Jolyn

Hi

I haven't posted for ages but just thought I'd check in and say it's OK here and we're having a great time. It's been really hectic getting everything sorted out but it's settling down now. We've taken advantage of many services (medical especially) that weren't available in Britain so that's kept us busy catching up on things that had been waiting until our arrival here.

I remember many posts from expats in Oz who hated pretty much everything about it. Much discussion always followed about whether there was a silent majority who were having such a good time they were too busy to post on expats. YES!!!!!

We know or know of a few others who came to Melbourne around the same time and it looks like a good time is being had by all with the exception of one departure for the USA.

Good luck with all your applications,

Jo

sj oldfield

Glad things are working out for you. I hope it does for us (when the time comes, if ever)

Bluebristolian

Hi,

Good to hear that you're enjoying Melbourne. We've just sent our medicals in for our state nominated visa for Victoria which means we'll probably end up in Melbourne. The UK isn't getting any better so if I get a job then we'll probably go for it. Do you know what the jobs situation is like in Melbourne? Unfortunately I'm in IT which isn't what it used to be :-(

Cheers

Pollyana

Was that Life on the forum before everyone sodded off for Christmas....... Thank goodness for The Pleasance Family today or this place would be shut down due to lack of interest!

Jolyn

Blue,

We're in IT too - or were before it went down the tubes in the UK. I don't think IT will ever return to the old boom days as there are way too many IT grads out there now. Only think I know about the job situation is that unemployment rate overall in Oz is down to record lows now so it can't be any worse than in the UK and might even be better here. Best advice is to try to get a job or at least interviews lined up before you arrive.

Good luck,

Jo

stuh

Hi Jo,

I am also in IT, currently based in Sydney. Currently I am looking for a new job, I am considering Mel and Perth. Can u let me know the job market for IT down Mel.?
Originally I am from Newcastle, UK worked in IT now for 14 yrs but finding it hard to get another position in Syd.

Stu.

Jirrupin

IMO whether it's really that bad or not depends on the expectations you had before you moved out here and what compromises you are happy to make when you arrive.

Some people are content working long days, getting paid poor wages and having a hour commute to work. Having to go to bed at 8.30pm because you have to get up early for work the next morning. Only to be woken at 3am by hoons, driving like maniacs at the end of your road, and listen to the wailing police sirens chasing them.

Too hot to go out in the sun, too windy, too wet. Freezing in Winter, freezing inside in summer due to aircon. Sun up early in summer, birds cackling their morning alarm at 5am. Sun down early, no more balmy summer evenings. You have to be indoors at dawn and dusk to avoid mosquito bites, (not to mention Ross River fever). Smog, high pollution levels, extreme UV levels. Bush fires, (two lives claimed today in SW-WA.)

Have to avoid travelling out of the City because of Roo's, wanting to play chicken with your bullbar. Other road hazards include, Australian drivers who use the overtake on the left rule as permisison to turn the freeway into a slalom run. Drink drivers, guidelines here are you can drink one alcoholic unit a hour and be okay to drive!!!

Enjoy the outdoor lifestyle, just watch out for Crocs, flies, Sharks poisonous spiders, flies, snakes, attacking magpies and more flies. Go out covered in sun lotion, wear a hat; long sleeve tops, and sit in the shade under a tree. Or if going to the beach, go and sit in a beach tent!!

Enjoy the indoor lifestyle, cockroaches, spiders, flies, ants, more flies. Sunny outside, close your curtains and blinds to keep the house cool. In winter most houses have no central heating source, so sit watching terrible tv, under a blanket.

Build your ideal home and find that on oneside a developer has erected an ugly apartment block and the house next door is almost falling down and has several rusty old utes parked in the garden.

Just put your rose tinted glasses on and think Lifestyle.

Kelpiegirl

Hi there,

I reckon it's a difficult question. What do you call good or bad? It doesn't matter where you live, you basically do the same thing: work, pay your bills and try to enjoy life. I think the hard part about moving to a different country is that you don't know a thing and you don't know anyone at first. It takes longer to settle in and get used to a new life.

I think when you're emigrating you shouldn't expect too much: some people think they're gonna earn a lot more money, find a lot cheaper house, live in more wealth, life will be easier,... They probably get a shock when they discover life is just as expensive, you still have to work every day, the sun can be a pain at times, you still have to pay a lot of bills, life isn't necessarily easier.

My hubbie and I have been to Oz several times together and have lived there before (though never for long) and so we reckon we have a good view of what Oz is like. We came back to Belgium because we basically gave up too soon (felt homesick, felt like we did things wrong and came back).

We've been back for a few months now, but can't wait to go back to Oz. Moving in a few months time and we're expecting to struggle the first few months. It will take a while to find a place to rent, get a car, find jobs, get to know people, buy furniture etc. So in the beginning life in Oz will be not at all like what we imagine our life to be there after a while. But this time we want to hang in there, get through the stage of settling in, and then try to enjoy little things like not having rain all the time, being able to go to the beach or park more often, etc. We know we're not gonna earn more money or have more material things than we have here in Belgium. But we reckon life can be a bit more enjoyable anyway.

It's all in your head. Don't expext too much and you'll find things will work out. Expect too much and you'll be very disappointed and disillusioned and back on plane out in no time.

Kelpiegirl.

Pollyana

Well, I guess that last post falls fairly evenly into the above category! Jirrupin, I'm surprised at you, your posts are usually well-balanced. I know things in Oz aren't quite what you dreamed of, but thats probably the most negative one you've ever posted! Why aren't you already in the QF check-in queue?

OK, my turn. in the UK I worked long hours for poor pay, I got woken up at 3am by the guy downstairs, the kids next door, the sirens in the street and the local cats fighting. here I work shorter hours for much the same pay, and have a better standard of living - better home, more disposable cash (in fact ANY disposable cash makes it an improvement.)

It was usually too wet or windy to enjoy going out, freezing in winter. OK, I admit, I hate freezing here in summer - air con is hell! Yes I miss the long evenings in summer. I've seen no evidence of smog or high pollution, as opposed to Brighton where it was often difficult to breathe. More deaths now from UV related skin cancer in the UK than in Oz apparently.

Less traffic on the roads here, and generally slower-moving. UK drivers overtake when and where they like, far more road rage, far more pollution because of the amount of traffic.
Drink drivers - they shouldn't be on the road anyway, in either country. "P" plates here identify newer drivers - something we should've had in the UK long ago.

Going out covered in sun lotion is common sense in any country with sunshine, including the UK, as is wearing a hat. I'd rather wear a sunhat than a raincoat any day, and I know which got most use in the UK. Crocs and sharks are hardly an everyday occurence - use common sense again; poisonous spiders and snakes - often discussed on here, don't disturb piles of garden refuse, use your brain, read the info.
Ants - put down powder - have to say I had more trouble with them in the UK than here (so far). Makes you clean the kitchen better, no bad thing!! Cockroaches, yes they are my particular hate but they aren't poisonous, I just don't like them.
My house in Brighton had central heating and I still had to sit under a blanket - but here its not for as many months each year. TV is pretty dreadful, so watch videos, or read books, or play games, etc.

Yes, but the view could be equally dreadful in the UK. Bloke next door to me for many years in Wiltshire kept chickens behind sheets of corrugated iron - stunning view that was.

Personally, I have also find - people here are friendlier and more welcoming, food is cheaper and fresh stuff is better. Public transport is a dream compared to Brighton. And even though I hate getting up early, it is easier when the sun is out, even without rose-coloured specs.........

Both countries have good points, both have bad. Neither is paradise, you just have to balance the two sides out.

Jirrupin

Pollyana,

There isn't anything in my last post that I haven't posted before. It wasn't intended to be a balanced post but to add some balance to the initial post. It also wasn't a UK/OZ/NZ comparison thread, just a few of the observations I have made over the past 18 weeks.

I don't know what you mean by QF check in queue. If it something to suggest that I should be leaving OZ at the nearest available exit, then maybe so.

I merely wish to raise a few points that are important to me when I am thinking about what compromises I am willing to make in giving up, my family; watching my nieces and nephews grow up and being there for them and able to influence their lives. Sharing lives with my sisters, brothers, friends: arguments fallouts, illness, birthdays, christmases, new jobs, births and deaths etc.

Many people give up everything to obtain a life here. I just wonder how many achieve what they hoped for and how many do not.

I am intrigued by posts where people comment on the same things I have mentioned above but accept it as part of the lifestyle they wanted, that they gave up so much for, maybe these things are not as important to other people.

Another topic recently has been regret, and the suggestion to make the move to Oz as onemay regret it in later life. I am fortunate not to have any regrets. I wouldn't make choices for myself based upon the possibility that in the future I could regret doing one thing or another.

My life is my life mistakes and all, thats all part of it, no regrets, the life I have had so far is the one that has helped mould me into the person I am today.

Take my post with a pinch of salt, I do mean what I say but also partly posted as I thought the forum needed spicing up a little

dugongs

Just curious and glad you like Melbourne which I also think is a great City. But perhaps you can elaborate and explain the services, particularly medical, that were not available in Britain which you have enjoyed since arriving in oz ?

podgypossum

I dont think it matter where in the world you choose to live, if its a city then similar problems will always arise.
Noisy neighbours, graffiti, hoons and all the other nuisances will be there, from London to Timbucktoo!

If oyu are about to make a place your home isnt it sensible to researcht he area out a bit first? Is there rundown housing, graffiti etc in that area? Visit after dark at weekends and listen for squealing brakes and roaring hoon buggies. Things like this should be looked at first, then maybe there wont be as much disappointment at a alter date.

Another thing to remember, if you come from a small provincial town and decided to move to a big city environment, i would imagine it could be a shock to the system regardless of whichever city you choose!!

Simone

Yep, I'm definetly taking into account that this could happen to us! And I don't think we'll be able to live in the city for long. But how long...?? We'll see!

scrawni

I'm moving to oz for adventure, to say I've tried it and for the kids to experience a different way of life.

I appreciate that oz will not necessarily be better on all accounts, even now I believe that the uk offers things that oz cannot. What it is about is the experience of life, people and a different culture.

Hey, if it doesn't work out we'll come back. We may have lost a few bob but we can say we did it without saying what might have been.

Yes, I do wonder what on earth we are doing, why go when our life seems so mapped out for us here, yet its partly for that reason we are going.

I appreciate not everyone feels the same as me, but we we are all going/have gone for reasons of our own anyway.

Mandy

Jolyn

Shouldn't think the IT job market is any better in Melb than Sydney - it's a slightly smaller market in Melb anyway. The moral is not to be at all picky I suspect and definitely not to move to Oz expecting a better job than in the UK.

dugongs - This is a bit of a long answer but here goes:

In Oz the concept of preventative medicine seems to exist. My GP in the UK was always complaining about how sick patients got before receiving any medical treatment and how much easier/cheaper/better for the patient it would have been to have dealt with whatever it was earlier.

Where we lived in London (maybe the whole UK - I don't know) it wasn't possible to go to your GP and ask for 'a checkup'. You had to actually be sick. Saying 'I'm not sick but I'd like you to give me a checkup to see if everything is going OK - check moles, blood pressure, cholesterol, lumps etc' was not an option unless you had private insurance that covered a 'Well Woman' or 'Well Man' check. Here in Oz I got a checkup right away and then referrals to see specialists right away. Same for my autistic son who wasn't getting any services (social, educational or medical) in the UK (services were local council based and ours was useless).

The UK seems so rationed in services. Everything comes with a set of rules or guidelines outside which you can't get NHS funding.

Obvious examples are age limits before which you can't get a routine mammogram if you're just a bit concerned - you have to actually have a lump and have a specialist agree a mammogram is required. Taking responsibility for your own health is not really viable as the NHS is so paternalistic.

My personal classic example is this: I have a major family history of fatal bowel cancer so I wanted a colonoscopy to check for possibly cancerous polyps developing. Completely treatable if polyps removed (they take years to grow) but generally fatal if they've been left long enough to spread. Hardly something I would volunteer for if it didn't seem necessary!:scared: I went to (so they say) the best family cancer clinic in the UK.

After waiting 6 months for the appointment the consultant saw me for less than 5 minutes - his nurse said I was lucky to see him at all as he was busy with a budget proposal. Don't you just hate that attitude of 'we're doing you a favour by seeing you' when it's the NHS's job to provide your medical care - you pay enough NI for it! The verdict: 'we don't do colonoscopys on patients under 40 unless we can confirm the genetic link with DNA samples from the rest of the family'. Not possible as the family were not in the UK. Told me to come back when I was 40 as noone in my family had died before 40. How reassuring. No amount of pleading on my part along the lines of 'what if I'm the one who gets it before 40' or 'couldn't we just do one to be sure I'm OK and then I'll go away until I'm 40' did any good.

My GP in Oz referred me to a specialist who I saw the next week. She was appalled that I hadn't been treated earlier given the family history and I had the op the next week. The result - a precancerous polyp removed and a clean bill of health plus a booking to have a colonoscopy every 2 years for the rest of my life. I might well have died in the UK...despite every effort to look after my own health in the way the NHS is always preaching!

That's my main gripe with the NHS - you try to do your best for your family and yourself, be informed, be responsible but the medical services do not cooperate and even seem to take offence if you've researched something yourself. Sodding jobsworth mentality again.

It's also a relief in Oz to be able to actually see a GP. With kids you seem to be always at the doctors. I rang our practice in London the week before we left to get an appointment and was told the first appointment with any doctor was 10 days away and with the doctor of my choice 3 weeks. The alternative - a 5 minute consultation in the emergency session if we're prepared to wait for 2 hours and it's really an emergency. Most medical things with kids seem to fall in between an emergency and something that can wait 3 weeks! Here I can get an appointment the same day, the practice is open evenings and weekends and I can go to any other practice that's nearby if I wish. No registering with one practice only so no need to trek all the way home from work to your local GP for a routine appointment - just go to one near work for that. Seems commonsense...

It's true you have to pay something towards the cost of your medical care here (the 'gaps') but I'm happy to do that to actually get quality care. And the gap payments plus the Medicare levy still come to much less than we were paying in employees NI and employers NI (own business in the UK).

Good luck everyone. It's 38 degrees here today so I've melted into the keyboard.