The negative posts crop up all the time and they get to all of us during the awful build up to 'do I don't I emigrate phase'.

If you look hard enough you will see negatives in anything. I could name hundreds of things I hated about the Uk, but all in all you wouldn't really notice them. Things are different here, so don't come expecting the Costa del Sol i.e. English Breakfasts !!
I for one love the differences and that is part of the reason why we came.

All in all I would much rather spend my life over here than back in Blighty. Yes it has been too hot this week, but then it gets too cold back there! For each thing you don't like there are 2 that are better!!

If you don't like change and differences then it wont be the place for you. It does take some adapting, but the Aussies and their country are very welcoming and if it is what you want it should all work out for you in the end.The hardest bit is the run up to leaving. but then you soon forget about that after you are here and enjoying it.

One of the key factors in whether migration will work or not seems to be employment (or lack of it).

Not just the ability to get a job but to get the right one in the right place.

Sydney and Melbourne seem to be best for some occupations but then they are also very expensive house wise.

There is no point in moving to a place where prices are cheap if you can not then find work.It has also been mentioned several times on here that the cheapest houses tend to be in areas with more social problems.

A few years ago houses were much cheaper than the UK but in some areas are now rising faster.
At one time a modest amount of equity would let you buy a decent house in Australia.This is no longer the case.
If you are able to buy a house OK then you can be more relaxed about the work you do.

It needs a lot of careful planning,especially if you are moving your family.

Good luck

G

I also forgot to add that many people who are here and enjoying it probably dont have time to waste in here!!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for so many replies!

I am definitely going to Australia, we're applying for a spouse visa in the next month or so, so the negativity doesn't put me off.

I just wanted to hear from people who are settling in Australia. I certainly don't have rose coloured specs, and am not looking for a huge house on the beach or a great job the minute I land, I just wanted to know that, if I try, I should get some sort of job.

My family are all looking forward to the move, and we've started sorting out our junk already!

My husband is Australian so doesn't need this site, but when I show him some of the posts, and ask him if it's as bad as it sounds, he just says the posters are "typical whinging poms".

I'm a positive person who likes to prepare for things, and my hopes for Australia are to live in a country with better weather, less people, and a more relaxed lifestyle. Judging by the responses I should get what I'm looking for.

Thanks again

Me

all the best to u where are u headed?

EXACTLY !! especially when you have such a great climate to be out doing things in. Who wants to be sitting in front of a PC all day?? Mind you chance would be a fine thing, if I HAD a PC arrive!

Hi,

We're looking to go somewhere around Melbourne, not sure where yet. We'll probably rent some holiday accomodation first until we find an area we like. Make sure we're on a train line to get to a job, when we find one. Enjoy each other's company, which we already do in the UK.


Cheers

Me

I've lived here for 24 years and I love it. I loved it from the moment I arrived and I still do. The novelty of living in a country where the weather is great, the light is clear, the air is clean and the people are friendly still has not worn off after all this time.

Mind you, I do live in one of the best parts of the best city in the country so I don't have much to complain about.

Most of the things in your list are seriously unimportant - as someone said earlier would the fact that banks charge here for their services really put you off coming? Creepy crawlies and snakes are non-events - the only people who mention them or get worked up about them are English migrants. And possums???

Just like the UK, the most convenient, desirable suburbs can be expensive. But not all Australians are millionaires - they all live somewhere. There are thousands of suburbs where the median house price is less than a million and only a few where it's more.

There is a problem with jobs in Perth. That's why/because it's only a small city. Australians know this but a lot of English migrants seem to think they'll still find their dream job there - and are then sadly disappointed when they don't.

It can be expensive to leave Australia but you don't need expensive airfares to get to a range of different environments. You can just get in your car and drive to the Tropics or the Alps. Petrol is half the price of the UK. You don't need the annual fortnights holiday abroad, just to get a suntan, when you live here.

It does get hot - but hey, if you want mild winters you normally have have the odd hot summer. Not all summers are as hot as this one has been. And Sydney gets twice as much rain per annum as London, but it all comes at once and you never get that persistant drizzle that goes on for weeks.

And to be honest, the lack of british food is a plus. The quality, price and range of fresh food is one of Australia's greatest assets.

Spouse Visa

We front loaded our application (medicals, police checks, stat decs, etc), submitted the application direct to Australia House in London and had received my visa back within 1 week.

If you didn't know the timescales already.......

Cheers

My de facto application goes tomorrow, hope it turns around as quickly as yours. Not planning on leaving until the end of September but it will be a great relief just to have that visa in the passport!

Why are you coming here? What pulls you to Australia? Whilst the matter you have listed are irritating none of them are show stoppers

Annoying bastards but does your UK bank get in the way of your life?
All I see are roaches and the odd harmless spider. The spiders eat the roaches so not an issue.
Sydney is a bit like that but rent is cheap.
Yep
What do you do for a living?
It is expensive to go to Europe but there is plenty to see in Australia.
Still 2/3rds VAT
Whats wrong with Possums?
Not around here
In Sydney it can be bad on and off for 2 months of the year.
Move to Sydney
My experiences have been good and quick with some small top up payments.
If you are part of the lucky 50% to have an NHS dentist in the UK then the Australian charges will seen high.
Weh heh. Its not all that bad.

As an Australain reading this forum many migrants tend to greatly
overestimate the danger of snakes and spiders in Australia. l spend alot of time in the bush and have only seen a snake twice
and in each case they quickly slithered out of my way when they heard be coming towards them. Only around 3 people a year are
killed by snakes in Australia and only one in every 1,000 who are bitten by a snake die. Almost all the people who are bitten by snakes were either trying to pick up the snake or trying to kill it.
Snakes will only bite you in self defence as we are not prey to them. No one has been killed by a poisoness spider in Australia
since 1979 and l think that person was allergic to the venom.
Although you will see quite a few spiders in Australia you are much more likely to be bitten by a bee or a European wasp.

Well as a person that grew up in OZ (until my parents in their wisdom decided I had a better chance of UNI education in UK ) I can say that we had 3 types of spiders and 1 type of snake in our garden that were all poisonous but I'm still alive so..............

What sort of "British" food do you expect to miss? Nothing you can't cook yourself, with very little effort. We regularly have a roast dinner - Yorkie Puds, roast potatoes, meat for me - either topside roast or roast chicken (Mrs DUP is a veggie), and as many veggies as we want. You want a spotted dick and custard to follow? Cook one!

What else? Fish and chips - either get it from a Fish and Chip shop, or cook your own if you want it done in vegetable oil, rather than tallow.

"British" food's not a problem. You'll probably find that the Asian, Italian, French or any other type of cuisine is what you go for, though - you don't need the stodgey English food to fend off the cold.

Oh yeah - and for the rest of the questions? Not a problem.

You had that problem, too?! My parents dragged me out of Oz when I was 17, kicking and screaming all the way. What REALLY pisses me off is that we'd been permanent residents for 7 years. How much bloody effort would it have been to get Ausise citizenship so that I could come back when I wanted?

Now, thanks to their lack of consideration and foresight, I have to fight to get what I could have had 30-odd years ago!