We left England, Reading to be precise, a little over 5 months ago, leaving many family and friends behind and wondering what awaited us on our adventure.

The journey over with Cathay Pacific was a delight and we arrived to stay with friends who had left 14 months previously. We arrived into utter chaos as our friends son had a quite serious accident, just the day before we arrived.  Our first few days were spent going to and from Sydney's children's hospital. Not ideal, but a great motivator to find your way through the city straight away.

Our friends son recovered and we then started trying to find somewhere to live. We had chosen the Central Coast as our original destination, however as the time to arrival got nearer we changed our minds and opted for Sydney's Northern Beaches. What a fantastic choice it has turned out to be, we have a choice of some of the best beaches in Sydney all within 10 to 15 mins, some within walking distance. The national parks are stunning and the wildlife beyond our wildest dreams.

The Aussies we have met are fantastic, so friendly and welcoming. There is also a large ex-pat community here so it is very hard to feel homesick. We have met a number of people who I am sure will become lifelong friends.

Our 2 children aged 7 and 4 have both settled well into school and also have many new friends. Our oldest child has started in a year above her age, in the UK children generally start school at a younger age than their Australian counterparts and although only aged 7, here a good many of her classmates are 9. Our youngest has started Kindy, in the UK we would call it year 1, and can't wait to go to school everyday.

After 6 weeks of being here we found a nice house to rent. Property on the Northern Beaches is really expensive and we were quite surprised to find that it is actually cheaper to rent than to buy. We had decided to rent before we arrived, to make sure we were happy before we committed long term.

Next on the list was a job, being a Coachbuilder I thought this would prove quite difficult and so it was. I applied for one job before I left the UK and it sounded very promising. I arrived, went for aptitude tests, waltzed through them and after 3 months got to the final interview stage only for the company to decide they no longer wished to take anyone on, very frustrating.

I then applied for a few other jobs but was a bit fussy and turned a few offers down and instead did some temp work over the Christmas period. During that time I applied for anything I fancied doing and finally was offered the job that I have now, and love it. The money is not great but money isn't everything and jobs in Oz generally pay less than UK rates.

The one thing here is that people are prepared to give you a go if they think you are keen and are prepared to work.

To Summarise

If you come and think positive you will love it. It is not the UK, it is Australia, and it's proud to be Australia and that is very refreshing.

These are our findings so far, they may change, but at the moment England is but a fond memory.