until 6:00pm. He was exhausted.

Eventually Caloundra job called for him to start. He took a week's holiday from Gold Coast job. Well he did 2 days at Caloundra. They offered him $25 per hour for 3 months then review. On his first day, they said they had made a mistake and it was $19 per hour. A total joke.

Well he went back down the road again to Gold Coast.

I managed to get a job but with our youngest struggling at school, I felt really guilty.

Hubby colapsed at work and was taken to hospital who said he was suffering with exhaustion.

We decided as there were no jobs on Sunshine coast and my wage was rubbish, we would have to move back to Gold Coast. We broke our lease and moved back to Gold Coast.

We stayed a few days at our friends at Coomera Waters. Wow, its brilliant there. Its a secure estate with security patrolling, gym and 2 pools. We would have loved to live there but its too far out. I wouldnt be able to get boys to school as I dont drive and no shops nearby. Shame because it was very nice.

Well, we went back to Ashmore Palms and are staying in a new cabin there. We are doing month to month. Its very modern and spacious and we have put some of our own furniture in. Got the boys enrolled at Ashmore State school and Benowa High school. Well our youngest is a different child. He is so withdrawn and sad. He cried every day going to school and hates it. Hubby took him last week and he was shaking so much, he brought him home. We have contacted school and well they not bothered. He is not going back there and we have withdrawn him. Oldest doesnt really have much to say about Benowa but thats just him.

Hubby is still in same job and really busy. He is working 14 hour days and weekends so we dont see much of him.

We have decided that we will be returning to UK before start of new school year in September. I have contacted UK schools and they can both have there places back.

We like Australia but just dont feel its for us.

Maybe moving about has done it but we really dont like the Gold Coast.

We feel the grass isnt always greener.

 

Jill

xxx

[Guest famousfive]

No more than ourselves, you seem to have had a very bumpy journey so far.It must be both a relief and a dissappointment to have made the decision to return but, from reading your post you seem at peace with that decision which of course makes things easier.We all move here with high hopes of a better life but sadly that is not always the case.Sometimes this is influenced by the area you choose,the job you secure[or not],how well you all settle and cope with migration and how many hurdles have come before you.At other times it is simply to do with where you have come from and what life was like before you came here.

For us personally it has been a bit of both and we all agree that life was better on the other side.We were happier and more content with the direction our lives were taking.We had more time together and wages afforded us a better lifestyle and better prospects.

This is no reflection on oz,it is just the truth of our situation.

 

I hope your return is a succesfull one and that you all settle in to the changes without pain or hardship.I especially hope your wee lad becomes himself again because it sounds as if it has been a tough time for him.My eldest[11]has also struggled and is happy to know she returns to ireland by xmas.

I wish you all the best on your return and let us know how things pan out for you all.

[sunni1234]

WOW. Good luck on your return journey. I hope your boys settle, especially your youngest, i'm sure they will when they are back in familiar surroundings with family/friends.

 

sunni x

[THORPES]

Hello

Just a quick update while I am on luch at my new job back in UK.

 

We must be mad but me and OH hate it back here. From landing back at Manchester we have pined to go back to Aus. Our boys have settled back inschool and our oldest is back with his old friends, although we are not really happy with this as they like to drink at weekends and I know some of them do drugs. We just dont want our son to be around this environment. We just want to settle and although we struggled in Aus, we really did make some awesome friends who would do anything for you. Here we dont really have any true friends as they have drifted apart when we moved to Aus the first time. We just dont know what to do.

Our visa expires in 2013 and we are thinking of coming back then.

We truly are ping pong poms but want to do the best for our boys.

Any suggestions or help from people in the same boat.

 

Jill

xxx

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Hello

Just a quick update while I am on luch at my new job back in UK.

 

We must be mad but me and OH hate it back here. From landing back at Manchester we have pined to go back to Aus. Our boys have settled back inschool and our oldest is back with his old friends, although we are not really happy with this as they like to drink at weekends and I know some of them do drugs. We just dont want our son to be around this environment. We just want to settle and although we struggled in Aus, we really did make some awesome friends who would do anything for you. Here we dont really have any true friends as they have drifted apart when we moved to Aus the first time. We just dont know what to do.

Our visa expires in 2013 and we are thinking of coming back then.

We truly are ping pong poms but want to do the best for our boys.

Any suggestions or help from people in the same boat.

 

Jill

xxx

Hi Jill

There are quite a few who have been in the same situation. I hope things work out for you the second time around.

K x

[Guest paco123]

Hi Jill

 

You are not alone, we too have been fleeting between oz and uk. You say your visa expires in 2013, give it another go third time lucky, maybe do some more research on different areas to live. Good Luck

 

Paco

[Guest Toomers]

Sorry but it's your boys I feel for, you need to give one place a chance to work out so they can make good freinds and settle... I wish you luck.

[Guest]

Yeah, I'd worry about your boys. They didnt seem happy in Aus. Keep ping ponging can't be good for them.

 

Do you really have funds to give it another go and this time stick at it longer? Really do your homework on locations, schools and do on so you get the right school from the off for your boys. Nothing worse than being dragged around the world to be put in and out different schools again. Can make kids very miserable being unhappy at school and most of that is the social aspect.

 

Honestly, I'd not like to say if your move is for the best or best for your boys or either of you. I think you really need to sit down and all talk about it and see if you can come up with a more solid plan do everyone knows what is what.

 

I'd be very careful and research areas in advance and perhaps consider learning to drive in the meantime to give yourself more options of where to live if you go back out. If you end up as you dud before it could really screw with the family dynamic and happiness Di be sure it's what you want.

 

Good luck whichever way you go.

[Quoll]

I'm tempted to say dont be daft and think of your kids. You say that your kids didnt like it - they are at an age where they really need stability and the modelling of "stick-at-it-ness". All the things about Aus that drove you back twice are still there and maybe now is the time to knuckle down and stick at what you have got and make the best of it. You may not like your kids' current crop of mates but they could just as easily end up with binge drinking pot smoking mates in Aus if you were to move back - work on trying to keep them out of mischief and giving them things to aspire to I reckon (no matter which country you are in). Maybe down the track (and at reasonable transition points for your kids) look at moving elsewhere in UK if you dont like Manchester (wouldnt be my town of choice I must admit!)

 

As for Aussie friends - if yours are anything like mine, they will have forgotten you already (and I have only been here 6 months!) - I am sure that if you worked on it you could find some new UK friends (dont expect the old ones to leap in, you've "jilted" them twice already so why should they put time and energy into their relationships with you?) - but like a move to any new country, you have to put energy into new relationships.

 

However, at the end of the day, it is your decision and yours alone. Only you and yours know if you can afford to risk everything and could (financially and emotionally) make a go of it the third time around or whether you are forever doomed to the curse of the expat and never allow yourself to settle. Good luck whichever way you jump!

[Tulip]

I have to agree with Quoll, it's no wonder your little one is so unsettled in Aus when he'd already been moved there, back again, and moved back to Aus again. Now he's back in the UK and settled in, why move him again where you know he was miserable before? I realise this may sound a little harsh and I have no idea what you're going through, this is just my outsider's opinion. It just seems to me that you need to stop thinking about life there and concentrate on the life you have here.

 

As for your eldest and drugs; when I was 14-16 ALL my friends smoked, drank, and did drugs. I never touched the stuff and still managed to maintain friendships, so have faith in him if you think he's a good lad. Boys will be boys and if he's going to do that kind of thing there's really not much you can do to stop it in Aus if you went there; same drugs, same booze, same crowds.

 

I really, really hope you find somewhere that suits you.

[THE DUNSCOMBE FAMILY]

We have always been here for you in Aus Jill and Warren infact all your friends have, We always exchange emails regular , It was awesome your hubby met up with mine a couple of weeks ago when he came back to his dad's funeral, totally unexpected but fantastic he did, it just goes to show WE ARE always here in Oz for you or here for you back in Blight y...........I know we will defo see you again over here and we can not wait to have you back either .We all miss you so very much .You do what your heart tells you to do .

[doubter]

I suppose the key is too secure a good job before you leave UK and good research on areas but no one can see into the future and everyones experience is different.

I thought I did this and only lasted 8 months and got cold feet and jumped ship.2 years back in UK and I am pining to go back before visa expires in 2014. I think you quickly forget the negative experiences and remember the good.