Nic938

Well, I am not even sure if I am going to post this as not even sure what to say to be honest so I will speak from the heart, and please, everyone this is just my opinion so nobody be offended.....

Got here as the above says on the 7th Jan and had a great trip with a stopover in Singapore which was wonderful. We were one of the mad ones that had never been to Australia before nor had any family or friends out here and it was a case of one day sitting at the computer and saying to the hubby "let's just get out of this place" ie. England and hubby asking where to and I said Australia and that was it. It snowballed from there......

The day we arrived we were met at the airport by Ohippychick and her girls and was surrounded by flies!!!! Was not prepared for that at all and after picking up the hire car and arriving at our rental in Mandurah which was lovely I have to say, that the first thing I did was ask hubby for a cigarette (I had stopped 12 months before) and there it started this feeling of "holy crap what have we done" nothing started it off I really have no idea what happened and the feeling hasn't really left me!

We struggled to find a rental and when we did find one the agent called us up on the day we were supposed to move at 4.40pm and told us we could not move in for 7/10 days as the previous tenant had left his car in the garage and under Health & Safety laws (which do not exist anyway) we could not live in the property. I was gobsmacked, as of the Sunday morning we had nowhere to live and with 3 kids in tow I really felt like I had let them down. Off we went to a caravan site which was a joke, as this caravan did not even have wheels along with trying to fit 5 people, 10 suitcases and bits & bobs we had started to buy for the rental it was a tight squeeze and there we stayed for 10 nights until I could find another rental (told the other rental agency to take a flying jump, speak about cutting off your nose to spite your face, but it was the principal of the thing ) Anyway, someone was looking down on us from above as on the Monday we found a really nice rental with a pool in Halls Head and we could move in the following week so that was that.

Now, I think this may be where I am getting a bit down, as hubby is a brickie. We came out on the 134 permanent visa sponsored by WA Govt as shortage of brickies. Ohippychick had already warned us that work was a bit slow but hubby was not prepared for their being no work at all. Hubby phoned about 30 companies/people and they all said the same that work was a bit dry at the moment and there really wasn't much going on but that it would pick up (never said when) and so eventually through a friend of a friend hubby got a start with a brickie that took pity on him and hubby worked with him for 3 weeks to learn the ropes so to speak.

On Monday he was told that they had now run out of work and they had to let him go on Friday! On Thursday we looked through all the papers and on the internet and found 1 job for a brickie. Hubby phoned and got a start for Friday just gone, but when he came home he was so despondent. Money was crap and there was about 8 brickies there and two foremen who barked orders, he got a 15 minute break for lunch after he had started at 7.00am and finished at 4.30pm and the foremen said he would phone him on Tuesday if there was a job on Wednesday (no idea what happened to Monday!).

Since we have been here we have had two pay cheques! We unfortunately, were one of those that did not come with much money so every penny counts but the other 8 brickies on this job said that even though the wages were crap (half of what he wold earn in the UK) and that they treated you like shite that basically you had to put up with it as there was not any work going about.

Hubby is now thinking that maybe he should be a brickies labourer and try and get a foot in the door that way or to come home to the UK for 3 months and earn a bit of money again and come back out, not sure what to do but I totally understand that when you have 20 years experience and have a good reputation back home that it is pretty disheartening to go back to being a labourer, but money is money.

Two out of the three kids are loving it but my 4 year old HATES kindy and every day is asking if he can go back to live in the UK to live with his granny & granpa and this is getting me down too. I know in time he will probably settle but boy is it wearing, him going on and on at me all the time. He even told me tonight that it is all my fault as I made him come here!

We have made plenty of friends, Ohippychick has been great but the people that have been here before you already have made their lives, quite rightly, and can't drop everything just because I am unhappy but I am at my wits end. I am not at the stage of coming home and I was, and still am determined to give this 100% but with Marc not getting a start of work and everybody he speaks too saying that there is just a slow down in building houses and too many brickies out here I just can't see a light at the end of the tunnel and please believe me when I say I am usually a positive person and always try to look on the bright side of life so I am probably moaning away to all you people out there hoping that if I put it all down I will feel better as when I phone the UK or people phone here I don't want to tell them how I am feeling just incase my mum says just come home then as we all really want this to work.

Anyway, I will go now as I know this sounds like a negative post but I just needed to get this all out.

Good luck to everyone out there who are waiting to live the dream and to the ones who are already here living it.

Nic

Sally Simpson

Nic, don't really know what to say hon!
Well done for writing such an honest post, cannot have been easy.
Would your OH have more luck with work in another part of Oz?
Really hope that things start to improve for you soon.
Very best wishes & big hug,
Sally

Racht70

What an honest post, im gutted things have been tough for you all, but stick at it something will come along surely.Is there any chance you could get a part-time job till hubby finds anything bit more permanant, does your hubby have to do brickie work, could he get another job doing something else (as long as it brings money in).Anyway sending you some karma and luck hun.

livinginwa

nic,

sorry to hear this, just a couple of hurdles to conquor.

Consider Aus your home, you refer to UK as home, that might create a bit more fustration.

If what has happened to you happened in Uk, what would you do, there is answers to your fustration but like me and any newcomers, it feels alien as we are unfamiliar, personally I thinking your geting a great experience and learning more than most of us......

keep the faith, I am sure it will turn out right, i didnt have a good week, got stitiched up, but I love it here, even 2nd time around theres no way I want to live in UK and I consider this my home now.

Kath & Graham

I know how you feel about getting of the plane and thinking what the shit have we done!!! I felt like that and to be honest it never really got any better for me!! Even thought the place is lovely we just never settled my OH was a sparkie and he got a crap job when we first got there, eventually after about 2 years he got himself a new job,

I felt really sad when I read about your little lad asking for his nanna and granpa Its all very well people saying hang on in there it wil all work out blah blah, but its very hard when its you and I must say there are some people over there that will never understand how you feel and I have met some. You find yourself not saying anything to anyone as you dont want to "offend" the ones that love it etc.

All I have heard about since being back in UK is how a lot of people have been disappointed since arriving in Perth with jobs, prices of stuff etc. Thats not to say its not a lovely place etc. though when you are down and struggling with emotions etc its very very hard.

Maybe give it a couple more months and think about moving maybe NOR I think there are still a lot of building works going on up there I know where we lived Kinross there were new houses being built so your OH might find more work there, or look maybe to move over East?

All I can say is keep your chin up and fingers crossed for you that it gets better for you all, its such a big step to take and it does take a while,

One thing I will say if your not happy then say something and talk to people, if they dont want to hear then stuff them!! their not true friends to you and there is always someone who will listen and try and help, dont stop posting on here and tallking, its no good keeping it bottled up.

Good luck

jwood

hi I sort of know how you feel, i realy like Adelaide. The only problem we are having is that niether of us can get work. I trained for 7 years to get where i was in England but none of my certs are recognised here. Hubby is an electrician currently doing his a class, but with out this he can't get work. He did get a temp job shortly after we arrived in late November but that dried up. I've lost count of the amout of resume's i have sent out for both of us. I only want an office job, not much to ask for surely. I had an interview last week and have had no response back so don't know if i did ok or not. I would not consider moving back to the UK as i think we'd be just as bad if not worse of than we are now but i am starting to get a bit down. We didn't have much in life savings either and what we have is running out. All i keep hearing is that when John gets his a class he will have his pick of the jobs and i fully believe that but we need money now not in 6 months time or how ever long it takes for them to decide that he is actualy an electrician and give him the licence to prove it. the kids (boy 13, girl 15) have settled well in school and my daughter has even got a boyfriend, we met him a couple of weeks ago, he's lovely, polite and well mannered and she is happy so i don't think i'd make her return to England. my son has made some realy nice friends also so that's half the battle. We are all happy to be here but me and hubby need to work.

bluekipper

I really feel for you! Ive been exactly where you are and its not very nice is it? in fact if you let it get a grip on you, you`l never shake it, which is what happened to me, Adelaide must be one of the hardest places in OZ to get work, so to hear Perth can be similar is hard for me as thats where I wanted to try nxt (we are bk in UK), I would definately hang on in there a bit longer before deciding where to try! OZ is a big place, there must be oportunities for you both somewhere there, would he consider trainign to be a lecturer? I remember someone in Adealide considering this, teaching at college! worth a thought. I agree with the last post, talk to others about how your feeling, a lot of other migrants HAVE been where you are, some choose to help, and some dont unfortunatley.as for the kids, as soon as they make the special mates , they dont wanna come back, believe me. That feeling of what have we done, hit me soon as I got off the plane,lol your post could`ve been my post 2 yrs ago!
bluekipper

Nic938

Hi everyone

OMG thank you all so much for posting your own troubles and tribulations, it is always nice to hear that you are not the only one (in a nice way I mean).

As we came out on a 134 sponsored by the WA Govt I cannot see us getting to move state. My mum actually asked if we could do that today and I am really not sure how it all works. Under the visa, it is permanent but we have to live in Perth for 2 years and after that we can go anywhere in Australia.

I phoned up the lady in charge of our case at WA Govt as they had said that we had to specifically live in the Peel region. I told her (this was 2 weeks after we got here) that there was basically no jobs and she was very sympathetic and said that when we had applied 10 months ago there was a shortage of brickies but since the mining industry has boomed that there are just an influx of immigrants and other brickies coming from other states to try and cash in! She then relaxed the rule of where we had to live and said we could live anywhere in WA but as for another state I wouldn't think so. She even emailed us 5 companies who she knew were looking for brickies but when Marc phoned they either took his name and said they would be in touch when things were a bit more positive or they just said there was nothing!

I know that in my post I have said that the UK is home, but before we left the UK, myself and hubby decided from day one to call home (Perth) and the UK, the UK if you get my drift. We still do do that but when I was writing everything down last night it must have slipped out so I am sorry and there is no way that we want to leave as I am a great believer that if we went back to the UK, I would be there 1 day and would want to be back here. My hubby loves it here and is so upbeat and as yet I can't say I love it I am so grateful that we have been given the opportunity to call this lovely place home and hopefully in time it will feel that way inside my heart.

Anyway, enough of me going on and on, thanks again everyone and here's to Tueday and seeing if the "barking foreman" phones Marc and says he has a job! Will let you know what happens.

All the best and thanks

Nic

bluekipper

We only did one year on our SA visa`s, came bk the UK and asked by email to get a transfer for WA, all done and dusted in 2 days, thats how simple it was, you dont know if you dont try! if you cannot get work they have no choice but to let you live where you can get work,as how else are you supposed to live there with no money? It will all work out, and YES you will want to return if you come bk here.

jwood

I would definately hang on in there a bit longer before deciding where to try! OZ is a big place, there must be oportunities for you both somewhere there, would he consider trainign to be a lecturer? I remember someone in Adealide considering this, teaching at college!

That's part of the problem, i was an IT and Basic skills tutor in England but none of my qualifications are recognised and it's going to cost around $1000. to do a training and assessors course, i could go for a recognition of prior learning to ease the cost but that's going to cost for each module. I phoned the Tafe 4 weeks ago and am still waiting for the papwer work at the moment i just can't justify spending that amount of money also my hubby would have to do this course to become a lecturer and again can't justify the amount.
I know some thing will turn up but it's hard keeping the faith when all we have is out going money.

Nic938

Hi
TRhanks for the replies and if you don't mind a couple of questions.

Did you have to go back to the UK to get granted another sponsorship by WA or could you have applied while you were still in the other state?

Who did you contact to ask if it could be done?

As for hubby becoming a lecturer, I have tried that approach and he just does not have the confidence. He says that on the practical side he has 150% confidence but when it comes down to the theory he struggled with it a little and would not want to pass that on to others! I just feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall

I could get a part-time job which I have also talked to hubby about but he has pride and sees it as failure! I have told him that is silly but as he says he does not know where he will be working what time he would finish and I would have to get an evening job which would probably start at 5ish and he is not sure what time he would finish. We also have a 2 year old and the 4 year old only goes to kindy twice a week so he really wants me around for the 4 year old especially as he is getting worse by the day.

Thanks for all the suggestions though, I really do appreciate it.

Nic

Sam

it may be worth your while moving elsewhere in Perth/WA

My OH works for a builder....never out of work

Aston Man is a brickie......has had 3 jobs (i think) all changed of his own doing...has more work than he can handle (so he says)

There are several others that post in Barbie that are WA/Perth brickies or in that trade that have loads of work

Could be your area!!!!

bluekipper

We applied online to WA gov,(from uk) we just said we didnt like Adelaide (being honest) and that work was difficult to gain there for us both, 2 days later we got our WA visa granted, we had the 137 perm visa for SA, were in the UK, hoping to head out once 17yr old does her exams etc, no rush for us we have visa`s it seems to me once you have your visa`s its quite easy to swop and change states!

bluekipper

Nic938

Thanks Sam & Bluekipper

Spoke to Aston Man a couple of weeks back and he said things were slow but as you have suggested I will put a post on the Barbie and see what it brings, thanks.

Bluekipper, thanks for getting back to me, if all else fails here that may well be something we can do. Committed to this rental until August and hubby and I both agreed if things not any better by then we will consider a move. Will mean uprooting the kids again and changing schools though so as you can imagine it will be carefully thought through. Don't want the 4 year old to hate me anymore than he already does

Nic

aston man

nic,i must admit,your story worries me.
like you i have a family and to be honest im worried what im going to do after this contract has finnished,i have been amazingly lucky.
i could easily be having it as bad like yourselves,i wish i could help...
there are loads of tower crains in perth but none of the jobs have bricklayers on them..
to be honest,this town not being much bigger than birmingham,in my view ,just cannot sustain the amount of brickies flooding into it,,,instaed of brickwork they use those bleedin concrete panels..its not like back there where you could be on a hospitol for a year or so and have a little security..

i know this does not help you but it makes me really angry that people are coming over here on a false promise,,

someone should ring one of the nationals back there and tell them whats going on...

its one big piss take,,

i hope things turn round for you..

ast