ianandhelena

When we came to Tasmania we’d never visited before although we had seen some of Australia on a trip after working in NZ in 2002-03.
At that time in 2003, we bought a Falcon Wagon in Sydney and drove around the coast via Melbourne, Adelaide, Port Augusta, up via Coober Pedy (such a strange place, where a lot of people live underground to escape the heat), to Uluru (even though you’ve seen pictures of the rock it’s still amazing to see it), back to Alice and then up to Darwin, out to Kakadu (we did a cruise on the Yellow Water at dawn which was special-so much wildlife) and back down via Katherine to Elliot where the wagon blew the head gasket and we were stuck.

Elliot is a dot on the map and has about 300 people living in it; we took the wagon to a mechanic who told us the only option was to drive it to Tennant Creek (about 250 km through the desert) and to take plenty of oil as it was p*ssing out all the time, although he did warn us if we did that it may set on fire-we weren’t keen to do that! In desperation we asked him if he knew anyone who’d want to buy it as is and he said he’d ask around; half an hour later his mate knocked on the motel door and said he’d give us $1500 or it; as we’d only paid $3000 and covered 7000 km in it in 5 weeks we agreed. We set off again by bus this time via Mount Isa to Townsville and had a fantastic couple of weeks on Magnetic Island, then headed back down to Brisbane and back to the UK via a month in the USA-but that’s another story.

We arrived in Oz on 25 Jan 2006 in Sydney after flying direct from Manchester via Kuala Lumpur, and flew straight out to New Zealand to see friends there for a week before flying back to Hobart via Sydney.

We came out initially on a 457-our employer had advertised our positions in the trade press in the UK and was keen to get us in the country as quickly as possible and had been advised that the 457 was quicker, which as it turns out isn’t true.

We stayed in the company flat in the CBD for a week whilst looking for a rental, which wasn’t straightforward; some places were advertised by letting agents who wanted to do a credit check on us, but as we were new to Oz we didn’t have a credit record; we ended up renting from a private landlord. Unfortunately we inspected the place on a 30C day without appreciating the finer points of Aussie insulation (none) and painstaking construction (doors and windows having the mandatory ½” wildlife gap around!) with the result that in July/August the place was perishing cold. The house was in Battery Point near to Salamanca Place with easy access to bars and restaurants.

Jobwise the situation was OK as we’d already been taken on whilst still in the UK; the work itself is a lot less stressful than in the UK (more time to spend with people, friendlier support staff, patients who have time to chat), and unlike the UK very little weekend work-we used to have to work every Saturday and every other Sunday; here it’s every other Sat morning.

Luckily, when we lived in NZ we’d taken the driving theory test and obtained NZ driving licences; that meant we could convert these to Tas ones without sitting a driving practical and theory test which is what you still have to do here if you’ve only got a UK licence.

In May we approached the State government for STNI sponsorship and got it within a few days, then started the endless task of collecting all the bits of paper we thought we’d never need again in support of our 134 application, this went off in June and the visa came through in October.

We went back to the UK in Oct for a holiday and though it was good to see our families we were glad to return to Hobart; the UK seemed to have changed even in the few months we’d been away.

We began looking for a house in November and after looking at several found a good one in a quiet spot in West Hobart, only 5 years old and in good nick, and moved in at the beginning of December. Now we’re spending too much money on furniture not having brought any with us when we came out here!

We’re looking forward to the coming year, enjoying the laid-back pace of Hobart and hopefully being able explore more of Tassie; this past year we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to go to Melbourne at Easter, Sydney and the Hunter Valley in July, Adelaide in November, and Perth last month on the Indian Pacific train across the Nullarbor which was excellent:

http://www.gsr.com.au/our-trains/ind...he-journey.php

We also found time to do the Williamstown and Hunter Valley marathons and managed to fit in the Snowdonia marathon on our trip to the UK in October, and we’re aiming to do our next one in May along the Great Ocean Road.

Our next trip is planned to be to the Byron Bay Blues Festival at Easter which should be good:

http://www.bluesfest.com.au/

We’ve made some good friends here, both locals and BE posters, both here in Tas (I had another sore head yesterday Sharon!) and back in the UK (see you soon Stoneyites).

cherry6

I am interested to know how you think Tasmania's cost of living compares to other places in Australia?
Perths cost of living just seems to be going up and up at the moment.

ianandhelena

I don't know cos we haven't lived anywhere else! I think the cost of housing is lower compared to other areas but even that has risen sharply in line with everywhere else. As far as I know, goods and services cost roughly the same but I may be wrong.

Wendy

Great post, glad things are going well for you

possoms

what a fantastic post Ian, PMSL at the mandatory 1/2" wildlife gap

just cant believe you've been there a year!!

That Sharon sounds like she's a bad influence

TeresaG

Great post. Glad everything is going so well for you.

Jaycee1

Glad you are enjoying your new life in Tassie.
Oldham is bleak and freezing and we are - right at this moment - waiting for British Gas to come and fix our heating. I think it is -3
Latics have had their game postponed because of the frozen pitch
Take care,
J x

mark 'n' joe

Great post, sounds like youve seen loads of different parts of Australia. All the best hope you continue to enjoy your new lives.

Joex

cherry6

OK thanks. Certainly sounds great, glad you are happy there. We hope to come for a reccie soon, I have sent hubby's resume to a few companies so fingers crossed.

ianandhelena

We hope you enjoy it when you visit for a recce-here are a few pics of Tassie (got heaps more if you want!).

cherry6

Thanks those pics are great! It reminds me a bit of Scotland and Yorkshire in some pics i have seen. Can I just ask about the weather? I know its colder, would you say the summers there are colder than UK summers? Is it possible to swim at all down the beach? My daughters love going down the beach and swimming and snorkeling, is that really unlikely in Tas? In Perth the summer days are 29-35 with the occasionally 36-41 thrown in, which is too hot for me.

ianandhelena

i would say that summer here is warmer than the UK but the weather is quite changeable day to day. temp is usually max low 30s but generally in the 20s during summer.

yes swimming/snorkelling is feasible but the water temp will be cooler than you are used to in perth-down at Kingston Beach near where I work is a good safe swimming beach.

ianandhelena

yes, we never used to drink at all till we met her

SharonN

Hi there, great to read your post. We are also moving to Tas (my OH is already there, I am working out my notice here......) Keep waking up in an absolute panic and reading the threads here (only found this site today) about how many people dont like Oz has sent me into a spin of terror. I love Hobart but will probably have to work in Melbourne. terrified of being in Melbourne alone, worried about leaving kids here (3 at UK uni 1 off to sydney uni on sat ..oh boy hve we made a mistake???) worried about the huge drop in income ... and I dont find the cost of living in Tas much cheaper. Lovely to read all your positive comments. will all the nice things make up for it. Have worked overseas before... middle East and malaysia and singapore... but this is for good.. aaaaagh!!

ianandhelena

the people who post negative threads on here are greatly outnumbered by those here having a good time so don't let that put you off.

what line of work are you in that necessitates travelling to melbourne?