OzTennis

I come from Melbourne, lived in Bendigo for 5 years, live in Scotland now. FWIW I'd choose Bendigo! KC has a familiar line she peddles about friendships not being established at more than superficial level in Oz but apparently you can form deep and meaningful relationships everywhere else including Shetland Isles.

What to expect in Shetland? No trees (the strong winds most of the time and the northerly latitude preclude this); fewer and fewer 'locals' who mostly are forced to or choose to move away, the most common accent being 'new age English' (many escapees in search of an idyllic, slower pace of life); religious intolerance/strict Presbyterianism eg ferries not running on Sunday, male and female animals kept apart; island fever (i.e. an overwhelming desire to get off the island to the bigger island - the mainland), hard drinking (there's not much else to do), cars that never get into top gear etc. That's a bit tongue in cheek but with a grain of truth.

Check out Bendigo at:

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

OzTennis

NickyP

I have never been to the Shetland Isles myself although Ian has sailed around there once and we have family in Aberdeen who go there on occassion. Personally I would choose Bendigo, I have difficulties with long winters and from what I have heard from family members I think that the Shetland Isles would soon feel claustrophobic to me.
We came over to OZ on a 457 visa never having been before and without the house sale cushion that most people have. There are good days and not so good days but overall it was the right move for us, I do wish that we could move to somewhere like Bendigo as where we are is smaller and I have heard good things about the place since I have been here. We are currently waiting for our PR to be granted and have treated this as a permanent move from day 1. Eventually we will afford to buy but we have a nice rental and the kids are settled in school nearby so I am in no real hurry (mainly because at the moment it would rely on me going back to work ).
We are just entering Autumn here and the weather is glorious not too hot with bright blue skies and the scenery in Victoria is amazing. To me this was just too good an opportunity to miss, so what if financially we have taken a knock we can rebuild from that in time. Before we moved here Ian had the perfect job with a wage that we had never dreamed of having before (and will never get again), however we were in Belgium and we weren't happy there. This caused a lot of heartache and he left as soon as this offer came up (lots less money and a serious drop careerwise etc) and within 6 months he has had a promotion to a more interesting job and has been told that he won't be in this one for long either probably. Money isn't easy and trips back to the Uk will be very hard (especially as we have 4 kids) but our quality of life is much better overall. I am struggling to make friends but then I wouldn't expect to find it any easier in the Shetland Isles, small communities can make it hard to make real friendships.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Nicky

OzTennis

Good post! Yep, Bendigo is that much bigger and has a lot more to offer than Wang however I must say the countryside around Wang, especially to the east is so much nicer. Friends that we made in Bendigo (through work, tennis, soccer etc) are among the closest we have. We keep in touch and visit each other regularly. And they aren't Shetland Islanders so goodness knows how we struck up more than a superficial friendship!

OzTennis

Dried Graze

This is the post I was looking for. We have five children and currently one salary so we expect it to be an initial struggle. It's good to hear someone in a similar situation managing to survive. Thanks.

Dried Graze

Sorry to resurrect this old dog but how does it work on a 457? I mean, it's conditional on the job offer no? If we decline the job, doesn't this mean we can't complete the application?

Hutch

Can't help re:visa - plenty of very knowledgeable folks in the Australian Immigration section of this forum though.

Take it you've decided in favour of Oz, then?

NickyP

HI there, yes the 457 is dependent on the job as it is a sponsored temporary visa. We came over with that and applied for a sponsored PR visa which came through recently (took approx 9 months). Now that we have PR we are free to move if Ian chooses to leave his job (although they will want the relocation money back if he leaves too soon). We are happy as we are for now though.
Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will do my best to help.
Nicky

Dried Graze

I know what I'd prefer but from a practical point of view, it makes a lot of sense to give the Shetland Isles 18 months. This would enable us to have enough money in the pot when we eventually go. Having no house sale or substantial savings from elsewhere means we have no backup should we encounter difficulties and with five children, this is quite a worry. In the meantime we could apply for PR. Having said that, I will see be looking into methods of raising enough cash asap.

This is what I understood. If I think of anything more specific I'll send you a quick PM, thanks.

Hutch

Ah - well best of luck with the move to Shetland and the on-going visa application

Shellfish

:scared: please tell me you are kidding..

dracupg

My sister moved up to Shetland from Glasgow 17 odd years ago and I have been up a few times. I have been up on holidays a few times, and combined with the feedback from my sister, here is my opinion:

Isolation
Shetland is about the same distance from Edinburgh as Edinburgh is to London, but a lot harder to get to. Flights are expensive, and the ferry to Aberdeen takes 10-12 hours overnight and can be pretty rough.

Despite being Scottish, having been there for 17 years, married a Shetlander and having 3 kids there, my sister is still regarded as somewhat of an incomer. It’s a small community, so integrating fully is hard and a full time job.

Weather
Shetland gets some atrocious weather. 6 foot of snow in the winter completely cutting you off is not uncommon. Backup generators are essential, as is an independent fuel supply like peat. Shouldn’t be a problem if living in Lerwick, but a lot of people live outside the town where there is a bit more space.

Oil
There is no doubt the oil industry has had an impact on Shetland. There are lots of jobs in associated industries and a lot of money has been ploughed back into local facilities and infrastructure. There are some excellent local community centres, sports centres, pools etc. Schools seems to be very well funded as well.

Going out
There are a few outlying hotel/restaurants, but Lerwick is really the centre. Don’t know what it is like now, but the last time I was there, there was a good Chinese, a good Indian, and a good chippy and that was about it. There may be more now though.

There are plenty of pubs, and hard drinking is something the Shetlanders are very good at. There are a few pretty rough pubs though, but you can tell these pretty quickly once you walk in. :scared:

Kids
One thing you may want to consider is what will the kids do once they are finished school. Unless they want to work in the local industries, they will need to move to the mainland to further their education or increase their job opportunities.

Conclusions
I have made this sound really negative, but I didn’t mean that. My sister adores the place and wouldn’t move for anything. There are some great things about the place. Its not somewhere I would choose to live an put down roots though.

In a strange way, my sister being in Shetland made it easier for us to make the decision to move from Edinburgh to Oz – as we only saw each once or twice a year, we aren’t exactly close, so that made the whole moving away thing less traumatic.

Dried Graze

I appreciate the lengthy reply but most of this we know already and have taken into consideration. Yesterday, we were so close to opting for the Shetlands that in a last ditch attempt to source funding for the trip to Australia, I made the wife call her liaison in Oz and force the issue. They had said it was possible to pay the flights and temp. accom. up front but had never done it before and were reluctant to set a precedent. Paying up front would also mean a high tax penalty which they assume nobody would be willing to pay.

The upshot of a very candid conversation was that they agreed to pay up front provided we sign a document stating that we weren't going to use the flights and accom. simply for a holiday and then do a runner. I can see their point but in all honesty, I would never dream of travelling that distance with 5 children who's ages are 6 months, 4, 5, 8 and 11 just for a holiday.

So finally, there we have it. With the initial few major costs covered, we know we can cover the rest of the costs. I can't say how relieved I am. With the greatest respect to Shetlanders, it was never my dream to relocate there. It was always seen as a temporary stop-gap away from London and prior to Bendigo.

Cam1977

Congratulations. Hope it all goes well.

NickyP

Glad to hear that you have managed to sort it out. Good luck with the move my lot are 4,7,11 and 17 and we have only had problems with the 17 year old the others wouldn't go back to the UK for anything. We are having to go back in the near future because Ian's dad is gravely ill and our 4 year old is getting herself stressed that it might mean that we aren't coming back here.
Let me know if you need any info and enjoy .
Nicky