Originally Posted by iPom

Three weeks in...

We arrived on Easter Saturday morning in Sydney after an excellent flight with Singapore airlines. First off, I’m in the fortunate position of having an Australian husband and therefore plenty of ‘back-up’ family here, with a mother in law 20 minutes away, a father in law in Sydney (they’re divorced), plus a few brothers in law although they’re busy living their own lives so I wouldn’t be calling on them for anything but a beer and the odd BBQ. :-)

Here are my first impressions anyway of the first couple of weeks here and I hope it will be useful to someone out there. I’m just going to list things which have hit me. Apols if things aren’t chronological - It’s a train of thought post. ;-)
We came out here because we were tired of the lack of interested family in the UK for my children, the poor weather which essentially had us trapped inside for months every year, and the struggle to pay a mortgage on a smallish house on a busy road in a UK village...ie - It was all about Quality Of Life.

I have been to Australia before, first in ‘90, on a working holiday for a year. The next was when I was newly married and then later on for holidays. For a start, living here is different to being on holiday. I’m sure you’ll think that is stating the bleedin’ obvious, but it’s not different in the sense you may think. When you’re on hols, you don’t pay attention to a lot of stuff, such as brand names, or places to get your driver’s license sorted, or what bank to use etc. These are the real issues which essentially you avoid when you’re on holiday... So you may think you might ‘know’ Australia if you’ve been here before, but it’s not necessarily true - expect to be taken by surprise.

Shopping - My first ‘real’ grocery shopping trip took twice as long as it should have done, purely because I had to read everything … labels. There are no E numbers out here because they are EU classification codes to make it easy for us all in the UK...In Aus, they’re called by their proper chemical names. Then there’s trying to work out what the best brand is - even with things as simple as canned tuna or chopped tomatoes. It’s been quite an experiment so far, but if in doubt, ask because Australians are lovely people and are always willing to help you out if you just explain what you need...
I’m an ethical shopper (or pain in the butt, whichever way you want to look at it) but Aus is waaaaay behind on Fair Trade stuff. I’m going to ask my local deli if they can start getting some Fair Trade brands in, otherwise you’re stuck with Kraft and bloody Nestle which is HUGE here, sadly... but fear not, I shall spread the word
(http://www.babymilkaction.co.uk)
One thing I needed was 100 points to open and verify my bank account. I ran around like a blue arsed fly getting my drivers license sorted so I could provide said 100 points. In the driving licence place, she asked me for my Australian bank card or a bank statement... which of course, I couldn’t provide because I needed the licence to verify the bank account... I felt a horrible catch 22 situation approaching until we worked out my UK credit card would be enough for her. I then made it to the bank armed with said licence who told me that my passport was worth 100 points if I’d been in the country less than 6 weeks anyway ...ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (Basil Fawlty moment) I do remember reading about this on the BE board, but it obviously didn’t sink in until after I’d sorted it out anyway. <rolls eyes>

People - The people I’ve met so far have been fabulous. The guy we bought our car off gave us a loan car for two weeks until our bank and transfers were all sorted, completely gratis. The bank employee who opened our accounts told us to come in if we needed to ask anything at all, even if the issue we had was nothing to do with banking... The local pharmacist bent over backwards to make us feel welcome... the local couple who run the electrical store gave us a huge discount because we bought so many things and because we had emigrated.… The pharmacist at another store in Wentworth falls treated me like I was something she’d scraped off her shoe, but I think that was down to her lack of self esteem and she probably does it to everyone... Aussies are mainly great but like all places, there are good and bad, but people are generally what you personally make of them... you go in expecting bad and that’s what you’ll get imo. People generally are surprising in the most challenging of situations and you should always give them that chance I think.
My neighbours on one side are from Birmingham and have been here 20 yrs and are retired. On the other side, we’ve managed to get the local minister and his family, but it’s ok...We know it won’t be too noisy! ;-) The first night we moved in, the minister and his wife invited us for dinner and lent us tools, two heaters and a desk so we wouldn’t have to go shopping for these items immediately. Incredibly kind people.

Anxiety - there’s a really odd one that I didn’t think would bother me but it has done. I wouldn’t say I’m anxious at all, and generally not about the creatures which live here, but when we were finally over the jetlag and had found a rental house, I spent the first few nights in it waking up at ridiculous times of the night fretting about the children … Were they ok? Was there a spider in their room? Was there a spider in my room? What about cockroaches? Was there something biting me? Were there creatures in my room? What was that noise? Blah blah blah! The last few weeks in the UK were very stressful indeed, with constant stomach churning, late nights and worry. I think that got ‘stored up’ until we were here and then it all came tumbling out in the early hours. Just my brain’s way of getting rid of the stress by transferring it to something I could define maybe... After about a week, I stopped waking up and now I’m fine.

Critters - Apart from the small Huntsman I shoo’d out the other night, the worst I’ve had to deal with are possums banging on the roof and the mosquitos. The mozzies are really the biggest pain in the butt and let me assure you, I am living in a high bush area which is backing onto national park, so there is plenty of opportunity to see things. It’s cooler up here, so for a start, the roaches aren’t active and it’s not really hot enough for them anyway, even when it’s summer. The snakes are currently dozing under rocks so none around due to the ‘cold’ and I’ve only seen a couple of tiny spiders, mainly house spiders... but the rule is, you leave them alone and they’ll leave you alone. Most are timid anyway and run from you, apart from the Sydney funnel web and that’s so bloody ugly you’d run a mile as soon as you saw it anyway. Seen no redbacks (ever, in all my time in Aus so far!), nor whitetails or any other poisonous creature. There are loads of birds and the dawn chorus of whip birds, parrots, cookaburras, and a bowerbird make the humble robin and blackbird seem so ordinary (I’m sure this will change - Blackbird song is so quintessentially British!) The Dropbears are active here, so if you’re headed into the bush, beware!

The environment here is fantastic. I’m living at Wentworth Falls on the ‘King’s Tableland’ so I can literally step out of my back gate into wild bush, beautiful rock formations, a 20 min walk to the Falls, or Rocket Point, or some of the Aboriginal rock decorations which are around if you know where to go. There are wombats and roos down the back... It’s beautiful.
The children - They have settled in amazingly well and I am so proud of them. They haven’t watched TV for over a month now (who would want to anyway as Aus tv is crappy and if you want to watch it, why bother moving countries? Sitting on yer arse staring at a flickering box in the corner is the same in any language but if that’s all you do with the Australian bush outside, then you’d need your head looking at ;-)). The older two have gone to an independent school which is sort of Montessori based, no uniforms, teachers called their first names, heavy emphasis on developing personality through freedom and respect … It might sound a bit hippy-like, but you should see the older kids coming out of the school.… it works, the results are astounding and my children, having come from a stifling ‘British’ education are loving every second. They’ve only just finished their first week but the difference in approach is amazing. It’s a learning experience for us too.
I was worried my eldest would be in the wrong class and that she’d be bored. We were called in to meet with her teacher after two days of them being there, who told us my eldest was ‘exceptionally gifted’ and needed to be moved up a year to year 4. We thought this would happen, given that she was ahead of her peers in her school in the UK, but we didn’t know how it would be handled in Aus.… At this school it’s been handled brilliantly and we’re pleased they’ve recognized what was going on with her even after a week. The UK school didn’t really take any notice of her gifted nature, although they gave her extra work occasionally. Here it’s been looked on as a valuable gift... what a difference! She is in her element and we have done exactly the right thing.
We are able to get them into the school because we can afford it here. We could never have afforded this sort of thing in the UK. The fees aren’t huge … fairly small actually because it’s none profit school. I wish I’d gone to school there.

School here is a 5 min drive from where we live, so after school (which finishes at 2.45pm) we drive to the lake and play at the park there or go to another park down the road, or go for a bush walk.… It’s so different to the UK, where we’d go to the park if the weather was ok... and then only for half an hour because it was getting dark and the weather wasn’t so good … OK. so we’re only in Autumn here, and it has rained, but it’s generally dry and sunny with a cool breeze so perfect out doors weather. The kids are flourishing and have made friends immediately both at school and at the park...my near 7 yr old couldn’t manage monkey bars a few weeks ago - now she’s zooming across them at school.… Amazing what a difference a few weeks makes.
One thing that threw me the first day was that schools here have ‘morning tea’ which is a snack in the morning break... usually a piece of fruit and a sandwich or a cereal bar or something. Makes sense, because they play more...so they need to eat more.

Renting a house - We saw loads of houses, from the ancient Victorian to the modern ‘executive’ house which everyone wanted. Renting here isn’t first come first served like it is in the UK. Here you apply for a house (only one at a time - if you put an application in on another house at the same time and you end up getting both of them, they’re going to make you pay!) and you may be one of 4 other couples who’ve applied. The agent and owner then vet you to see if you can pay, whether you’re the ‘right’ sort of person etc. What makes the ‘right’ person I haven’t quite worked out yet. In the end, we came back to the first house we’d viewed - a simple but spacious fibroboard house, which no-one else wanted, so we got it immediately. It’s only 18 months old but the landlord and his mates build it specifically as a rental, so there’s lots of other ‘recycled’ parts in this house from other houses. It’s quite funny actually. Anyway, it’s a rental and it’s fine, so after we settle in, we’ll start looking for land to build on or a house to buy.

Thoughts... I have had huge swings of emotions in the past few weeks... odd moments of wondering why we left our comfy life in the UK with the central heating and unchallenging lifestyle... moments of wondering what the hell I’m doing here...gut lurching moments of horror and ‘oh my god what have we done’... and then swings the other way too... enjoying the weather, seeing the children just grown by the second in confidence... and then there’s my life which hasn’t even started yet because I’ve been looking after children for the past 10 years. Sure that was my choice but then at the same time, it also wasn’t.… because the options were so limited... So now I’m looking at the local TAFE and thinking about my career now... my choices, my time, my life … It’s all open before me... the possibilities are endless here and they are good.
I think that the emotional swings would be the same for anyone - I’ve had them and I’ve got family here but each time I’ve felt it, I’ve got off my arse and done something positive, like gone for a walk, or had a coffee in one of the numerous places around the mountains and sat watching the view and the wildlife, thinking ‘I live here. I am no longer a tourist. I actually live in this fantastic part of the world. Lucky me!’

And it’s true.

Originally Posted by iPom

BEACH? I'm not in Australia for the beach. If I wanted beach I could have gone to Europe. I'm living in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney where the environment is so beautiful. I'm here for the quality of life. But no doubt we will go up north to visit Great Uncle Norm in Robina and maybe we will go to the beach too whilst we're there. I think there's a great obsession that having the 'Aussie' life is a beach life, but that discounts all the other beautiful and gobsmackingly awesome parts of Australia. The property's cheaper up here and if I wanted to go to the beach, I'm an hour away for Bondi, Cronulla, Northern beaches etc.

To be honest, there's far too much going on here right now.... We're taking the steam train from Central in Sydney in the next couple of weeks with the children, and riding up to Thirlmere .... It's a beautiful trip. Then there's the walks here, into the Bush, down to Rocket point, or Wentworth Falls, or the lovely markets and the beautiful cafes in Leura... The three sisters at Katoomba and finding all the places the tourists don't go. Damn, it's beautiful. Yes, you british people.... stay at the beaches. Don't come up here to the horrid mountains. You wouldn't like it! Terrible it is.

Here's a funny thing. We're in a high tourist area being in the Blue mountains. The other sunday we're at Wentworth falls lake having a family BBQ on one of those free electric BBQ's they provide for you to use. A tour bus pulls up in the car park and loads of japanese tourists get off the bus. The tour guide comes up to us and asks if his tour people can have a look at us doing the BBQ, because apparently in Japan, they don't do BBQ's.

Sure, we said, wanting to be the nice people that we are.
The next minute my hub, who's cooking and my sis in law, who's cooking are crowded out with about 80 Japanese people who can't speak a word of English, and who obviously have no idea about personal space... They're poking at our food, pointing at us and taking pictures. Ten minutes this debacle is going on, but I was absolutely crying with laughter, esp when one gent persuaded my hub to pretend to 'serve' him a sausage on a plate for a photograph.
I didn't want to appear rude, so I sort of hid, but I was in hysterics. It's still tickling me now as I type.
You think you're out for a nice quiet BBQ with your family and a whole tourbus arrives right next to you to poke at your food. Christ, it could only happen in Australia. What a funny, funny moment. I bet my poor hub will appear on google under BBQ real soon.

Beware the bus people!

Originally Posted by iPom

Three weeks in...

Originally Posted by Lucy

What a FABULOUS post! WE have been in Adelaide 2 weeks tomorrow and so far we love it. I wish I had the time to write a fab post like that!

Lucy
xx

Originally Posted by iPom

Three weeks in...

We arrived on Easter Saturday morning in Sydney after an excellent flight with Singapore airlines. First off, I’m in the fortunate position of having an Australian husband and therefore plenty of ‘back-up’ family here, with a mother in law 20 minutes away, a father in law in Sydney (they’re divorced), plus a few brothers in law although they’re busy living their own lives so I wouldn’t be calling on them for anything but a beer and the odd BBQ. :-)

Here are my first impressions anyway of the first couple of weeks here and I hope it will be useful to someone out there. I’m just going to list things which have hit me. Apols if things aren’t chronological - It’s a train of thought post. ;-)
We came out here because we were tired of the lack of interested family in the UK for my children, the poor weather which essentially had us trapped inside for months every year, and the struggle to pay a mortgage on a smallish house on a busy road in a UK village...ie - It was all about Quality Of Life.

I have been to Australia before, first in ‘90, on a working holiday for a year. The next was when I was newly married and then later on for holidays. For a start, living here is different to being on holiday. I’m sure you’ll think that is stating the bleedin’ obvious, but it’s not different in the sense you may think. When you’re on hols, you don’t pay attention to a lot of stuff, such as brand names, or places to get your driver’s license sorted, or what bank to use etc. These are the real issues which essentially you avoid when you’re on holiday... So you may think you might ‘know’ Australia if you’ve been here before, but it’s not necessarily true - expect to be taken by surprise.

Shopping - My first ‘real’ grocery shopping trip took twice as long as it should have done, purely because I had to read everything … labels. There are no E numbers out here because they are EU classification codes to make it easy for us all in the UK...In Aus, they’re called by their proper chemical names. Then there’s trying to work out what the best brand is - even with things as simple as canned tuna or chopped tomatoes. It’s been quite an experiment so far, but if in doubt, ask because Australians are lovely people and are always willing to help you out if you just explain what you need...
I’m an ethical shopper (or pain in the butt, whichever way you want to look at it) but Aus is waaaaay behind on Fair Trade stuff. I’m going to ask my local deli if they can start getting some Fair Trade brands in, otherwise you’re stuck with Kraft and bloody Nestle which is HUGE here, sadly... but fear not, I shall spread the word
(http://www.babymilkaction.co.uk)
One thing I needed was 100 points to open and verify my bank account. I ran around like a blue arsed fly getting my drivers license sorted so I could provide said 100 points. In the driving licence place, she asked me for my Australian bank card or a bank statement... which of course, I couldn’t provide because I needed the licence to verify the bank account... I felt a horrible catch 22 situation approaching until we worked out my UK credit card would be enough for her. I then made it to the bank armed with said licence who told me that my passport was worth 100 points if I’d been in the country less than 6 weeks anyway ...ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (Basil Fawlty moment) I do remember reading about this on the BE board, but it obviously didn’t sink in until after I’d sorted it out anyway. <rolls eyes>

People - The people I’ve met so far have been fabulous. The guy we bought our car off gave us a loan car for two weeks until our bank and transfers were all sorted, completely gratis. The bank employee who opened our accounts told us to come in if we needed to ask anything at all, even if the issue we had was nothing to do with banking... The local pharmacist bent over backwards to make us feel welcome... the local couple who run the electrical store gave us a huge discount because we bought so many things and because we had emigrated.… The pharmacist at another store in Wentworth falls treated me like I was something she’d scraped off her shoe, but I think that was down to her lack of self esteem and she probably does it to everyone... Aussies are mainly great but like all places, there are good and bad, but people are generally what you personally make of them... you go in expecting bad and that’s what you’ll get imo. People generally are surprising in the most challenging of situations and you should always give them that chance I think.
My neighbours on one side are from Birmingham and have been here 20 yrs and are retired. On the other side, we’ve managed to get the local minister and his family, but it’s ok...We know it won’t be too noisy! ;-) The first night we moved in, the minister and his wife invited us for dinner and lent us tools, two heaters and a desk so we wouldn’t have to go shopping for these items immediately. Incredibly kind people.

Anxiety - there’s a really odd one that I didn’t think would bother me but it has done. I wouldn’t say I’m anxious at all, and generally not about the creatures which live here, but when we were finally over the jetlag and had found a rental house, I spent the first few nights in it waking up at ridiculous times of the night fretting about the children … Were they ok? Was there a spider in their room? Was there a spider in my room? What about cockroaches? Was there something biting me? Were there creatures in my room? What was that noise? Blah blah blah! The last few weeks in the UK were very stressful indeed, with constant stomach churning, late nights and worry. I think that got ‘stored up’ until we were here and then it all came tumbling out in the early hours. Just my brain’s way of getting rid of the stress by transferring it to something I could define maybe... After about a week, I stopped waking up and now I’m fine.

Critters - Apart from the small Huntsman I shoo’d out the other night, the worst I’ve had to deal with are possums banging on the roof and the mosquitos. The mozzies are really the biggest pain in the butt and let me assure you, I am living in a high bush area which is backing onto national park, so there is plenty of opportunity to see things. It’s cooler up here, so for a start, the roaches aren’t active and it’s not really hot enough for them anyway, even when it’s summer. The snakes are currently dozing under rocks so none around due to the ‘cold’ and I’ve only seen a couple of tiny spiders, mainly house spiders... but the rule is, you leave them alone and they’ll leave you alone. Most are timid anyway and run from you, apart from the Sydney funnel web and that’s so bloody ugly you’d run a mile as soon as you saw it anyway. Seen no redbacks (ever, in all my time in Aus so far!), nor whitetails or any other poisonous creature. There are loads of birds and the dawn chorus of whip birds, parrots, cookaburras, and a bowerbird make the humble robin and blackbird seem so ordinary (I’m sure this will change - Blackbird song is so quintessentially British!) The Dropbears are active here, so if you’re headed into the bush, beware!

The environment here is fantastic. I’m living at Wentworth Falls on the ‘King’s Tableland’ so I can literally step out of my back gate into wild bush, beautiful rock formations, a 20 min walk to the Falls, or Rocket Point, or some of the Aboriginal rock decorations which are around if you know where to go. There are wombats and roos down the back... It’s beautiful.
The children - They have settled in amazingly well and I am so proud of them. They haven’t watched TV for over a month now (who would want to anyway as Aus tv is crappy and if you want to watch it, why bother moving countries? Sitting on yer arse staring at a flickering box in the corner is the same in any language but if that’s all you do with the Australian bush outside, then you’d need your head looking at ;-)). The older two have gone to an independent school which is sort of Montessori based, no uniforms, teachers called their first names, heavy emphasis on developing personality through freedom and respect … It might sound a bit hippy-like, but you should see the older kids coming out of the school.… it works, the results are astounding and my children, having come from a stifling ‘British’ education are loving every second. They’ve only just finished their first week but the difference in approach is amazing. It’s a learning experience for us too.
I was worried my eldest would be in the wrong class and that she’d be bored. We were called in to meet with her teacher after two days of them being there, who told us my eldest was ‘exceptionally gifted’ and needed to be moved up a year to year 4. We thought this would happen, given that she was ahead of her peers in her school in the UK, but we didn’t know how it would be handled in Aus.… At this school it’s been handled brilliantly and we’re pleased they’ve recognized what was going on with her even after a week. The UK school didn’t really take any notice of her gifted nature, although they gave her extra work occasionally. Here it’s been looked on as a valuable gift... what a difference! She is in her element and we have done exactly the right thing.
We are able to get them into the school because we can afford it here. We could never have afforded this sort of thing in the UK. The fees aren’t huge … fairly small actually because it’s none profit school. I wish I’d gone to school there.

School here is a 5 min drive from where we live, so after school (which finishes at 2.45pm) we drive to the lake and play at the park there or go to another park down the road, or go for a bush walk.… It’s so different to the UK, where we’d go to the park if the weather was ok... and then only for half an hour because it was getting dark and the weather wasn’t so good … OK. so we’re only in Autumn here, and it has rained, but it’s generally dry and sunny with a cool breeze so perfect out doors weather. The kids are flourishing and have made friends immediately both at school and at the park...my near 7 yr old couldn’t manage monkey bars a few weeks ago - now she’s zooming across them at school.… Amazing what a difference a few weeks makes.
One thing that threw me the first day was that schools here have ‘morning tea’ which is a snack in the morning break... usually a piece of fruit and a sandwich or a cereal bar or something. Makes sense, because they play more...so they need to eat more.

Renting a house - We saw loads of houses, from the ancient Victorian to the modern ‘executive’ house which everyone wanted. Renting here isn’t first come first served like it is in the UK. Here you apply for a house (only one at a time - if you put an application in on another house at the same time and you end up getting both of them, they’re going to make you pay!) and you may be one of 4 other couples who’ve applied. The agent and owner then vet you to see if you can pay, whether you’re the ‘right’ sort of person etc. What makes the ‘right’ person I haven’t quite worked out yet. In the end, we came back to the first house we’d viewed - a simple but spacious fibroboard house, which no-one else wanted, so we got it immediately. It’s only 18 months old but the landlord and his mates build it specifically as a rental, so there’s lots of other ‘recycled’ parts in this house from other houses. It’s quite funny actually. Anyway, it’s a rental and it’s fine, so after we settle in, we’ll start looking for land to build on or a house to buy.

Thoughts... I have had huge swings of emotions in the past few weeks... odd moments of wondering why we left our comfy life in the UK with the central heating and unchallenging lifestyle... moments of wondering what the hell I’m doing here...gut lurching moments of horror and ‘oh my god what have we done’... and then swings the other way too... enjoying the weather, seeing the children just grown by the second in confidence... and then there’s my life which hasn’t even started yet because I’ve been looking after children for the past 10 years. Sure that was my choice but then at the same time, it also wasn’t.… because the options were so limited... So now I’m looking at the local TAFE and thinking about my career now... my choices, my time, my life … It’s all open before me... the possibilities are endless here and they are good.
I think that the emotional swings would be the same for anyone - I’ve had them and I’ve got family here but each time I’ve felt it, I’ve got off my arse and done something positive, like gone for a walk, or had a coffee in one of the numerous places around the mountains and sat watching the view and the wildlife, thinking ‘I live here. I am no longer a tourist. I actually live in this fantastic part of the world. Lucky me!’

And it’s true.

Originally Posted by Mctree

Dropbears?