janeyray

Nothing on this board has shattered my idea of what life is like in Oz, I found that out for myself when I got here!! I will admit though that I felt very depressed when I found this site about 3 weeks after arriving here, PB's postings scared me, and I thought 'oh my god what have we come to'? Hubby use to tell me off for going on it, he said it made my homesickness worse. That was wrong, without this site and you lot on here I would be a complete 'Bored' Zomby by now!!!

I'am one of the first to admit that I thought there would be
less crime
less drugs

I was a dreamer, thats why we came. Its only when you get here you realise that there is nothing left to dream about, (for some not all) only going 'home'

scutterUK

i've never been under any false illusions about how difficult life can/will be in aus. As long as it's a different experience to the UK then it's reason enough for me to go. No matter what aus has to throw at me, i'm sure i will be fine and still enjoy the experience.

I do have concerns about certain aspects, but it's just the unknown that's scaring me a little. I'm sure when i do actually get my visa and i'm closer to going i can prepare better and come up with some sort of plan to tackle whatever i find.

(but a lot can go wrong between then and now!! )

Jirrupin

I was also a dreamer before we arrived, I was aware of social problems, as a social worker my livelihood depends on it I used to tell friends I might not like it and come back, they all said no you will LOVE IT, most of them had never been. I had other friends who had holidayed several times and my husband has been here several times before.

I used to say where else do they speak english, I can get work, drive on the correct side of the road and live next to the Indian Ocean and glorious weather. They used to look at me dreamily and say I know, you'll love it.

But although you can intellectualise change, the reality is different. I am so glad we did not sell up and decided to spend some of our savings in taking time out to look around and find out what was for us. We were unprepared for the house prices and it was not until we got used to thinking in dollars that the reality hit us. I know people don't like to hear the money topic, but it is a fact of life.

I also thought the weather would be better, I do know it is improving but it has been cold and although I heard of the Fremantle doctor, and I expect I will be grateful for it come summer at the moment I am still more cold than warm, and ten weeks on I wasn't expecting that.

I am glad of the experience, and the adventure is not open yet we are open minded and are putting the effort into exploring job opportunities and housing prospects, but the reality is, at least for us, that we are struggling to see how we are going to make our dream a reality in OZ.

PeteY

Have you thought any more about trying another town in Oz?

Jirrupin

We are thinking about travelling around OZ to look at other places but given the information shared by others on this site there will be similar dilemmas in the other places. One thing we do have are options and we do have some time on our side although with the poor exchange rate our money is worth less and we do need to think about how much we are going to spend over the next few months particularly if there is no work offered.

We saw a lovely place a nice unspoilt town on the south coast of western australia, but there is no work and the climate isn't great either. lot of rain and unpredictable summers. There are lots of businesses for sale we chatted to a few locals and business owners and some are struggling to make their businesses work, we would have no chance then given the size of loan repayments we would have, one couple were both working 14 hr days 7 days a week and they look shattered they hadn't even finished painting the walls of their cafe in the year they had opened because they had to wait to afford it.

So idyllic place to visit but another thing to live/work there, one chap told us he had waited three years to get a part time job in the town and he was australian.

jandjuk

Donna or Chris....

I know you think I may have a different view of things , but your story sounds familiar to me. When I first came to the UK I struggled to find work, and was disillusioned about what I found, not really because I was a dreamer, but just because nothing than can prepare you for reality.

Once I eventually found work, and got to know people, and learned how things work, things got a lot better though - and it took me a good year to start seeing what it was about the UK that many many people love. I had to learn to roll with the punches and accept that things were different now. Just culture shock really I suppose - but it didn't feel like that at the time.

Obviously I plan to return to NZ, but I do sometimes wonder if this is the right thing to do. The more days pass the more I wonder if I can give up what the UK has to offer.

You may find you start to think the same way about Aus - it will probably creep up on you.

chippy

3/4 bed house for £60-£80K....? You must be living in the 'land that time forgot'.

Zebra4

We arrived with our dreams and a liberal dose of realism. If it didn't work out, we'd about turn and move on.
A few years down the track, we have found opportunites here that we didn't find in the UK. Boredom doesn't exist cos the people, the upbeat attitude, the friendship is overwhelming.

gottogo

One thing that has worried and surprised me is the regular doses of beastie stories. It gives the impression that from the minute you get up every morning, you are checking your bed for spiders, looking in your shoes for cockroaches (big ones that fly!), going into the garden and stepping on stinging ants, being attacked by mossies and blow flies and all this before breakfast. I haven't mentioned the big beasts yet! It would be great if somebody would actually put this in perspective, eg; "flies are only a problem at certain times of the year", or "you will probably only see one or two big spiders a year" etc.

owieb

I've been here 15 months (in Perth) and so far I've seen a couple of redbacks, one tiny snake and a few big lizzard type things.

I do check my shoes and anything that's been in the garage or on the floor, but it just becomes routine, like putting on suntan cream!

HiddenPaw

At my sisters, we get redbacks and whitetails all over the place, huge huntsmen, and others like wolf spiders. Last weekend we were sitting in the lounge and a scorpion walked across the floor. She also has 2 geckos living in the lounge. At this time of year she gets a lot of brown snakes on the property - once she found one in the chook house and more recently one up against the wall by the front door. Last year the cat was paralysed by a snake bite. So that's the reality for her....oh I guess I should mention that she lives on a farm, in a rural/outback area, hundreds of miles from the nearest city

It all depends where you're headed. I live in the city and have had less spiders in this house than I did in the UK. The few that I have had here have been white tails. I always shake my clothes and check my shoes. Most people have their house sprayed with barrier spray - this will prevent insects from nesting or coming into the property. A can of Mortadeine is always useful to have as well (I just came back from Queensland and unpacked a very large and very alive cockroach from my suitcase - urgh, but it didn't survivue for long!)

renth

It would be great, wouldn't it...

Unfortunately the reality is different. We've found redbacks in the house. Daughter bitten by a whitetail. I found a whitetail in my boxers. Giant centipede on dining room floor, huntsmen galore. Loads of flies, bins full of maggots.

All in 8 months.

But, hey, it's Australia. It's what happens here, you just deal with it.