NickyP

As we have been here for 6 months now I thought that I would give everyone an update on how our move out to the back of beyond has gone.
We have settled well into life in Wangaratta although it has been a bit of a shock to the system after living in Brussels for 3 years. Our eldest (just turned 17) in particular has had a hard time adjusting and is finding the small town mentality here difficult to take at times. The younger children love it here and are thriving, I couldn't imagine moving them. The schools here are excellent and they are out at various clubs most days after school which keeps me busy.
We came out to Wangaratta as Ian was sponsored to come over for a job and as we were below the points threshold we decided to jump at the chance and work wise it worked out well from the start. Ian loves his job and is doing really well and although we have taken the chance to come out on a 457 visa we knew that they were organising the PR from the start. Financially the 457 visa has meant that we don't get any child benefit which with 4 kids is no small thing but other than that we have found Medicare to be fine and the company have organised private cover to cover the things that we would otherwise have to pay out. Our PR is in process and should be here within a few months (things do take a long time here but at least we are waiting this end which is easier).
We had never visited Australia before we came here but had lived away from the UK for a while so I do feel that that helped us to settle here. We were ready for the ups and downs and could deal with them (at least we have been able to so far). Our first rental wasn't very good but we are feeling much more settled now that we have moved into a nicer house. We have had to re-evaluate our plans for the future and put buying a house on hold for a while as he came here without a big deposit and savings have been hammered by the move in general.
Living in country Victoria is worth a try but it can be frustrating at times. It can get really hot up here and it is a long car ride to get anywhere (public transport what is that?). We have managed to get to a couple of the meets in Melbourne though and just have to live with the fact that petrol will be a major expense. It can feel a bit suffocating when everyone that you meet has been here for generations but generally people are very welcoming and friendly. We are at the point now of making some good friends and I have joined the local AM Dram group so that I get to do something (preferably not sports related).
Hubby has made friends through work but it does take longer for men to get through the 'mates' culture here, he enjoys his 4WD club and this make for an interesting way to explore the local area :scared: . I do think that we have been accepted into the local community quicker than we would have been in a city area as they don't get many immigrants up here, although there are a lot of Italian links and people seem to have very close links with Europe in general here (often with very close family there).
Overall these past 6 months have been great, even if they have been very hard at times. It is a sad truth that I am able to cope a lot better with life with a bit of sunshine and we are doing things that we would never have considered in Belgium or the UK. Ian is due to go back to Bristol for work in a few weeks and I am feeling a bit low at the thought that we can't afford to go with him, it has hit us that these things aren't easy. However the kids couldn't care less which is a positive thing and I will get over it. We are in a beautiful area and although the beach is a LONG drive away we have the mountains and scenery to die for. We get almost jungle sounds out here at night and the stars are fantastic so you can really enjoy sitting out in the back garden in the evening with a bottle of wine(apart from the damn mozzies )
Next step is getting the PR and then once the youngest is settled in school it will be time for me to go back to university for my final graduate year to train as a teacher here. We do feel that we are at home here, even if we occasionally feel that 'home' is a bit of a long way away from the people that we love.
Sorry if I have gone on a bit.
Nicky

Hutch

What a great post - glad everyone's settling in. Good timing on your hub's part too as spring is juuuuuuuuust arriving here in the south-west and it might well reach the dizzy heights of 13 degrees when he's here.

NickyP

Thanks for that .We didn't think that he would be travelling overseas with this job and out of the blue they asked him to go. It just so happens that his parents live in Bristol so it is a real bonus He will pay for the fact that I can't go by doing some serious shopping. I will tell him to pack his woolies as we are feeling cold here at 25 degrees .
We have just had ANOTHER delay on the PR as our 11 year old (turned 11 2 months ago) has now got to have another medical and a chest X-Ray requested by immigration so at least they are looking at the case which is a good thing. Apprently they have changed some forms with effect from March so more form filling ahead and the agents haven't acknowledged our change of address which is another worry (if something is difficult they just refuse to acknowledge it ). Anyway at least we are this end dealing with all of this and we aren't having to pay for it.
Good luck to everyone else that is going thorugh this fun at the moment.
Nicky

Pootle

Great post Nicky! Glad you're settling in well. Hubby has also been back to the uk on business 3 times since we've been here and we couldn't have afforded to go with him and to be honest I didn't want to! Haven't ventured as far as your neck of the woods yet - don't know how on earth you manage to do the expats meets in a day trip! If I drove 4 hours it would be for a week away!

Ruth

NickyP

It isn't a difficult drive with cruise control so we just take the pain and the meets have been a good day out. It is worth the journey to meet up with people in the same boat as ourselves and we have been down to Melbourne for the beach for day trips aswell but then we were used to having a few days in the UK from Brussels and that was 11 hours driving or more each way :scared: .
Nicky

Hels

Nice post Nicky.

Thanks for taking the time to write it. I love to read how people are getting on.

Hels

NickyP

Thanks, how are things with you? I've not heard from you for a while. Still enjoying the 4WD ?
Nicky

Bordy

Great post Nicky, hope your enjoying your Birthday too.

jery_wang

Great Post!

Would you mind telling us what happened to your first rental. Maybe we could learn something to avoid (or thins to do or not to do?).

NickyP

No problems our first rental was with a guy who had just split with his wife and wanted to rent the house out as he couldn't bear to live there any more. However a few months later he changed his mind and gave us notice to leave as he is planning to move back in. There was very little that we could have done to forsee the problem but I would say that you are best sticking with professional landlords where possible.
Nicky

RogerUK

Hi Nicky
We have been in Benalla for 10 months. Absolutely loving every bit of it, no cause for complaint at all and much cause for rejoicing.
Good luck
Roger

OzTennis

Yeah, great post Nicky and pleased to see that things overall are working out well for you and your family. Here's plenty of nice photos of Wang if you want to direct family and friends to where you are living (other nearby places, Melbourne etc on the site too, just click the downarrow against towns for alphabetical listing then click on photographs for each town).

http://www.travelvictoria.com.au/wangaratta/photos/


OzTennis

Sass73

Hi Nicky,
Glad you are settling in well. Have you been over the other side of the border yet? Albury is lovely as is Wodonga and the Ettamogah pub has to be seen to be believed. I travel up to Rutherglen every couple of months and always love getting to Wangaratta. Have you had chance to go on the Murray yet, or are the mozzies keeping you away. It's a great wine region up that way and Euchua is absolutely lovely (or it was a few years ago).
Hope everything works well for you and your teenager settles in soon.

Sass

iPom

Thanks for the post, Nicky ... good to hear you are settling in well.

I think you put your finger on it when you said life is easier to deal with when you've got a bit of sunshine. I don't think that's sad at all... It's just a fact of life and one I'm looking forward to very shortly.

NickyP

What has brought you to Benalla? Ian works there for ADI so we looked at it as a possible place to live but decided on Wanga as it is a bit bigger for the kids. Let us know if you want to get together for a cuppa or a beer some time.
Nicky