samnsam

Well here goes...................

August 3rd was the day we left my mum, sister-in-law and niece crying at the front door as the taxi drove off takeing us to the ferry terminal on the Isle of Wight.

Arriving at Heathrow, we checked in our 10 large suitcases no problem and flew out with Singapore Airlines. Couldn't fault them, they were excellent through out. After about 1hr into the flight we decided to try and have a nap. I took out our inflight pillows only to find that mum had hidden a letter for me to read inside one of them. OMG did I cry whilst I read it. She'd explained exactly how she'd been feeling throughout our whole emigration process but thought that what we were doing was the best possible chance we could give to her 3 grandchildren. God how much did I want to give her a cuddle right there and then.

Anyway we arrive at Brissie Airport and meet up with Steve's Aunt and Uncle, who have come to take most of our luggage back home with them. Steve goes off to pick up our car rental, which for some reason has been moved to the domestic flight carpark, about 20 mins away. What a cock-up that was, the rental company thought that we wern't arriving till 9pm, and here we were 6.40 am. After a 3 hr wait at the airport we finally got our car.

We booked ourselves into an apartment in the city centre as the following day we had an appointment at the bank to get our account up and running. With that out the way we headed to Bribie Island.

We had booked a weeks rental at Woorim, which turned out to be beautiful. This first week was hectic, we sorted out Medicare, tax file numbers and I bought myself a car, all the whilst trying to keep our 3 kids amused. We caught up with rellies in Caboolture and Morayfield, attended a few Barbie's, went the beach and slept alot. I think I gained about half a stone this first week thanks to XXXX.

For our 2nd week we headed to Noosa, this was to be our little holiday that we had promised ourselves. Arriving at our rental, we entered the gates to discover that the lovely pool we had expected was so dirty that it was green YUK!!!! Inside stank of wet dog, and all over the bed covers there had fallen hundreds of dead ants, which had come from the ceiling lights. As this wasn't by no means a cheap rental we got straight on the phone to the agents, who turned out to be so apologetic that they quickly found us a new holiday rental to go to straight away. Entering this new place I realised that we had landed on our feet. I'd gone in first whilst Steve started to unload the boot. When I saw the view it was stunning and completely unexpected. I immediately proceeded to jump up and down, screaming like a complete idiot, only for Steve to come in and say "Well I take it you like it then" well Y*E*S>>

Noosa is a beautiful place, plenty of cafe's and diners, and lots of little shops to look around. We would spend our evenings sitting outside drinking a beer, thinking just how lucky were we. One day we hired boat and let the kids take turns steering. Only our youngest ran us onto a sandbank and we had to dig our way off it LOL.

3rd week we headed upto Hervey Bay to visit yet more rellies. We stayed at a beautiful apartment overlooking Urangan beach. Our first day there and it started.....................Rain, Thunder storms, Wind, OMG did we get it.... For the next 5 days it didnt let up, so unfortunately we didnt get to see any of the area. We would stand on the balcony and just watch in amazement as the wind would topple these big strong tree's, which would come crashing down into the road, narrowly missing cars, or not as in some case's. Mother Nature is a most powerful thing. Oh Well, all it means is that weve got to make a point of heading back that way to enjoy the sights and do a bit of Whale Watching.

We decided whilst at Hervey Bay that for the time being we would settle in the area between Bribie Island and Morayfield. So began our search for a permanent rental.

Scanning the property papers we soon realised that what we wanted might be impossible to find. As soon as a property came onto the market it would be snapped up. There's just not enough rentals to meet demand. Right we would have to bite the bullet and go in fighting. A lovely 4 bed place in Ningi, came on the market, it was everything I'd dreamed of. Acreage, pool, family room and even a Bar (heaven). First thing the following morning at 8am our application for the property was on the agents desk. To be approved we had to show our bank statement and pictures of our house we had sold in the UK.
And now our wait began. For 5 long days I sat chewing my nails and moaning about just how much I wanted it, and what if we didnt get it. Well we got it Yippeeee!!!!!!!

We moved into our new rental on the 21st september and so began our shopping spree. We needed to buy everything as we had sold everything in the UK to the couple who bought our house. Oh how I loved these days. We needed beds, TV's, Sideboard, Lamps, Drawers, Microwave, Washer, Dryer, Toaster, Kettle, Cuttlery, Plates, Bowls, DVD Players, Bedding, clothes pegs, absolutely everything. We ended up furnishing a 4 bed house for less than £6000.

Last week our 18 boxes containing the kids toys, CD's, DVD's ect turned up. The kids thought Christmas had come early, it kept them quiet all day whilst they unpacked their most treasured possesions that they hadn't seen for nearly 3 months.

The kids have settled in school. They hated school in the UK, but here they love it. During the 2 week holiday period they couldnt wait to get back. They do so much more sport over here, which they love. Our eldest used to get himself into trouble at his UK school, here, he's settled straight away, got a great group of mates and is knucking down with his school work.
Lily used to be bullied at her old school, but here she's loving it. She's got friends in all the year groups and a few of the older girls in the school said she was COOL which put a huge smile on her face. Our youngest didnt get on at school at all. His first day here the school picked up on the possibility of him being dyslexic, and are giving him all the help he needs.
A BIG THUMB'S UP ALL ROUND.

Well today Steve has begun job hunting, so hopefully seeing how well things have gone so far, we should have some news to report on the job front in the next week or two.

Im missing my family, friends and of course the good old British Pubs, but thats to be expected. But all in all we are having the most brilliant time and are so glad that we chose Australia to be our home.

Sam, Steve, Jack, Lily and Harley

mindblower

[ [/QUOTE]


Hey ! , really pleased for you, glad ure loving it so far,well done.

Dave

curly

Hey Sam
Great to hear from you, sounds as if it's all going good
Keep missing you on here, maybe catch up one of the days
Keep having fun

samnsam

I know, I keep missing everyone on here, missed you lot loads, Ive got 3 months of catching up to do.

sammyg

Hi Sam,
Great to hear you are settling in well...keep them coming

sam xx

moneypenny20

Keep up that positive attitude and you'll be right

sponge

[/QUOTE]

Great post. Glad to hear you are loving it as much as we are in Perth. Well done!

samnsam

Great post. Glad to hear you are loving it as much as we are in Perth. Well done![/QUOTE]

Thanks everyone for your good wishes. Anyway you know I said Steve started job hunting yesterday, well one bloke asked him to start right away, and another bloke has asked him to call in tomorrow morning and pick a job . How lucky is that. So he's hopeing to make a discission tomorrow afternoon. Tell you what they are screaming out for mechanical engineers here.
Anyway this afternoon, we went and bought him a new bike, a nice shiny black one, coz after all, he is going to need transport to get to work and back.

asher

Ooh it sound Great

Steve is so lucky post a pic of his bike

seriously though it sounds as though you have landed on your feet, I hope things continue to be good

Sally Simpson

Fabulous post, glad all going well so far & glad to hear that kid are settling well
Karma sent!

samnsam

Just an update, Steves had 5 job offers so far, the wages are a bit crap though, so going to keep chasing that wage. If it doesnt come along in the next couple of weeks Steve said he will take anything if it just means getting his feet back on the ladder. Looks like I better get searching too.
Lily's started Cheerleading and Jazz classes now so hopefully shes going to make some more friends, as for the 2 lads, cant get them away from Foxtel at the moment its still new to them. Trying to get used to the fact that when it says a program starts at 8pm it might not, it might be 8.10pm or even 8.20pm, it depends on how many adverts they decide to throw on in between the previous program. Lol

thewoodz

hey Sam
glad to hear its all going great for you all - its such a whirlwind the first few months you don't really come up for air, but it sounds as though you are all enjoying it which is the main thing
All the best
N x

maisey

Great post which I have just read to my kids who are getting excited about going to Australia.
Also interested in £6000 for furniture and all your bits for 4 bedroom house as still contemplating what to bring/not bring. Did that include sofas and white goods as well.
Gotta work out whether it is worth replacing or paying for shipping. Have decided not to bring quite a few bits.
Thanks love reading all the updates and yours was great, packed with info.

samnsam

Yep that included all the white goods, 4TV's an 3 DVD's. We couldnt believe how cheap we could get things by just shopping around. Sofa is a 3 seater and 2 recliners (Leather) cost just under £600 on offer at Super Amart. They have everything on offer nearly every week.
Update on Steve's job search. Well he just went out for 3 days cold calling and dropping off his CV, so far to-date he has had 5 job offers. Well he starts his first day on Monday, the bloke offered him a realy good package, doing the exact same thing in mechanical engineering as he did in the UK but for £9000 per year more.
Any more questions just ask away.
Sam x

samnsam

Will post a pic as soon as I can get him to stop rideing it long enough to take one Lol.