And then it all went wrong!!!
 

For those who remember us, we wrapped up the computer 4th Sept and I havnt been back on this board since.

We arrived in Melbourne 12th Sept and I has been a complete nightmare since.

We are on the verge of leaving because of various reasons.

1. We chose Melbourne because we thought that there would be plenty of work in my area (Telecomms). THERE ISNT. Now faced with the dilema of moving to Sydney.

2. House we are renting may be infested with White Tails. Spent till 04:00 last night catching them to stop the kids from being bitten. Pest control coming out on Monday. Because of this my wife Michelle, does not want anything to do with spiders anymore which makes the option of moving to sydney impossible.

3. Michelle is missing her family immensley and has nobody out here other then me to turn too. Compounded by all the other stuff its making it worse.

We have worked out that we have 3 options.

1. Cut our losses and go home.
2. I have the option of contracting in the USA.
3. We stick it out in Melbourne, hope something jobwise turns up and the white tails disappear

I suppose I`m looking for others that have moved to Aus and found it tough for one reason or another but have got through and come out the other end.

Any words of encouragement greatly accepted.

Neil

jeez mate sounds like your having a bad time of it....and i suppose it all feels more intense than it would back "home".

but at the end of the day you have only been there a couple of weeks, think of all the work you did to get there, waiting for a reply from dimia, the joy when you got your visa's.

i would suggest sticking it out for a while longer and set a date in the next couple of months when you can come back to the u.k and visit friends and family or when they can visit you.

good luck mate

Re: And then it all went wrong!!!
 

Neil

My husband is in the same field as yourself (Telecomms) and is on some job alert list that sends him job listing. We have noticed lately that there have been a lot of jobs come up in Canberra and Perth. Telecomms work is hard to come by, which is why we live in the US, but have noticed that the situation has improved markedly in OZ in the past 12 months, enough to assure us he should be able to find work when we return next year.

Canberra is not a bad option, housing is probably a bit cheaper than Melbourne, Sydney is not that far away if you like the cultural bits and there is a good quality of life there for families.

However, I think the immediate thing you must address is getting you wife some friends. It is a lot easier to cope with things when you have someone besides your spouse to moan to. Is there a playgroup she can join? Do your kids go to school - can she volunteer at the school to help out one morning a week and get to know the other mothers that way? Do you kids have any school mates you can invite around and get to know their mothers? Does she play any sport, ie. often there is a mother's league played at the local sporting complex in the mornings?

As for coming to the US, if you are having problems in Oz, you are going to have the same problems in the US. Americans are not as friendly, your wife will not be able to work and schooling is questionable at the best. Your wife will still miss her family.

Re: And then it all went wrong!!!
 

1. A bit late in the day to find out now. Why did you not assess the market before you moved your family?

2. Use a vacuum cleaner to clean your house of spiders, inside and out. Are you arachnophobic? Get over it, it's not one tiny part as bad as you suppose.

3. She's picking up your panic - straighten up, gut in, chin out.

Get out there and network/sell for all you are worth but leave the panic behind - noone will employ you if you look weak and about to turn tail and run. Make sure your wife has plenty to occupy her.

Re: And then it all went wrong!!!
 

Hang in there mate ... it hasn't been a month yet!!

It would be a mistake 2 come back 2 the UK so soon. Give Australia a chance ... after all ... what made u decide 2 move there in the 1st place?

Try 2 relax ... & enjoy yourselves!! :D

Don't forget ... u have moved 2 the other side of the world ... things may seem worse ... more compouded than they really are!!
It will get better ... I insist!! Because me & my family r arrivin' there on 17th Nov!!

Regards

Ian :beer:

Re: And then it all went wrong!!!
 

Hi Neil

Don't give up!

We arrived in Adelaide 9th August, had lots of family there and had done all our research, but realised it was not the place we had envisaged ourselves living in. Since it had taken us over 2 years to get our visa's we were adamant that we would not give up until we had found the 'Australia' we were looking for. After
driving across half of Oz (with 4 children) we are settled on the Sunshine Coast and v happy. Along with the change in lifestyle my husband has had a complete change of career and is happier than ever at work.

I would sincerely encourage you to stick it out in Oz, this country has so much to offer, keep looking.

Good Luck

Amanda

Good post, its never easy but hang in there a bit longer maybe move some place new. Good luck with the job hunting.

No matter how much research you do the reality is always harder.

Crikey, 2 weeks isn't very long. It's not a bad country to have time out of work. Give it a bit longer and find some work you'll really enjoy in whatever field.

We're doing something completely different to what we did in UK. There are heaps of opportunities and a whole lot of new friends to be made out there. Don't give up yet!

Keep at it mate. our wife needs to find some company or enthusiasm. As suggested any sports or other pursuit she can make some contact with?

Don't let her get uptight about the spiders supposedly EVERYWHERE in NSW we have visited here 4 times and have not yet seen a dangerous spider just some huntsman who are big but ok.

You struck unlucky with an infested house but the next one will not be the same surely.?

Keep at it As for the earlier post re Canberra we have two families of second cousins living and working in Canberra/NSW borders and they love it to death One family has in fact lived all over the world - kids and all - as he was in the Army Intelligence and he wife and kids think it the best there is - he doesn't come from Canberra by the way.

Keep at it Mrs it will get much much better as you relax and look for the silver lining:D :D :cool:

It does sound very early days for you to be giving up what you planned and waited for, for all those Months.

Before you come back, definitely look at jobs in other States. Might be a good idea to contact agencies in Sydney, Brisbane Canberra etc and ask them if they have anything available.
Melbourne may not be for you but you could find a great place somewhere else.

The spiders sound awful, but try and think to yourself that you have just had extremely bad luck. This is by no means normal and it would be unlikely to happen if you move to another house.

Network, network and get your wife involved in some groups where she can make some friends.


It is far too early on to be giving up your dream and coming back, you have got to ride the rough to get to the smooth!

Re: And then it all went wrong!!!
 

Neil, Hi,
So sorry you're having a bad time of it. You cannot give the whole thing up now, after only a few weeks, Oz is so big and actually the options are plenty, why not give yourself and the family a holiday and have alook around, I know it may cost you financially, but at this point in the situation it will cost you whatever you decide, do some research into job poss in other cities and if it looks promising go there. Good luck with it all
Suz

Hi Neil and family,
Hang in there - as others have said its very early days. Stick it out, and remember how much you went through to get there. Its bound to be weird at first, and you've been so unlucky with the spiders. I've been out to Oz 6 times now, and only seen one poisonous one, that was right out in the sticks in Queensland.

Think theres a few people on the forum moving to Melbourne soon, cos they've been talking about a meet when they get there. And the comments about meeting other people through the kids is a good one - I'm almost starting to wish I had kids, as its the perfect way to get to know strangers, through school and stuff.
Hope things pick up for you soon.
All the best

Re: And then it all went wrong!!!
 

Neil,

Sorry to hear that its not working at the moment, but just hang in there. You've only been there for a few weeks and things sound like they can only get better.

If your wife is panicking and being negative, your job is to be the positive one, even though you will probably get shot down with any positive comment you make (speaking from past experience).
Don't let the kids pick up on the way you are feeling either as this will affect the way they settle in.

Look around the whole country for a job in your area, you've made the move to OZ, so moving to a different state is nothing.

Good Luck.

Hi

We know how you feel, we arrived in Melbourne on 23 Feb 2003,
and the first few weeks we wondered what we had done, it was very hard and we almost nearly packed up and went back to the UK.
But now we have been here nearly8 month's, we have settled in nicely, bought a house in Berwick.
If you want to meet up, we would be glad too.
The only thing we are sad about is that our daughter has gone back to the UK to finish off her course at college, but she WILL be back next June.
Anyway, give it a chance and we are sure you will like it in Melbourne.

Mike & karen

Stick with it matey. It will get easier, Oz is a big place and the places are good and bad. I would take one step at a time. Get the pests sorted first if they won't sort it move. Then just sit back have a holiday and chill. It will all come right.