Originally Posted by Mrs Jackaroo

Nice post GB! Got me confused though cos I remember us leaving at the same time as you - we arrived 1st April - you were right when you said 6 months (not 7!) - you do tend to lose track of time here though dont you :)

We've settled in well ow too although we have had a few hard times too (well I have). I've never been home sick - just felt a bit lost at times. Things are def on the up though!

Nothing wrong with stacking shelves by the way - I start with Coles soon (only casual but better than nothing). No doubt hubby is enjoying having a stress free job - thats what I'm looking forward to.

Hope things continue the way they are for you :)

Take care

Originally Posted by rpa34

Where has the time gone....! Glad you are all settling in well. Looking forward to a few more of your photos.
We fly out 19Nov, packers arrive next Wednesday - all getting very real now. too much to organise and little time to do it in. arrrrrgh

Originally Posted by tiredwithtwins

aw ... glad to hear you are settling in annie!

say hi to aus for me!!

sue xx

Originally Posted by glittababe

Well 7 mths actually but have been meaning to this for a month!

Ok, second time around for us 'ping ponging' back to oz so what have we learnt?

Accept help from mates! Landed April 4th, friends collected us from airport (thanks Lara) took us to our accommodation in Brisbane, supplied groceries and looked after kids overnight while Mark and I hunted down a rental - such a massive help!

No rose tinted specs on! Not sure I've ever owned a pair anyway, but it helped that we 'knew' what we were coming out too! It also helped that we decided to settle in an area we liked. Whilst Bayside was ok, it wasn't us, we need space and felt very claustrophobic there. The area we chose was Noosa, well 10 mins from Noosa! Settled kids at Eumundi school (very free spirited kinda place, suits our boys) and I found a job locally as a practice nurse covering med centres at Noosa,Imbil,Cooroy and Eumundi. Wonderful staff made me feel at home and they found work for Mark as a handyman for the surgeries.

What do I miss? Oooo on a good day nothing, on a bad day everything! We spent a lot of time outdoors anyway so our lifestyle hasn't changed that dramatically. We spend our days off socialising, bush walking and enjoying this beautiful area. I'm doing way more photography and the surroundings have inspired me to start painting again!

Mark misses Walkers Prawn and Cocktail crisps and his job! He's on a career break, so no real hardship there. During the day he'll do odd jobs for the surgery, in the evening he's stacks shelves at BigW! It was quite difficult to begin with as he's a very proud man, but now he's just grateful to be earning money! When you get here, be prepared to get down and do anything just to make your way! UK work experience means nowt here!

The kids miss........their friends of course and that can be really hard at times. They've all learnt how to use MSN messenger and are just thankful they didn't move out here before the internet was invented!

To sum up, its been challenging, frustrating and sometimes demoralising. On the other side of it though we've met and have some fab friends, we now feel part of the community here and we love and enjoy our environment. Just going for a run in the evening at Noosa national park, watching the sunsets with dolphins gliding in and out of the water is an amazing experience. We have the normal ups and downs of life but on the whole we're happy. :)

Originally Posted by glittababe

oops and some pics

Originally Posted by glittababe

and more

Originally Posted by glittababe

and some more

Originally Posted by caleb2003

Your phorography is really good, could you do portraits for kids etc to earn extra income or is the market saturated?

I was thinking of looking for a course in the UK so I could make use of my SLR maybe to supplement income in that way for when I get to Oz