Originally Posted by ianhutch1

Well im sat here eating my brekkie in among all the boxes and mess in a very strange feeling house ready for the shippers to turn up at 9am to pack up all our gear to go into the container.

What a rollercoaster six months we have had, from me asking my boss if I could have a transfer and never really expecting him to go for it, to the long drawn out visa process which drove us to despair most mornings when it hadn't been granted, to the stress and hassle of getting rid of most of our belongings as well as our well-loved cats and the final drama of changing shippers right at the last minute on Wednesday after hearing Pickfords were in trouble financially we are now at the final UK hurdle.

My Parents are coming up from down South later today and we will spend the majority of the last couple of days we have here with family and friends so im expecting quite an emotionally charged 48 hours ahead with lots of tears and mixed emotions.

We fly from Manchester to Singapore on Sunday morning then have a bit of a wait in Changi before heading off to Perth to arrive at about 3pm on Monday - its very surreal to think that next week we will be in Perth and finally we can start the real adventure in our new home!

I have asked myself quite a lot since we had the visas approved why are we putting ourselves through this and the answers are quite simple: To work hard and to build a new life for me and my wife, to greatly improve our quality of life compared to what we have here and to build a better future for the family that myself and my wife will be looking to start in the next couple of years - a future which they could never have got in the UK.

So we are leaving the UK with a lot of hope and optimism about our new home, we are under no illusions that we will be tested as a couple over the next year or so and things will be by no means sweetness and light all the way but we have thought about this move more than we have ever thought about anything and no matter what doubts we have had we have never been so sure about anything in our lives. We are ready for a new challenge, we are ready to learn about this new fascinating culture in Australia and most of all we are ready to integrate ourselves into the Australian way of life.

Good luck to everyone who is going through the process now, we have all been there and lived the frustration but once you get the approval you will be surprised how fast time goes until you are sat where we are now thinking "where have the last few weeks gone" and looking forward to your new future.

We will stay on the forum while we are in Perth and are looking forward to meeting many of the people we have been speaking to on here face-to-face once we are settled in and im looking forward now to looking back at this post in 6 months time and updating everyone on how we are getting on with the next huge chapter in our lives

Ian & Georgina x

Originally Posted by ianhutch1

Well im sat here eating my brekkie in among all the boxes and mess in a very strange feeling house ready for the shippers to turn up at 9am to pack up all our gear to go into the container.

What a rollercoaster six months we have had, from me asking my boss if I could have a transfer and never really expecting him to go for it, to the long drawn out visa process which drove us to despair most mornings when it hadn't been granted, to the stress and hassle of getting rid of most of our belongings as well as our well-loved cats and the final drama of changing shippers right at the last minute on Wednesday after hearing Pickfords were in trouble financially we are now at the final UK hurdle.

My Parents are coming up from down South later today and we will spend the majority of the last couple of days we have here with family and friends so im expecting quite an emotionally charged 48 hours ahead with lots of tears and mixed emotions.

We fly from Manchester to Singapore on Sunday morning then have a bit of a wait in Changi before heading off to Perth to arrive at about 3pm on Monday - its very surreal to think that next week we will be in Perth and finally we can start the real adventure in our new home!

I have asked myself quite a lot since we had the visas approved why are we putting ourselves through this and the answers are quite simple: To work hard and to build a new life for me and my wife, to greatly improve our quality of life compared to what we have here and to build a better future for the family that myself and my wife will be looking to start in the next couple of years - a future which they could never have got in the UK.

So we are leaving the UK with a lot of hope and optimism about our new home, we are under no illusions that we will be tested as a couple over the next year or so and things will be by no means sweetness and light all the way but we have thought about this move more than we have ever thought about anything and no matter what doubts we have had we have never been so sure about anything in our lives. We are ready for a new challenge, we are ready to learn about this new fascinating culture in Australia and most of all we are ready to integrate ourselves into the Australian way of life.

Good luck to everyone who is going through the process now, we have all been there and lived the frustration but once you get the approval you will be surprised how fast time goes until you are sat where we are now thinking "where have the last few weeks gone" and looking forward to your new future.

We will stay on the forum while we are in Perth and are looking forward to meeting many of the people we have been speaking to on here face-to-face once we are settled in and im looking forward now to looking back at this post in 6 months time and updating everyone on how we are getting on with the next huge chapter in our lives

Ian & Georgina x