Jacqui

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!

delboy

hi jaqui this is one of the best post ive read for a long time, brought tears to my eyes as the things you were saying felt like they were going to be so real for us one day,hopefully glad to see you r feeling more at home now and settled.I cant imagine what that last week will feel like? not good,are there any thing you really miss ie i know one must be familly and friends but things from old life,? how hot is it now ? and have you seen any nastys ie spiders cochroaches snakes, and has your chikdren really settled in with his new life would love to read more posts of yours thanks allison,ps we r hoping perth may next year holiday in october ocean reef perth or kingsley have cousins there, i have a son age 8 and another age 8 months

whisky

What a really interesting and informative post.
My Brother lives in Mandurah, and that is where we intend to go before we decide on where we are staying.
Good luck to you and your family, and keep in touch with your interesting posts.

Whisky

hevs

What a lovely, touching post! The south west is beautiful, i hope you stay happy and positive, best of luck

wombat

That was a lovely post, I hope you have many more happy years ahead

Pollyana

So glad that things are going well for you Jacqui - I shall keep that post for when I need encouragement! The "one-way flight" jitters are setting in already, and I don't leave till October!
Hope things carry on in the same positive way!

parrot

What a lovely positive and informative post. I'm glad to hear you've settled in and life is good. Gives me a confidence boost in this nerve-wracking time 2 months before going.
Good luck in the future.
Parrot

dmf

Jacqui, what an excellent post. It brought tears to my eyes too. We are currently camping in our house - the container left yesterday! An emotional moment watching all your worldly belongings going off down the road. We are expecting exchange on the house anytime with completion a few days after. We hope to fly at the end of the month.

All your comments makes the hairs on my arms stand on end knowing that we will be going through exactly the same emotions in a couple of weeks.

Well done to your family. Good luck for the years to come.

Dawn

carolerussell

Excellent post, It also made me cry aswell. We got our visa on wednesday, i booked our flights the same day to fly out on september 13th, the tickets have just arrived this morning. I am about to book the furniture to go mid-august and book the dog in for his flight.
It was wonderful to read about your experiences, it read so well that i could imagine the whole event, especially when you were getting seated on the plane.
Good luck to you all, so pleased it has all worked out for you.
Carole.

Ruthyman

Beautiful post Jacqui
.

james & bev

great post jacqui - tell us more

how are the kids, schools, friends, is it what you expected, what are the biggest surprises.

cheers

James

tinaj

A real life tear-jerking post. Thank you for sharing all of your experiences with us- good and bad. Even though I had a little sob it has cheered me up and made things seem a little more possible for us.


Best wishes and keep posting


Tina

Bella

Great post. Wiping tears as I write this. Hope all continues to go well.

sue rose

Oh Jacqui

How poignant your post is to us and I am sure all who read it.
We fly in 17 days and the emotions are running wild but having read your positive post I know we have made the right decision even if the family are making it unintentionally hard for us.

My daughter crys when she's hoovering.
My mum crys each time she thinks about our leaving do.
My hubbie is dreaming about two of his brothers seeing him of at the airport ( they both died a few years ago)
My Dad in law (who's 86) saying he will never see us again.
My Grandson (who's 6) saying why are you going Nanny---That is just the worst and it makes me cry just writing it.

Apart from all that we are still going and I hope you will keep posting your news to help us novices along

Sue Rose

PeteY

Thanks for taking the time to share....