Tea4two Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Aw Rob, I read your post and I can sympathise with what you have said...I think the fact that you have found the place in OZ where you like to live but are still missing 'something' has definitely showed you that people make your life, not just the place. You might well go back and feel differently when you return to OZ, but I doubt it. From what you have said previously, I don't think you ever fell in love with it like some on here. I know I haven't agreed with what you have said on here sometimes (probably in all honesty because it's hard to settle in somewhere and try and keep positive when someone is slating where you live), but I agree with some things you have said today and wish you all the best...quick question, why Cornwall and not back to Devon? I love Devon and that's in our grand plan if we ever go back in 5 or so years. You actually sound very similar to us...we too were struggling in the UK and never had any money despite having good jobs and a business and came out here for an adventure and to get out of a mess. It's not going to be as easy as we naively thought but I have confidence a little after reading how you have made things work financially. In terms of the Aussies, I think they vary...I talk to people on the phone relating to my gas/electric or some other kind of service and I feel like i'm talking to a robot...give me the cocky slack attitude of the UK contact centres anytime lol...but I start work on Monday with a great company in the centre of Melbourne and i've had two interviews. In both interviews they were friendly, funny, engaging, opinionated and told me that they are a very caring and supportive team...i'm a good judge of character and I just know i'm going to enjoy working with them! My hairdresser however...another story...I came out of there shaking my head lol. I imagine it will be a big weight off your mind now that you have spoke about it openely and I wish you all the best for the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Quote - The houses here last about 10 years and then they pull them down! What??? ... they haven't tried to pull my house down yet and it has been standing in Melbourne for over thirty years and it is still going strong! - come on houses in Aus last ten years ??? Also have to say some of my best friends ever are Aussies - people are people the world over - you get back what you give out - I have lived in many different countries and made life long friends in each one No you dont always get back what you give out....that implies we have not tried and its a mantra repeated on here endlessly and its exhausting and wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Aw Rob, I read your post and I can sympathise with what you have said...I think the fact that you have found the place in OZ where you like to live but are still missing 'something' has definitely showed you that people make your life, not just the place. You might well go back and feel differently when you return to OZ, but I doubt it. From what you have said previously, I don't think you ever fell in love with it like some on here. I know I haven't agreed with what you have said on here sometimes (probably in all honesty because it's hard to settle in somewhere and try and keep positive when someone is slating where you live), but I agree with some things you have said today and wish you all the best...quick question, why Cornwall and not back to Devon? I love Devon and that's in our grand plan if we ever go back in 5 or so years. You actually sound very similar to us...we too were struggling in the UK and never had any money despite having good jobs and a business and came out here for an adventure and to get out of a mess. It's not going to be as easy as we naively thought but I have confidence a little after reading how you have made things work financially. In terms of the Aussies, I think they vary...I talk to people on the phone relating to my gas/electric or some other kind of service and I feel like i'm talking to a robot...give me the cocky slack attitude of the UK contact centres anytime lol...but I start work on Monday with a great company in the centre of Melbourne and i've had two interviews. In both interviews they were friendly, funny, engaging, opinionated and told me that they are a very caring and supportive team...i'm a good judge of character and I just know i'm going to enjoy working with them! My hairdresser however...another story...I came out of there shaking my head lol. I imagine it will be a big weight off your mind now that you have spoke about it openely and I wish you all the best for the future Thanks! Devon was where I grew up, then i lived in Cheltenham...Cornwall was the place we would have moved to had we not gone to Australia....we were worried about moving to Cornwall due to jobs etc but having mover out here it suddenly seems less daunting.... I think if you like somewhere you like it....no matter what some miserable git says on here!! Glad you are settling in anyway, I think you can only do your best, there seems little point in "sticking it out" here if you are sure its not for you....I suppose the difficult question is always whether you are sure you want to go.....once you realise that, you are right, its a weight of your mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dxboz Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 No you dont always get back what you give out....that implies we have not tried and its a mantra repeated on here endlessly and its exhausting and wrong You are right - I apologise - you don't always get back what you give out unfortunately (wish you did the world would be a better place) but I have never had a problem making friends and I always try to live by that saying. I am sorry if you feel you have tried and are not getting anywhere however people are different the world over no matter what their nationality and you cannot lump a whole nationality together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 You are right - I apologise - you don't always get back what you give out unfortunately (wish you did the world would be a better place) but I have never had a problem making friends and I always try to live by that saying. I am sorry if you feel you have tried and are not getting anywhere however people are different the world over no matter what their nationality and you cannot lump a whole nationality together Very true and we can only comment on the people we have met. However there comes a time when you have to decide, do we carry on and hope it gets better or call it a day....otherwise one day we will be here with grown up kids and wont be able to leave!! Your mantra for life is not really a bad one though, I also like the one that goes something like "you make your own bed, you have to lie in it" I think thats very true, we make our lives what they are, but I think some people on here forget that if they are fed up, they dont have to stay here trying hard....its Ok to go home!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachall Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Thanks! Devon was where I grew up, then i lived in Cheltenham...Cornwall was the place we would have moved to had we not gone to Australia....we were worried about moving to Cornwall due to jobs etc but having mover out here it suddenly seems less daunting.... I think if you like somewhere you like it....no matter what some miserable git says on here!! Glad you are settling in anyway, I think you can only do your best, there seems little point in "sticking it out" here if you are sure its not for you....I suppose the difficult question is always whether you are sure you want to go.....once you realise that, you are right, its a weight of your mind. OMG Blobby - I grew up in Devon and have spent my senior school years and now nursin career in Cheltenham - which I'm about to leave!! Glad to hear that you've got it out of your system and know where your heart lies, just have to find that out for myself now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 OMG Blobby - I grew up in Devon and have spent my senior school years and now nursin career in Cheltenham - which I'm about to leave!! Glad to hear that you've got it out of your system and know where your heart lies, just have to find that out for myself now. No way!!! Where are you working at the moment? Do you live in Cheltenham? Im from Exmouth originally, gonna head back to live in Cornwall... Hows the NHS these days? I always enjoyed the work (honestly!) just found the stuff going on behind the scenes (pension rip offs, agenda for change rip off, suited office dwelling people who know nothing coming on the ward telling you how to do your job etc annoying)... Now I really MUST insist you dont take that job in Sydney!! There has got to be something better on offer..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dxboz Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Very true and we can only comment on the people we have met. However there comes a time when you have to decide, do we carry on and hope it gets better or call it a day....otherwise one day we will be here with grown up kids and wont be able to leave!! Your mantra for life is not really a bad one though, I also like the one that goes something like "you make your own bed, you have to lie in it" I think thats very true, we make our lives what they are, but I think some people on here forget that if they are fed up, they dont have to stay here trying hard....its Ok to go home!! You are so right it is ok to go 'home' wherever that may be - really at the end of the day we only have one life and we have to live it for ourselves because it is our life no-one else's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest68109 Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Rob i sooo loved your thread......been here in WA for nearly 3 years....cried every day for 10 months and grieved and wept for 2 years. Have stopped now but OMG i nearly lost it. You are so honest and i have been on threads like a demon warning my British countryman it is sooo hard moving here...be very sure before you do. Briefly my story is i am an a nurse as well, moved here with hubby and 3 kids ages 9 (twins) and 3 year old at the time ( be glad you will move back before you have to face the substandard education levels). Hubby is an IT project manager ( was a senior manager in BT - great salary and pension....dont get me started on what we left,,).Anyway he doubled his salary and halved his stress here...didnt stop me weeping...however like you we kept going. My speciality which is Child Protection Advisor is lost in WA as there is no such thing and as one nurse commented to me at a CP conference..' what does nurses have to do with Child Protection?' I knew i had away to go. I have an easy job as a level 2 clinical nurse...so less stressful than my previous post as aCharge Nurse in Addiction...but i use a 1/4 of my skills here. The first 2 years are a blur in which one of my sons ended up with osteomilitis from a mosquito bite! But we kept going...I have made friends - most are Scottish like us - and they miss home like us- but i have a good South african mate and a few Australian coffee friends through the school. My sister and brother live here too Rob...people cant believe i cried for home even then...some folk just don't get it! But yes the xpats who trash the UK - i cant abide it - With hand on heart i wish we had never came and never even thought about it. WE had good jobs and lived in a nice area with great schools - and you know that feeling when you apply for that visa...we need to give it a try....regret it if we dont...and so we came. After 2 years though Rob something did happen and i we are happy here at the moment. Kids really love it and we give it a year at a time. Our problem is my boys are older and if we go back it has be soon...and there is no jobs in Scotland for us just now. I now would miss the hot summers and balmy evenings here...it took 3 years but i am loving being here now. I love your idea and outlook. Yes go back! Australia is not for everyone...you have had a great adventure. My kids at the moment are quite clueless to the fact that we have taken them away from a country rich in history and culture to one that isnt and i think WA will be boring for them when they become older. I wish you both all the best....not saying we too will stay but we will give it another year and see how we are. xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachall Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 No way!!! Where are you working at the moment? Do you live in Cheltenham? Im from Exmouth originally, gonna head back to live in Cornwall... Hows the NHS these days? I always enjoyed the work (honestly!) just found the stuff going on behind the scenes (pension rip offs, agenda for change rip off, suited office dwelling people who know nothing coming on the ward telling you how to do your job etc annoying)... Now I really MUST insist you dont take that job in Sydney!! There has got to be something better on offer..... Hi Blobby Grew up in Dartmouth, lived & schooled in Cheltenham for 10 yrs, now living in Churchdown. Worked as a District Nurse in Cheltenham and really loved it but the service is dire and last Jan I became a Practice Nurse and now work between Kingsholm Surgery, in Gloucester and Yorkleigh Surgery (St Georges's Road) in Cheltenham. Sad to report that NHS is going rapidly down the pan, don't know how old you are but, if I stay, I will be working to 67 and pension will NOT be final salary and the contributions are increasing all the time!! Red tape increasing by the minute, work load increasing by the minute and morale at an all time low, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Hope Cornwall works out for you and the family but recruitment is at an all time low due to the government telling the NHS to save billions with front line staff being cut and or not replaced. Nursing in this country is facing a nursing shortage - and positions are being filled, if they have to be, with EU staff. I love England and what the NHS stood for but right now with fuel prices both for vehicles and domestic at an all time high, no pay rises for nurses, increasing pension contributions, the VAT increase and the welfare bill ever increasing, I do wonder what the future holds for this country of ours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Hi Blobby Grew up in Dartmouth, lived & schooled in Cheltenham for 10 yrs, now living in Churchdown. Worked as a District Nurse in Cheltenham and really loved it but the service is dire and last Jan I became a Practice Nurse and now work between Kingsholm Surgery, in Gloucester and Yorkleigh Surgery (St Georges's Road) in Cheltenham. Sad to report that NHS is going rapidly down the pan, don't know how old you are but, if I stay, I will be working to 67 and pension will NOT be final salary and the contributions are increasing all the time!! Red tape increasing by the minute, work load increasing by the minute and morale at an all time low, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Hope Cornwall works out for you and the family but recruitment is at an all time low due to the government telling the NHS to save billions with front line staff being cut and or not replaced. Nursing in this country is facing a nursing shortage - and positions are being filled, if they have to be, with EU staff. I love England and what the NHS stood for but right now with fuel prices both for vehicles and domestic at an all time high, no pay rises for nurses, increasing pension contributions, the VAT increase and the welfare bill ever increasing, I do wonder what the future holds for this country of ours. This is worrying! I suppose we knew all this as it was a large reason why we came....its worrying imagining not being able to get a job when returning although I hear there is a recruitment drive about to happen in Cornwall, and you know what they say: there will always be mad people. I suppose its about weighing up the pros and cons and then living without regret. No way can we be ping pong pom people or whatever they call them. Imagine that a ping pong pom dog at 4k a time. I used to moan in my job in England (but I bloody love moaning!) but you know, morale in Victoria is incredibly low too, they have been on strike since we arrived and their work ethic is shocking! And the union is very militant and so are the staff so no respect for management so management do nothing, if they challenge anyone the staff member threatens to get the union in....no teamwork.... For us, luckily, its a numebr of things making us return, so I suppose if the job is not great at least a) the job is crap here too and b) we are returning for other reasons too. Whats your plan now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Rob i sooo loved your thread......been here in WA for nearly 3 years....cried every day for 10 months and grieved and wept for 2 years. Have stopped now but OMG i nearly lost it. You are so honest and i have been on threads like a demon warning my British countryman it is sooo hard moving here...be very sure before you do. Briefly my story is i am an a nurse as well, moved here with hubby and 3 kids ages 9 (twins) and 3 year old at the time ( be glad you will move back before you have to face the substandard education levels). Hubby is an IT project manager ( was a senior manager in BT - great salary and pension....dont get me started on what we left,,).Anyway he doubled his salary and halved his stress here...didnt stop me weeping...however like you we kept going. My speciality which is Child Protection Advisor is lost in WA as there is no such thing and as one nurse commented to me at a CP conference..' what does nurses have to do with Child Protection?' I knew i had away to go. I have an easy job as a level 2 clinical nurse...so less stressful than my previous post as aCharge Nurse in Addiction...but i use a 1/4 of my skills here. The first 2 years are a blur in which one of my sons ended up with osteomilitis from a mosquito bite! But we kept going...I have made friends - most are Scottish like us - and they miss home like us- but i have a good South african mate and a few Australian coffee friends through the school. My sister and brother live here too Rob...people cant believe i cried for home even then...some folk just don't get it!But yes the xpats who trash the UK - i cant abide it - With hand on heart i wish we had never came and never even thought about it. WE had good jobs and lived in a nice area with great schools - and you know that feeling when you apply for that visa...we need to give it a try....regret it if we dont...and so we came. After 2 years though Rob something did happen and i we are happy here at the moment. Kids really love it and we give it a year at a time. Our problem is my boys are older and if we go back it has be soon...and there is no jobs in Scotland for us just now. I now would miss the hot summers and balmy evenings here...it took 3 years but i am loving being here now. I love your idea and outlook. Yes go back! Australia is not for everyone...you have had a great adventure. My kids at the moment are quite clueless to the fact that we have taken them away from a country rich in history and culture to one that isnt and i think WA will be boring for them when they become older. I wish you both all the best....not saying we too will stay but we will give it another year and see how we are. xx Wonderfully honest, and Im glad its slowly working out....do you think you have just got used to being miserable (Im not being rude, I just wonder if thats the next stage!) I can fully understand you would still want to return even with siblings here, it would be nicer but if the country is not for you then its not for you. "Whats nurses got to do with child protection" that just about sums up my experience here. There are nurses here that would not put a patient out if they were on fire if they were not allocated to them (honestly). I came on to take over in charge one night and a patient had a o2 level of 56% and he was dying and the nurse in charge had refused to call for assistance because "I dont want to be late going home" (he was not Australian, but its they general way of things). Im used to working to exceptionally high standards...Im not saying I do, Im saying its expected of me, and there are loads of brilliant dedicated nurses to look up to and learn from in the Uk (and many burnt out ones too). Over here they are all rubbish (I mean that, they are ALL rubbish!!!!!) Its difficult for you with older kids. We had no idea what it would be like either leaving the UK or living here. Its been a real eye opener and one we are detemind to escape from with our sanity in tact....like you I think I have been genuinely close to going mad at times and so has my wife....I have never seen someone so up and down (more down than up tho)!! Whereabout are you in WA? Seen many sharks?! Every day someone seems to get attacked..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachall Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 This is worrying! I suppose we knew all this as it was a large reason why we came....its worrying imagining not being able to get a job when returning although I hear there is a recruitment drive about to happen in Cornwall, and you know what they say: there will always be mad people.I suppose its about weighing up the pros and cons and then living without regret. No way can we be ping pong pom people or whatever they call them. Imagine that a ping pong pom dog at 4k a time. I used to moan in my job in England (but I bloody love moaning!) but you know, morale in Victoria is incredibly low too, they have been on strike since we arrived and their work ethic is shocking! And the union is very militant and so are the staff so no respect for management so management do nothing, if they challenge anyone the staff member threatens to get the union in....no teamwork.... For us, luckily, its a numebr of things making us return, so I suppose if the job is not great at least a) the job is crap here too and b) we are returning for other reasons too. Whats your plan now? The Plan - well I think we will have to give it a go, getting to old not to and we do have family here so not flying solo. Anyway you only get one life so best go ahead and live it! I don't want to be a what if kind of person - you know better to have tried and failed then never to have tried at all. Good news though for you, have just had a nose through the RCN mag and Cornwall NHS are recruiting Band 5 RMN for Bodmin and Redruth!! Salary £21,176 - £27,625, not quite Aussie standards!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Yeah you definitely have to give it a go, I would never try to put anyone off and how it is for us may be very different for you.....and in any case its been a good experience, we will have lived and worked in a foreign country for 2 and a half years and seen many new places. Not going back for a year but good news there are jobs advertised, 21k-27k is never enough as we all know, but the cost of living here is a lot higher than the UK so you cant just divide by 1.5 and think you willbe loaded (although we are better off) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachall Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Yeah you definitely have to give it a go, I would never try to put anyone off and how it is for us may be very different for you.....and in any case its been a good experience, we will have lived and worked in a foreign country for 2 and a half years and seen many new places. Not going back for a year but good news there are jobs advertised, 21k-27k is never enough as we all know, but the cost of living here is a lot higher than the UK so you cant just divide by 1.5 and think you willbe loaded (although we are better off) Sadly if it's Cornwall your heading for you will be competing with all the London City types for holiday homes, Devon and Cornwall have some of the highest priced homes anywhere, hence the reason I neve went back - too expensive. Just think the Cotswolds on sea!! Plus the fact Cornwall has the highest water rates in the country, don't ask me why that is, surrounded by sea!! Anyway I hope that what ever decision you make it works out for you and the nearest and dearest. The NHS may change in a year, who knows, we that work in it certainly don't. I'm going to work for a private company not an agency (funds in the bank if I need to get out quick!) I'm looking at it as a foot in the door senario, ever the optimist I am. Best wishes for the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Deek Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Really excellent post ! I have just been offered a job in Brisbane with a great salary and my wife is desperate to go. we have a young son and I am tempted. We already have friends in Brisbane who love it there and have really settled down there. Its the family side of things I cant get my head round, my parents are elderly and I am starting to feel like the worlds biggest rat even considering going ! I am defo not one of those brits that can just switch off from the UK. I am trying to work out how many times a year I can drag the family back to the UK for a visit which is probably not practical really either money wise or sitting on a plane wise. No idea what to do ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcorners Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Redruth is one of the most deprived areas of Cornwall and therefore of the UK. House prices in Redruth and Camborne are much lower than the rest of the county, I know because we bought our cottage one mile from Redruth yet only 3 miles from the sea! Our water rates were £270 for the year. And just because Cornwall is surrounded by the sea doesn't mean it can't have water shortages - you can't drink the sea!! My partner and myself lived off £24k and £32k very happily and comfortably, he paid for his brand new £8k motorbike straight off and we were able to save money easily. We had two cars as well. I think once people live in Australia their idea of 'value' becomes horribly twisted and they forget how cheap some stuff is in the UK. Anyway, better go to work I guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachall Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Redruth is one of the most deprived areas of Cornwall and therefore of the UK. House prices in Redruth and Camborne are much lower than the rest of the county, I know because we bought our cottage one mile from Redruth yet only 3 miles from the sea! Our water rates were £270 for the year. And just because Cornwall is surrounded by the sea doesn't mean it can't have water shortages - you can't drink the sea!! My partner and myself lived off £24k and £32k very happily and comfortably, he paid for his brand new £8k motorbike straight off and we were able to save money easily. We had two cars as well. I think once people live in Australia their idea of 'value' becomes horribly twisted and they forget how cheap some stuff is in the UK. Anyway, better go to work I guess... I do realise that there are deprived areas in Cornwall - as there are in all areas of the UK and not doubt Aus. I was trying to be funny (but obviously failing) with the joke about the sea! However my point to the OP was that coming back to the UK from Aus having had the life style and funds, was going to be difficult. The cost of living in the UK at present is quite high and I know that as I'm still here. He and is wife are potentially coming back to the NHS with it's temporary contracts, high pension contributions and no pay rises. I hope that it all works for them what ever they decide, apologies if you felt aggrieved by my comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 Dont worry, if we get too skint we will be drinking the sea anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Dont worry, if we get too skint we will be drinking the sea anyway If you wee in it first, it will taste just like VB. Just a little hint in case times get tough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobby1000 Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 Funny its VB I always drank back home, thought it tasted nice til I got here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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