Andrews2oz

To all of you thinking of making the move please please please think hard and read on for some hopefully helpful advice.

I’m not going to tell you that Australia is a nasty place or that the Aussie people are horrible both my youngest daughter and I both love it here and would love to stay; unfortunately my eldest daughter and the wife just cannot settle and have longed to return home since our arrival.

We arrived in Secret Harbour, Perth in the middle of January 2010 and initially stayed with friends. (By the way Secret Harbour is a beautiful suburb and from what I hear has big plans for the future. It misses a local Train station (Nearest station Warnbro is approx 10kms away)
We then spent the next 5 weeks finding a good rental.
TIP 1: Make sure you find a good rental, we thought we had, it looked nice enough, freshly painted 4 bedrooms nice family room etc. but with hindsight we should have waited a little longer for somewhere better.
TIP 2: Sign up for 6 months at a time, unless of course you are 100% sure you’ll be staying for at least a year; and when I say 100% better make that 200% - we were also going to give it at least 1 to 2 years here in Oz before returning to the uk… seems like only yesterday that we were saying that!!


I thought that I had a perfect plan; get a home sorted out, then get the girls into schools and then get a job. Big mistake; my plan of 2 weeks to find a home turned into 5 weeks, by week 4 my original plan was to have the girls in schools… this turned out to be nearer 6 weeks and as for the job!!!
I have been an Electrician for 21 years and have experienced most types of electrical work; in recent years I have also gone on to run large jobs (2 years on London Underground in charge of up to 70 men). I have my City & Guilds parts 1 & 2 and only 3 years ago took and passed the City & Guilds 2391 Testing & Inspection course. Also quite recently, I attended and passed a HV Authorised person course. And here’s the bit I don’t get… I had received a Skilled 175 Visa after being assessed. However, once in Australia you then have to apply for an Australian Recognised Trade certificate - I did kind of know about this but for the life of me I didn’t expect as much hassle as I’ve experienced – I sent off all of the information to their office in Melbourne only to receive an email the next day to say that the certificates were not certified copies – huh they were exactly the same ones that I’d sent to their office in Canberra and they were happy with them!! Anyway the guy at Melbourne told me that they would retrieve the info from their Canberra office but that this would take longer so I’d be better off sending new copies again… which I did… only to discover that it still took them 30 days to decide… and what did they decide??? “We are not entirely satisfied with your case, however we are willing to give you the opportunity to convince us via a Technical interview!!!
After more waiting I was contacted by the assessor who told me that I would receive a call in 3 more weeks time to conduct the Technical Interview.. I asked if I could carry out the interview earlier as I was eager to progress to the next stage but was assured that the interview would be conducted in plenty of time before the panel next got together to assess cases.
The Technical Interview day came and I had an interesting Interview… Not quite sure how many electricians can still remember the different components of a fluorescent fitting and just how this is part of being an electrician but hey what do I know! Anyway the assessor said that I’d passed the interview and that it would be his recommendation to award me the Electrical Mechanics certificate when the panel next met… he also said that I would hear the result around the 23rd of April……. You’ve probably already guessed this next bit but….. Wrong; no result, I contacted the TRA who informed me that unfortunately my interview had not been conducted early enough for my case to be heard in time and that they would hope to look at my case again on May the 11th and hope to close out my case by mid May!!!!! Almost 12 weeks after first receiving my documents!!! And this is just the first hurdle, once – sorry IF – I receive the certificate I then have to apply for the License, only then can I go on a 2 week course to actually qualify for the license… doh!!! Don’t forget all of this means more expenses too.

So TIP 3: Find jobs quickly; I applied to about 10 adverts – explaining that I was in the process of applying for the license but would be willing to work as a Trade assistant until such time.
I got a job as a TA but I feel cheated that my boss is getting a fully qualified, well experienced and with an extensive amount of tools for the price of a mate. Life sucks sometimes doesn’t it!!!

TIP 3.1: Make sure the wife gets a job; my wife has now spent so long out of work that she has no interest in getting a job here; she was a carer for 9 years in the UK before coming here and was hoping to do the same but got put off by “Have you got a resume” and the lack of local work that she now has no intention of getting a job…. She just wants to go home.

TIP 4: And this is the most important one – Make sure your partner is fully behind the move and that he/she is sure that they can move so far from mum. This has been the main reason for our return; my wife had never been more than 5 minutes away from her mum; I suppose taking her to the other side of the world was never going to work really. Just wish I’d known that before we moved.

When we left the uk, we were doing really well in the uk; good jobs, kids doing well in school, good friends, great pets and no financial worries etc. (Same as many of you probably!!) “Why gamble” I hear you say; well we were (And still are) saddened/worried by what the UK was - and is - becoming. We decided to emigrate for what we hoped was going to be a better life for our daughters.
Our eldest daughter was approaching 15 years old and did not want to go to Australia so we thought, “Better go now before she’s 16 and refuses”. Unfortunately we have found that the education system is not as good as we were getting in the UK and our eldest just seems to cry a lot and pines for home; she made it in to the schools extension classes after impressing the teachers but still hates it.

I just hope that we can resume where we left off in the UK; our house will still be rented out till mid January 2011 but my old boss has promised me my old job back.
Not so sure how I’m going to feel if we bump into our old Dog either; we had our Cocker Spaniel for 9 years and decided to find a new home for him in the UK rather than bring him out here as he didn’t enjoy the heat.

And please don’t say “you need to give it longer” or “Give it a year at least” or “It will get easier” as I know that it does not make any sense going back so soon.. but unfortunately we have no choice…. Another month or 2 here could split the family up beyond repair. I cannot take any more tears; seeing my wife so low is crushing me.

All the best to all in Oz and for those to arrive,

Kingseat

Sounds like you have made up your mind. You've had a tough time and only you can make the decision to go back. All the best with your return journey.

We too have made the same mistake with our first rental - thankfully the lease is nearly up!

shears

sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. What does it matter what people think? - you just have to do what's right for your family. Fair play for giving it a shot

cheers
shears

The Flintstones

Homesickness could turn into home-sick now you've experienced Oz, have you or could you afford a holiday back first? Anyway, I'm sure your family have gained valuable experience and your making the correct decision considering your wife is so low. However, your reasons(except homesickness) sound very petty, seems arrogant to expect employment to come smoothly and moan because people ask your wife for a resume, who are you kidding?

emma75

Sorry it hasnt worked out for you guys. My boys are 8 and 4 and my 8 year old has said he doesnt want to go, At 15 it must be quite hard for your daughter. Good luck with the future and whatever or wherever you decide to go.
Emma x

JenJen

Each to their own but that seems a little harsh, you can never overestimate how the mixture of things 'going wrong' and homesickness together can drive you to despair...

Luckily my husband had a job when we moved out there, however I didn't anticipate the horrendous gut wrenching homesickness as we saw my parents quite alot before we moved to Sydney, it didn't help that a few weeks in I found out I was pregnant, and a few weeks later having been very unwell the whole time found out I have a long term condition.
Bad news is though we came all the way back - luckily ??? hadn't sold the house and so came back to everything familiar.... financially helped by family, which was more of a loan which we've been paying off ever since we got back.
We still see my mum ever 4 - 8 weeks but my dad is now getting married so we don't see much of him, mum has taken on a job now so don't see them as much as we did, we lost a handful of ppl we thought to be good friends by coming back :$ (don't get that but hey ho)
Thinks arent as good here as they were before we moved with regards relationships with others....... yet we have a dozen family members who all live within an hour from us...
We will be heading back - altho not to a very expensive Sydney where we knew no one, I think we'll be moveing to Brisbane where we know more people... it won't be easy but luckily hubby will be prepared to do any type of job he can get til he gets his license and finds a job in the field hes used to working in ....

Unfortunately for you you've been round the world to realise that perhaps the grass was always greener here, we went came back and now realise that we won't be missing anything here by going back
I hope you find true happiness - once you've made that decision to come back you will be amazed at the weight it lifts off you all, think of it as a life experience and try not to dwell on any downsides, you've been around an spent time in a part of the world many ppl will never see......
Some people spend all they're life living in one village, you've done soemthing different....

Chin up x

mindblower

[Chin up x[/QUOTE]

Hello from Secret Harbour..

I guess we were fortunate on the rental/job front on arrival.

A very accurate posting, also, big sympathies on your plight.

It's a joke for UK tradies the number of hoops they have to jump through, especially when their trade is 10 yrs ahead in UK, insular and refusal to change the ozzies.

Best of luck with whatever plans, I can imagine its mentally wearing for you now.


Dave

LoopyL

I think its true that we can all try and prepare ourself for when we get there, but you don't know how it will feel until actually living it. I would say that 5 months is still pretty early but sounds like you and your family need to get back to save from depression. My husband keeps reiterating to me that I have to work when we get over there too I had said about taking the dog out for long walks along the beach doing nothing all day for a change lol but realistically I know I need a job as soon as I can find one i'm not a house person as it is and if I was stuck somewhere with no friends yet and OH at work and kids at school I too would start feeling homesick!

All the best for when you get back to the UK I just hope you don't ping pong back it appears a lot of people realise what they have done when they come back here and regret it.

Sally Simpson

I am so sorry that it has not worked out for you the way you would have hoped but you gave it a shot.
Very well done for supporting your wife in her need to return & lots of luck for re-settling in the UK.

Shellfish

Given that you say that you had a very good life in the UK, and that your wife is very close with her mum, I am surprised that your wife was willing to leave in the first place. As the saying goes, you don't know what you've got til it's gone.

Yep, good on you for being so supportive of your wife.
All the best back in the UK

dave99

Your story was an interesting read, thanks for sharing. Many of the points are similier to what others have experienced and for me personally as well.

I would say the first year is the hardest. I struggled with the homesickness feelings and would get up some days and would just want to jump on a plane back. But you have to hold in there, things will get better, the first year is a hurdle you have to get over. It took me about a year and a half in total to stop feeling low and home sick. Now we have been here 4 years and things are much better

Think of how much time and money you have spent and your original feelings on wanting to move. Hang in there.

squeezzii

am so sorry to hear your story but I feel a lot of people will be able to relate to it in more ways than one! I think that the fact that you have 2 people pushing to return has been your main main problem, plus your struggle to get licenced- there is no way you were going to get over that, not unless you can get MIL to come over and talk to her daughter.
It is the unexpected that gets you in the end. Feeling invisible when you walk round the shops knowing you are not going to bump into a single soul who recognises you is a very tough one to overcome especially when all you need is a familiar face-not just a 'new' friend but someone with whom you have history, who knows the real you.
best of luck to you all in whatever you do.

moneypenny20

If it's right for you all to go back then it matters not what anyone else says. Yes there are hurdles to jump and I'm sure many people believe that those hurdles stop when they get their visa but that's the easy bit in my opinion. Your issues with getting the licences would not have been so major if all the family were happy and settled, they would just have been an irritation. However an unhappy family member(s) makes it all too hard so you can get back, get your home back next year, move forward with your old job and your wife can get her mum back. Who knows, in a few years time, it could be right to move out again - stranger things have happened.

Stay strong and look forward not back.

Japonica

Hi there,

Well, it sounds like you're doing what's best for you and I hope life back in the UK works out for you.

To be honest, my husband just went through everything you described with the electrician certification and neither of us saw it as a particular hardship, just something that had to be done to live here. We're on a skilled 175. He's a HV industrial electrician, foreman back home, running his own crews. His ARTC was no problem whatsoever. He had a job waiting for him before we arrived and he worked "supervised" here until he got his license. I say "supervised" because he was the only one qualified to do HV at his company, so not like the guys without that training had any idea how to do those HV terminations. He did his course (2 weeks, cost us about $1000 plus the lost wages from not working), passed effortlessly, and now he's fully licensed.

Homesickness and an inability to settle can often make mundane tasks seem unreasonable or out of proportion, but I know in our case, it wasn't that onerous.

And yes, everyone needs to be behind the move, 110%. I don't see how it could work in the long term otherwise.

Good luck!

bluekipper

Hi I totally agree with this post,, I went back to the UK vowing never to return to this rotten country,,haha well you guessed it,,im back 3 yrs after returning to the UK,,best thing ive ever done,, wish we had just had a holiday tho.

Bluekipper