We've passed the two year mark!
Jul 20th 2004, 7:22 am
#1
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Location: Mandurah, WA
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We've passed the two year mark!
This is taken from a thread I started last year.
A year's gone by already.................
This time last year……..we woke up in an empty house having spent the night in sleeping bags borrowed from a friend. Had breakfast at the neighbour’s as there was nothing left in the kitchen! Our countdown calendar displayed “today’s the day�. We collected the children from their grandparents with whom they had stayed for their last few days. Packed all our cases (18 I think) into the car, leaving just enough room to see out of the windows! Dropped the house keys off at the solicitors ready for the new owners to pick up. Drove down the M1 and M25 for the very last time! Just for a change, didn’t get stuck in any traffic and arrived at Heathrow in plenty of time. Managed to sort out the boarding passes and get all the baggage checked in before the rellies arrived to wave us off. Not the best experience to have. Passing through the departure door felt strange………..this is it, this is really it………we’re on a one-way ticket, we are not coming back……….oh my god this is really, definitely the point of no return…………we are actually going through with it……………..all our relatives are crying (even the fellas)………... what have we done? It’s the usual palaver on the plane trying to stuff the coats and camera bags and all the other hand luggage into the overhead lockers with people barging past you, kids arguing over who gets the window seat, their backpacks are so stuffed full with things to do they have trouble fitting them down into the tiny space at their feet, I’m busy counting the number of rows to the emergency exit and reading the emergency instructions in case of crash-landing (please god of all the planes to hijack don’t let the terrorists pick this one). Flight leaves late at night, but there is so much going around in my head, I hardly sleep a wink. Hubby and I don’t really chat much either and thankfully the kids are so excited about their new adventure they are really well-behaved for once. Seven-year old son spends the whole 20+ hours playing on the Nintendo game and arrives bleary-eyed and very tired. Upon arrival at Perth airport, we’re feeling both excited and nervous. Our cases took ages to appear on the moving belt, then they were counted and double-checked to make sure we had them all – and in case one went astray, we had a photograph of them all on the digital camera, because there was no way we would have been able to remember what each one looked like. Going through Customs was straightforward, they didn’t search our baggage thankfully, there was so much of it and it was a job balancing it all on the three trolleys. My sister was there to greet us with her partner, we all squeezed into the hired mini-bus and went to a motel for the night before travelling down to her place near Bunbury the following morning, ready to start our new lives……………
And those first few weeks were really hard work. The last few weeks in England had been stressful enough but we knew where we were and had lots of people to call on if needed. Here it was different. We had to get used to new money, unfamiliar shops, driving a new car on strange roads, and felt like we stuck out like sore thumbs, so many people asked us where we were from, was it so obvious that we were new to the country? So many forms to fill in, setting up bank accounts, tax file numbers, child benefit, sorting out mobile phones, pin numbers to remember for everything, getting the kids into school, even managing to have the odd day trip here and there. Then house-hunting, yet more forms to fill in, furniture to buy, trolley loads of groceries to fill the new fridge and larder, endless diy jobs (on the house which didn’t need much doing – famous last words!), job-hunting, then just when you think you’re getting there, the container arrives and you have heaps of stuff to put away, items you had forgotten about already, some items you can’t find and decide that you must have sold them at the garage sale after all. Every journey, even to the local shops, requires the road atlas. Daily thoughts of wondering whether we did the right thing, feeling guilty at upsetting so many people.
Three months later though, things start to seem familiar, the radio and tv commercials you recognise, no more fumbling in your purse for the right money. The kids are getting on well in school and have made friends. Christmas is just round the corner and it’s getting hot. The computers are set up and we’re connected to the net and are getting loads of emails from “back home�, everyone wants to know what our house looks like, what sort of car we’ve got, are the kids ok?
Six months later the diy jobs are finished (well for the time being anyway) and the place is starting to feel like home. I can find my way round the supermarket at last and we’re enjoying plenty of barbecues and weekends at the beach. While hubby is at work and the kids are at school, sometimes life doesn’t seem so different to what it was before. The emails are getting less and less, I guess our friends and relatives aren’t thinking about us as much now. Already we are finding it difficult to recall street names from our old town, sometimes even forgetting people’s names. Things in our memories get confused, you see something on tv and it seems familiar, but you can’t remember if you saw it recently in Oz or back on tv in England. We meet up with fellow expats from this board, and swap notes, hey guess what, all the odd things we’ve noticed, all the funny feelings we’ve experience, they have too!
Nine months later and our first visitors arrive – the in-laws come to stay for three weeks (and I used to think Christmas time was stressful!!) We take them down to the south-west for a week away touring and are shocked to discover how even further behind life is down here! A funny thing happens though as we drive back into Mandurah after a week away – it feels like we are coming “home�. At long last we must be feeling settled now. Tearful goodbyes at the airport again though as we wave goodbye, not knowing whether or not they will be back again in the future.
Today it is exactly one year to the day that we left the UK. A whole year has gone by already and it’s hard to believe it. We’ve done a lot in our short time here, been to many places and made lots of new friends. You still get the odd thought that pops up now and again “wonder what we’d be doing now, if we had changed our minds and stayed?� but we don’t regret coming. Mandurah is our home now and we’ll be welcoming our second lot of visitors here next month. Maybe we’ll go back to England for a holiday one day, but we’re not in any hurry to just yet. Good luck to all those of you still waiting to go, hope things work out well for you too!
Now we're another year on, and all of what I typed last year is an even more distant memory.
We had always said that we would give it a go for two years at least, give ourselves plenty of time to adapt and not go rushing back to the UK. It's hard to believe that the two years has now passed. And we haven't had any discussion (as a family) about going back, so I guess that must mean we're settled here? In any case, it feels like we've been here so long that it's now "normal" and going back to the UK would probably take some adjusting too. We don't miss things as badly as when we first arrived - you either forget about some things or learn to live without them. You experiment with different food items and it no longer concerns you that you can't get...........uurrmm actually I can't think of a food item to put, see what I mean?
The kids are all doing well at school, hubby is doing well at work and has just been promoted, and life as a housewife is, well, the same as ever! We've acquired two puppies so they keep me on my toes, and we will be moving house in a fortnight. We've had three lots of visitors from the UK and as my mum has just retired, she'll be coming for a 4-month stay in November. The emails and phone calls from friends and relatives have dwindled rapidly over the last year. Out of sight, out of mind maybe?
Hubby has been back to the UK on a business trip and had no desire to stay, he came back feeling happy that he had made the right decision. I'd like to go back sometime and visit everyone, but there are too many places in Oz I'd like to visit first. The kids really miss their grandparents and aunties and uncles, and some of the places we used to go to with friends in the summer holidays, that sometimes makes me feel a little guilty and sad. But we've passed that all-important two-year milestone now and have no regrets, we're glad we did it! All the excitement/panic/stress involved with our emigration is just a distant and hazy memory now.
Good luck and best wishes to all of you out there just starting out on your own journey Down Under!
A year's gone by already.................
This time last year……..we woke up in an empty house having spent the night in sleeping bags borrowed from a friend. Had breakfast at the neighbour’s as there was nothing left in the kitchen! Our countdown calendar displayed “today’s the day�. We collected the children from their grandparents with whom they had stayed for their last few days. Packed all our cases (18 I think) into the car, leaving just enough room to see out of the windows! Dropped the house keys off at the solicitors ready for the new owners to pick up. Drove down the M1 and M25 for the very last time! Just for a change, didn’t get stuck in any traffic and arrived at Heathrow in plenty of time. Managed to sort out the boarding passes and get all the baggage checked in before the rellies arrived to wave us off. Not the best experience to have. Passing through the departure door felt strange………..this is it, this is really it………we’re on a one-way ticket, we are not coming back……….oh my god this is really, definitely the point of no return…………we are actually going through with it……………..all our relatives are crying (even the fellas)………... what have we done? It’s the usual palaver on the plane trying to stuff the coats and camera bags and all the other hand luggage into the overhead lockers with people barging past you, kids arguing over who gets the window seat, their backpacks are so stuffed full with things to do they have trouble fitting them down into the tiny space at their feet, I’m busy counting the number of rows to the emergency exit and reading the emergency instructions in case of crash-landing (please god of all the planes to hijack don’t let the terrorists pick this one). Flight leaves late at night, but there is so much going around in my head, I hardly sleep a wink. Hubby and I don’t really chat much either and thankfully the kids are so excited about their new adventure they are really well-behaved for once. Seven-year old son spends the whole 20+ hours playing on the Nintendo game and arrives bleary-eyed and very tired. Upon arrival at Perth airport, we’re feeling both excited and nervous. Our cases took ages to appear on the moving belt, then they were counted and double-checked to make sure we had them all – and in case one went astray, we had a photograph of them all on the digital camera, because there was no way we would have been able to remember what each one looked like. Going through Customs was straightforward, they didn’t search our baggage thankfully, there was so much of it and it was a job balancing it all on the three trolleys. My sister was there to greet us with her partner, we all squeezed into the hired mini-bus and went to a motel for the night before travelling down to her place near Bunbury the following morning, ready to start our new lives……………
And those first few weeks were really hard work. The last few weeks in England had been stressful enough but we knew where we were and had lots of people to call on if needed. Here it was different. We had to get used to new money, unfamiliar shops, driving a new car on strange roads, and felt like we stuck out like sore thumbs, so many people asked us where we were from, was it so obvious that we were new to the country? So many forms to fill in, setting up bank accounts, tax file numbers, child benefit, sorting out mobile phones, pin numbers to remember for everything, getting the kids into school, even managing to have the odd day trip here and there. Then house-hunting, yet more forms to fill in, furniture to buy, trolley loads of groceries to fill the new fridge and larder, endless diy jobs (on the house which didn’t need much doing – famous last words!), job-hunting, then just when you think you’re getting there, the container arrives and you have heaps of stuff to put away, items you had forgotten about already, some items you can’t find and decide that you must have sold them at the garage sale after all. Every journey, even to the local shops, requires the road atlas. Daily thoughts of wondering whether we did the right thing, feeling guilty at upsetting so many people.
Three months later though, things start to seem familiar, the radio and tv commercials you recognise, no more fumbling in your purse for the right money. The kids are getting on well in school and have made friends. Christmas is just round the corner and it’s getting hot. The computers are set up and we’re connected to the net and are getting loads of emails from “back home�, everyone wants to know what our house looks like, what sort of car we’ve got, are the kids ok?
Six months later the diy jobs are finished (well for the time being anyway) and the place is starting to feel like home. I can find my way round the supermarket at last and we’re enjoying plenty of barbecues and weekends at the beach. While hubby is at work and the kids are at school, sometimes life doesn’t seem so different to what it was before. The emails are getting less and less, I guess our friends and relatives aren’t thinking about us as much now. Already we are finding it difficult to recall street names from our old town, sometimes even forgetting people’s names. Things in our memories get confused, you see something on tv and it seems familiar, but you can’t remember if you saw it recently in Oz or back on tv in England. We meet up with fellow expats from this board, and swap notes, hey guess what, all the odd things we’ve noticed, all the funny feelings we’ve experience, they have too!
Nine months later and our first visitors arrive – the in-laws come to stay for three weeks (and I used to think Christmas time was stressful!!) We take them down to the south-west for a week away touring and are shocked to discover how even further behind life is down here! A funny thing happens though as we drive back into Mandurah after a week away – it feels like we are coming “home�. At long last we must be feeling settled now. Tearful goodbyes at the airport again though as we wave goodbye, not knowing whether or not they will be back again in the future.
Today it is exactly one year to the day that we left the UK. A whole year has gone by already and it’s hard to believe it. We’ve done a lot in our short time here, been to many places and made lots of new friends. You still get the odd thought that pops up now and again “wonder what we’d be doing now, if we had changed our minds and stayed?� but we don’t regret coming. Mandurah is our home now and we’ll be welcoming our second lot of visitors here next month. Maybe we’ll go back to England for a holiday one day, but we’re not in any hurry to just yet. Good luck to all those of you still waiting to go, hope things work out well for you too!
Now we're another year on, and all of what I typed last year is an even more distant memory.
We had always said that we would give it a go for two years at least, give ourselves plenty of time to adapt and not go rushing back to the UK. It's hard to believe that the two years has now passed. And we haven't had any discussion (as a family) about going back, so I guess that must mean we're settled here? In any case, it feels like we've been here so long that it's now "normal" and going back to the UK would probably take some adjusting too. We don't miss things as badly as when we first arrived - you either forget about some things or learn to live without them. You experiment with different food items and it no longer concerns you that you can't get...........uurrmm actually I can't think of a food item to put, see what I mean?
The kids are all doing well at school, hubby is doing well at work and has just been promoted, and life as a housewife is, well, the same as ever! We've acquired two puppies so they keep me on my toes, and we will be moving house in a fortnight. We've had three lots of visitors from the UK and as my mum has just retired, she'll be coming for a 4-month stay in November. The emails and phone calls from friends and relatives have dwindled rapidly over the last year. Out of sight, out of mind maybe?
Hubby has been back to the UK on a business trip and had no desire to stay, he came back feeling happy that he had made the right decision. I'd like to go back sometime and visit everyone, but there are too many places in Oz I'd like to visit first. The kids really miss their grandparents and aunties and uncles, and some of the places we used to go to with friends in the summer holidays, that sometimes makes me feel a little guilty and sad. But we've passed that all-important two-year milestone now and have no regrets, we're glad we did it! All the excitement/panic/stress involved with our emigration is just a distant and hazy memory now.
Good luck and best wishes to all of you out there just starting out on your own journey Down Under!
Jul 20th 2004, 7:32 am
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Mandurah, WA
Posts: 535
Thank you
Jacqui
Thank you so much for that post. We too have said we are going for 2 years before we even discuss if it's the right place for us. We are also coming to Mandurah so will hopefully meet you once there at the end of the year.
Lindsey
Thank you so much for that post. We too have said we are going for 2 years before we even discuss if it's the right place for us. We are also coming to Mandurah so will hopefully meet you once there at the end of the year.
Lindsey
Jul 20th 2004, 7:58 am
#3
Soon to be Visas holders
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Anywhere my prozac takes me!!
Posts: 185
Jacqui
What an excellent post, an online diary. Your feelings and thoughs are very truthful and positive which makes the rest of us waiting to get over there feel happier about the decision we have all made.
Wishing you and your family all the very best for the next two years.
Lisa x
What an excellent post, an online diary. Your feelings and thoughs are very truthful and positive which makes the rest of us waiting to get over there feel happier about the decision we have all made.
Wishing you and your family all the very best for the next two years.
Lisa x
Jul 20th 2004, 8:10 am
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Cleveland QLD
Posts: 165
Re: We've passed the two year mark!
I read your post with butterflies wondering what the outcome would be. Glad to hear its worked out and you are all Happy.
Helen
Helen
Jul 20th 2004, 8:20 am
#5
Happy mum of 2 Aussies
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: Springwood, QLD
Posts: 518
Thank you so much for such an excellent post. Its like all traumatic things in life - even though you dont feel like you'll survive at the time, its always nice to hear from someone who's been through it and come out unscathed on the other side.
W.
W.
Jul 20th 2004, 10:17 am
#6
Retired
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 34,649
Re: We've passed the two year mark!
A very interesting post. Thanks for sharing it.
Now you're here two years do you plan to take out Australian citizenship? (assuming you came on PR visas)
Jeremy
Now you're here two years do you plan to take out Australian citizenship? (assuming you came on PR visas)
Jeremy
Jul 20th 2004, 10:27 am
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
Great post ! need to make mine more interesting me thinks
Maybe bump into you some time
Carry on with the good luck
Jill and Warren
Perth here and now
Maybe bump into you some time
Carry on with the good luck
Jill and Warren
Perth here and now
Jul 20th 2004, 11:50 am
#9
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: ocean reef
Posts: 164
Originally posted by bridiej
So the grass really is greener in Oz?
So the grass really is greener in Oz?
Its really different hear,and so far so good for us
We miss family and friends but im sure there would be some thing wrong with us if we dint,Each day we learn something new about Perth,and make new friends,(which is weird as ive had the same friedns for years )!!!So thanks for updating on your new life and i cant wait till i can sit here in a years time,and say the same!!!!
natasha
Ps,theres only 1 thing i miss,(except friends and famiy course,)and thats my nites out wi my friends on Fri and Sat nite
But hope fully ill soon find some good friends as mad as them,and enjoy a few nites out !!!
Jul 20th 2004, 11:52 am
#10
Adelaide bound
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Aldinga beach, SA
Posts: 96
Great post 
We've only been here (adelaide) for 3.5 months and already it feels more like home than the last 31 years living in southampton.
Both me and the wife have good jobs me as a plumber/gas fitter ( lots of plumbers needed here
) and our son is loving it at Kindergarten. I think we brought the UK weather with us though, Still not long 'til summer
We've only been here (adelaide) for 3.5 months and already it feels more like home than the last 31 years living in southampton.Both me and the wife have good jobs me as a plumber/gas fitter ( lots of plumbers needed here
) and our son is loving it at Kindergarten. I think we brought the UK weather with us though, Still not long 'til summer
Jul 20th 2004, 11:54 am
#11
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: North Lakes/Mango Hill, Brisbane
Posts: 1,134
What a great post - life is what you make it and you and your family have clearly made it work for you.
Fantastic
Fantastic
Jul 20th 2004, 12:28 pm
#12
Account Closed
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,375
Without doubt the best post I've read on here, and I've read a lot !!!
Great stuff.
Three Legs
Great stuff.
Three Legs
Jul 20th 2004, 12:28 pm
#13
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Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Location: Mandurah, WA
Posts: 886
Originally posted by bridiej
So the grass really is greener in Oz?
So the grass really is greener in Oz?
Jul 20th 2004, 12:35 pm
#14
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Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Location: Mandurah, WA
Posts: 886
Re: We've passed the two year mark!
Originally posted by JAJ
A very interesting post. Thanks for sharing it.
Now you're here two years do you plan to take out Australian citizenship? (assuming you came on PR visas)
Jeremy
A very interesting post. Thanks for sharing it.
Now you're here two years do you plan to take out Australian citizenship? (assuming you came on PR visas)
Jeremy
Jul 20th 2004, 12:56 pm
#15
Hot and sweaty member!!
Joined: Apr 2002
Location: WA I think!
Posts: 2,031
lovely post jacqui
glad that your still very happy down in mandurah
we are coming up to the 1 year mark soon..cant quite believe it really!
glad that your still very happy down in mandurah
we are coming up to the 1 year mark soon..cant quite believe it really!