Hi Jaqui.

I remember feeling emotional as i read your " year on " post as we were about to embark on the same thing.

We met you at Sophias (don't know if you remember, we had much hilarity with bald buts and tales of mincing car salesmen)

Another year has passed (god i can't believe it!!) and i think its the all important "milestone"

Good luck to you all, i look forward to hearing the "three year update" Well done guys.

Hxxx

Thanks for a great posting.

footie x

yeah hevs i remember that little 'do'...in our honour sort of i reckon...and my darling dog maisie tried to scrag poor jacqui's puppy
but obviously puppy has survived and now has a new friend!!!

time flies eh!

WHat a fantasic and enjoyable post.... I hope one day that we too can say we feel settled in Oz!

Thanks
Lucy

Thank you for a fantastic post.

We are just starting to sort everything out ready for a move to Perth in November. I'm going to bookmark your post so that when I get butterflies I can read it and get the tingles down my spine again!

Jacqui

Bloody marvellous post!!

I was there with you and could totally relate with what you were saying. I've played the scenario in my mind so many times already, going to the airport here in London, saying goodbye to rellies, the flight over there with the kiddies and how on earth you keep the occupied (thank god for gameboys - my two will be playing them for most of the flight), getting sorted out the other end re tax file numbers, schools, bank accounts etc etc.

Exactly what us wannabe expats dream of. We've still a way to go before we reach the other side though.

Thank you so much and keep us posted on how you're getting on.

D D

What a lovely, honest post, i thoroughly enjoyed reading it, thanks for sharing your life over the last two years with us and i hope that you continue to enjoy your lives down under!
hugs
Rach, Mark and Chanelle xxxx

What a great post - it gave me goosebumps whilst reading - 'will they or won't they make it? oh I hope it works out for them'
It's so nice to know other people's experiences and how they have survived the whole 'emigration nightmare'
Well done to you all and keep us updated
Nibblo

well done on having the determination to see your plans through and making a go of it.

heres wishing you many happy more years, wherever you may be.

Gosh, I remember reading your first years post. How time flies

What a great post Jacqui. Thanks for taking the time to tell it to us.

Good luck for the future.

Jacqui First off all thanks for taking the time to post your experiences to us all.Secondly it was really interesting to read and glad to hear that the children have settled well and your husband has got a job okay one of my biggest worries I think.
We too are thinking about Mandurah .We have relatives in Halls Head although we write we have never met.
You are lucky that your sister is close to you this must of helped no end when you first moved out.
I understand there is a lot of building work going on in Mandurah at present and some very nice developments Port Bouvard being one that I know about.
Although it was two years ago did you find everyone friendly when you first came to Australia and were the other children friendly towards your children when they first went to school.(typical worried mother)
I also noticed that you too are a house wife and have you ever had times when you felt really lonely when all the family had gone to work school etc.I would think though that you are probably too busy to even think but I would be interested to know how you felt.
We are hoping to come to Mandurah next year to validate and have a good look round as soon as we can.Then if it feels right we shall take the big step too.
Good Luck with everything.
Gaynor

I was worried that someone would hijack this thread accusing us of never taking off our rose-tinted glasses, the usual insults. Can I just say that this post was intended to help anyone still with butterflies and mixed emotions, to show that it is possible to survive, to make it to that all-important 2-year mark, and live to tell the tale unscathed. There ARE negatives and we haven't been on cloud nine ever since we got here, maybe some folk set their expectations too high? To be honest, life in Australia isn't exactly how we envisaged it, there have been some disappointments, at the beginning we argued more than we ever had before, and the homesickness will always be there, it just doesn't hurt so much as time goes by. Likewise, the guilty feelings lessen, but never go away entirely, especially when you get a phone call to say that someone close has suffered a heart attack and you know you can't be with them. You can't keep on moaning about the things you miss from the UK; try and focus instead on all the things you've gained. And of course now we don't know what we're missing from the UK, because we have been away for so long, you can't miss what you don't know about. We don't know about that great new series that has been shown on ITV for the last 8 weeks, because we haven't been there! Does that make sense?

And don't worry about only making friends with Poms when you get here, and trying to avoid Pom get-togethers because you feel that you really ought to make the effort to integrate with the Aussie people. If you don't have relatives and friends here already, you'll find support from fellow Poms invaluable, the been-there, done-that brigade who know just how much you are going through in those first few weeks and months. Reading posts on this board do still help of course, but so does proper face-to-face contact with like-minded souls. You'll find there are Poms living in your street, mixing with the kids at school, serving in the shops, hey we're everywhere

You are going to be spoilt for choice when it comes to new developments. At least with rellies here they will be able to show you around. Port Bouvard has a Meditteranean feel, Mariners Cove is set around canals, Seascapes is close to the ocean, Lakelands is going to be handy for the train when it comes this way in 2006. Where you pick may depend on where you will be working. If you have to commute to Perth, the northern suburbs will be better. More people are opting to not move to the coastal developments as they are so over-priced, you do pay over the top for a sea-view. There is a lot planned for the area north of Mandurah, stretching right up to Singleton, not just housing, but new schools, railway and freeway, a huge shopping complex and recreation facilities. Mandurah already is quite different to when we moved here, I think the city is finally heading towards the 21st century!

As to being a housewife, I'm always too busy to feel lonely. I do miss my close friends from England, we would drop the kids off at school and chat, and sometimes go out for lunch. We had our babies at the same time, and had known each other for 11 years. So finding that sort of close friendship takes time. The daily routine of school runs, shopping, ironing, hoovering, cooking and cleaning, is depressingly the same unfortunately but I don't complain because my husband works long hours and gets much more stress in his daily routine than I do, and I'm grateful that I can be here for my kids always, bit old-fashioned me. I have met other mums through school and the swimming-club, and I meet other people at the gym and out walking the dogs, so I never think of myself being "lonely" at all.

Good luck with your validation trip Gaynor. Send me a PM nearer the time if you fancy meeting for a chat.

Hi Hevs, yes remember it well! Poor Sophia had us all back to her place because it was too windy down at Rockingam foreshore. It was a good bash. Must ask Sophia when the next one's due! Maybe the crowd should venture down Mandurah way for a change? Whisky, Baldbutts and my family live here, there must be others?

Hi Jacqui,

What a fab post! It's so nice to hear you've settled in so well. Just the kind of thing I needed to hear this morning. We're off in 6 weeks.

Thanks again, that's really made my day!
Sunchaser