Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Hi

I often read this forum and I am interested in what brought you to Australia in the first place.

Was it the promises of low cost of living, only having to work from 12-1.00 with an hour for lunch, beach, BBQs, etc. And how long was it before you realised that you had made a big mistake.

I will start the ball rolling. We moved here a year ago, we had a very comfortable lifestyle in the UK. Nice house in a nice area, good jobs, holidays etc. But over the last 5-6 years we had both become a bit restless and we decided if we don't give it a go now before we realised it we would be drawing our OAP and wondering what if?

It was quite easy for us to settle as all my family with the exception of my Dad live out here and we had been out here loads of times for holidays.

And just for the record, we love it here and have no plans to move anywhere for the foreseeable future.

John

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Can't really see the point of this post in this forum. Surely it just lends itself to more 'us and them' arguments. Why are you interested in trawling through other people's 'huge mistakes'? Be happy that you're happy here and made the right move for your family.

Post it the Godzone, and you'll get answers from like minded people.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

It's a free world and a free forum.

I can ask what questions I like, I don't post on here to wind people up.

If people don't like my query they won't answer will they.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

We moved for very similar reasons.. again, a nice house in the UK in a nice area, but felt we needed a new challenge. I was offered the chance to come via work and we thought we had to give it a try, life experience and all that... BUT, we had no family or friends here and that started to hit home really quickly. We have the Australian 'dream'.. big house, more than double the average Oz income, but nobody to share it with.. that and the fact that I have found Oz to be mind numbingly dull means we will be going back.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Get urself on the zoloft/prozac and life is wonderfull in aussie :rolleyes: ;)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

I already feel like somebody is putting Prozac in the water... :zzz:

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Got to agree ,the God squad dont treat anybody with any respect if you dare utter a word against Godsville .Why dont they just leave us in peace to rip the piss out of the joint and they can sit back and enjoy their mediochre,materialistic ,up them selves lifestyle .
While we of a higher intellectual intelligence can look at life in a deeper more meaningful plain .
:)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

I actually dont know why i moved here to be honest ,i suppose it was somthing to do at the time and before i know it i got 2 grown up kids running around saying ''bloody oath mate '' ,''But '' ,''Eh maaate'',. :)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

I reckon I was having a bit of a Shirley Valentine moment and my OH didn't fancy Greece!! :D

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Can't remember I was on glue at the time ;)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

PMSL


I was seduced by lurve :D came with an aussie.

Wouldnt have moved here in a blue fit otherwise, because I wasnt living in a one up one down northern backsteet getting mugged every day like so many seem to experienced :rolleyes: had quite a nice life in UK too.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Hey nice to meet someone else who belonged to that very elite group :D

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

They thought it would be like Home and Away and Neighbours but once they moved downunder found it was more like Cell Block H or prisoner as its called in OZ.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

You are too harsh. We found it to be more like the Sullivans ;)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

I find it more like Planet of the Apes :cool:

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

:D PMSL

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

very well said. :)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

This makes another one.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

I came here with my husband who had a job offer here in Perth. We accepted the job knowing we would have a better standard of living as family than if we stayed in England.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

We also moved over because OH was offered a job here. We would have moved somewhere, though maybe not as far as Australia if the offer hadn't come up. We were thinking more along the lines of Bristol... :o

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Apes are further up the evolutionarty tree.. :p

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

hey mate if you dont know why you moved,do you want me to remind you what its like down your old neck off the woods.great Barr that is...

only joking mate,i can think of worse places to live.well only a couple :D

dont forget to save me a few bricks.I'm out in jan for a month any chance of me coming to lay a few bricks with you?dont forget I'm cheap! 2 bottles of beer a day i think was our agreement.

take care mate ,keep doing your bit for us brummies over there...

m.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Went over there on a WHV and then got sponsored to stay there by one of the Finance Companies. My wages were 3 times what I was earning in the UK for doing the same job. My lifestyle was therefore better, I had more money to spend. I also found it easier to get into industries that I wanted to get into as well. I also liked the fact it was multicultured and that I found GP who practiced eastern and western medicines. It also made me take more of an interest in the Eastern cultures which I hadn't been exposed to before and it's religion. I also liked the fact it was more outdoory so again could pursue sports that I wouldn't have done in the UK, due to the weather.

A country is only as boring as the person lets it be.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

I totally agree :)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Good post. It's true that there is access to a wider variety of health options here - every street seems to have different types of practicioners and health/wellbeing centres etc. I've really enjoyed the fact that it's so multicultural here too.

I don't agree with your last statement though. You are earning 3 times your UK salary, which will therefore enable you to persue activities, leisure interests, travel if you so wish. You said yourself that your lifestyle is better because you earn more.

We've found the opposite here - in the UK we had higher salaries so were able to go out more, travel more, try more things - hubby was even just getting into flying lessons which would be ridiculous to even dream about here. We love trying different things but for many persuits to do need dosh.

There are only so many "free" activities you can do. :)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

If I face West from where I am now its 2,000 miles to the next city and the only 'point of interest' in between is a big rock. Face East from my previous home in the UK and in the same 2,000 miles there would be 300milion people, a hundred major cities, 1,000's of towns and more history and culture than you could possible see in a lifetime.. I think you will find this is why some people find the place boring.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

In my case, I have to disagree. I find Australia boring (and I live in one of the liveliest cities) because what it has to offer doesn't match what I like out of life. The culture is very much based on outdoor activities, sporting pursuits and family-orientated interests.

I apologise for not wanting to jump up and down with joy (I originally wrote something quite rude but didn't want to offend anyone) every time I see another beach, or view another never-ending landscape of hills and trees and what-not. It looks nice. But after acknowledging the 'beauty' of the landscape, its attractions end there. I'm not going to get on my bike and explore it, because I don't find 'exploring' very interesting. Esp. when the new place we are exploring looks just like the place we explored the previous week.

We do the same things every year. This weekend, for the third year in a row, we'll be going to Sculpture by the Sea. I enjoy this event, but I'd love for there to be something else to do instead of it.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Okay, now I shall bore you. :D

I came in the early late 80's so it was 3 times then. Then we had the recession of 92/93 when my industry got hit quite hard like many other. 92 was my worst year. I split up from my husband, he cleared out our bank account, I was on my way to visit a friend in Darwin who I met when I was travelling. I found out he had cleared out our account in Alice Springs. I had $100 to my name and didn't know whether to go back or forward. I opted forward. She was kind enough to put me up until I got on my feet. It took me approx 3 weeks to get work, which every day I went cold calling on businesses there and ringing from a phone box. I got lucky I got a job selling computers and software to local Government and education. 7 months later the company made a load of us redundant because the Government had introduced a manatory employer contribution of I think 3% of the annual salaries of their employers. The employer couldn't afford to do that on top of salaries. So half of his staff went in the end. That was 2 weeks before xmas. I was lucky that he paid me until the end of Jan. I had to give up my flat as I couldn't afford to keep it on. It took me 3 months to get work again, with me cold calling everyone. I was lucky that people I hardly knew took me in until I got work and they didn't expect anything in return. The kindness of strangers who became good friends. After that I didn't have any problems in the work area. But during that time when I wasn't working, I kept myself busy, I played volleyball which was free. borrowed somones bike, used a hotels swimming pool, another friend took me flying and gliding and his friend taught me parachuting. I even took up Fencing as in sword fighting. Boredom is a killer for me, so I find what I need to do to keep me occupied. I even brought a bucket and sponge and went door to door car washing. The money I got from that also helped.

I was in Australia 12 years, 3 melbourne, 3 Darwin, 3 sydney, 1 year travelling. 6 months Perth, 18 months Brisbane. Each time I had to find work, make new friends and create a life for me. So maybe doing it that way I didn't get bored. Culture wise as I said I got interested in the Eastern and alternative medicine. I had Australian friends from Japanese, Indonesian, Vietmese, South African, Kiwi, Italian, Greek, German, Polish and British backgrounds. So with having those kinds of friends I was invited to their homes and weddings, and experienced cultures/nationalities foods etc that I hadn't come across before. I remember going to a jewish house on one of their days, and all these complete strangers included me in their cermony and also each gave me presents. It was totally unexpected and I was also touched by it.

My vietmese friend was also interesting as she had escaped from the war and she opened my eyes to how hard her life had been also. Her experience also motivated in me in thinking she had more against her than I did, and if she could do it then so could I. I worked for a company that was predominatly Japanese which opened another door which was interesting to me and another culture which I had no real knowledge for. That was in Sydney. So I met some interesting people. By cold calling companies I also created interesting jobs within industries that were also new to me and I met interestiing people through them. When I left I was on $70,000, I'm on more now.

So apart from interesting industries and people and exploring sports that I hadn't done before, it may have helped me not find Australia so boring. I'm no longer in Australia I'm now in Europe and I'm company director of a company my business partner and I started a couple of years back. It again is in a totally different industry that I have worked in before and again I created an opporunity in it. We have become one of the leaders in our industry and recently we have had interest for us to join forces with other companies in Australia, USA, Europe and the Middle East. My experience in Australia the good and bad, gave me confidence to achieve working in any industry that I was interested in. It made me self reliant and independent. All which I didn't really have when I went there. I found that when the chips were down many Australians were supportive of me, gave me help when I really needed it, because if they hadn't taken me in, I would have probably ended up on a park bench, because that is how broke I was at one stage. In fact I lived on mangos and water for a few months because I didn't want to borrow money. It was great for the waist line, so there is always something positive that comes from a negative.

The many forms of kindness throughout Oz when I was ranged from a Taxi man in Perth giving me a ride all the way home, because I had asked him to stop a few miles from where I was staying as I didn't have enough money to get all the way home, and he realised I didn't, so he took me home. Another time I was hitch hiking as I had an an inteview and two women put some money in my hand to get the bus as they were concerned about my welfare. Another woman gave me a present again in Perth to cheer me up when I was sad about leaving a guy behind. In Sydney a client of mine lent me the use of his computers to learn a new skill and gave me a part time job on full time wages so I could pay the rent whilst I learnt, for 6 months. So I have good memories of the acts of kindness shown by many Australians in different parts.

Some places I wouldn't want to live in, and I met some people that I thought needed shooting. I didn't like the drink culture or footy, but I also don't like it in the UK.

But on the whole the postives outweighed the negatives for me. I'm personally glad that I had the opportuntity of being able to live out there. I learnt alot about myself, I found fear was a great movitivator in making things happen and get me off my bum, I became stronger and more resilient and things don't worry me too much as I know I survived once, I can always do it again should the need arise. I met some great people who when the chips were down were incredibly supportive and kind to me, but I also met some tossers who ripped me off.

Going to a new country isn't easy, and it can make or break you. The challenge for me was to find interesting people, jobs etc and do things that I hadn't done before. I certainly arrived back to the UK a completely different person to the one I left, and when I compare my life to those I left behind, it certainly has been more interesting than theirs. But I've found that things don't land in your lap, you have to make it happen wherever you are. I now live in Spain, it was more difficult as I had a language barrier, but I live amongst a Spanish community, brought a home again and created an interesting job again in a successful company. Life is to me what we make it, during the hard times, I had a saying I wrote on my diary which said Winners make things happen, losers let things happen and boredom makes you look grumpy. That was my motivation to get me out of bed.:D

A chapter of my life .....in Australia. :zzz:;)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

:D Brilliant!

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Hi Mercedes

Wow you've certainly worked hard to recover from the rat who fleeced you! Really good post and very interesting story, thanks for sharing it. It's right that it is the way you look at things and you sometimes have to work at things to make them happen.

The thing is for us, we're tired of working to make things happen. I've done all the working at things that I feel I want to - we knew it would be hard starting a new life here, but not this hard.

Years ago in the eighties recession, we got into financial trouble, got into very serious debt, ended up with a very shady loan company who really stitched us up and we owed them an absolute fortune. Dont want to bore everyone with the details but we went through years of turmoil, working hard bringing up two kids etc. doing all the free things that we could so that it wouldnt drive us mad.It could quite easily have driven us apart but in fact it brought us closer together. We worked our backsides off, paid off said debts and saved like mad. This enabled us to enjoy holidays overseas, to travel, go to nice restaurants, theatres, shows, shop for nice things for our kids etc. That is what we enjoy doing - I know some on here will scoff but I don't care - that's us and it's what we enjoy doing. We came here with the expectation that we would be able to do the same - explore the place, visit other cities, go to city restaurants etc. Because of our earnings here we cant do the things that we enjoy. So we are cutting our losses and going back to what we know so that we can hopefully recoup what we've lost. :)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

wow that took some reading!!!
i would love to meet you, your life is so interesting :)

happy days ;)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

It's a smart move what you are doing. You are if I'm correct in your 40's? So you should be enjoying life and not struggling and if UK gives you the money and lifestyle that you want then there is nothing wrong with that. I enjoyed my time in Australia, I don't know whether it would be right for me now as I've experienced other countries and want to explore more. I've probably changed again. :rolleyes: I commute back to the UK quite often, so maybe when you're settled we can meet up for a drink. Unless you have alot of sentimental stuff, I would find out how much it is to move it back to the UK opposed to buying it all again. I tend to travel light, and I sell everything unless it has sentimental value, in that way I've made some money on it by selling it, I don't have the cost of movers so I save money there, and it often doesn't cost that much to replace everything either. Everything I have in Spain, I brought in Spain, and if I move to another country, I will probably sell it with the house and buy fresh again. When I see people spending 10-30k moving stuff from Uk to Oz and then back again I think it doesn't cost that much to replace it unless of course it's antiques.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Mercedes - Great to read your posts.

I hope I can stay that positive in my next move in life.

We lived in Spain for 2years back in the 80's. Torrevieja near Alicante.
My parents are still there. Looking forward to a trip in early January.

Whisky

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Just make sure that you are around positive and upbeat people. Nothing is worse when you're trying to get back on your feet and create a new life with moanie minnies around you. I have a burial site in a garden somewhere in UK where there are loads of negative bodies.:beer:

I personally find it soul destroying being around negative people who say "What do you want to do that for or go there, or it won't work, if it was a good idea everyone else would be doing it, etc etc etc" If I had listened to those kinds of people I wouldn't have achieved anything in my life. I tend to avoid moanie minnies who are frightened of life like the plague. I rather me on my todd than have them in my life. :scared: So find happy people who are positive (that in itself can be challenging) and enjoy your new life. :D

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Yes we are in our 40s. I really feel that I've become stronger in myself from this journey and we have had some great moments in our short time here and will keep on trying other things and seeing places etc., until we leave. When you have setbacks, it certainly makes you more determined to acheive things, I suppose you either lie down and whinge which gets you nowhere, or you get up and fight. We tend to laugh about things too and that helps, if you can't laugh at yourself and the daft mistakes you've made then you just end up crying about them. It's more fun laughing. See you in the UK or I may just try Spain myself next :beer:

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

wow well said what a great read that was :)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Wow indeed, that is a well formed post, one that wecan all learn from, wheather coming or going to distants or local lands. thank you for sharing

Adie

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

An interesting thread. I moved here because it offered everything I'd set my sights on, and planned for, from about the age of 20. The only thing that stuffed the UK side of it was a) house prices b) and the discovery that maybe it was not possible after all: basically a rural lifestyle. I'm not a city boy, I've done all that, wined and dined on expense accounts and pretended to be rich(!). I moved to Melbourne to get the best of both worlds. Australia can be a very expensive mistake if you ge the wrong part - often we drive through the areas so many of you hate and shudder at how that might have been us. There's a road we get to where we almost breathe a sigh of relief. I've always been sympathetic to people's plights; I actually agree with some of the comments made about the estates and the burbs. It's like a different world in them and I don't blame people for being disenchanted and misled. Might have had second thoughts or doubts in Brissy, Sydney or Perth if truth be told. I was always going to go rural, but then got married so chose Melbourne. It was the last place in Australia I'd originally chosen but turned out to the best in the end. Funny how things turn out.

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

I am too in my forties and unfortunately getting very close to the fifties marker.
These last three years have put me through a hell of a lot of turmoil, and when i look back, I just wonder how i have got through it with not cracking up and being carried off with a very tight jacket on.
We came here as a family, started a business. i went to college and then started an new job. Then to top it off after 27 years of being together and 25 of those married, OH decides he doesn't love me any more and wants to move on alone.
I tell you, right now, I am stronger than i have ever been in my life. I know excactly where I am going and what I plan to do with my life.

I am back off to the rural lifestyle too.
Born in Birmingham. Left when I was 13 and couldn't even drive through it now without wanting to get out of it a lot quicker.
In the UK we were living rural for 10 years and I will be doing the same when I get back.

Whisky (One positive person) LOL ;)

Re: Why did you move to Australia in the first place.
 

Good to hear it Whisky, keep it up. What part are you heading back to?