Gina123

So not posted for a while, but have come back online because we are just starting our employer nominated sponsorship visa application.

We arrived in Melbourne on a 457 on December 4th 2008. We had never been to Australia before and had with us 2 suitcases, a 12 week old baby and a 2 year old. We had sold/given away everything else we had before we left Engand.
We moved to a fully furnished rental property in Patterson Lakes (I had arranged the rental through real estate.com and secured it from the UK before we left). The first Christmas came and went in a blurr, and we spent the whole of December and the early part of January exploring the area. Fell in love with Mount Eliza and set about trying to find a rental property there. We managed to find a great place and moved in early January. Neil started work and all of a sudden the holiday was well and truly over.

I have to be really honest when I say that the next 6 months were tough. Neil was working hard and travelling interstate. I was at home with two children under 3 and I knew no one. Before I came I had told myself that would be the case but the reality was hard to deal with. On top of that the house we moved into was far from perfect and we had loads of problems with it and getting the landlord to fix them was horrendous. Eventually after 3 short months we managed to get out of the lease penalty free because the landlord was not sticking to his side of the bargain. Renting here is so very very different to the UK, and I have found it quite a stressfull experience!!!

We moved to a great house in nearby Frankston South. Things started coming together. My eldest started 3 year old Kinder, and I was starting to meet people. I wouldnt say friends because you dont just "make friends"... It takes a while to build relationships and create a history with someone. But Things were very quickly changing, and before I knew it I had a few really good friendships starting. Neil was doing well at work and my girls were also growing well and very settled.

In July last year we got notice to move from our rented property, the landlord was moving back in.... bloody nightmare as we had intended to stay there until we bought a property. Mortgages on a 457 visa are a little more complicated and so we were waiting until we got PR so we could get a good mortgage deal!

So we moved AGAIN, the 4th move in less than 2 years. Back in Mount Eliza we are now in a really lovely house on 2 thirds of an acre with a lovely pool. We are minutes to the beach, the village and good schools. My eldest turns 5 in February and also starts primary school. My youngest is 2 and a half and involved in lots of pre school activities.

We have finally completed the 2 years that it takes before we can apply for an employer nominated sponsorhip visa, (We could not apply before because Neil does not have a degree). The 457 visa has positives and negatives. The LAFHA, has been great but it is quite stressful to think if Neil lost his job (and he is in Sales, so very cut throat, many people come and go... someone else also on a 457 got sacked and had to return to Engand eeeek)!!!we would have 28 days to leave the country and return to England. Very worrying!!
At first the thought of that never bothered us but as time moves on we have become more and more stressed about that ... I think its because we love it here so much now that the thought of having to return (especially when it is not our choice) if stressful!!!

So after 2 years of hanging in there we feel lucky to be here. Today we spent the morning on the beach, had lunch in a cute cafe and then spent the afternoon at home in our pool. Not bad for an average Saturday. I have some really amazing friends, and once I adjusted to the massive differences in culture and lifestyle that I had not expected I feel at home here. Im not saying we spend all day on the beach, but we do have a great lifestyle and Neil has really good quality time when he is not at work in comparison to the UK.
I am a strong believer that life is what you make it, and we work hard to make ours a good one. We make the most of the things on offer to us around us.

I was homesick at first and definatley had bouts of it in the first year, but that has got less and less .... Now I have moments of homesickness, and Its not homesickness where I want to return it is more just plesant memories of England make me remember and I miss it a bit. I will always miss it a bit, but my new home is wonderful and I cant imagine being anywhere else in the world.

We came here for work, not to fix a broken relationship or to seek a " better life " for our kids, we didnt come to escape anything. Its been an adventure, and I would not want to do it all again, there have been lots of stress, and tears but there seems to be lots more laughs, and friends and social events as the months go by.... All in all this was a great move for us and right now we feel we made the right one. Australia is definatley a place for us. You can never say forever because you dont know what life throws your way... but for now and the foreseeable we are at home and happy

No matter where you go there you are.

So cheers! Heres to 2 years in OZ! I will check in again next year!

Sherlock Holmes

Nice update. Glad it worked out for you.

Bermudashorts

Congratulations on your 2 year anniversary. Glad it is working out for you.

MrsE

Lovely positive update - thanks for sharing

LINZI

Congrats on your 2 years

Antney

Great post.

We came to Australia on a 457 as well. Five and a bit years on from first arriving we are all Australian citizens.

Good luck for your 856 visa application.

scottishcelts

Congratulations

It's a funny old business is migration, sometimes you get the feeling of 'one step forward and two steps back.

Next steps can only be onwards and upwards. Good luck.

plantpot

Lovely update, very similar story to mine!